#241 - Kitty Wells

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• Composer:
  • Thomas Brigham Bishop

    • #241 - Kitty Wells
    • #1216 - Leaf by Leaf the Roses Fall

    (1835-1905)
  • The entry for this cob in this Cobography previously gave the date of this song following Bishop's name as “c. 1830”, but this cannot be correct if Bishop was not born until 1835 and indeed composed and wrote the song. In this regard, there is a copy of sheet music for the song in the Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection at the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries & University Museums dated 1858 attributing the song to Charles E. Atherton, three years earlier than a different copy of sheet music for it in the Historic American Sheet Music Collection at Duke University dated 1861 attributing it to Bishop. The lyrics in the two versions are nearly identical and the Bishop lyrics are the ones reproduced below. As to the questionability of Bishop's creation of the song, see also the notes on this cob in “Dutton's Roller Organ Cob Handbook” elsewhere on this website. (Corrected by R.D., 4/5/21)
• Also known as:
  • Katy Wells
• MIDI | show
  
• Incipit: 534531465534517125345314651354565471
• Condensed Incipit: 53453146534517125345314651354565471
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• Lyrics:
  You ask what makes this d—ie weep,
  Why he like others am not gay,
  What makes the tear flow down his cheek,
  From early morn till close of day.
  My story d—ies you shall hear,
  For in my memory fresh it dwells.
  'Twill cause you all to drop a tear
  On the grave of my sweet Kitty Wells.
  
  chorus:
  When the birds were singing in the morning,
  The myrtle and the ivy were in bloom,
  And the sun on the hill was a dawning,
  It was then we laid her in the tomb.
  
  I never shall forget the day,
  When we together roam'd the dells;
  I kissed her cheek and named the day
  That I should marry Kitty Wells.
  But death came in my cabin door
  And took from me my joy my pride,
  And when I found she was no more,
  Then I laid my banjo down and cried.
  
  I often wish that I was dead,
  And laid beside her in the tomb,
  The sorrow that bows down my head
  Is silent in the midnight gloom.
  The springtime has no charms for me,
  Though flowers are blooming in the dells,
  But that bright form I do not see,
  'Tis the form of my sweet Kitty Wells.
  
  A copy of sheet music for the song dated 1861, attributing it to Bishop and containing these lyrics is held in the Historic American Sheet Music Collection at Duke University and may be viewed online at repository.duke.edu.
  • Thomas Brigham Bishop (1835-1905)