EARLY IDAHO SONGS OF THE MONTH - May 2011
Old Deserted Claim. This plaintive song from "Poet-Prospector" Clarence E. Eddy's book of poems and songs Pinnacle of Parnassus (1902) is about the old deserted Charles Dickens mining claim near Bonanza. Eddy suggested the melody of Sunny Tennessee for the song. The rendition here is by Jenny Willison (guitar and vocals) and Charlie Burry (fiddle) of Boise. |
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Queen of the Purple Mist. This poem, recited here by Erv Johnson of Boise, is perhaps the Poet-Prospector's finest poem. The poem appeared in the Challis Silver Messenger newspaper on Aug. 23, 1910 and possibly was published earlier in the Death Valley region in 1907 or 1908 when the Poet-Prospector was making a big splash in that area. |
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© 2011. This page created on May 15, 2011.