Silver Dagger (song)


"Silver Dagger", with variants such as "Katy Dear", "Molly Dear", "The Green Fields and Meadows", "Awake, Awake, Ye Drowsy Sleepers" and others, is an American folk ballad, whose origins lie possibly in Britain. These songs of different titles are closely related, and two strands in particular became popular in commercial Country music and Folk music recordings of the twentieth century: the "Silver Dagger" version popularised by Joan Baez, and the "Katy Dear" versions popularised by close harmony brother duets such as The Callahan Brothers, The Blue Sky Boys and The Louvin Brothers.
In "Silver Dagger", the female narrator turns away a potential suitor, as her mother has warned her to avoid the advances of men in an attempt to spare her daughter the heartbreak that she herself has endured. The 1960 recording by Joan Baez features only a fragment of the full ballad. "Katy Dear" uses the same melody but different lyrics, telling a similar story from a male perspective.

History

Origin

The song exists in a large number of variations under many different titles, and with lyrics that may show a mixture of different songs. Steve Roud observes on one version of the song titled "O! Molly Dear Go Ask Your Mother":
Of interest are early versions of two songs, "Silver Dagger" and "Drowsy Sleeper", that are related thematically, but differ in lines, verse rhythm and outcome in their lyrics. The texts of these two songs may share a common origin in the older theme of night visit in traditional English songs. The plot of "Silver Dagger" is similar to that of "Drowsy Sleeper" whereby the parents object to a match between a boy and a girl, except that in "Silver Dagger" the dagger is used as a suicide weapon by the young lovers, while in "Drowsy Sleeper" the couple elope. However, at some point in the 19th century, there also appears to have been a fusion of these two different songs whereby the tragic ending of "Silver Dagger" becomes attached to "Drowsy Sleeper", giving rise to some later variations of the song.
The earliest known text of "Drowsy Sleeper" in Britain may be dated to 1817, and the first verse of a variant of the song appears in a songbook of American folk songs first published in 1855, John G. McCurry's The Social Harp. Early publications of "Silver Dagger" in the US may be found in Spirit of the Times and Gazette of the Union, Golden Rule and Odd-fellows' Family Companion in 1849. A version of "Drowsy Sleeper" published in a broadside as "Who's at My Bedroom Window?" by H. J. Wehman in 1890 shows a mixture of "Silver Dagger" and "Drowsy Sleeper". A version collected in Kentucky was printed in The Journal of American Folk-Lore in 1907, and three versions were collected by Henry M. Belden in 1908. Cecil Sharp published an English version from Somerset in 1908 as "Arise! Arise!". Sharp also collected a version of the song in the United States as "Awake, awake", sung by Mary Sands in Madison County, North Carolina on August 1, 1916.
The differences in titles and some lyrics may also be a result of the song being handed down through the unwritten oral tradition, or adapting from different sources, and where each performer may add their own verses and nuances to the song. These songs have been sung using different tunes. Relation to other songs such as "Old Virginny"/"Man of Constant Sorrow" and "Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies" have also been noted.

Early recordings

The song was recorded commercially as "O! Molly Dear Go Ask Your Mother" by Kelly Harrell in 1926, as "Sleepy Desert" by Wilmer Watts And The LoneLy Eagles in 1929, and as "Wake Up You Drowsy Sleeper" by The Oaks family in 1930. As "Katie Dear " it was recorded by the Callahan Brothers in 1934, and as "Katie Dear" by the Blue Sky Boys in 1938. . In 1956 it was recorded by the Louvin Brothers. The song was part of the repertoire of the Country Gentlemen, who toured both the bluegrass and folk music circuits during the 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1960s, "Katie Dear" was recorded by folk revival musicians, including Joan Baez, and Ian & Sylvia. Today it is commonly performed and recorded by bluegrass musicians.

Lyrics

;"Silver Dagger" as sung by Joan Baez

Don't sing love songs; you'll wake my mother

She's sleeping here, right by my side

And in her right hand, a silver dagger

She says that I can't be your bride.



All men are false, says my mother

They'll tell you wicked, lovin' lies

The very next evening, they'll court another

Leave you alone to pine and sigh.



My daddy is a handsome devil

He's got a chain five miles long

And on every link a heart does dangle

Of another maid he's loved and wronged.



Go court another tender maiden

And hope that she will be your wife

For I've been warned and I've decided

To sleep alone all of my life.




;"Katy Dear" as sung by Ian & Sylvia

Oh, Katy Dear, go ask your father

If you might be a bride of mine

If he says yes then come and tell me

If he says no, we'll run away.



I cannot go and ask my father

For he is on his bed of rest

And by his side there's a golden dagger

To pierce the heart I love the best.



Oh Katy Dear, go ask your mother

If you might be a bride of mine

If she says yes then come and tell me

If she says no, we'll run away.



I cannot go and ask my mother

For she is on her bed of rest

And by her side there's a silver dagger

To pierce the heart I love the best.



He picked up a silver dagger

He pierced it through his wounded breast

Farewell Katy, farewell darling

I'll die for the one I love the best.



She picked up the bloody weapon

She pierced it through her snow-white breast

Farewell Momma Farewell Poppa

I'll go with the one I love the best.


;"Wake Up You Drowsy Sleeper" as sung by the Oaks Family

Wake up, wake up, you drowsy sleeper,

Wake up, wake up, for its almost day

Stick your head out at the window

And see your true love march away



Who is it that has come so early?

Who is it that has come so soon?

Catie dear, it your true lover

That came so early and so soon



Catie dear go ask your parents

If you may be the bride of mine

If they say no return and tell me

And no longer will I pine



Willy dear, its no use ask them

Their in their room a takin' a rest

And in their hands they both hold daggers

To kill the one that I love best



I then take out my silver dagger

And pierce it in my tender breast

Saying goodbye katay goodbye darling

I'll die for the one that I love best



I'll then take up his bloody dagger

And pierce it in my lily white breast

Saying goodbye Catie goodbye darling

I'll die for the one that I love best



Oh may this day be long remembered

Oh, may this day be nere forgot

To all you cruel ill hearted parents

Who try to keep true lovers apart

Recordings and performances

The song has also been widely performed and recorded by bluegrass musicians, as many songs thought of as traditionally bluegrass songs actually trace back to what is now known as "old-time" music.

20th century