"Jack Monroe" (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

268 and

Laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

N7), also known as "Jack Munro", "Jack-A-Roe", "Jackaro", "Jacky Robinson", "Jackie Frazier" and "Jack the Sailor", is a traditional ballad which describes the journey of a woman who disguises herself as the eponymous character to board a sailing ship and save her lover, a soldier. The song was once popular in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, Britain (particularly

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

) and Ireland; it was popular as a British

broadside ballad A broadside (also known as a broadsheet) is a single sheet of inexpensive paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations. They were one of the most common forms of printed material between the ...

in the early 1800s and American broadsides date back to around 1830, although it could be significantly older. The song survived in the oral tradition on both sides of the Atlantic, and became a popular song during the

folk revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Early folk music performers include Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Ewan MacColl (UK), Richard Dyer-Bennet, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie ...

when

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

covered a version sung by the Ritchie family of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Popular version

The famous version of the song comes from the Ritchie family of

. Jean Ritchie released "Jackero" on her 1956 album "Songs from Kentucky" and performed it on Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest in 1966. Her sister Edna Ritchie sang the song on her eponymous 1962 album.

Cecil Sharp Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was a key figure in the folk-song revival in England dur ...

had previously collected this version of the song from Jean and Edna's older sister May Ritchie (1896-1982) in 1917. Joan Baez covered the Ritchie version, singing it as "Jack-A-Roe" on ''

Joan Baez in Concert ''Joan Baez in Concert'' (later reissued as ''Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1'') is a live album taken from Joan Baez's 1962 concert tours. It peaked at No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Albums chart. History It was Baez's version of " Babe, I'm Gon ...

'' (1962), and the song became a staple of the folk rock repertoire.

The Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, and world music with psyc ...

performed the song on '' Reckoning'' (1981) and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

sang it on '' World Gone Wrong'' (1993).

Melora Creager Melora Creager (born March 25, 1966) is an American cellist, singer-songwriter, performing artist and founder of the rock band Rasputina. Early life, beginnings and Rasputina Born in Kansas City, Missouri, and adopted by a graphic designer an ...

of Rasputina also recorded "Jack-A-Roe" on '' Ancient Cross-Dressing Songs''.

Other traditional versions

Britain and Ireland

This song has been collected numerous times in

. Hamish Henderson recorded Willie Mathieson of Ellon,

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

singing a version called "Jack the Sailor" in 1952, which can be heard via the Tobar an Dualchais archive. Seamus Ennis recorded a version from Frank Steel of Whitehills,

Banffshire Banffshire (; ; ) is a historic county in Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since 1996 the area has been spli ...

, also in 1952. The Irish traditional singer

Thomas Moran Thomas Moran (February 12, 1837 – August 25, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family, wife Mary Nimmo Moran and daughter Ruth, took ...

was recorded by Seamus Ennis singing a variant entitled "Jack Mulroe" in 1954. Only two versions have been collected in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

- "The Maid of Chatham" by

Sabine Baring-Gould Sabine Baring-Gould (; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,240 pu ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

in 1893, and "Jacky Robinson" by

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

United States

Several traditional American versions similar to the Ritchie family version are available online, including one recorded by

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music during the 20th century. He was a musician, folklorist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activ ...

in 1937 in Kentucky from Nora Begley, and another sung by Norma Kisner of Springdale,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. A 1959 recording of a Lizzie Maguire of Fayetteville,

, which uses a different variant of the tune, is also available online. In 1931, Florence Reece used a version of "Jack Munro" similar to this variant for her song " Which Side Are You On?", which was famously performed by a variety of musicians including

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

and

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

References

Sources

"Jackie Frazier"
lyrics and score
"English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians"

External links

i
The Ballad Index
British folk songs Joan Baez songs Grateful Dead songs Traditional ballads {{folk-song-stub