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"Freight Train" is a classic railroad song by Elizabeth Cotten. It has been recorded by many other artists, among others Chet Atkins, Mike Seeger, and Jerry Garcia.

Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten was Born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on January 5, 1895. She started playing her older brother's Banjo at the age of eight. She soon moved on to his guitar. She was self taught and played the guitar left-handed and upside-down.

At age 12, Cotten began doing housework, as her mother had done. At the age of fifteen she married Frank Cotten, They had one daughter, Lillie. The family moved back and forth between Chapel Hill, Washington DC., and New York City where Frank found work as a chaueffer and later the operator of his own auto repair shop. In 1940 she divorced Frank and moved in with her daughter, Lily and her husband. Elizabeth had retired the guitar for twenty-five years, except for occasional church performances when, in the late '40s, she began plaing regularly again. It wasn't until she reached her sixties that she began recording and performing publicly. She was discovered by the folk-singing Seeger family after she began doing their cleaning. Her first recording "Folksongs and Instrumentals with Guitar," was recorded by Mike Seeger, in 1958.

Late in life, Cotten received many honors including: The National Endowment For The Arts National Heritage Fellowship Award in 1984, the same year she won a Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording for "Elizabeth Cotten Live!" Recorded when she was 90 years old. In 1986, she received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Folk Recording. In 1989, Cotten was one of 75 influential African-American women chosen to be included in the photo documentary, "I Dream a World." A road in North Carolina is named after her. Elizabeth Cotten died on June 29, 1987, at age of 92 in Syracuse, New York. Her influence is felt by many guitarists today.

"Freight Train," Cotten's most noted tune was written when she was twelve years old. It has long been considered an American folk song classic.

Roud Index ID # S145347

"Danny Boy" was written by Frederick Weatherly in 1910. Although the lyrics were originally written for a different tune, Weatherly's sister modified them to fit "Londonderry Air" in 1913 when Weatherly sent her copy. Ernestine Schumann-Heink made the first recording in 1915. Weatherly gave the song to the vocalist Elsie Griffin, who in turn made it one of the most popular songs in the new century. In 1928, Weatherly suggested that the second verse would provide a fitting requiem for the actress Ellen Terry.

"Danny Boy" was intended as a message from a woman to a man, and Weatherly provided the alternative "Eily dear" for male singers in his 1918 authorised lyrics. However, the song is actually sung by men as much as, or possibly more than, women. The song has been interpreted by some listeners as a message from a parent to a son going off to war or leaving as part of the Irish diaspora. Some interpret it differently, such a dying father speaking to his leaving Danny. The phrase, "the pipes, the pipes are calling", in this interpretation, could refer to the traditional funeral instrument.

"Danny Boy" has been recorded many times by a variety of artists. Many versions are listed below by notable artists in descending chronological order.

2008 - Celtic Thunder Sung a cappella on their album "Act Two"
2008 - The Ten Tenors recorded it on their album "Nostalgica"
2007 - Franc D'Ambrosio's album "Franc D'Ambrosio's Hollywood - Songs from the Silver Screen".
2007 - Hayley Westenra's UK album Treasure and the international counterpart Celtic Treasure include her rendition of the song.
2007 - Daniel Johns from Silverchair and Bernard Fanning from Powderfinger recorded a duet version of this song
2007 - Damien Leith, winner of Australian Idol 2006, featured an acoustic version of his homeland's traditional song on his debut album, Where We Land. The version also features Leith on guitar and was originally recorded for a fan. Also recorded a raw version on his latest album Where We Land
2006 - Tir na n'Og, Serbian celtic band, recorded it on their debut album
2006 - Till Brönner on his album Oceana
2006 - Thomas Quasthoff on his album A Romantic Songbook
2006 - The Poxy Boggards on Whiskey Business
2006 - Natalie MacMaster, Cape Breton fiddler, on her Yours Truly album with vocals by Michael McDonald
2006 - Great Big Sea recorded it for their live concert DVD Courage & Patience & Grit
2006 - G4 on their Act 3 album
2005 - The Choirboys (boyband) recorded the song on their album self-titled album
2005 - Celtic Woman on their self-titled album (initially performed by Méav who also did the same thing for her Celtic Journey solo album and 2007 concert)
2005 - Bryn Terfel on his album titled Bryn Terfel Sings Favourites (2003), reissued as Bryn double CD Special Edition
2004 - Brian Kennedy, recorded it on his Live in Belfast album
2003 - Nigel Kennedy, recorded it on his Nigel Kennedy's Greatest Hits album with Liam O'Flynn and Osian Ellis
2002 – Johnny Cash, who had recorded another version of the song in 1965, recorded it for American IV: The Man Comes Around, his final album to be released during his lifetime.
2002 - Mireille Mathieu, recorded the French version titled L'enfant De L'Irlande Children of Ireland on her Amoureusement Votre 3 CD box set
2002 - Megan Mullally (Karen of Will and Grace) recorded it on her album Big as a Berry.
2002 - Eva Cassidy's recording of the song was posthumously published on the album Imagine
2002 - Declan Galbraith The opening track on his debut album Declan
2002 - Chloë Agnew on her self-titled album
2002 - Brobdingnagian Bards recorded it for their album Songs of Ireland
2002 - Andy Williams recorded it on his Danny Boy album re-released as Andy Williams-Danny Boy/Wonderful World 2 CD set on the Collectible label
2000 - Tommy Fleming recorded it on his Contender album
2000 - Judy Collins sang it at her Live at Wolf Trap concert (CD & DVD)
1999 - Finbar Wright sang it in his Opera Concert broadcast on Public Television (VHS). The concert contained several non-operatic pieces.
1999 - Irish Tenors, (Ronan Tynan, John McDermott and Anthony Kearns) recorded it on the Irish Tenors album
1999 - Harry Connick Jr's big-band record Come By Me has a voice and piano take on this song. His character Daniel sings Danny Boy at a talent show in the movie Life Without Dick. As a cast member in the 1990 World War II aviation film Memphis Belle he sings the song at a dance. It becomes the principal music theme of the film, particularly prominent in the harrowing ending and the end credits
1999 - Diana Krall performed the song with The Chieftains on their album Tears of Stone
1999 - Charlotte Church recorded the song on her Voice of an Angel album
1998 - Vox One recorded the song on their Chameleon album
1996 - Joseph Flummerfelt arranged, conducted and recorded this piece with the Westminster Choir for the Spoleto Festival USA
1996 - Don Walser recorded a version on Texas Top Hand; it's also included on Walser's best-of compilation, Dare To Dream.
1996 - Bing Crosby recorded it for his Top O' the Morning album
1994 - Black 47 for their album Home of the Brave, a rather different version, only retaining the melody and one of the original verses
1993 - Séamus Kennedy recorded this song, prefaced with a number of partial variations, on By Popular Demand, Vol 1
1993 - Mary O'Hara, Irish singer and harpist recorded it on her Song for Ireland CD on the Shanachie label (1993)
1991 - My Friend The Chocolate Cake recorded a chamber pop version for their 1991 album My Friend The Chocolate Cake (re-released 1995)
1991 - The Swingle Singers recorded the song for their album of folk songs, Around the World.
1990 - Carly Simon recorded it for her album My Romance
1989 - Kate Smith sang a version of it on The Irish Album reissued by RCA in 1989.
1989 - Helen Gallagher performed the song as her character Maeve Ryan, on the final episode of the ABC-TV soap opera Ryan's Hope on January 13
1988 - Brush Shiels, Irish rocker, performs a bluesy version on his album Fields Of Athenry
1987 - Tony Bennett recorded this, released on his Columbia CD, Jazz, with Stan Getz on tenor sax, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums
1985 - The King's Singers, a cappella version on the album Watching the White Wheat
1979-1991 - The Kelly Family recorded their first single called Danny Boy in 1979. In 1991 they put the song also on their album Honest Workers
1976 - Elvis Presley recorded the song in 1976 during the Jungle Room Sessions at Graceland in Memphis, TN. The master take is available on From Elvis Presley Boulevard. Other takes are available on The Jungle Room Sessions and Platinum. The song was noted as one of his favourite songs and was played at his funeral. Elvis said it was his father Vernon's favourite song. A Live version is available on the live album Tucson '76.
1975 - Joan Baez recorded the song as part of a medley, pairing it with Stephen Foster's I Dream of Jeannie, on her album Diamonds & Rust
1974 - Les Humphries Singers recorded song on the album Kansas City in with John Lawton on vocals
1972 - Roy Orbison on his 1972 Memphis album.
1969-1999 - Tom Jones sang it on the first episode of his weekly television show and recorded it on Las Vegas to London, the Best of Tom Jones Live CD on the Spectrum label (1999).
1969 - Cher recorded it on her Jackson Highway album
1967 - Ray Price had a top 10 hit on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart in 1967, and is an example of his Nashville Sound output
1965 - The Bachelors recorded the song on their album More great song hits
1965 - Johnny Cash's first version of this song was recorded for Orange Blossom Special, which was remastered and reissued in 2002.
1964 - Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles recorded the song and released it in 1964. The song reached number seventy-six on the Billboard Hot 100.
1964 - The Seekers recorded it on their first UK album The Seekers (also known as Roving with The Seekers)
1964 - Joe Feeney, Irish tenor, performed the song numerous times, both on The Lawrence Welk Show
1962 - Connie Francis on her Connie Francis Sings Irish Favorites album
1962 - Maureen O'Hara Irish actress recorded it on her Maureen O'Hara Sings her Favourite Irish Songs album (1962, Columbia Records)
1960-61 - Jim Reeves recorded it twice, A slow version for the Album Tall Tales and Short Tempers in 1960 and in 1961 he recorded a version that was released as a single. He always closed his shows with the song.
1960 - Link Wray
1959 - Conway Twitty recorded a rockabilly version in 1959 that reached No. 10 on the US Pop charts.
1958 - Sam Cooke recorded it on his self-titled album
1958 - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf recording at Abbey Road Studios, London, England
1950 - Al Hibbler recorded it for Atlantic Records
1940-1962 - Judy Garland recorded it several times, once for her film Little Nellie Kelly (1940) MGM Records and again for her Miss Showbusiness album (1955, Capitol Records) and sang it live during her concerts in Dublin's famed Theatre Royal and at her now legendary New York Palace Theatre show. Her last recording of the song was in 1962 in London, for The London Sessions album again on the (Capitol) label.
1939 - Gracie Fields sung this on the Soundtrack to her 1939 film 'Shipyard Sally,' and recorded the song once in 1939 and in 1978 for Jess Yates's TV show 'Stars on Sunday'
1939 - Glenn Miller performed it as part of the Carnegie Hall concert on October 6. Miller's was the last of four bands performing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ASCAP. The performance was recorded and released on the RCA Victor label.
Off Kilter Celtic-rock band on their Etched in Stone CD 2001.
Sung by Luba Mason and Ruben Blades one the grammy-winning CD Mundo (Sony-Columbia 2002)
Sung by Celtic Thunder on their second CD, Celtic Thunder: Act II
Wolfe Tones recorded it live on their Wolfe Tones The Troubles two CD set.
Willie Nelson on One From the Road (released in 1979; re-released on a compilation Stardust/Honeysuckle Rose/One From The Road)
Tir na n'Og, recorded it on their 2006 self-titled debut album
Thin Lizzy included it in a medley of Irish tunes as part of the title track on their Black Rose: A Rock Legend album in 1979. Under the name of Funky Junction, Thin Lizzy had previously recorded an instrumental version, titled Dan, on their Tribute to Deep Purple album in 1972.
The St. Olaf Choir on their album A Choral Tapestry
The Pogues on the soundtrack for the 1987 film Straight to Hell, with Cait O'Riordan on vocals. Pogues frontman Shane Macgowan also recorded a version of the song with his solo band The Popes which appeared on their Christmas Party E.P.
The Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra recorded it on their album Kindred Spirits
Sinéad O'Connor performed the song, adding a third (political) verse, on whistler and piper Davy Spillane's album The Sea of Dreams
Sarah Vaughan, recorded it on her album It's A Man's World (original release: Mercury Stereo SR 611220; released as an audio CD on Verve label in April 2002)
Ronan Tynan's solo rendition plays while photographs of the 343 members of the New York City Fire Department who perished in the September 11, 2001 attacks are shown in the closing minutes of the documentary film 9/11
Quartetto Gelato twice, first on their debut CD Quartetto Gelato and again on Quartetto Gelato Travels the Orient Express
Paul Robeson recorded it in Ballad for Americans and Great Songs of Faith, Love and Patriotism. Vanguard Records.
Nolan Strong & The Diablos featured on the album Fortune of Hits Vol. 2 on Fortune Records.
Maureen Tucker of The Velvet Underground recorded it for her album Dogs Under Stress
Kiri Te Kanawa on her folksongs album Come To The Fair.
Jackie Wilson recorded two different versions.
Frank Patterson, recorded the song for his album Ireland in Song. His rendering is featured in a gangland hit sequence in the movie Miller's Crossing by Joel and Ethan Coen.
Deirdre Shannon has a version on her album Deirdre Shannon
Daniel Rodriguez "The Spirit of America" 2002 Manhattan Records.
Daniel O'Donnell, most recently in 2006 on Greatest Hits CD on the DPTV Media label.
Craig Sharpe performed the song during Canadian Idol and included a version on his February 2007 debut CD I Am
Charlie Zahm recorded it on his album Festival Favorites
Carmel Quinn recorded it live on her Carmel Quinn at Carnegie Hall album (1970 Columbia/EMI )

"Molly Malone" (also known as "Cockles and Mussels" or "In Dublin's Fair City")(Irish: Mol Ní Mhaoileoin) is a popular song, set in Dublin, Ireland, which has become the unofficial anthem of Dublin City. It has also in Ireland acquired the status of an Irish anthem. The song is sung by supporters of Dublin GAA, Leinster Rugby teams, Doncaster Rovers F.C., Plymouth Argyle, Gillingham FC, Reading F.C., Terenure College, The King's Hospital and the Irish international rugby team. It was also featured in the film, A Clockwork Orange.

The song tells the tale of a beautiful fishmonger who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin, but who died young, of a fever. Recently a legend has grown up that there was a historical Molly, who lived in the 17th century. She is typically represented as a hawker by day and part-time prostitute by night. In contrast she has also been portrayed as one of the few chaste female street-hawkers of her day.

However, there is no evidence that the song is based on a real woman, of the 17th century or at any other time. The name "Molly" originated as a familiar version of the names Mary and Margaret. While many such "Molly" Malones were born in Dublin over the centuries, no evidence connects any of them to the events in the song. Nevertheless, in 1988 the Dublin Millennium Commission endorsed claims concerning a Molly Malone who died on 13 June 1699, and proclaimed 13 June to be "Molly Malone day". In fact the song is not recorded earlier than 1883, when it was published in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was also published by Francis Brothers and Day in London 1884 as a work written and composed by James Yorkston, of Edinburgh, with music arranged by Edmund Forman. The London edition states that it was reprinted by permission of Kohler and Son of Edinburgh, implying that the first edition was in Scotland, though no copies of it have been located. According to Siobhán Marie Kilfeather the song is from the music hall style of the period, and while one cannot wholly dismiss the possibility that it is "based on an older folk song", "neither melody nor words bear any relationship to the Irish tradition of street ballads." She describes the story of the historical Molly as "nonsense".

"Hush Little Baby" is a traditional lullaby. It is thought to be American (mockingbirds are from the American continent), but the author and date of origin are unknown. The lyrics promise all kinds of rewards to the child if he or she is quiet.

The structure is simple enough for parents to ad-lib further verses as required. This song has had the unusual distinction of two separate manifestations as a popular song, first as the song "Bo Diddley" by the singer of that name, and then as "Mockingbird", a well-selling song by the brother-and-sister team, Inez and Charlie Foxx in 1963, and then, for then husband and wife, James Taylor and Carly Simon in 1974, singing the Foxx arrangement. Toby Keith and his teenage daughter Krystal covered the song in 2004.

Singer James Hetfield recites a variaton of "Hush Little Baby" in the 1991 Metallica song "Enter Sandman". In 2005, rapper Eminem adapted "Hush Little Baby" into a song called "Mockingbird" for his daughter.

"Li'l Liza Jane", also known as "Little Liza Jane" and "Liza Jane", is a song dating back at least to the 1910s. It has become a perennial standard both as a song and an instrumental in traditional jazz, folk music, and bluegrass, and versions have repeatedly appeared in other generas including rock and roll. It is one of the standards of the New Orleans brass band tradition.

"Li'l Liza Jane" was first published in 1916 by Sherman, Clay & Co of San Francisco, California as a composition by Countess Ada de Lachau. It was described as a "Southern dialect song". The tune was featured in the 1916-1917 show "Come Out of the Kitchen".

The song's origins, however, seem to go back even earlier. The tune's similarity to the 1850 Stephen Foster standard "Camptown Races" has been observed. The name "Liza Jane" or "Eliza Jane" was a standard female character name in minstrel shows. A tune "Goodbye, Liza Jane" was published by Eddie Fox in 1871. Harry Von Tilzer published "Goodbye, Eliza Jane" in 1903, which has some similarity to the later "Li'l Liza Jane".

Natalie Curtis Burlin's book Negro Folk-Songs, published in 1918, documents a version said to be a Negro folk song with an associated dancing game. In the "Liza Jane" dance, couples would dance in a circle, with an extra man in the middle. The extra man would "steal partners" with one of the couples, and the odd man out would go into the center and do a solo dance, then in cut in on another couple and the process would repeat.

Covers:
Earl Fuller's Jazz Band featuring Ted Lewis on clarinet recorded a version of the tune for Victor Records in September of 1917 that sold well and helped establish the tune as an early jazz standard. Fuller's band recorded it as an instrumental other than an ensemble vocal chant "Oh, Li'l Liza, Little Liza Jane" on part of the chorus.
The 1918 recording with singing and banjo by Harry C. Brown for Columbia Records helped establish the number in old time country music, although it was not the first recording of the number as has sometimes been claimed.
Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys had a hit with their 1947 recording.
The 1964 record "Liza Jane" by "Davie Jones and the King Bees" is David Bowie's first record. Although composer credit was given to Leslie Conn, it is an arrangement of this old standard.
The Band recorded a version in 1968 called "Go Go Liza Jane".
Alison Krauss & Union Station's record won a 1998 Grammy Award in the Best Country Instrumental Performance category.
The New Orleans Nightcrawlers version entitled "Funky Liza" appears on their 2001 album "Mardi Gras in New Orleans".

"Angels We Have Heard on High " is a Christmas carol.

The words of the song are based on a traditional French carol known as Les Anges dans nos campagnes (literally, "Angels in our countryside"). Its most common English version was translated in 1862 by James Chadwick.

There is also a Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) translation of the carol which is known as Ainglean chuala sinn gu h-ard (literally, "Angels We Have Heard on High"). This was translated into Gaelic by Iain MacMilan from James Chadwick's English translation.

The song commemorates the story of the birth of Jesus Christ found in the Gospel of Luke, in which shepherds outside Bethlehem encounter a multitude of angels singing and praising the newborn child.

It is most commonly sung to the hymn tune "Gloria", as arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes. Its most memorable feature is its chorus:

Gloria in Excelsis Deo! (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest")
where the sung vowel sound "o" of "Gloria" is fluidly sustained through a lengthy rising and falling melismatic melodic sequence:

Glo-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-O-ri-a in Ex-cel-sis De-o!
"Gloria in Excelsis Deo" is itself the name of an older famous hymn.

The phrase also appears melismatically in the Latin version of the carol "O Come All Ye Faithful", though somewhat less extended:

Glo-o-o-O-ri-a in Ex-cel-sis De-o.
In England, the words of James Montgomery's "Angels from the Realms of Glory" are sung to this tune, except with the "Gloria in excelsis Deo" refrain.

In the English version of "O Come All Ye Faithful", that phrase is poetically translated as Glo-ry to Go-od, Glo-ry in the High-est, (or, "Glo-ry to Go-od, In-- the-- High-est"), reducing the melisma to no more than two notes per word.

"The Ballad of Barbara Allen", also known as "Barbara Ellen," "Barbara Allan," "Barb'ry Allen," "Barbriallen," etc., is a folk song known in dozens of versions. It has been classified as Child Ballad 84 and Roud 54. The author is unknown, but the song may have originated in England, Ireland or Scotland. The earliest known mention of the song is in Samuel Pepys' diary for January 2. 1666 (ed. Robert Latham & William Matthews, Vol. vii, London: [1972], p. 1.) where he refers to the "little Scotch song of 'Barbary Allen'".

The ballad of Barbara Allen was first printed in England in 1780 but had existed in oral versions at least a century before that date. The ballad was first printed in the United States in 1836.

Covers:
Joan Baez, Shirley Collins, Doris Day, The Everly Brothers, Texas Gladden, John Travolta, Emmylou Harris, Maxine Sullivan, Pete Seeger, Angelo Branduardi (Italian version titled "Piano Piano" in 1983's album "Cercando l'oro"), John Jacob Niles, Merle Travis, Bob Dylan, Colin Meloy, Thomas Baynes, Michael Hurley, Art Garfunkel, Simon & Garfunkel, Burl Ives, The Grateful Dead, Eddy Arnold, Moses Clear Rock Platt, and many others have recorded the song.

"Buffalo Gals" is a traditional American song, written and published as "Lubly Fan" in 1844 by the blackface minstrel John Hodges, who performed as "Cool White." The song was widely popular throughout the United States. Because of its popularity, minstrels altered the lyrics to suit the local audience, so it might be performed as "New York Gals" in New York City or "Boston Gals" in Boston. The best-known version is named after Buffalo, New York.

The chorus is:

Buffalo gals, won't you come out tonight?
Come out tonight, Come out tonight?
Buffalo gals, won't you come out tonight,
And dance by the light of the moon.

"Aura Lea" (also known as "Aura Lee") is an American Civil War song about a maiden. It was written by W. W. Fosdick (words) and George R. Poulton (music) in 1861.

The Elvis Presley song "Love Me Tender" (lyric by Ken Darby) is sung to a similar tune as "Aura Lee". A later Presley recording for the film The Trouble with Girls entitled "Violet (Flower of N.Y.U.)" also used the melody of "Aura Lee".

There is also a version of "Aura Lee" called "Army Blue" associated with the U.S. Military Academy. The tune is sung to lyrics specific to the academy; the original lyrics to that version were by George T. Olmstead, an 1865 graduate of the academy. It is the running theme music in the background of the 1954 John Ford film, The Long Gray Line.

Aura Lee was memorably sung by Frances Farmer and a male chorus in the 1936 film, Come and Get It, based on Edna Ferber's novel.

The television comedy F Troop used a variation of the song to welcome saloon singer Laura Lee in the episode "She's Only a Build in a Girdled Cage."

The tune was also used in Trading Places, with different lyrics, when Louis Winthorp's fraternity brothers serenade his fiancee, Penelope.

The exact origin of the song "The Lakes Of Ponchartrain" is unknown, though it is commonly held to have originated in the southern United States in the 19th century. In the liner notes of Déanta's album Ready for the Storm, which includes the song, it is described as a "traditional Creole love song, which is of Irish origin." The liner notes accompanying Planxty's version state that the tune was probably brought back by soldiers fighting for the British or French armies in Louisiana and Canada in the War of 1812.

The Lakes of Pontchartrain is an American ballad about an impoverished immigrant from Ireland who is given shelter by a beautiful Louisiana Creole woman. He falls in love with her and asks her to marry him, but she is already promised to a sailor and declines the offer.

The song is named for and set on the shores of Louisiana's "lakes" of Pontchartrain, which actually are only a single lake, Lake Pontchartrain. Pontchartrain does, however, connect to two other lakes, Lake Borgne to the east and Lake Maurepas to the west, which may explain the plural.

Among the best known versions of the song are those recorded by the Irish musical group Planxty on Cold Blow and the Rainy Night in 1974 and by the Irish musician and songwriter Paul Brady on Welcome Here Kind Stranger in 1978. Other renditions include those by Peter Case, by the Be Good Tanyas, and by Mark Knopfler performing with the Chieftains'. The band Tangerine Dream recorded a version of the song for their 2007 album Madcap's Flaming Duty. Shona Kipling & Damien O'Kane played it on their "Pure Chance" CD. Bob Dylan performed the song frequently in 1988-1989. Paul Brady has recorded an Irish-language version of the song, as "Bruach Loch Pontchartrain", which was translated by Francie Mooney.

"Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" is a traditional Jamaican folk song, the best-known version of which was sung by Harry Belafonte. The song is the best-known example of calypso music. It is a song from the point of view of dock workers working the night shift loading bananas onto ships. Daylight has come, the shift is over and they want their work to be counted up so that they can go home (this is the meaning of the lyric "Come, Mr. Tally Man, tally me banana/ Daylight come and me wanna go home.")

"The Water Is Wide" (also called "O Waly, Waly") is thought to be an English or Scottish folk song that has been sung since the 1600s and has seen considerable popularity through to the 21st century. It is related to Child Ballad 204 (Roud number 87), Jamie Douglas, which in turn refers to the ostensibly unhappy first marriage of James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas to Lady Barbara Erskine. Cecil Sharp songcatched this folk song during his journey to America during World War I.

The inherent challenges of love are made apparent in the narrator's imagery: "Love is handsome, love is kind" during the novel honeymoon phase of any relationship. However, as time progresses, "love grows old, and waxes cold". Even true love, the narrator admits, can "fade away like morning dew"

Andrew Lang glimpsed an earlier history:

“ WALY, WALY
From Ramsay's Tea Table Miscellany, a curiously composite gathering of verses. There is a verse, obviously a variant, in a sixteenth century song, cited by Leyden. St. Anthon's Well is on a hill slope of Arthur's Seat, near Holyrood. Here Jeanie Deans trysted with her sister's seducer, in The Heart of Midlothian. The Cairn of Nichol Mushat, the wife-murderer, is not far off. The ruins of Anthony's Chapel are still extant.”

The ballad is widely considered to be English. Doubts have been expressed about this, but these seem rooted in prejudice rather than solid evidence. The lyrics below, taken from http://bartleby.com , are written in the Scots language. Indeed the earliest known version of the song is said in certain quarters to be in just this form. The 'Scots language', or 'Lallands', however, is pure Anglo Saxon, as indeed were the whole of the Scottish Lowlands for many centuries, and it is therefore quite as likely the song originated on the English side of the Border as anywhere. Some of the more difficult words have been translated for this webpage.

Waly, Waly, gin Love be bonny

The Water is Wide

O Waly, waly, (a lament - "woe is me") up the bank,
And waly, waly, doun the brae (hill),
And waly, waly, yon burn-side (riverside),
Where I and my Love wont to gae (go)!
I lean'd my back unto an aik (oak),
I thocht it was a trustie tree;
But first it bow'd and syne (soon) it brak (broke)—
Sae my true love did lichtlie (lightly) me.
O waly, waly, gin love be bonnie (beautiful),
A little time while it is new!
But when 'tis auld (old) it waxeth cauld (cold),
And fades awa' like morning dew.
O wherefore should I busk my heid (adorn my head),
Or wherefore should I kame (comb) my hair?
For my true Love has me forsook,
And says he'll never lo'e me mair (more).
Now Arthur's Seat
Sall (shall) be my bed (burial place),
The sheets sall ne'er be 'filed by me;
Saint Anton's well sall be my drink;
Since my true Love has forsaken me.
Marti'mas wind, when wilt thou blaw (blow),
And shake the green leaves aff the tree?
O gentle Death, when wilt thou come?
For of my life I am wearìe.
'Tis not the frost, that freezes fell,
Nor blawing snaw's (snow) inclemencie,
'Tis not sic cauld (such cold) that makes me cry;
But my Love's heart grown cauld to me.
When we cam in by Glasgow toun,
We were a comely sicht (sight)to see;
My Love was clad in the black velvèt,
And I mysel in cramasie (crimson).
But had I wist (known), before I kist (a coffin = died),
That love had been sae ill to win,
I had lock'd my heart in a case o' gowd (gold),
And pinn'd it wi' a siller (silver) pin.
And O! if my young babe were born,:
And set upon the nurse's knee;
And I mysel were dead and gane,
And the green grass growing over me!

The Water is Wide
Some popular lyrics for "The Water is Wide" are within the book Folk Songs For Solo Singers, though many versions have been printed and sung.

The water is wide, I cannot cross o'er,
But Neither have I the wings to fly.
Give me a boat, that can carry two,
And both shall row, my love and I.
I leaned my back up against an oak
I thought it was a trusty tree
but first it bent and then it broke
And so my love did unto me.
A ship there is and she sails the sea,
She's loaded deep as deep can be,
But not so deep as the love I'm in
I know not if I sink or swim.
O love is handsome and love is fine
And love's a jewel when it is new
but love grows old and waxes cold
And fades away like morning dew.

http://www.ireland-information.com/downloads/midi/thewateriswide.mid

'Shady Grove" is an 18th-century folk song popular in the United States. It is a standard in the repertoires of folk, Celtic and bluegrass musicians. In most traditional versions, the melody is in a minor key. However, Bill Monroe's and some subsequent bluegrass versions use a major-key variation.

Many verses exist, most of them describing the speaker's love for a woman called Shady Grove. There are also various choruses, which refer to the speaker traveling somewhere (to Harlan, to a place called Shady Grove, or simply "away"). The melody is strikingly similar to that of an old English ballad, Matty Groves. Some have said there have been over 300 stanzas written and added as variations.

Well over 100 artists have recorded this song, notably:

Doc Watson
Bill Monroe
Jerry Garcia, Tony Rice and David Grisman on the Pizza Tapes
Garcia and Grisman also recorded it on their album, Shady Grove
Big Joe Williams
Blitzen Trapper
Blood Oranges
Quicksilver Messenger Service on the album of the same name
Jean Ritchie
The Kingston Trio performed on their live album "...from the hungrey i"
Richard Fariña
Patty Loveless
Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
Kerosene Brothers, also better known as Hayseed Dixie
Crooked Still
Mudcrutch, Tom Petty's first band, on their debut album released in 2008
Kris Drever
Pinmonkey
The Everly Brothers
Brennan Gilmore, with Kantara (Arab Appalachian Fusion)
The Chieftains with Tim O'Brien on the album Further Down the Old Plank Road (2003)
Dawud Wharnsby Ali
Nick Ogawa
Leela and Ellie Grace

"Red Wing" is a popular song written in 1907 with music by Kerry Mills* and lyrics by Thurland Chattaway. Mills adapted the music from Robert A. Schumann's "The Happy Farmer" (Opus 68, No. 10, 1849). The song tells of a young Indian maid's loss of her sweetheart who has died in battle. It is most memorable for its chorus:

Now, the moon shines tonight on pretty Red Wing,—
The breeze is sighing,— the night bird's crying,—
For afar 'neath his star her brave is sleeping,—
While Red Wing's weeping— her heart away.—

The song has been recorded numerous time in many different styles.

* Kerry Mills (February 1, 1869 - December 5, 1948) was an American composer of popular music during the Tin Pan Alley era. His stylistically diverse music ranged from ragtime to cakewalk to marches. He was most prolific between 1895 and 1918.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812.

The poem was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song, written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a men's social club in London. "The Anacreontic Song" (or "To Anacreon in Heaven"), set to various lyrics, was already popular in the United States. Set to Key's poem and renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner", it would soon become a well-known American patriotic song. With a range of one and a half octaves, it is known for being difficult to sing. Although the song has four stanzas, only the first is commonly sung today, with the fourth ("O thus be it ever when free men shall stand...") added on more formal occasions.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889 and the President in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. § 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover.

Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of American officialdom. "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", whose melody was derived from the British national anthem, served as a de facto national anthem of the United States before the adoption of "The Star-Spangled Banner";. Following the War of 1812 and subsequent American wars, other songs would emerge to compete for popularity at public events, among them "The Star-Spangled Banner".

The Lyrics:

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Additional Civil War period lyrics"
In indignation over the start of the Civil War, Oliver Wendell Holmes added a fifth stanza to the song in 1861 and further appeared in song books of the era.

When our land is illumined with liberty's smile,
If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile
The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained,
Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.