Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
The Wild Boar / Jobal Hunter / Abram Bailey / Old Bangum / Wild Hog in the Woods / Jovial Hunter of Bromsgrove / Sir Lionel (Child No. 18) - Song snippets and tunes played on the dulcimer by 86 year old Buna Hicks of Beech Creek, North Carolina. From the documentary "Buna and Bertha" (1973). Filmed and recorded by Thomas G. Burton and Jack Schrader in 1973.
00:00:00 Buna Hicks talks about her music
00:04:18 Plays the dulcimer
00:04:35 Sings a spiritual song, "Ship That's Sailing By" (Roud 16851)
00:05:57 Sings an old ballad, "The Wild Boar" (Child 18)
00:06:16 Plays "Pretty Fair Maiden" (Roud 264) on the dulcimer
The complete movie can be watched here:
folkstreams.net/films/buna-and-bertha
I used my knowledge on video editing to share the film on Youtube in the highest possible quality, I used manual video upscaling (no AI was used!) for this, to further document variants of traditional ballads and songs which has been my hobby for many years. I claim no ownership of the video, all the rights belong with Thomas G. Burton.
For a more complete rendition of Buna's "The Wild Boar" compare this recording made by Sandy Paton in 1961: youtube.com/watch?v=zDPN9ZLbOPg
Here is a complete text of the family version sung by Samuel Harmon of Maryville, Tennessee in 1939: youtube.com/watch?v=px7ov3u5rGw
Note by Kevin W.:
This fragment of the ancient Hicks/Harmon family version of Sir Lionel (Child 18) is important because it clears the confusion over the meaning of the word "Center" in the refrain. "Center" was a family name taken from "Center Hicks", a cousin of Samuel Harmon and Nathan Hicks. Amusingly one of the singers made him the hero of the song.
A longer text was recited by Rena Hicks: bluegrassmessengers.com/jobal-hunter--rena-hicks-nc-c1920-burton.aspx
"Abram Bailey" must be a phonetic corruption of "Egrabell (he) had three sons", the name as it appears in the earliest known text of the ballad, from Bishop Percy's Folio Manuscript of the middle decades of the 17th century: http://71.174.62.16/Demo/LongerHarvest?Text=Child_d01801
Song transcription:
Abram Bailey had three sons,
The youngest one was Center.
All through the wildwoods he went
Just like a jobal hunter.
Blowed his horn both east and west,
Blow your horn, Center.
And on his way he went again
Just like a jobal hunter.
The Wild Boar / Jobal Hunter / Abram Bailey / Old Bangum / Wild Hog in the Woods / Jovial Hunter of Bromsgrove / Sir Lionel (Child No. 18) - Song snippets and tunes played on the dulcimer by 86 year old Buna Hicks of Beech Creek, North Carolina. From the documentary "Buna and Bertha" (1973). Filmed and recorded by Thomas G. Burton and Jack Schrader in 1973.
00:00:00 Buna Hicks talks about her music
00:04:18 Plays the dulcimer
00:04:35 Sings a spiritual song, "Ship That's Sailing By" (Roud 16851)
00:05:57 Sings an old ballad, "The Wild Boar" (Child 18)
00:06:16 Plays "Pretty Fair Maiden" (Roud 264) on the dulcimer
The complete movie can be watched here:
folkstreams.net/films/buna-and-bertha
I used my knowledge on video editing to share the film on Youtube in the highest possible quality, I used manual video upscaling (no AI was used!) for this, to further document variants of traditional ballads and songs which has been my hobby for many years. I claim no ownership of the video, all the rights belong with Thomas G. Burton.
For a more complete rendition of Buna's "The Wild Boar" compare this recording made by Sandy Paton in 1961: youtube.com/watch?v=zDPN9ZLbOPg
Here is a complete text of the family version sung by Samuel Harmon of Maryville, Tennessee in 1939: youtube.com/watch?v=px7ov3u5rGw
Note by Kevin W.:
This fragment of the ancient Hicks/Harmon family version of Sir Lionel (Child 18) is important because it clears the confusion over the meaning of the word "Center" in the refrain. "Center" was a family name taken from "Center Hicks", a cousin of Samuel Harmon and Nathan Hicks. Amusingly one of the singers made him the hero of the song.
A longer text was recited by Rena Hicks: bluegrassmessengers.com/jobal-hunter--rena-hicks-nc-c1920-burton.aspx
"Abram Bailey" must be a phonetic corruption of "Egrabell (he) had three sons", the name as it appears in the earliest known text of the ballad, from Bishop Percy's Folio Manuscript of the middle decades of the 17th century: http://71.174.62.16/Demo/LongerHarvest?Text=Child_d01801
Song transcription:
Abram Bailey had three sons,
The youngest one was Center.
All through the wildwoods he went
Just like a jobal hunter.
Blowed his horn both east and west,
Blow your horn, Center.
And on his way he went again
Just like a jobal hunter.
