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1. 

   Just plain Steve said, 19 days ago

   Are we buying old folksong lyrics in job lots now?

2. 

   BillTA said, 19 days ago

   And longitude.

3. 

   Joe Allen Doty said, 19 days ago

   Senator Haverhill Overhill Overdale lies a-mouldering in the cold, cold ground,
   Senator Haverhill Overhill Overdale lies a-mouldering in the cold, cold ground,
   Senator Haverhill Overhill Overdale lies a-mouldering in the cold, cold ground,
   But his soul goes marching on.

   Chorus:
   Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!
   Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!
   Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!
   His soul goes marching on.

4. 

   Joe Allen Doty said, 19 days ago

   http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/brown/sfeature/song.html

   During a visit to Washington in the autumn of 1861, poet Julia Ward Howe attended a public parade and review of Union troops. On her way back to Willard’s Hotel she found her carriage delayed by marching regiments. To spend some time, she and her cohorts in the carriage sang a few of the war songs so popular those days, among them, “John Brown’s Body,” which contained the provocative words, “John Brown’s body lies-a-mouldering in the ground…. His soul is marching on.”

   Howe would have assumed that the John Brown of the song was the famous abolitionist. But the song belonged to a young Scotsman in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia who shared Brown’s name.

   The Scotsman was well aware of John Brown the abolitionist. Having the same name made him a prime target for many good-natured jokes. As the soldiers marched, they would hammer out, in folk-song fashion, the tune that Julia Ward Howe would later hear. Lines like “His Soul’s Marching On” were meant to tease the Scotsman. But as the catchy verse traveled to other units, it was known only as a song about the John Brown who was captured at Harpers Ferry. New verses were constantly added:

   Old John Brown’s body is a-mouldering in the dust,
   Old John Brown’s rifle’s red with blood-spots turned to rust,
   Old John Brown’s pike has made its last, unflinching thrust,
   His soul is marching on!

   The morning after hearing the song, Julia Ward Howe wrote her own words to the tune. Soon after, it was published in the “Atlantic Monthly” as “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

   John Brown the Scotsman would not live to hear this version. He died early in the war, drowned in the Shenandoah River at Front Royal, Virginia.

5. 

   Joe Allen Doty said, 19 days ago

   When I was an undergraduate in college, I was a member of the drama club. I was on the publicity committee and the properties committee for the staged dramatic reading version of Stephen Vincent Benet’s epic poem “John Brown’s Body.”

   It was performed as a theater in the round production in the ballroom of the Student Center.

   And all of the actors wore Civil War period costumes, too.

6. 

   jtpozenel said, 19 days ago

   Wow, great comments! I’m going to go read my encyclopedia now.

7. 

   Just plain Steve said, 19 days ago

   Actually, it’s a conflation of “John Brown’s body lies a moldering in his grave” and “Massa’s in the cold, cold ground.”

8. 

   jabo said, 19 days ago

   Thank you for the further awareness of,”all of the above”!

9. 

   Joe Allen Doty said, 19 days ago

   Steve is right; the words of “John Brown’s Body” and “Massa’s in the cold, cold ground” are combined in the 1st Panel.

   Thanks, Steve. I forgot about the other song.

10. 

    Just plain Steve said, 19 days ago

    Well I’m certainly glad we could clear that up!