Songs & Ballads Of The Maine Lumberjacks

Share page



	The Jam at Gerry's Rock This ballad is widely known among lumberjacks. It had its origin in Maine (see Introduction, pp. xi-xii) but has travelled far from *home. It is in Lomax, Cowboy Songs,* as "Foreman Monroe," pp. 174 ff.; Shoemaker, North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy, pp. 72 ff.;** Focus, IV, 428-429 (from Virginia). It has been found in West *Virginia by J. H. Cox; in Michigan by B. L. Jones (Folk-Lore in Michigan,* p. 4) and by Miss Alma Blount. It has also made its way to Scotland (see Grieg, Folk-Song of the North-East, No. CXXXII). "Jam at Gerry's Rock," as taken down for the editor in 1915 by Mrs. F. H. Eckstorm, Brewer, Maine, who has several copies, all practically identical.** i Come all you brave shanty boys, And list while I relate Concerning a young shanty boy And his untimely fate; 2 Concerning a young river man, So manly, true, and brave; T was on a jam at Gerry's Rock He met his watery grave. 3 T was on a Sunday morning, As you will quickly hear, Our logs were piled up mountain high, We could not keep them clear.