Johnny Sands [Laws Q3]

DESCRIPTION: Johnny says he is tired of life and asks his wife to help him drown. She is to tie his hands and push him into the river. As she comes running down the slope, he steps aside and falls in. When she calls for help, he points out that she has tied his hands
AUTHOR: Jphn Sinclair? (listed as "composer" on 1842 sheet music)
EARLIEST DATE: 1842 (sheet music published by Oliver Ditson & Co.)
KEYWORDS: suicide trick death river drowning
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Ireland Britain(England(South,West),Scotland) Canada(West)
REFERENCES (34 citations):
Laws Q3, "Johnny Sands"
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "JOHNNY SANDS"
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 237-239, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts, but only the first text, "A", is this piece; there are references to 4 more, probably this but some might be "Marrowbones")
Randolph 754, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts, 2 tunes, but the "B" text goes with "Marrowbones" [Laws Q2])
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 181, "Johnny Sands" (1 text plus excerpts from 2 more and mention of 1 more)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore4 181, "Johhny Sands" (1 excerpt, 1 tune)
Morris-FolksongsOfFlorida, #197, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Hudson-FolksongsOfMississippi 71, pp. 198-199, "Johnny Sands" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Brewster-BalladsAndSongsOfIndiana 51, "Johnny Sands" (1 text plus an excerpt and mention of 1 more; 1 tune)
Stout-FolkloreFromIowa 49, pp. 65-68, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Neely/Spargo-TalesAndSongsOfSouthernIllinois, pp. 175-176, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Olney-BalladsMigrantInNewEngland, pp. 13-14, "The Drowning Lady (The Witch Song)" (1 fragment, 1 tune, which might be either "Marrowbones" or "Johnnie Sands")
Newman/Devlin-NeverWithoutASong, pp. 159-160, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy-BalladsAndSongsFromOhio 29, "Johnnie Sands" (1 text)
Grimes-StoriesFromTheAnneGrimesCollection, p. 26, "Johnny Sands" (1 text)
Warner-TraditionalAmericanFolkSongsFromAnneAndFrankWarnerColl 54, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig/Duncan2 319, "Johnnie Sands" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, p. 93, "Johnny Sands" (1 text)
Musick-JAF-TheOldAlbumOf-William-A-Larkin, pp. 204-205, "Jonnie Sands" (1 text)
Friedman-Viking/PenguinBookOfFolkBallads, p. 451, "Johnny Sands" (1 text)
Hamer-GreenGroves, p. 39, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SongsAndSouthernBreezes, pp. 222-223, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Gl 99, "Johnny Sands" (1 text)
Harding-FolkSongsOfLancashire, pp. 36-37, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-TreasuryOfNewEnglandFolklore, pp. 575-576, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pound-AmericanBalladsAndSongs, 48, pp. 114-115, "Johnny Sands"; pp. 115-116, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts)
Hubbard-BalladsAndSongsFromUtah, #120, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-BarroomBallads/PiousFriendsDrunkenCompanions, pp. 158-160, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
New-Comic-Songster, p. 57, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Heart-Songs, pp. 42-43, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dime-Song-Book #6, p. 10, "Johnny Sands" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan, p. 480, "Johnny Sands" (source notes only)
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, Joseph S. Hufham, "The End of Patty Haig," Vol. XXIX, No. 2 (Fall/Winter 1981), p. 109-111, "(There was a man named Johnny Sands)" (1 short text, coupled with a folktale on about how the two quarreled over a treasure in the river)
DT 344, MARBONE4
Roud #184
RECORDINGS:
Grace Carr, "Johnny Sands" (on Saskatch01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Marrowbones" [Laws Q2]
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Johnny Vands
NOTES [92 words]: A number of editors confuse "Johnny Sands" [Laws Q3] and "Marrowbones" [Laws Q2]. They obviously have thematic similarity, and probably have exchanged parts. But the "gimmick" is different in each case; there seems no doubt that they are now separate songs.
The 1842 Oliver Ditson sheet music (which can be found in the Levy collection) has lyrics that are unquestionably this; the music is not what I know. Of course, it could have been folk processed, but it's also conceivable that the printed music is by John Sinclair but the lyrics are older. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: LQ03

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