“Windy Bill (I)”
Description
"When Joshua camped at pore Jericho's town, He blew his horn till the walls tumbled down... I blow my own horn... That's why they call me Windy Bill." Assorted tall tales, many Biblical, and often offered as explanations for the name "Windy Bill"
Notes
Among the Biblical incidents related in this story are:
* Jericho destroyed by Joshua: Josh. 6:15-21 (the preliminaries occupy Josh. 2 and the rest of Josh. 6)
* "David went round with a stone and a sling, And he beaned old Goliath and later was king, He ran with the wild bunch while Saul was alive" (David and Goliath: 1 Samuel 17; David's anointing: 1 Samuel 16; David flees into the Wilderness: 1 Sam. 19:10 to the end of the book, with preliminaries beginning in 18:9)
* "Esau was a farmer of the wild wooly kind, That could not stand work and being confined, He did not think titles to his land was quite clear, So he traded his farm for a sandwich and beer" (Esau the"hairy man": Gen. 27:11f.; Esau sells his birthright for a meal of bread and lentil stew: Gen. 25:29f.)
* "Sampson, that big boy, wore his hair long, Till he met with a jane and she got him in wrong, He slung a wicked jawbone, I do the same, That's how I got Windy Bill for a name" (Samson, his hair, and Delilah: Judges 16:4f.; Samson and the jawbone: Judges 15:14f.) - RBW
Cross references
- cf. "Walkin' in the Parlor" (theme)
References
- Randolph 430, "Windy Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
- Roud #7611
- BI, R430