The Blackbird - Part Three - Can't See the Forrest...

A quick search of the local libraries yielded no results for Earle Forrest's "History of Washington County, Volume 1"; the closest volume was at Citizen's Library in Washington, PA. I resigned myself to be (temporarily) satisfied with Alfred Creigh's account from his 1871 "History of Washington County":

"SECOND EXECUTION—WM. CRAWFORD.
Thirty-nine years had almost elapsed before a similar scene was enacted on Gallows Hill. WILLIAM CRAWFORD, an aged man, was tried for the murder of his own son before the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Washington, which assembled on November 20, 1822, before the Hon. Thomas H. Baird, President Judge, and his associates, Boyd Mercer and John Hamilton, Esqs.

A true bill was found by the grand jury, to which the prisoner plead, not guilty. By direction of the court a jury was empanelled of the prisoner's own selecting, consisting of Nathan Pyle, Benjamin Linton, James Ruple, Robert Gregg, Sr., William Clark, Samuel McDowell, Ebenezer Martin, Caleb Leonard, Thomas Jones, Ephraim Estep, Russel Moore, and Ezra Dille, who, being sworn and hearing the testimony, pleadings, and the charge of the court, rendered a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree.

November 23, 1822, Judge Baird pronounced the following sentence upon the prisoner: "That yon be taken from hence to the jail of the county of Washington, from whence you came, and from thence to the place of execution, and there be hanged by the neck until you are dead."

On the 25th November, 1822, exceptions were filed by his attorneys in arrest of judgment, but were overruled by the court, and the prisoner was executed on the 21st day of February, 1823, on Gallows Hill, south of the borough, William Baird (Deputy Prosecuting Attorney) and J. Pentecost, represented the commonwealth; and James Ross, Parker Campbell, John Kennedy, and T. M. T. McKennan, were the counsel for the prisoner; Robert Officer, Esq., being high sheriff of the county."

Not very informative, just the plain facts. Creigh notes that Crawford was "an aged man". How old?, I wondered... I made plans to visit Citizen's Library the next time my husband was in Washington for a gun show.

The trip to Washington was made in the winter last year. I took my laptop, and eagerly waited for the librarian to open the cage door to the local reference books. I went to the stacks and found Forrest - but not Volume 1. Dang! I went back to the reference librarian and asked about the missing book, and she went to her cart and picked up the copy I so desperately wanted to read and said, "You're lucky. This is being sent out to be rebound next week."

Not seeing a photocopier (and too cheap to pay for copies), I immediately started typing into the laptop the three pages of information:

Earle Forrest, History of Washington County Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, p.374, 1926
"Another murder committed in early times in Washington County, which is talked of to this day, was the shooting of Henry Crawford by his aged father, William Crawford, because his son persisted in singing and whistling "The Blackbird." This occurred at the Crawford home in what was known as the Horseshoe Bottom, in Fallowfield Township, on Tuesday, July 30, 1822.

William Crawford was a peculiar character, to say the least. He had been a British soldier during the War of 1812, and he proudly referred to himself as "old Britannia." He and his son, Henry, did not get along well together, for the latter had inherited some of his father's spirit and resented his parent's severity. "The Blackbird" was a popular patriotic American song of that day, and the son took great delight in aggravating his father by singing and whistling it.

The trouble seems to have had its origin in difficulties between Crawford and his wife, and the son naturally took the mother's side. Relations had become so strained that Henry and his mother left the old man and were living in another house nearby. Henry baited his father, and when he discovered that it angered the old man to either sing or whistle "The Blackbird," he lost no opportunity of arousing his parent's ire. The old man had frequently threatened to kill his son, but on account of the former's age, Henry did not fear him. He was afraid that he might shoot, and so he had broken his father's gun, but the old man had it repaired unknown to his son.

On July 30, William Crawford held a "frolic" of hauling manure, a custom of early times, in which a man's neighbors would all join forces and help him in a certain line of work, such as harvesting, ploughing, building a house, or in fact anything about the farm. This is still observed by farmers of the present day in harvesting and threshing.

During that morning, when Crawford invited several of the men into his house for a drink of whiskey, he told then that his son, Henry, had come to torment him and he would kill him before night of he did not go away. Some of the men went to the barn and warned Henry, but he only said that he did not think "Britannia would shoot."

That evening Henry was sitting on a log near the door singing "The Blackbird"; and just as he started the second verse he was shot and almost instantly killed by his father. As the young man fell several men rushed from the barn, and one bent over him and asked, "Henry, are you hurt?"

"I am not as bad hurt as you think I am," he replied, and died within a few minutes. He was aged twenty-eight years.

In firing the fatal shot the old man rested his rifle against the door frame and took deliberate aim. He was captured immediately, and while waiting for the arrival of Parker Scott, a justice of the peace, the old man stated that he had intended to kill this son, and would do it again if he had it to do over.

William Crawford was lodged in the county jail at Washington, and on Thursday, November 21, 1822, was put on trial for the murder of his son, before Hon. Thomas H. Baird, president judge, and Boyd Mercer and John Hamilton, associate judges. The best legal talent of that day was arrayed on opposing sides. William Baird, the prosecuting attorney, was assisted by Joseph Pentecost, while Crawford was defended by James Ross. Parker Campbell, Thomas M.T. McKennan, and John Kennedy, all of whom ranked with the best of that time.

Thirty-four jurors were called before the twelve were finally selected to decide the old man's fate. The case was hard fought, but it was finally completed and given to the jury at 3:20 o'clock November 22nd, and an agreement was reached at 4:30. The little courtroom was crowded with people as the jury filed in, and the foreman announced the verdict, "Guilty of murder in the first degree."

On the following morning Crawford was sentenced by Judge Baird "to be taken from hence to the jail of the county of Washington from whence you came, and from thence to the place of execution, and be there hanged by the neck until you are dead. And may the God of mercy speak pardon and peace to your soul."

This was followed by a long address to the prisoner by Judge Baird, but the condemned man showed little or no concern in what was said; and at the conclusion he said that he felt no remorse of conscience. Such were his feelings to the very end. A writ of error was refused by the attorney general of the state, and an appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, but this tribunal refused to interfere. This ended the last hope of William Crawford for escaping the death penalty.

The death warrant from the governor was received by the sheriff on January 21, 1823, and when it was read to the old man in his cell, Crawford exhibited very little emotion. Crawford refused to eat for several days following, and it was feared that he would starve himself to death; and this was evidently his intention, but hunger finally overcame his resolution.

The hanging of William Crawford was, in many ways, one of the most extraordinary affairs of the kind that ever took place in Pennsylvania. While in jail awaiting execution he wrote a history of his life, which was afterwards published in The Examiner. To the very last this gray-haired man, who was past seventy years if age, exhibited an indifference that was amazing. He never expressed a regret for his terrible deed, and he went to his death without once asking for spiritual consolation.

This execution, the second in Washington County, and the first for murder, took place on Gallows Hill, where Thomas Richardson had been hanged for robbery over thirty-eight years before. The case had attracted wide attention throughout Western Pennsylvania, and on Friday, February 21,1823, between 8,000 and 15,000 people gathered in Washington to witness the public hanging of this man; and it was necessary to call out a company of militia to keep back the crowd and preserve order. The hanging was in charge of Sheriff Robert Officer and his deputy, Robert McClelland.

When taken from the jail to the place of execution, Crawford's conduct was most amazing, and it is doubtful if any man ever went to his death on the gallows wither before or since who appeared to care as little. His face was full of color and his eyes were clear and untroubled. The ground was covered with snow, and e was taken through the streets of Washington on a sled, riding beside his own coffin. As he rode to the gallows, between lines of thousands of people, he leaned on the coffin, peeled and ate an apple, telling the boys who ran beside the sled not to hurry, as the hanging would not take place until he got there. He was accompanied by the sheriff, his deputy and several clergymen, while the militia marched with the sled to keep back the crowd. In the narrative if his life, which he had written in jail, he said: "I do not fear, but I can not hope. I shall die like a soldier; but I dare not die like a saint."

When the gallows was reached he exhibited a complete indifference to the divine services conducted by the ministers for the salvation of his soul. At the close he mounted the platform, and while Sheriff Officer read the death warrant sat with his back against a post. In a last attempt to get some expression of repentance from him, the Rev. Charles Wheeler, the Baptist minister, entreated him to forgive his enemies, and especially the members of his own family, but Crawford only replied: "God may forgive them, but I will have nothing to do with them. They want my life. Let them take it. I am ready to die. I am a murdered man. My death is occasioned by a set of rascally, perjured witnesses, and a weak, partial jury."
When the Rev. Mr. Wheeler urged him to pray, the condemned man told him to mind his own business.

Crawford was placed over the trap door, and the rope was tied around his neck, after which those on the gallows, with the exception of the sheriff, bid him farewell and descended to the ground. When Sheriff Officer asked him if he wished the execution delayed to the last minute allowed by the warrant, he replied that he wished it over with, as he wanted to give his friends time to take him home that night. The black cap was drawn over his eyes by the sheriff, who shook hands with him, and picking up a hatchet, cut the cord that held the trap, and plunged the soul of William Crawford into eternity.

Wow. Intriguing write-up. Where did Forrest get his information? As it so happens, a reporter from the local newspaper interviewed William Crawford before his death, got his story and printed Crawford's autobiography, Last Will and Testament, and an account of the execution. A few years ago, a resourceful reference librarian named Rama Karamcheti transcribed the newspaper account from The Reporterinto a booklet. I stumbled upon it while searching the stacks, found the lone photocopier and enough change to make a copy of the transcription. I'll make it available over the next week as a serial (within a serial).

Next: The Blackbird/The Crawford Chronicles Part I

The Blackbird - Part Two - Play it Again, Sam

Sara's notes on "The Blackbird" only whetted my appetite to find the whole story behind the tune (or more accurately, the tune behind the story). Dunbar, Pennsylvania is not terribly far away, in fact there's a spur trail off of the Great Allegheny Passage that takes you to Dunbar called the Sheepskin Trail. Local history, hmmm....


I found a copy of Samuel Bayard's Hill Country Tunes on the internet and, of course, downloaded it. Sam was a collector of sorts. He collected tunes, and the focus of this book was the "Hill Country" of western Pennsylvania; his primary contributors were fiddlers and fifers from Dunbar (Fayette County) and Derry (Westmoreland County) - about 8 miles from here. I'll have more about Sam in a later installment...


If you read what he said about the Blackbird, you'll discover that he made his account from Earle Forrest's History of Washington County. Bayard's text follows below:

88. THE BLACKBIRD

This is another old Irish air, deservedly popular among western Pennsylvania fiddlers. In this region it is not played as a dance, although dance versions have been recorded elsewhere, but as a "piece" (i.e. a folk instrumental tune with no function beyond that of entertainment), or a "dead march," which is what the players of both versions given here understand it to be. Joyce notes that the air "was played everywhere by pipers and fiddlers" (Joyce 1909, p. 181); and in the course of tradition it has split into several rather sharply differentiated versions, of which our A represents the one seemingly best known. Our B version gives the air its usual American, title of "The Blackbird." It is under this name that most country musicians in western Pennsylvania known the tune.

To judge from collected and printed versions, "The Blackbird" has undergone more extensive re-creation by some of its players in America than in the old country. It would appear that old-country players generally keep the main outlines of the air intact, even though they may alter mode, tempo and rhythm. In western Pennsylvania the .editor has recovered more than one version in which variation has involved truncation, reversal of the order of parts, displacement of some phrases as to relative location or pitch, and even the introduction of new turns to replace the old, familiar ones. Such changes may be observed in our B. version. Sometimes they cause the fine qualities of a tune to evaporate. But apparently the majestic movement of this tune has not been impaired by the alterations which version B has undergone. The extent to which popular re-creation may transform a tune without producing an entirely different melody could hardly be better exemplified than by these two sets.

What has fixed the name of "The Blackbird" upon the tune in this country, and made it a frequent name in Ireland, is the fact that, although it is primarily an instrumental tune here, it is also a vocal melody there, and is often set to a song of loyalty to the Young Pretender. In 1651 the royalist ballad-printer Richard Burton issued a broadside entitled "The Ladies Lamentation. For the losse of her Land-lord," a song in two parts and eight stanzas lamenting the misfortunes and exile of Charles II. This ballad refers to Charles in the first stanza as the "Black-bird (most Royall)." In Ireland at a later period, the song-makers loyal to the house of Stuart seized on the piece with its symbolism so convenient to their necessities, and remade it — cutting it down to five stanzas, deleting all specific reference to the career of Charles II, giving prominence to the Blackbird symbol, modernizing the language, and introducing other variations. Thus remade, the song was understood to refer to Charles Edward Stuart, the famous "Prince Charlie" — and in this guise it has persisted in tradition until the present day. It was also in Ireland, apparently, that this revision of the old Caroline ballad became attached to the tune represented by our version A — a tune which Padraic Colum finds hard to associate with defeat, because of its beauty and pride. Along with this air, the song travelled to America, and the editor has recovered a fragment in Greene County. But the many .instrumental versions of the tune in Pennsylvania doubtless reflect a tradition quite independent of the actual song, although its name has impressed itself upon the melody everywhere.

"The Blackbird" has had recent local tragedy associated with it as well as "old, unhappy, far-off things." A persistent tradition in southwestern Pennsylvania asserts that in Washington County a man once shot his son for singing this tune. The shooting actually occurred; but whether this tune is the one which occasioned it is not so certain.

In 1822 a man named William Crawford was living at Horseshoe Bottom in Fallowfield Township, Washington County. He had been in the British Army during the War of 1812, and was so ardently pro-English that he proudly styled himself "Old Britannia." He did not get along well with the rest of his family, and his son Henry used to snatch at every opportunity of plaguing him. To hear "The Blackbird" being sung apparently maddened the old man, and Henry sang it in his presence continually — despite threats of murder, to which no one paid much attention.

On July 30, 1822, Crawford had a "manure-hauling frolic" at his home. Henry appeared, and disregarding warnings, commenced "The Blackbird," when his father got his gun, took deliberate aim, and shot his son, killing him almost instantly. Crawford was hanged February 21,1823. At his trial and thereafter he displayed an indifferent and contemptuous attitude toward the proceedings, and acted with what was taken for blasphemous levity and defiance.

A full account of the tragedy — from which the above abstract was. made — may be seen in Earle R. Forrest, History of Washington County Pennsylvania (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Co., 1926), I, 370, 374-:6. The source just cited accounts for the father's reaction by 'stating that "The Blackbird" was "a popular patriotic American song of that day" (p. 374). if so, it could hardly have been the Jacobite piece associated with our tune; but it is not impossible that there was a patriotic native song set to this air at one time. At any rate, tradition has definitely associated the tune with this tragedy, which is frequently mentioned when the air is played in southwestern Pennsylvania.

OK - what we have now are three distinct tunes... which one to associate to this tragedy? My leaning is to the Bunting version:

"Once in fair England my Blackbird did flourish,
He was the chief flower that in it did spring;
Prime ladies of honour his person did nourish,
Because that he was the true son of a king.
But this false fortune,
Which still is uncertain,
Has caused this long parting between him and me.
His name I'll advance
In Spain and in France,
And seek out my Blackbird wherever he be."

Maybe I'll find some more clues in Forrest...

Next: The Blackbird - Part Three - Can't See the Forrest For the
Trees

The Blackbird - Part One - Sara'ndipity

I like music. I like history. Every once in a while the two converge.

Browsing through Sara Johnson's Kitchen Musician site, I noticed this little bit of history relating to the tune, "The Blackbird"...

Sara says, "I was intrigued to find "The Blackbird" had connections with an odd bit of early American history, in Western Pennsylvania. Samuel Preston Bayard collected variations of this tune from old fiddlers near Dunbar, Pennsylvania, which he included in his 1944 book Hill Country Tunes, along with the story. It was played in Pennsylvania as a "listening" piece. However, in Ireland the tune also had lyrics, written by loyalists to the house of Stuart. A 1651 ballad lamenting the exile of Charles II had referred to Charles as the "Black-bird most Royall", and the later Jacobite song retained the blackbird symbol, cutting out specific references to Charles II, and reworking the lyrics so the "Blackbird" referred to Bonnie Prince Charles. Although the song was not sung in Pennsylvania, the tunes apparently still had connotations of anti-English sentiment.

The tradition in Washington County in southwestern Pennsylvania is that in 1822, a man murdered his son for singing this tune. The murder was a real occurrence - though we can't be positive that this is the tune. A William Crawford, of Horseshoe Bottom in Fallowfield Township, Washington County, had been in the British Army during the War of 1812. He was so ardently pro-British that he called himself "Old Britannia." He did not get along well with his son Henry, who frequently taunted him by singing "The Blackbird", which threw William in a rage, and he often threatened to kill his son for singing it.In July of 1822, Crawford was having a "manure-hauling frolic" at his farm, when his son Henry appeared and began singing "The Blackbird". When his son disregarded his warnings, William fetched out his gun and shot and killed him instantly. At his trial, he acted with "what was taken for blasphemous levity and defiance." He was hanged for the murder in February of 1823."

Sara's version of the "Blackbird" posted on her website is not the version that Samuel Bayard had written down in "Hill Country Tunes", but there are many version of this tune floating around. References cited are: O'Neill's Music of Ireland, Bunting's The Ancient Music of Ireland, and The American Veteran Fifer, No. 91. Sara says that this version is from Bunting:




Thanks, Sara, for your permission to use your gif file and link to your wonderful site. Next installment: The Blackbird - Part Two - Play it Again, Sam

Home Sweet Hovel

Demo Weekend... no, not "demo" as in demonstration. "Demo" as in demolition. This is the weekend I start gutting the bathroom. I'm doing a major overhaul of the bathroom structure. What I hope to accomplish is a leak-free toilet and sink -- something that it is not today -- and a draft-free and rot-free structure. I'll need to replace two floor joists and insulate the exterior wall. I don't have much of a budget and will have to perform a lot of the labor myself. I'm being helped with the reconstruct by the nice guys who came out and handled our septic woes.

As you can see, the toilet and sink/vanity are completely shot. The toilet finally bit the big one when the contractor ran the new line from the house to the septic tank (story below). I've already removed a cupboard and started tearing out the first layer of wall: wire lath and plaster. What fun! I also have to rip out what three nice but inept guys put in when they "repaired" the bathroom 10 years ago. They did such a poor job it's taken me this long to get enough courage/heart to tear it out. I just kept shaking my head and wondered where to start...

Last winter we started having septic problems. Not hard to do when the number of people in your house doubles (from 3 to 6). Trouble was, the only person who knew where the septic tank was buried died 17 years ago. This tank has never been pumped out, and it dates from the early 70's. We started digging last year and decided to call the professionals.

The first man came out to the house and couldn't find it with his probe. The second guys ran a "bug" through the clean out and came to a place where it "probably" was located. We dug (or I should say son Brian dug) and found terra cotta pipe which was immediately immersed in effluent. Son resigned from the labor force on this project, and we tried to get a contractor. No luck.

Until... our zoning officer said we should really do something about the hole in our side yard because the neighbors were complaining. Now, our zoning officer is a neighbor but we like her anyway. She made a recommendation and we called. Spring/summer is their busy season, but they'd call us when they could schedule us in. Fast forward to two weeks ago. They finally got a break and started the dig. Three days later, we had not one, but two tanks pumped out, and a new line running from the house to the septic tank. A couple of concrete rings extend the top of the tanks so that the next time, we'll be able to find them.

Well, back to the task at hand. I'm not looking for a "House Beautiful" remodel -- I just want a functioning bathroom that 6 people can share and keep clean. Utilitarian, I guess. Anyone have any suggestions?

Waaay too much to do

It's 10 pm, and it's been a busy day. I've shoved things into panniers and there's no extra room. I have everything including the kitchen sink. The bike is heavy and cumbersome. I feel defeated before I get started. The front end of the bike is twitchy, the rear end of the bike is twitchy. I have a day to get used to it -- it's why I am only going 17 miles the first day. I am leaving the spare tire behind (the bike's, not mine) and the floor pump that I took last year, but I've substituted the hammered dulcimer and ice cooler - NOT an even exchange, by any means. I've switched out a tiny, digital camera for a mid-size DSLR and lens AND tripod. I have the BoB this time around, and no panniers and tent on the rear rack.

Oh, and it's supposed to rain tomorrow.

ON a bright note... I got the front derailleur adjusted. The nice man at Cycle, Sport and Ski in Greensburg gave the cable an adjustment and gave the bike a quick look-over. I'm all set to go. He even made me an extra spoke to carry. Price - just over $10.

I picked up snack food at Wal-Mart. I went there hungry and came out $75 lighter. 2/3's of the food went into the resupply box, to be divied up next weekend.

My friends, Neil B and Neil F named their tour the "Shake, Rattle and Roll" tour. I'm thinking about naming this one the "Old, Fat and Sassy" tour.

Jeff presented me with 100 brochures for Fort Ligonier to take on this tour, as well as 10 magnets in the shape of the fort's historical marker to hand out. I'll put some of the brochures in the resupply box he's bringing to Old Bedford Village.

Early start tomorrow. Gotta hit the hay.