Folk Song for September 2022: Did You Go To the Barney?

Our first song of the year is a tribute to the memory of our dear Advisory sister Wendi Capehart. She loved singing this song with her grandchildren. The Advisory treasures our shared memory of watching Wendi work her legendary folk singing magic while teaching this song to a crowd of happy moms at a conference in Canada some years ago. 

Note: Due to Youtube’s protective regulations for video content aimed at children, there is no version of this song which can be included in Youtube playlists. No worries, we've linked to an Amazon mp3 file on the AO Folk Songs page, or you could just bookmark the link here to Peggy Seeger's version on Youtube.

Did You Go To the Barney?

1. Did you go to the barney? Yes ma’am.

Did you see my mulie? Yes ma’am.

Did you ride my mulie? Yes ma’am.

And how did he ride?

He rocked just like a cradle,

He rocked just like a cradle.

2. Did you go to the barney? Yes ma’am.

Did you see my mulie? Yes ma’am.

Did you feed my mulie? Yes ma’am.

And what did you feed him?

I fed him corn and fodder.

I fed him corn and fodder.

3. Did you go to the millie? Yes ma’am.

Did you get any flour? Yes ma’am.

Did you bake any cakes? Yes ma’am.

And why did you bake them?

Oh I’ll marry next Thursday morning,

Oh I’ll marry next Thursday morning.

Did You Go To the Barney is a call-and-response tune (see this Wikipedia entry for a sense of the global history of call-and-response traditions). 

The tune of this song shares roots with some similar folk songs, albeit with slight melodic variations. Here are two which your children will enjoy exploring for extra fun. (These also cannot be added to Youtube playlists; check the AO Folk Songs page for Amazon links.)

Did You Feed My Cow?

Ella Jenkins (Youtube)

Ella Jenkins with choir (Youtube)

1. Well, did you feed my cow? (Yes, ma’am!)

Well, did you feed my cow? (Yes, ma’am!)

Well, tell me, what did you feed her? (Corn and hay)

Well, tell me, what did you feed her? (Corn and hay)

2. Well, did you milk her real good? (Yes, ma’am!)

Well, did you milk her like you should? (Yes ma’am!)

Well, show me, how did you milk her? (Squish, squish, squish)

Well, now, how did you milk her? (Squish, squish, squish)

3. Well, did my cow get sick? (Yes, ma’am!)

Oh, was she really, really sick? (Yes ma’am!)

Well, show me, how did she look? (Uh, uh, uh)

Again now, how did she look? (Uh, uh, uh)

4. Well, did those buzzards come? (Yes, ma’am!)

Oh, did those buzzards come? (Yes ma’am!)

Well, tell me, how did they come? (Flop, flop, flop)

How did they come? (Flop, flop, flop)

Oh, John the Rabbit

Mike & Peggy Seeger (Youtube)

A field recording of 4 teenage girls in the 1930’s-40’s (Youtube)

Oh, John the rabbit (Yes, ma'am!)

Got a mighty habit (Yes, ma'am!)

Jumpin' in my garden (Yes, ma'am!)

Cuttin' down my cabbage (Yes, ma'am!)

My sweet potatoes (Yes, ma'am!)

My fresh tomatoes (Yes, ma'am!)

And if I live (Yes, ma'am!)

to see next fall (Yes, ma'am!)

I ain't gonna have (Yes, ma'am!)

No garden at all (NO, ma'am!)

Lynn's Youtube Playlist for AO Folk Songs 2022-2023

Our helpful intro post is sure to liven up your folk song adventures.

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline.

Folk Song for October 2022: Waltzing Matilda

This is the much-beloved, unofficial anthem of Australia. There it is often sung by large crowds at sporting events and other public gatherings. It's often performed at folk festivals in North America, the UK, and elsewhere around the globe as well. So fun to sing!

Unless you’re from the Land Down Under, you’re likely to need an explanation of the lyrics! 

There are many, many variations of the lyrics, but these verses seem to be fairly standard at this point in the song’s long history, and they align most closely with the classic recording by Australian folk singer Slim Dusty.

Waltzing Matilda 

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong

Under the shade of a Coolibah tree

And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,

"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me.”

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong;

Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee;

He sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,

"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me.”

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me;

He sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,

"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me.”

Up rose the squatter, mounted on his thorough-bred;

Up rode the troopers one, two, three;

"Where’s that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?

You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me.”

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me;

"Where’s that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?

You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me.”

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong;

"You'll never catch me alive,” said he.

And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,

“You’’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me!”

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me;

And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,

"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me"

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me;

And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,

"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me!”

Lynn's Youtube Playlist for AO Folk Songs 2022-2023

Our helpful intro post is sure to liven up your folk song adventures.

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline.

A daily dose of liberty

"...there is no great gulf fixed between teacher and taught; both are pursuing the same ends, engaged on the same theme, enriched by mutual interests; and probably the quite delightful pursuit of knowledge affords the only intrinsic liberty for both teacher and taught. "He is the freeman whom the truth makes free," and this freedom the steady pursuit and delightful acquirement of knowledge afford to us day by day. 

Charlotte Mason, Volume 6

A New Look at "This Country of Ours"

 

On AmblesideOnline's website, we say that "This Country of Ours is a classic work for which we have found no equal, and it is an important spine in the AO curriculum." We stand by that statement, and we recommend the book for the very end of Year 2, and for all of Years 3, 4, and 5.

H. E. Marshall's book was published in the United States in 1917, and it therefore has certain terms and expressions that are no longer in usage today. Over the years, I've wanted to update the book, and to add some notes and helps that would enhance the reading for a new generation.

That project is part-way done. I have completed Volume 1, which is chapters 1-28, in an "Annotated, Expanded, and Updated" version. Here are a few of the things that are added or adjusted in this version:

-the sources of Marshall's many quotes are listed, as accurately as possible.

-outdated or color-based terms for Native people are removed and replaced with the correct tribal name wherever possible.

-terms that are now considered offensive are changed (such as the term for a Native woman).

-new information that is pertinent is added (such as links to Viking discoveries, or how the Spotswood Peace Treaty continues to this day).

-there is a Pronunciation Guide for names of people or tribes, and there are now definitions of some words that are not easily understood in the context.

-in some places, a few sentences or paragraphs that explain more of the story are included, where it's helpful.

-there is enhanced punctuation, to make read-aloud easier.

-American spellings are used, rather than British spellings.

All notes are at the end of each chapter, so as not to disrupt the reading. (One additional change: the title of chapter 17 has been changed to "A Year to be Remembered, and the Peace of Pocahontas Ends.")

In the process of this project, I have been impressed once again by Marshall's passion for the truth, by her fairness, and by her gift of writing. The story of America is compelling, and she has done a worthy job of telling it. This version seeks to follow in her footsteps.

This version is now available in paperback, hardcover, and in an inexpensive Kindle version. Volume 2 will be available in a few months, with the third volume completed in a similar time period. Volume 4 will be original material, taking the story beyond 1917, for term 1 of year 6.

Charlotte Mason wrote, "It is never too late to mend but we may not delay to offer such a liberal and generous diet of History to every child in the country as to give weight to his decisions, consideration to his actions and stability to his conduct; that stability, the lack of which has plunged us into many a stormy sea of unrest." ("Towards a Philosophy of Education," p. 179)

In this stormy sea of unrest, here is a new look at "This Country of Ours."

Please know that anyone can still use the original version of TCOO, and the free version online! But if you want the updated version, it is available on Amazon.

Excerpt from Revitalized

In this section, young journalist Miss Hagan returns to Miss Mason’s study, with the purpose of finding out more about the PNEU, particularly on the topic of school-books and how they “make for education.” This passage begins partway through their interview.

Miss Mason: Now, intelligent teachers today are well aware of the dry-as-dust character of school books, so they fall back upon the oral lesson, one of whose qualities must be that it is not bookish. 

Miss Hagan: Ah, isn’t it interesting that bookish then becomes a derogatory term. 

Miss Mason: And, to a degree, this can be successful. Living ideas can be derived only from living minds, and so it occasionally happens that a vital spark is flashed from teacher to pupil. But this occurs only when the subject is one to which the teacher has given original thought. In most cases the oral lesson, or the more advanced lecture for the older ones, consists of information got up by the teacher from various books, and imparted in language a little pedantic, or a little commonplace, or a little reading-made-easy in style. At the best, the teacher is not likely to have vital interest in, and, consequently, original thought upon, a wide range of subjects. So this approach often fails because of the natural limitations of teachers.

We wish to place before the child open doors to many avenues of instruction and delight, in each one of which he should find quickening thoughts. Our aim in education is to give a full life. But we cannot expect a school to be manned by a dozen master-minds, and even if it were, and the scholar were taught by each in turn, it would be much to his disadvantage. What he wants of his teacher is moral and mental discipline, sympathy and direction; and it is better, on the whole, that the training of the pupil should be undertaken by one wise teacher than that he should be passed from hand to hand for this subject and that. 

Miss Hagan: What is it that we are responsible to give them? 

Miss Mason: No, not quite give this time. We owe it to children to initiate an immense number of interests; “Thou hast set my feet in a large room” (Psalm 31:8) should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul; but we cannot give the children these interests. I know you may bring a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink; but what I complain of is that we do not bring our horse to the water. We give him miserable little text-books, mere compendiums of facts, which he is to learn off, and say, and produce at an examination; or we give him various knowledge in the form of warm diluents, prepared by his teacher with perhaps some grains of living thought to the gallon. And all the time we have books, books teeming with ideas fresh from the minds of thinkers upon every subject to which we can wish to introduce children. It is rather like keeping a boat anchored close to the shore, and complaining that we cannot catch enough fish, when the waters are full of them.

Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking–the strain would be too great–but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest. We prefer that students should never say they have learned botany or conchology, geology or astronomy. The question is not,–how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education–but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him? 

Miss Hagan: Is it not perhaps expecting too much of children to be interested in such things? Are these methods really suitable for the average student? 

Miss Mason: Of course there are highly gifted and precocious children, the ones who are reading at two years of age and composing at five, the Morrises and Macaulays. But all children are reasonable beings. Our grandfathers and grandmothers recognized children as persons of mind and conscience like themselves, but, needing their guidance and control, as having neither knowledge nor experience. This is the note of home-life in the last generation [Study 1]. So soon as the baby recognized his surroundings, he found himself morally and intellectually responsible. And children have not altered. This is how we find them––with intelligence more acute, logic more keen, observing powers more alert, moral sensibilities more quick, love and faith and hope more abounding; in fact, in all points as adults are, only more so; but absolutely ignorant of the world and its belongings, of us and our ways, and, above all, of how to control and direct and manifest the infinite possibilities with which they are born.

In her third volume, School Education, Charlotte Mason examined most of her educational principles: authority and obedience; the respect owed to personality; and the uses of environment, habit, and living ideas. She also compared the educational ideas of her Parents’ Union with other psychological thought and worldviews; explored the building of early affinities through literary examples; and provided specific application of those principles through samples of student work. In Revitalized, by Anne E. White, this rich treasure chest of thought has now been re-imagined for a new era, using formats such as letters and conversations, while attempting to remain as faithful as possible to the original work. Revitalized is available on Amazon, in print and Kindle formats.

In longest, darkest nights

 December from Calendar of Sonnets, by Helen Hunt Jackson

The lakes of ice gleam bluer than the lakes
Of water 'neath the summer sunshine gleamed:
Far fairer than when placidly it streamed,
The brook its frozen architecture makes,
And under bridges white its swift way takes.
Snow comes and goes as messenger who dreamed
Might linger on the road; or one who deemed
His message hostile gently for their sakes
Who listened might reveal it by degrees.
We gird against the cold of winter wind
Our loins now with mighty bands of sleep,
In longest, darkest nights take rest and ease,
And every shortening day, as shadows creep
O'er the brief noontide, fresh surprises find.

This poem is included in the AmblesideOnline Poetry Anthology Volume Three, along with poems by Helen Hunt Jackson and three other poets . They can also be read on the AO website.

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