“Old Joe Camp”

Description

"Old Joe Camp when he came to town, He enlisted under Captain Brown, Brown swore him on the very first slap, And sent him off to Manassas Gap." Brown rides Joe, who vows to desert, is captured (?), and is "fired back" to Brown

Supplemental text

Old Joe Camp
  Complete text(s)

          *** A ***


From J. H. Cox, Folk-Songs of the South, #79, p. 285.

Supplied by Hilary G. Richardson; collected by 1917. Reportedly
sung by Nancy McAtee.

1 Old Joe Camp when he came to town,
  He enlisted under Captain Brown;
  Brown swore him on the very first slap,
  And sent him off to Manassas Gap.

2 Brown he was a-walking around,
  He found Joe sleepin' on the ground;
  Brown said to Joe, "It is your lot,
  We'll take you out and have you shot."

3 Said Joe to Brown, "Fightin' was not my intent,
  . . . . . . . . . .
  And now I can't do you no dirt,
  Fur I 'low to desert."

4 The ammunition gittin' thin,
  They wound Joe up and poked him in;
  They fired him off at the very first round,
  And fired him back to Captain Brown.

Notes

Despite the title, the stanza form implies that this is not a version of Old Joe Clark.

Cox's version is badly defective, and there don't seem to be other versions, so it's hard to tell what this is really about, except that it seems to involve an "old soldier" of the Civil War who does his best to avoid work -- and, when that fails, attempts to desert.

The only specific in the song is the reference to Manassas Gap; this is not enough even to allow speculation about the source of the song.

It was quite common, in the Civil War, for a well-to-do or well-connected man to volunteer to raise a company (or even a regiment), and become its commander as a result. It would seem that Brown was just such a company commander. - RBW

References

1. JHCox 79, "Old Joe Camp" (1 text)
2. ST JHCox079 (Full)
3. Roud #5463
4. BI, JHCox079