The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-22
aBRED IN OLD kENrUoxE.o
II Has Succeeded, ne n Theme for the Par
odIat, On the Bnnks of tho Wabnah.''-

odist, :" On the Banks of the Wabnsh.'
In the periodical literature and occasional
poetry OF the United States. Kentucky. the
dark and bloody ground. has been more gencr-
ally identified in the popular mind with the
production ana consumption of n superior
grade of whiskey than with sentimental mat
tiers taking musical form In ballads. The au-
thor OF the song. " Bred In Old Kentucky'-not
bread from old Kentucky, as the parodists al
ready have it-touched. however. upon a sym
pathetic vein In the first verse OF his song. as
follows:
When a lad. I stood ono day by a cottage far away.
And to me that day all nature seem'd more grand.
For my Sue, with bushes red, had Just promised we
should wed,
And I'd come to ask her mother for her hand.
As told the old, old tale of a love that ne'er would
fail,
The gray-haired mother stroked her daughters
head,
And I fancied 1 could trace just a tear on her kind
face
As she placed my sweetheart's hand in mine and
said.
What the mother said to the young man
differed materially from what. in like cases. ac-
cording to all human observation and expert
daughter. or to her future son in law. She did
not say that matrimonial alliances were made
In heaven she did not add that she had always
expected that he would propose. She did not
Rricve at the prospective loss OF her daughter
husband the daughter would secure. She aid
not say that she hated to part with her child.
but would gain 4 son n losing a daughter Her
ticularly impersonal and somewhat descriptive.
and AZ follows-in the chorus:
She was bred in old Kentucky. where the meadow
There's the sunshine of the country in her face and
manner, too.
She was bred, in old Kentucky, take her. boy. you're
wbap n, Y,a 49,, = ,Ir, Itko c,,
For some reason. which 1t is difficult to ex-
plain. there has been considerable popular an
proyal Of the dominant sentiment IN the song
there ia no allusion in it to the merits of Bour-
bon as a beverage or the wholesome advan-
Kentucky has been chiefly noted in the affairs
OF the stage by reason. Of the. horses bred and
have gained marked distinctfioon tnof many races races
courses. but the popular merit of young women
WITH kentneky as a place Of education has
$ Vas Bred d in, Old kent t%f i song 81
the emotions of the young husband after being
left a widower and contains too. a somewhat
long called home" Il He IS rSpre sen edtfa as sSS Giiloe
guiding, not as Is usual IN such pathetic, pic
WITH n ls "a ifiToRR RRs OF chi has irl fn the f fnreF T]e5ptigSe 81
the picture. but sitting aloRe. absolutely alone,
End disconsolate. and %Eeealling the language Of
his mother-in-law These are the words OF
the second verse: |
Many, years have passed away since that we'll remem-
ber'd day
When to that dear old Kentucky home I came;
And my happiness thro' life was my sweetheart, |
friend and wife.
For the sunshine in her heart remained the same: |
home,
For yesterday my darling passed away;
Tho in tears. I think with Joy OF the day when, but
q boy,
That I took her hand and heard her mother say.
Obviously the essential point in the popu-
larity of a song Is the excellence Of the music.
but the theme has much to do with 1t anu the
vna "a n o, aescrlpti"n, t9o; For a number OF
public attention, The. play In Old
hentuckyn has been Presented in all, parts OF
patrons Of theatres have felt themselves more
based upon Bred in kansas" or Bred in Del,
aware" for instance, The parodists have not
been slow to utilize the advantages offered by
:. She Was Bred in Old Kentucky as a subject
iior trayesty. There, Is, the tramps' Bread
ron ON Qld keptucky." there is the, racetrack
ous Full of Old Kentucky" and so on.