The Yellow Rose of Texas

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"The Yellow Rose of Texas" is a traditional folk song of the Southern United States, which became popular in 1955 in a recording by Mitch Miller. The author is unknown; the publisher (Phillips) only gives the author's initials as "J. K."[1] The author is popularly presumed to have been African American, and the Yellow Rose's lover.[2] The Yellow Rose was Emily West Morgan, and, according to at least one source, the original title of the song was "Emily, the Maid of Morgan's Point."[3]

Contents

[edit] Legend

The song is based on a Texas legend from the days of the Texas War of Independence. According to the legend, a free mulatto woman named Emily D. West, seized by Mexican forces during the looting of Galveston, seduced General Antonio López de Santa Anna, President of Mexico and commander of the Mexican forces. The legend credits her supposed seduction with lowering the guard of the Mexican army and facilitating the Texan victory.

This legend is comparable to the Biblical war story of Jael and Sisera, found in Judges 4:14–22 and repeated in poetry in Judges 5:23–27. Jael's story was popular with Protestant Christians of the time and would have been familiar to slaves and freedmen as well as the white population.

[edit] History

Historians assert that if West was with Santa Anna, it was not by her choice, nor did she play any part in deciding the battle. The seduction legend was largely unknown until the publication of English tourist William Bollaert's diary in the 1950s, when amateur historians propagated an embellished version.

The basic facts[2] appear to be that Emily D. West, a free African-American orphan, migrated to Texas from the New York City in late 1835. Sources describe her as a teen or as a woman of twenty. She became an indentured servant on the plantation of James Morgan near what was then called New Washington and is now Morgan's Point. Because of her indenture to Morgan, she became known by his surname, as was the custom for indentured servants as well as slaves.

Santa Anna saw West in April 1836 when he invaded New Washington prior to the Battle of San Jacinto. She was forcibly placed in his camp. Allegedly, Santa Anna was with her when Sam Houston's troops arrived, forcing him to flee without weapons or armor and enabling his capture the next day.

In 2005, African-American journalist Denise McVea wrote a book arguing that Emily West, the Black servant who is the Yellow Rose of the song, is in fact Emily de Zavala, the wife of Lorenzo de Zavala, the vice-president of the Republic of Texas.[4] However, she provides very little evidence that de Zavala and Ms. West were one and the same. She also omits a painting and photographs of de Zavala from her book that obviously show a white woman. She has accused other authors of committing a type of historical censorship in hiding de Zavala's alleged African race.

[edit] Lyrics

There's a yellow rose in Texas, that I am going to see,
Nobody else could miss her, not half as much as me.
She cried so when I left her, it like to broke my heart,
And if I ever find her, we nevermore will part.

(Chorus)

She's the sweetest rose of color
This darky every (sic) knew
Her eyes are bright as diamonds
They sparkle like the dew
You may talk about dearest May
And sing of Rosa Lee
But the yellow rose of Texas
Beats the belles of Tennessee
When the Rio Grande is flowing, the starry skies are bright,
She walks along the river in the quiet summer night:
I know that she remembers, when we parted long ago,
I promise to return again, and not to leave her so.

(Chorus)

Oh now I'm going to find her, for my heart is full of woe,
And we'll sing the songs together, that we sung so long ago
We'll play the bango gaily, and we'll sing the songs of yore,
And the yellow rose of Texas shall be mine forevermore.

(Chorus)

[edit] Civil War song

The song became popular with Confederate Army troops, especially those from Texas, though the last verse is slightly different.

Oh my feet are torn and bloody, and my heart if full of woe,
I'm going back to Georgia, to find my Uncle Joe,
You may talk about your Beauregard, and sing of Bobbie Lee,
But the gallant Hood of Texas, he played hell in Tennessee.

This refers to famous Confederate generals Joseph Johnston, Robert E. Lee, P. G. T. Beauregard, and John Bell Hood.

[edit] Racial references in lyrics

The expressions "high yellow" or simply "yellow" were used during this time period to refer to a light-skinned African-American with significant Caucasian ancestry, and the original lyrics refer to a biracial woman as the "yellow rose":

There's a yellow rose in Texas, That I am going to see
No other darky knows her, No one only me

The second line is putatively a reference to the author, "J.K.", who may have been an African-American man and West's sweetheart. The lyrics were modified in the popular version of the 1950s to bowdlerize the racial references:

There's a yellow rose of Texas I'm goin' for to see,
No other soldier knows her, nobody only me.

"Rose of color" was bowdlerized into "little rosebud."[2]

[edit] Trivia

Owing to the use of ballad meter, the lyrics are interchangeable with those of many other songs and poems. An example is many of the poems of Emily Dickinson.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kuntz, Andrew The Fiddler’s Companion - 1996-2006 - accessed 20 November 2006.
  2. ^ a b c Harris, Trudier, (1997). "The Yellow Rose of Texas: A Different Cultural View." Callaloo 20.1 pp. 8–19 at 12.
  3. ^ In Search of the "Yellow Rose of Texas" by Mark Whitelaw, accessed August 26, 2006.
  4. ^ McVea, Denise (2006). Making Myth of Emily: Emily West de Zavala and the Yellow Rose of Texas Legend. San Antonio, Texas: Auris Books. ISBN 0-9773465-0-1

[edit] Further reading

  • Bunkley, Anita (1989; reprint 1999). Emily, The Yellow Rose. Houston: Rinard Publishing. ISBN 0-9624012-1-8
  • McVea, Denise (2006). Making Myth of Emily: Emily West de Zavala and the Yellow Rose of Texas Legend. San Antonio, Texas: Auris Books. ISBN 0-9773465-0-1
  • Turner, Martha Anne (1971) "The Yellow Rose of Texas: The Story of a Song," Southwestern Studies, Monograph No. 31. University of Texas at El Paso: Texas Western Press, pp. 3-19.
  • Turner, Martha Anne (1976) "The Yellow Rose of Texas": Her Saga and Her Song. Austin: Shoal Creek Publishers.

[edit] External links

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