Abraham Lincoln Is My Name

DESCRIPTION: "Abraham Lincoln is my name, From Illinois I did came, I entered the city in the night, And took my seat by candlelight." Or, "Alice Kane is my name, Ireland is my nation, Belfast is my dwelling place, And school's my occupation." Fill in other names
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar playparty home
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1861 - Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Thomas-BalladMakingInMountainsOfKentucky, p. 65-66, (no title) (1 fragment) (OakEd, pp. 76)
Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, pp. 49, 191, "Alice Kane is my name" (1 text, the same on both pages)
Roud #25344
NOTES [188 words]: Thomas's Lincoln version is probably a fragment of a song about Abraham Lincoln's sneaking into Washington for his inauguration (there were threats of violence, so he arrived in secret and disguise). But all that is left in Thomas is a fragment seemingly used as a singing game.
The likelihood is high that it is based on a traditional item of some sort:
(Name) is my name
(Country) is my nation
(Somewhere) is my dwelling (place)
And Christ is my salvation OR And Death's my destination.
Walter de la Mare, Come Hither, revised edition, 1928, prints a version of this as (32) in the notes on poem #470 (with Elizabeth Waters of Wales being the protagonist), and Alfred Bester's acclaimed science fiction novel The Stars My Destination also uses this framework as the career summary of the main character Gully Foyle. M. R. James in his story "A Warning to the Curious" gave this version:
Nathaniel Ager is my name and England is my nation,
Seaburgh is my dwelling-place and Christ is my salvation.
When I am dead and in my grave, and all my bones are rotten
I hope the lord will think on me when I am quite forgotten. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: ThBa065

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