Annotation:Old Jim Lane

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OLD JIM LANE. AKA - "Old General Lane," "Sad Station." Old-Time, Play-party Song. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozarks Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Randolph published the play-party song in his Ozark Folksongs, vol. 3 (No. 560) as "Old General Lane." The song, as sung by W.P. Detherow [1], begins:

There sets a young lady all in this chair,
A-mourning the loss of her own true love.
It has been said that she was slain
All in the wars of Old Jim Lane.

Oh, no, 'tis not so;
She's come back to be my beau.
Oh, no, cannot be;
She's come back to marry me.
Oh, no cannot be;
She's come back to marry me.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources:

See also listing at:
Hear Detherow;s 1952 recording of the song at John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection, Lyon College, site [2]

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