Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-02
u. S. Folk Songs Gathered
Dr. r. w. Gordon Makes Thorough Study of Origin
and Development Of Tunes and Words for Library
of Congress of Material Found

Americas vast store Of folk songs
Is being preserved, collected and studied
at the Library of Congress.
The work is under the direction Of
DR.. r. w. Gordon, who is finding in
the oblivion of thousands of old hymn
books the songs of forgotten yesterdays,
and. with infinite labor, tracing them
back to their origins and variations.
He also is perfecting and assembling
apparatus for collecting American folk
songs in the field from persons who
still remember them.
Wealth of Folk Songs.
The United States, Gordon says. has
the greatest wealth of folk songs of
any country, since it inherited practi-
cally all those of England. Scotland and
Ireland besides adding some types of
its own. such as the Negro spiritual.
The very nature of folk song, Gordon
points out, makes it an invaluable in
strument for unearthing the social his
tory of people. since men and women
sing spontaneously of those things
which are closest to their hearts, and
Slight variations of words or music may
show important fundamental changes:
For, says Gordon the first test of
a folk song is that 1t has arisen spon-
taneously. without any specific author.
When some author deliberately takes
folk son" and, by stroke OF genius,
stabilizes its form. 1t ceases to be
folk song. Thus Burns took songs like
Aud Lang Syne," snatches OF which
nrobably had been floating around the
Scotch countryside for years, and put
them in permanent form so that they
ceased to be folk songs and became part
of his poetry. Such songs as my Ola
Kentucky Home" and "Swanee River,
he says, are by no means folk songs, put
definite literary and musical works OF
one man. although based on folk
themes.
Detective Ability Needed.
Tracing real folk songs to their origin
REQUIRES almost infinite labor ana pa
thence. An example of the 1oiK song
whose history Gordon has uneartheo
bit by bit in the dusty old song BOOKS
in John Browns Body"
John Browns body lies amour
dering in the grave,
But his soul goes marching on
So sang the boys in blue as they
nolred out of the cities and villages OF
the North in 1861.
The emotion stirring GLORY, glory,
hallehiah" of the chorus was a poCenC
thing in stirring up fighting ferVo[' IL
has come down as fixed part OF Cne
nicture of the Civil War. Inc song
passed from liz to lip and variations
and new verses were htted 10 the tuhe
soon the soldiers were singing:
well hang JEFF Davis to a sour
apple tree,
Glory, glory, hallelujah"
Dixie Answers Challenge.
Even in Dixie this spontaneous song
was taken up with the answering cnal-
lenge:
apple tree,
Glory, glory, hallelujah"
And back again in the North the
moving chorus inspired Julia WARD
Howe to write THE Battle Hymn oil
the Republic" thus giving the appar-
emily spontaneous war song fixed form
in literature. ~
And in one Of the Massachusetts,
regiments there was an unfortunate
| fellow named John Brown. upon whom
the song was fixed in vigorous burlesque
and passed from regiment to regiment
| in an unending variation OF verses.
The iuckless private was the MADE
rnoiselle from Armentieres" of the Civil
War.
Odd Quirks Revealed.
Now Gordon's researches in the old
and forgotten hymnals and song col
lections in the library files have revealed
the strange circumstance that this song
was ready and waiting for some time
before the John Brown who was hanged
for the Harpors Ferry raid had come to
public notice. It was practically case
of a song about an event being written
before the event happened.
Back in the ola Kentucky camp meet
ing DAYS. Gordon finds there was a
spiritual which ran as follows:
20, brother, will you meet me
On Canaar's happy shore;
BY the grace of God I'll meet you
On Canaan's happy shore.
There we'll shout and give Him glory.
There we'll shout and give Him glory,
There we'll shout and give Him glory,
On Canaan's happy shore"
From this forgotten hymn, apparent
ly so far removed, the trail leads di-
rectly to John Browns body and,
thence, to the Battle Hymn of the Re-
public" But the job of tracing it was
a marvellous bit of literary and musical
detective work.
Song Preceded Event.
Gordon found this song first in
printed collection of camp-meeting
hymns which appeared in 1909 when
the John Brown of history was boy.
1t had probably been in existence, UNI
printed, for years 1t was not accom-
panied by music.
Then it appears in various hymnals
with music, but not the tune of John
Browns body. Changes were being
introduced in the words. In a hymnal
of 1858 appeared the lines:
When this poor body lies a-moul-
ering in the tomb,
My souls safe at home.
Apparently verse after verse of the
original, merely repetitions with slight
variations, sprang up spontaneously in
the emotion charged atmosphere Of a
camp meeting.
Thus the song could be continued in
definitely, ascending all the time to a
| higher and higher emotional pitch. Just