“Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!”

Description

The prisoner cries as he recalls mother and home. He recalls the battle where he was taken. But then he recalls that the troops are coming, and cheers his fellows: "Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching, Cheer up comrades they will come...."

Supplemental text

Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!
  Complete text(s)

          *** A ***

From sheet music published 1864 by Root & Cady.
Title page inscribed
          TRAMP!
             TRAMP!
                TRAMP!
                or the
          PRISONER'S HOPE
      AS SUNG BY EDWIN KELLEY,
OF ARLINGTON KELLEY & LEON'S MINSTRELS
          Song & Chorus
         BY GEO. F. ROOT

1. In the prison cell I sit,
   Thinking Mother dear, of you,
   And our bright and happy home so far away,
   And the tears they fill my eyes
   Spite of all that I can do,
   Tho' I try to cheer my comrades and be gay.
   Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,
   Cheer up comrades, they will come,
   And beneath the starry flag
   We shall breathe the air again,
   Of the freeland (sic.) in our own beloved home.

CHORUS.
Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,
Cheer up comrades, they will come,
And beneath the starry flag
We shall breathe the air again,
Of the freeland* in our own beloved home.

2. In the battle front we stood
   When their fiercest charge they made,
   And they swept us off a hundred men or more,
   But before we reach'd their lines
   They were beaten back dismayed,
   And we heard the cry of vict'ry o'er and o'er.

3. So within the prison cell,
   We are waiting for the day
   That shall come to open wide the iron door,
   And the hollow eye grows bright
   And the poor heart almost gay,
   As we think of seeing home and friends once more.

* The sheet music gives two versions of the chorus, one
solo (or unison) and one for SATB. In the solo version,
"free land" is spelled as one word, "freeland." In the
SATB version, it's spelled "free-land." In neither case
is it two words.

Same tune

• The Wallaby Brigade (File: FaE186)

Cross references

• cf. "The Tramp (I)" (tune)
• cf. "An Anti-Fenian Song" (tune)
• cf. "The Bounty Jumper's Lament" (tune)
• cf. "God Save Ireland" (tune)
• cf. "The Salutation" (tune)

Recordings

• S. H. Dudley, "Tramp Tramp Tramp" (Berliner 0157-Y, rec. 1898)
• Frank J. Gaskin, "Tramp Tramp Tramp" (Berliner 0157-Z, rec. 1896)[
• Arthur] Harlan & [Frank] Stanley, "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp" (Victor 5021, 1907) (CYL: Edison 9439, 1907) (CYL: Edison [BA] Special E [as Harlan & Stanley w. chorus], n.d.)
• Frank C. Stanley, "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!" (CYL: Edison 5002, c. 1898)
• Unknown baritone "Tramp Tramp Tramp" (Berliner 0157, rec. before 1895)

References

1. RJackson-19CPop, pp. 214-217, "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! or The Prisoner's Hope" (1 text, 1 tune)
2. Silber-CivWar, pp. 86-87, "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!" (1 text, 1 tune)
3. Darling-NAS, pp. 347-348, "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!" (1 text)
4. Silber-FSWB, p. 66, "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!" (1 text)
5. Fuld-WFM, p. 588+, "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!"
6. DT, TRMPTRMP*
7. ST RJ19214 (Full)
8. BI, RJ19214