Oh Shenandoah

"Oh Shenandoah" (also called simply "Shenandoah", or "Across the Wide Missouri") is a traditional American folk song of uncertain origin, dating at least to the early 19th century. The song is number 324 in the Roud Folk Song Index, but is not listed amongst the Child Ballads.

History

Until the nineteenth century only adventurers who sought their fortunes as trappers and traders of beaver fur ventured as far west as the Missouri River. Most of these men were loners who became friendly with, and sometimes married, Native Americans.

Shenandoah is said to have originated with French voyageurs traveling down the Missouri River. The lyrics tell the story of a trader who fell in love with the daughter of the Oneida Iroquois pine tree chief, Shenandoah. His name means "deer antlers" (Oh-skan-ohn-doh in Oneida). Also called John Shenandoah (or Skanandoa) he lived in the central New York town of Oneida Castle. He is a co-founder of the Oneida Academy which became Hamilton College in Clinton, NY and is buried on the campus grounds. The Oneida composer-performer Joanne Shenandoah is his direct descendent. American sailors heading down the Mississippi River picked up the song and made it a capstan shanty that they sang while hauling in the anchor.[1]

Shenandoah was printed as part of Capt. Robert Chamblet Adams' article "Sailors' Songs", in the April 1876 issue of The New Dominion Monthly.[2] He also included it in his 1879 book On Board the "Rocket".[3] It was later printed[4] as part of William L. Alden's article "Sailor Songs", in the July 1882 issue of Harper's New Monthly Magazine.[5][6]

The song had become popular as a sea chanty with sailors by the 1880s.[7]

Ike Skelton, the U.S. congressman for Missouri, noted in 2005 that local artist George Caleb Bingham immortalized the jolly flatboatmen who plied the Missouri River in the early 19th century; these same flatboatmen were known for their shanties, including "Oh Shenandoah". This boatmen's song found its way down the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers to the American clipper ships, and thus around the world.

Sea Songs and Shanties, Collected by W.B. Whall, Master Mariner (First edition in Nov 1910), states that the song probably originated from American or Canadian "voyageurs", who were great singers. Thomas Moore drew inspiration from them in his Canadian Boat Song. The author further goes on and states that he heard it sung over fifty years prior to publishing the book, which place its origin at least a fair bit earlier than 1860. Besides sung at sea, this song figured in old public school collections. (info taken from page one in the sixth edition of the book)

Usage

Set in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, Washington & Lee University chorus singers and bands play this song in homage to their alma mater. The University names the "Washington and Lee Swing" as their fight song, but the student body, who lived in the Blue Ridge for at least four years, considers this one of their most nostalgic songs.

The Virginia Military Institute Regimental Band and Glee Club frequently perform this song, as it is widely considered that school's theme song. In this interpretation, Shenandoah refers to the home of the Virginia Military Institute and expresses the longing that a cadet experiences once he is reminded of the valley's beauty by his travels across the 'wide Missouri'.

Shenandoah is the official school song of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, located at the north end of the valley.

The song features prominently in the soundtrack of the 1965 movie, Shenandoah, starring Jimmy Stewart, and is also heard as a part of a medley in the 1962 Cinerama film, How the West Was Won.

It is played during the final credits of the movie Nixon, performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

It is sung by the protagonist's son, played by Eddie Redmayne, in the film The Good Shepherd.

It is both sung and played on the American version of House of Cards in the episode entitled "Chapter 8", in which the protagonist returns to his military alma mater in South Carolina.

In The Newsroom, in the episode entitled "Oh Shenandoah", the song is heard playing in the background in a college dorm room, and later is featured prominently in the soundtrack.

Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[8]

Among the most famous arrangements of the song is the one by Percy Grainger, which exists in several forms, and has been recorded by John Shirley-Quirk and many other classically-trained singers.

Lyrics

The origin of the song is unclear, and there are many sets of lyrics.

Some lyrics may tell the story of a roving trader in love with the daughter of an Indian chief; in this interpretation, the rover tells the chief of his intent to take the girl with him far to the west, across the Missouri River. Other interpretations tell of a pioneer's nostalgia for the Shenandoah River Valley in Virginia, or of a Confederate soldier in the American Civil War, dreaming of his country home in Virginia.

The Shenandoah area made many parts, like wheels and seats, for wagons going west. These parts were assembled in Conestoga Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and settlers set out in Conestoga wagons down the Ohio River, on the Mississippi and west up the Missouri River. Lyrics were undoubtedly added by rivermen, settlers, and the millions who went west.

Oh Shenandoah,
I long to see you,
Away you rolling river.
Oh Shenandoah,
I long to hear you,
Away, I'm bound away
'cross the wide Missouri.
Oh Shenandoah,
I love your daughter,
Away, you rolling river.
For her I'd cross
Your roaming waters,
Away, I'm bound away
'Cross the wide Missouri.
'Tis seven years
since last I've seen you,
Away, you rolling river.
'Tis seven years
since last I've seen you,
Away, we're bound away
'cross the wide Missouri.
Oh Shenandoah,
I long to hear you,
Away, you rolling river.
Oh Shenandoah,
I long to hear you,
Away, we're bound away
'cross the wide Missouri.

The lyrics as given in Sea Songs and Shanties, collected by W.B. Whall, Master Mariner (1910) is as follows:

Miss-ou-ri, she's a mighty riv-er.
A - way you rolling riv-er.
The red-skins' camp, lies on its bor-ders.
Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
The white man loved the Indian maiden,
A - way you rolling riv-er.
With notions his canoe was laden. (note: Notions = knick-knacks)
Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
"O, Shenandoah, I love your daughter,
A - way you rolling riv-er.
I'll take her 'cross yon rolling water."
Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
The chief disdained the trader's dollars:
A - way you rolling riv-er.
"My daughter never you shall follow."
Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
At last there came a Yankee skipper.
A - way you rolling riv-er.
He winked his eye, and he tipped his flipper.
Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
He sold the chief that fire-water,
A - way you rolling riv-er.
And 'cross the river he stole his daughter.
Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
"O, Shenandoah, I long to hear you,
A - way you rolling riv-er.
Across that wide and rolling river."
Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.

A Mr. J.E. Laidlaw of San Francisco reported hearing a version sung by a black Barbadian sailor aboard the Glasgow ship Harland in 1894, which went:

Oh, Shenandoah! I hear you calling!
Away, you rolling river!
Yes, far away I hear you calling,
Ha, Ha! I'm bound away across the wide Missouri.
My girl, she's gone far from the river,
Away, you rolling river!
An' I ain't goin' to see her never.
Ha, Ha! I'm bound away, " &c.[9][10]

Alfred Mason Williams' 1895 Studies in Folk-song and Popular Poetry called it a "good specimen of a bowline chant".[11] In his 1931 book on sea and river chanteys entitled Capstan Bars, David Bone wrote that "Oh Shenandoah" originated as a river chanty or shanty and then became popular with seagoing crews in the early 19th century.[12]

Lyrics to Oh Shenandoah by Tennessee Ernie Ford

Oh Shenandoah, I hear you calling,
Hi-o, you rolling river.
Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you,
Hi-o, I'm bound away.
'Cross the wide, Mis-sou-ri.
Mis-sou-ri, She's a mighty river,
Hi-o, you rolling river.
When she rolls down, her topsails shiver,
Hi-o, I'm bound away,
'Cross the wide, Mis-sou-ri.
Farewell my dearest, I'm bound to leave you,
Hi-o, you rolling river.
Oh Shenandoah, I'll not deceive you,
Hi-o, I'm bound away.
'Cross the wide Mis-sou-ri.

Interim state song of Virginia

For a time in early 2006, it appeared that "Shenandoah" would become the "interim state song" for Virginia. While the authorizing legislation passed the Senate of Virginia, the measure died in committee on the Virginia House of Delegates side.[13] It was a problematic choice because the song never specifically mentions Virginia and, in many versions of the song, the name "Shenandoah" refers to an Indian chief, not the Shenandoah Valley or Shenandoah River. However, an early rendition of the song, as related in 1931 by David Bone in Capstan Bars, includes verses that appear to allude to the Shenandoah River, which is almost wholly located in Virginia:[14]

Oh, Shenandoah's my native valley.
Aa-way, you rolling river!
Shenandoah is my native valley.
Ah-way, we're bound to go, 'cross th' wide Missouri!
Oh, Shenandoah, it's far I wander.
Aa-way, you rolling river!
Shenandoah, it's far I wander.
Ah-way, we're bound to go, 'cross th' wide Missouri!
Oh, Shenandoah has rushing waters.
Aa-way, you rolling river!
Shenandoah has rushing waters.
Ah-way, we're bound to go, 'cross th' wide Missouri!

It is possible that, as the song's popularity spread, flatboatmen of the Missouri might have evolved different lyrics than the bargemen of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal along the Potomac or sailors of the American clipper fleet out of New Orleans.

Recordings

References

  1. ↑ http://www.balladofamerica.com/music/indexes/songs/shenandoah/index.htm
  2. ↑ Capt. R. C. Adams (April 1876). "Sailors' Songs". The New Dominion Monthly (Montreal: John Dougall & Son): 262. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  3. ↑ Robert Chamblet Adams (1879). On Board the "Rocket". D. Lothrop. p. 317. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  4. ↑ "About "Shenandoah"". Song of America Project. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
  5. ↑ "Sailor Songs", Harper's New Monthly Magazine 65 (386), July 1882: 283
  6. ↑ "Harpers New Monthly Magazine from 1882". ebooks.library.cornell.edu. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  7. ↑ The Times (45616) (London). September 12, 1930. p. 8 columnB. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
  9. ↑ The Times, Friday, Sep 12, 1930; pg. 8; Issue 45616; col B: Quoted in a letter to the editor written by A.A. Brookington of Liverpool. Brookington added his informant Laidlaw had later heard it sung "almost word for word as the sailor of Harland sang it" in 1926 at Monterey Presidio by a captain of the 9th U.S. Cavalry, and that this regiment, though officered by whites, was made up largely of black troopers. The letter-writer therefore speculated the song was originally a negro spiritual.
  10. ↑ In a letter to ‘The Times’ a former sailor who had worked aboard clippers carrying wool between Britain and Australia in the 1880s, suggested it had originated as a black American spiritual which developed into a work song: ‘This chantey is obviously of American origin...“Shenandoah” was more a wool and cotton chantey than a capstan chantey. I have many times heard it sung down the hold on the wool screws by the Sydney waterside workers... and many were full-blood negroes, who undoubtedly brought these chanteys off the cotton ships...With regard to the words, these vary according to the taste of the chantey man in the first and third line of each verse, there being no effort called for on these two lines, but the second and fourth lines were always the same, these being the rhythm lines on which the weight was used. When I was in the wool trade in the eighties, in both the Tweed and Cutty Sark this chantey was daily used on the wool screws.’ R. L. ANDREWES. "'Shenandoah'." The Times [London, England] 19 September 1930, p. 6.
  11. ↑ Alfred Mason Williams (1895). Studies in Folk-song and Popular Poetry. London: Elliot Stock. pp. 5–7., as reprinted in Alfred Mason Williams (2005). Studies in Folk-song and Popular Poetry. BiblioBazaar. ISBN 978-0-559-78728-7.
  12. ↑ David W. Bone (1931). Capstan Bars. Edinburgh: The Porpoise Press. OCLC 896299.
  13. ↑ Sluss, Michael (March 2, 2006). "Proposed state song doesn't bring down the House". The Roanoke Times. Retrieved October 14, 2008.
  14. ↑ Shenandoah River
  15. ↑ recording
  16. ↑ http://www.gemm.com Sergio Franchi
  17. ↑ http://www.rwhampton.com/albums/born.html List of tracks on the cassette-only album Born to Be a Cowboy

External links