All the little chickens in the Garden

THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER, THE or THE LITTLE CHICKENS IN THE GARDEN.
Adapted by F. Louis. Music & words by James A. Bland. 1878.

I once did know a farmer, and he was a faithful soul.
He used to work upon his farm around his country home.
He had an only daughter and to win her I did try,
And when I asked her father wise, the old man did reply:

"Treat my daughter kindly, and say you'll do no harm,
And when I die I'll leave you both my little stock and farm:
My horse, my cow, my sheep, my plow, my home, my pump, my barn,
And all the little chickens in the garden."

I loved this young girl dearly and I thought that she loved me,
And ev'ry evening I would go her lovely face to see,
And watch her milk her father's cow. In it, I saw no harm,
And lots of fun I'd always have before I'd left the barn.

Her father has consented and we two will married be.
We'll own our little country home and live in harmony.
No sorrow seems to hover o'er our little cottage home,
For all is blithe and happiness although we live alone.

This is an interesting song and it’s hard to trace some aspects of its history. I have to start by admitting that I can find no clear evidence that this song was ever sung in the British Music Halls. Several songs called The Farmer’s Daughter were sung in the Halls – composer and Music Hall accompanist James Batchelder advertised one in The Era in 1868, another was published in 1896, from the show Biarritz, sung by Arthur Roberts.

This The Farmer’s daughter , the one that has become famous in traditional circles, was written by one-time blackface minstrel performer James A Bland, an African-American comedian who appeared in Britain in several different minstrel troupes. It perhaps goes without saying that most blackface entertainer’s on both sides of the Atlantic were white men covering their faces in burnt cork or the equivalent. However a number of African-Americans also became blackface entertainers.

James A Bland (1854-1911) was the son of a relatively well-off black couple: his father worked in the US Patent Office. He attended Howard University for a short while, but seems to have been drawn to the life of an entertainer, joining various minstrel companies touring Boston and New York. He wrote and published a series of highly successful songs between 1878 and 1882, including The Farmers Daughter, Golden Slippers and Carry me back to Old Virginny.

Bland first came to the UK touring with Haverly’s Genuine Coloured Minstrels in the summer of 1881 – the name reflects the fact that unlike other minstrel troupes, this one largely consisted of African-Americans. When the rest of Haverly’s troupe returned to the US in 1882, Bland stayed. He lived in the UK for the next 20 years or so and became a popular figure in British, Irish and German theatres and Halls, in later years apparently appearing without blackface make-up. Like many of his fellow Music Hall entertainers, he was generous with his money. Unfortunately like many of his fellows, despite earning significant money at the height of his fame, he died penniless back in the States in 1911.

The minstrel tradition is often written about as something completely separate from Music Hall and it’s true that the bigger minstrel troupes in the UK tended to only appear in more respectable venues. However, there were a number of less famous minstrel troupes, small groups and individuals that did tour the Halls. James Bland certainly wrote songs that were sung by these type of groups, for example acts like the Courtney Brothers and the India Rubber Four. What I cannot find, is any direct evidence that either Bland or the acts that he wrote for, sang this particular song on the Music Hall stage.

The song itself was tremendously successful in America in the 1880s. It was first published in 1878 and re-published in 1883. One version printed in 1883 claimed that 10,000 copies were sold within a week. This success is probably reflected in the number of 20th century traditional American and Canadian singers that remembered the song . However, so far I have found no direct evidence that the song had similar success here at that time (the 1880s).

What we can say is that by the turn-of-the-century, the song was being sung in Britain. It was collected twice – by Alfred Williams, from the singing of Miss E King probably in Wiltshire before 1916 and by Anne Gilchrist from an unknown singer (in Cumbria? ) probably 1898-1909, but certainly no later than 1931. It was published as a broadside by the Poets Box in Glasgow in around 1890.

How did the printer’s, Miss King and our unknown singer get to know this song? Was it directly as a result of its success in America, or was it perhaps part of James A Bland’s repertoire in the 20 years he was living and performing here – if you have ideas let me know! john@folksongandmusichall.com