"Wildwood Flower" (or "The Wildwood Flower") is an American song, best known through performances and recordings by the

Carter Family Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. ...

. It is a folk song, cataloged as Roud Folk Song Index No. 757.

History

"Wildwood Flower" is a variant of the song "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets",. published in 1860 by composer

Joseph Philbrick Webster Joseph Philbrick Webster, also known as J.P. Webster (February 18, 1819 – January 18, 1875), was an American songwriter and composer most notable for his musical compositions during the Antebellum South, antebellum and American Civil War p ...

, who wrote the music, with lyrics attributed to Maud Irving. Other versions of the song have evolved, including "The Pale Amaranthus" (collected in Kentucky and North Carolina, reported in 1911), "Raven Black Hair" and "The Pale Wildwood Flower" (collected 1915–1919), and "The Frail Wildwood Flower". WildwoodFlower

The original Carter Family first recorded "Wildwood Flower" in 1928 on the

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

label.

Maybelle Carter "Mother" Maybelle Carter (born Maybelle Addington; May 10, 1909 – October 23, 1978) was an American country musician and "among the first" to use the Carter scratch, with which she "helped to turn the guitar into a lead instrument". It ...

leads a rendition of the song on the 1972 album ''

Will the Circle be Unbroken "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" is a popular Christian hymn written in 1907 by Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H. Gabriel. The song is often recorded unattributed and, because of its age, has lapsed into the public domain. Most of the ch ...

'', and frequently performed the song in concert with Johnny Cash and on his ''

The Johnny Cash Show ''The Johnny Cash Show'' is an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969, to March 31, 1971, on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. ...

''. The Carter version of the song is considered the premier example of " the Carter Scratch", a form of acoustic guitar playing in which the musician (in the case of the Carters, most notably Maybelle herself) plays both the melody and rhythm lines simultaneously.

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

used the tune of "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets" for the verses of his song " The Sinking of the Reuben James", although he added a chorus to the song. via the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

. The original poem (if any) from which the lyrics derived has been lost. Other poems attributed to the reputed author of the lyrics, Maud Irving, may be found in periodicals of the time,Bram, Eric M.
''The Mystery of Maud Irving''
retrieved 20 September 2013. including ''

Godey's Lady's Book ''Godey's Lady's Book'', alternatively known as ''Godey's Magazine and Lady's Book'', was an American women's magazine that was published in Philadelphia from 1830 to 1878. It was the most widely circulated magazine in the period before the Civil ...

'' and
Home Monthly.
' Several of the poems in the latter periodical carry bylines indicating that the ''Maud Irving'' of those poems was a pseudonym for poet and spiritualist J. William Van Namee.

Lyrics

The original lyrics to the 1860 song "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets", taken verbatim from the published sheet music (italics, recognized punctuation, and capitalization as in the original), are as follows.Taken from a compilation published in 1862 showing the 1860 date, located in the William R. and Louise Fielder Sheet Music Collection, Stanford University Libraries: ''I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets.'' Words by Maud Irving. Music by J.P. Webster. Copyrighted and Published (1860, 1862) by H.M. Higgins, 117 Randolph Street, Chicago. Pearson, engraver.

Evolution

Although originally a

parlor song Parlour music is a type of popular music which, as the name suggests, is intended to be performed in the parlours of houses, usually by amateur singers and piano, pianists. Disseminated as sheet music, its heyday came in the 19th century, as a resu ...

, the song had undergone the

folk process In the study of folklore, the folk process is the way folk material, especially stories, music, and other art, is transformed and re-adapted in the process of its transmission from person to person and from generation to generation. The folk pro ...

by the time the Carter Family recorded it. For example, the first verse of "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets" is whereas the Carter Family's "Wildwood Flower" begins In some versions, the order of the verses is changed, with the one ending in moved to the end, thus giving the impression that the woman has come to terms with her lost love and can move on. However, the final verse as originally written, clearly shows that the woman remains heartbroken, and thus preserves the sad, tragic nature of the song, rather than ending on an upbeat, but ultimately false note.

Notes

{{Authority control Parlor songs American folk songs Carter Family songs Roy Clark songs Hank Thompson (musician) songs Merle Travis songs Joan Baez songs Woody Guthrie songs 1860 songs Songs written by Joseph Philbrick Webster United States National Recording Registry recordings