"Silver Dagger", with variants such as "Katy Dear", "Molly Dear", "The Green Fields and Meadows", "Awake, Awake, Ye Drowsy Sleepers" and others (Laws M4 & G21, Roud 711, 2260 & 2261), 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, 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 and may share a common origin in the older theme of night visit in traditional English songs, but they differ in lines, verse rhythm and outcome in their lyrics. 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 only traditional recording of the song according to the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library was a 1939 Herbert Halpert recording of James Taylor Adams and Finley Adams in Dunham, Kentucky, where the song was called "Poor Goins". 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 (Silver Dagger)" it was recorded by the Callahan Brothers in 1934, and as "Katie Dear" by the Blue Sky Boys in 1938. (Country music authority Bill C. Malone states that the Callahan Brothers learned traditional ballads like "Katie Dear" from their mother). 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

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. 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, wake up, you drowsy sleeper, Wake up, wake up, for it's 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[/my] bride of mine If they say no return and tell me And no longer will I pine Willy dear, it's no use [to] ask them They're 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 Catie, 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 ne'er 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

21st century

Adaptations