The House Carpenter by Clarence Ashley [Anthology Revisited - Song 3]
TL;DR -- Clarence Ashley plays banjo and sings a Child ballad first composed in 1657. It's one of those songs that had supernatural elements before coming to the US and being sanitized.
Welcome back for the third installment in Anthology Revisited, a series about Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. Today, we’ll examine “The House Carpenter” by Clarence Ashley. It’s a Child ballad about betrayal, a trans-Atlantic voyage, and (of course), death.
In the last two essays, we looked at Child ballads that were murder ballads featuring female killers who misled their victims. They were “Henry Lee” which was based on ”Young Hunting” (Child 68), and “Fatal Flower Garden” which comes from “Sir Hugh” (Child 155). The thread of misleading continues today, as we dig into Clarence Ashley’s recording of “The House Carpenter”, a song based on Child ballad 243 “James Harris, (The Daemon Lover)”.
As always, let’s start with Harry’s headline…
WIFE AND MOTHER FOLLOWS CARPENTER TO SEA; MOURNS BABE AS SHIP GOES DOWN
In previous essays, Smith’s headlines more closely describe the Child ballads instead of the recordings presented, but in this case, the headline fits the song in the set, with no additional references to the Child ballad from which it was spawned.
The story, as presented in the song goes something like this. A fellow approaches a lady and says something to the effect of “Hey! Remember me? I’m your old lover and I’m back. I know you’re married to a house carpenter and all, but I came all the way across the ocean just for you. I even coulda married a king’s daughter, but I turned down all that stuff just so I could be with you. Wanna run away together?” The woman, intrigued by the offer, looks at her newborn child and decides to abandon the kid and take to the sea with this guy. Once asea, she regrets leaving her baby. Some days later, the boat springs a leak and sinks. The end.
Here’s the tale, as sung by Clarence Ashley for Columbia Records on April 14, 1930 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Lyrics
“Well met, well met” said an old true love.
“Well met, well met” said he,
“I'm just returning from the salt salt sea
And it's all for the love of thee”“Climb in, climb in, my old true love
And have a seat with me
It's been three-fourths of a long long year
Since together we have been”“Well I can't come in or I can't sit down
For I haven't but a moment's time
They say you're married to a house carpenter
And your heart will never be mine”“Now it's I coulda married a king's daughter here
I'm sure she'da married me
But I've forsaken her crowns of gold
And it's all for the love of thee”“Now, will you forsaken your house carpenter
And go along with me?
I'll take you where the grass grows green
On the banks of the deep blue sea”She picked up here little babe
And kisses gave him three
Says “Stay right here my darling little babe
And keep your pappa company.”Well they hadn't been on ship but about two weeks
I'm sure it wasn't three
Well his true love began to weep and mourn
And he weeped most bitterlySays “Are you a-weepin' for my silver or my gold?”
Says “Are you weeping for my store?
Are you weeping for that house carpenter
Whose face you'll never see any more?”“No it's I'm not a-weepin' for your silver or your gold
Or neither for your store
I am weeping for my darling little babe
Whose face I'll never see any more”Well they hadn't been on ship but about three weeks
I'm sure it wasn't four
'Til they sprung a leak in the bottom of the ship
And they sunk for to rise no more.
The Song
"The House Carpenter" tells the story of a woman who is visited by an old flame who has crossed the sea to see her hoping that she will abandon her husband and child(ren) to run away with him. The woman agrees, and the two leave. The woman becomes mournful of her choice a few weeks into the journey. A week or so later, the ship sinks and they die. The titular character is only mentioned in passing the song and never enters the conversation himself.
It’s a pretty simple story with an abrupt ending. If this was a song that Clarence Ashely had written himself one afternoon, we’d be left with a whole bunch of unanswerable questions. But, since the song predates Ashley’s performance by almost 300 years, there’s a LOT more to the story.
Origins
The House Carpenter is an American variant of Child Ballad 243, James Harris (The Daemon Lover) first printed on a Scottish broadside in February 1657 with the following full title:
"A Warning for Married Women, by the example of Mrs. Jane Renalds, a West-Country woman born neer unto Plymouth, who having plighted her troth to a seaman, was afterwards married to a carpenter, and at last carried away by a spirit, the manner how shall be presently recited".
No one wants to remember a title that long, and the song was referred to as “A Warning for Married Women”. The title eventually evolved into James Harris (The Daemon Lover). It’s believed that the ballad was composed by Laurence Price, a prolific balladeer of the mid 1600’s.
Since the song’s original publication, over 250 variations have been published, and as you’ll soon see, there are some dramatic differences between the version Price is believed to have written and the song that Ashley sang.
Let’s start with the variant upon which Ashley’s performance is based. Below are the lyrics for Child 243B, which Harry Smith cites the version most similar to the recording. In this telling, the lover has more extravagant offerings, and the House Carpenter himself gets two verses at the end, but overall, it’s the same tale.
By the way, the phrase “Well met”, which begins the song, is an archaic greeting that is a verbal shorthand for the phrase “it is well to have met you”.
243B: James Harris, (The Daemon Lover)
243B.1 ‘WELL met, well met, my own true love, Long time I have been seeking thee; I am lately come from the salt sea, And all for the sake, love, of thee. 243B.2 ‘I might have had a king’s daughter, And fain she would have married me; But I’ve forsaken all her crowns of gold, And all for the sake, love, of thee.’ 243B.3 ‘If you might have had a king’s daughter, I think you much to blame; I would not for five hundred pounds That my husband should hear the same. 243B.4 ‘For my husband is a carpenter, And a young ship-carpenter is he, And by him I have a little son, Or else, love, I’d go along with thee. 243B.5 ‘But if I should leave my husband dear, Likewise my little son also, What have you to maintain me withal, If I along with you should go?’ 243B.6 ‘I have seven ships upon the seas, And one of them brought me to land, And seventeen mariners to wait on thee, For to be, love, at your command. 243B.7 ‘A pair of slippers thou shalt have, They shall be mad of beaten gold, Nay and be lin’d with velvet soft, For to keep thy feet from cold. 243B.8 ‘A gilded boat thou then shall have, The oars shall gilded be also, And mariners to row the[e] along, For to keep thee from thy overthrow.’ 243B.9 They had not been long upon the sea Before that she began to weep: ‘What, weep you for my gold?’ he said, ‘Or do you weep for my fee? 243B.10 ‘Or do you weep for some other young man That you love much better than me?’ ‘No, I do weep for my little son, That should have come along with me.’ 243B.11 She had not been upon the seas Passing days three or four But the mariner and she were drowned, And never were heard of more. 243B.12 When tidings to old England came The ship-carpenter’s wife was drownd, He wrung his hands and tore his hair, And grievously fell in a swoon. 243B.13 ‘Oh cursed be those mariners! For they do lead a wicked life; They ruind me, a ship-carpenter, Be deluding away my wife.’
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch243.htm
The Vanishing Supernatural Theme
In the liner notes, Smith states that “The supernatural theme of the early versions has disappeared almost completely in America.“, and as in Ashley’s recording of “The House Carpenter”, there are no supernatural elements in the Child 243B version of “James Harris (The Daemon Lover)”. Child 243A, on the other hand, starts off with fresh information, and the details keep a-comin’ for thirty two verses.
We learn the woman’s name was Jane Reynolds (Verse 1) and that the lover who sailed across the sea is named James Harris (Verse 3). The two were engaged to be wed, but Harris was called to sea (Verse 8). Jane stayed behind, remaining a maiden for three years while awaiting his return, only to be informed of his demise (Verse 10). Jane Reynolds married the house carpenter and they had been married four years (Verse 13) and had three children together (Verse 14) when the following events transpired.
The House Carpenter left town for a few days (Verse 15). While he was gone, the spirit of James Harris came to visit (Verse 16). Jane and the spirit have an extended conversation wherein he regales her with tales of his adventures and proposes that she return across the sea with him. She ultimately falls in love with him all over again, and we are reminded that this was not James Harris, the man, but the spirit of said man who has appeared to her in the form of a man (Verse 27). They leave, never to be heard from again (Verse 28). The husband returns to find her gone and hangs himself in sorrow (Verse 31), leaving three orphaned children behind. This tragic blow is lessened when we are assured that the heavenly powers will provide for them (Verse 32).
It is worth noting that in this version, there is no divine retribution in the form of a sinking ship. She simply leaves with the ghost and is never heard from again.
243A: James Harris, (The Daemon Lover)
243A.1 THERE dwelt a fair maid in the West, Of worthy birth and fame, Neer unto Plimouth, stately town, Jane Reynolds was her name. 243A.2 This damsel dearly was belovd By many a proper youth, And what of her is to be said In known for very truth. 243A.3 Among the rest a seaman brave Unto her a wooing came; A comely proper youth he was, James Harris calld by name. 243A.4 The maid and young man was agreed, As time did them allow, And to each other secretly They made a solemn vow, 243A.5 That they would ever faithfull be Whilst Heaven afforded life; He was to be her husband kind, And she his faithfull wife. 243A.6 A day appointed was also When they was to be married; But before these things were brought to pass Matters were strangely carried. 243A.7 All you that faithfull lovers be Give ear and hearken well, And what of them became at last I will directly tell. 243A.8 The young man he was prest to sea, And forc d was to go; His sweet-heart she must stay behind, Whether she would or no. 243A.9 And after he was from her gone She three years for him staid, Expecting of his comeing home, And kept herself a maid. 243A.10 At last news came that he was dead Within a forraign land, And how that he was buried She well did understand, 243A.11 For whose sweet sake the maiden she Lamented many a day, And never was she known at all The wanton for to play. 243A.12 A carpenter that livd hard by, When he heard of the same, Like as the other had done before, To her a wooing came. 243A.13 But when that he had gained her love They married were with speed, And four years space, being man and wife, They loveingly agreed. 243A.14 Three pritty children in this time This loving couple had, Which made their father’s heart rejoyce, And mother wondrous glad. 243A.15 But as occasion servd, one time The good man took his way Some three days journey from his home, Intending not to stay. 243A.16 But, whilst that he was gone away, A spirit in the night Came to the window of his wife, And did her sorely fright. 243A.17 Which spirit spake like to a man, And unto her did say, ‘My dear and onely love,’ quoth he, ‘Prepare and come away. 243A.18 ‘James Harris is my name,’ quoth he, ‘Whom thou didst love so dear, And I have traveld for thy sake At least this seven year. 243A.19 ‘And now I am returnd again, To take thee to my wife, And thou with me shalt go to sea, To end all further strife.’ 243A.20 ‘O tempt me not, sweet James,’ quoth she, ‘With thee away to go; If I should leave my children small, Alas! what would they do? 243A.21 ‘My husband is a carpenter, A carpenter of great fame; I would not for five hundred pounds That he should know the same.’ 243A.22 ‘I might have had a king’s daughter, And she would have married me; But I forsook her golden crown, And for the love of thee. 243A.23 ‘Therefore, if thou’lt thy husband forsake, And thy children three also, I will forgive the[e] what is past, If thou wilt with me go.’ 243A.24 ‘If I forsake my husband and My little children three, What means hast thou to bring me to, If I should go with thee?’ 243A.25 ‘I have seven ships upon the sea; When they are come to land, Both marriners and marchandize Shall be at thy command. 243A.26 ‘The ship wherein my love shall sail Is glorious to behold; The sails shall be of finest silk, And the mast of shining gold.’ 243A.27 When he had told her these fair tales, To love him she began, Because he was in human shape, Much like unto a man. 243A.28 And so together away they went From off the English shore, And since that time the woman-kind Was never seen no more. 243A.29 But when her husband he come home And found his wife was gone, And left her three sweet pretty babes Within the house alone, 243A.30 He beat his breast, he tore his hair, The tears fell from his eyes, And in the open streets he run With heavy doleful cries. 243A.31 And in this sad distracted case He hangd himself for woe Upon a tree near to the place; The truth of all is so. 243A.32 The children now are fatherless, And left without a guide, But yet no doubt the heavenly powers Will for them well provide.
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch243.htm
The Performance
The song was recorded on April 14, 1930 in Atlanta, Georgia for Columbia Records and features Clarence Ashley on vocals and five-string banjo.
The song opens with a brief instrumental section that make it clear that we’re listening to a highly-skilled musician. I am not trying to to disparage the performers of the preceding tracks, but the core of this series is to examine the songs in the context of the Anthology, so I think it’s worth the mention.
When one is listening to the Anthology, and has just heard “Henry Lee”, followed by “Fatal Flower Garden”, the precision of Ashley’s clawhammer banjo picking on “The House Carpenter” absolutely leaps from the speakers. To my ear, there is an immediate and startlingly clear shift in the level of musicianship on display.
“Well met! Well met, said an old true love” Ashley’s tenor vocals come into the mix in a lively, but matter of fact style that makes no judgment. He simply delivers the story in a detached manner, with no hint of personal emotional involvement. Throughout the recording, the sound of Ashley’s voice blending with the tone of the banjo gives the song a spooky, mountain vibe.
After listening to the other versions of this song that Smith referenced in the Discography section for the song, it’s clear to me why he chose Ashley’s performance over Bradley Kincaid’s or the Carolina Tar Heels. Links to recordings of the other two songs appear later in the article, so you can judge for yourself. But to my ear, Ashley’s recording is easily the most engaging and memorable of the three.
The Performer
Clarence Ashley came into this world in Bristol, Tennessee on September 29, 1895, bearing the name Clarence Earl McCurry. Prior to Ashley’s birth, his maternal grandfather learned that the boy’s father was an adulterer who’d allegedly sired children by multiple concurrent wives. Ashley’s grandfather would have none of this, so he brought his pregnant daughter back home, where Clarence would be raised by his mother and her parents.
Clarence assumed the Ashley surname, and the nickname “Tom” was given to Ashley by his grandfather as a reference to the nursery rhyme “Tommy Tiddy Waddy”. Ashley was known to his family and folks in the area as Tom, although he would record under both names (Tom Ashley and Clarence Ashley).
Around 1900 or 1901, the family moved to Shoals, Tennessee, where his grandfather ran a boarding house. When Clarence was 8 years old, his grandfather gave him a banjo and Clarence picked guitar at age twelve. In his youth, Ashley learned an array of ballads and folk songs from family members and guests at the boarding house.
In 1911, Ashley joined a medicine show that was passing through town and launched his career as a professional entertainer. He toured with the same medicine show every summer until 1943, playing banjo and guitar, and performing comedy bits, sometimes in blackface. He would organize local concerts in the winter months and play for labor camps, often appearing with fiddler G.B. Grayson (who appears on the Anthology on Track 13, Ommie Wise).
Ashley’s first recordings were made in 1928 as a member of the Blue Ridge Mountain Entertainers, with whom he played guitar and banjo. Later that year, he recorded 8 sides with the Carolina Tar Heels, a group we’ll discuss when we get to “Peg and Awl”, song 12 on the Anthology.
In 1929, Ashely played guitar or banjo with “Byrd Moore and his Hot Shots", and in October, 1929, while recording with the Moore’s band, a Columbia Records executive asked if they knew any more songs. Ashley took the opportunity to offer up some “lassie-makin’” songs. Much to the amusement of Ashley and his friends, the executive totally fell for the notion that lassie-makin’ songs were some specific type of courting songs, when they actually referred to old folk songs often sung in the kitchen while making molasses.
Ashely continued to record as a solo artist and with accompaniment of multi-instrumentalist Gwin Foster until 1933. In one of their 1933 sessions, the pair made the first known recording of “Rising Sun Blues”, better known as “House of the Rising Sun”, a song made particularly famous in 1964 by the Animals. Here’s Ashley and Foster’s version.
After 1933, Ashley wouldn’t record again until the 1960’s, when he became one of several artists whose careers experienced a rebirth during the folk revival, thanks, in part, to Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music.
Rediscovery
Below is the story of Ashley’s career resurgence, excerpted from an archived version of the former clarenceashley.com website via the Wayback Machine. I felt like the text was so thoughtfully composed and valuable that there was nothing I wanted to add or remove by rephrasing. The entire bio is linked below, and is well worth the read.
In the late forties, Ashley injured the index finger of his right hand, and the finger became stiff. Thinking he could no longer play, he laid up his banjo and guitar. He started teaching his songs to Clint Howard, who played guitar, and Fred Price, who played fiddle. He continued to attend fiddlers' conventions where he could once again see his "old cronies" and talk about music. Had it not been for a chance meeting with Ralph Rinzler at The Old Time Fiddlers' Convention at Union Grove, North Carolina, in 1960, perhaps thousands of people, who later thrilled to his banjo picking, singing and witticisms, would not have had that opportunity. Rinzler, a man devoted to traditional folk music, struck up a conversation with Ashley. Learning only that Tom was an Ashley, Rinzler asked if he knew a Clarence Ashley. Ashley said that he thought he had heard of him but was not quite sure. Rinzler talked about how much he liked the early recording of "The Coo-Coo Bird." He told about writing letters and sending telegrams to Clarence Ashley at Mountain City only to have them returned saying there was no such person. Ashley admitted his true identity, but he would not play an instrument at all and would sing only one song, "Put My Little Shoes Away." After writing to Ashley and calling him many times, Rinzler and Eugene Earle came to Shouns in September of that year to record him. Ashley would not play, but he sang many songs, which were released on Folkways Records. Rinzler was able to convince Ashley of a sincere interest by the people in the cities in his kind of music. Ashley picked up his banjo once more, and a very active career followed in the next few years. Ashley and his friends appeared before large audiences in cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and they recorded two albums for Folkways. The group that performed in the sixties included now world-famous Doc Watson of Deep Gap, North Carolina. Ashley's arrangement of "The Coo-Coo Bird," with Doc Watson on guitar and Ashley on the banjo, often left huge audiences completely hushed. In May of 1966, the highlights of Ashley's career came when he and Tex Isley, a talented guitarist from Reidsville, North Carolina, made a musical tour through England with eighteen engagements on the itinerary.
Ashley had been invited to go back to England the following summer and was planning to go, but he became sick and found that he had cancer. On June 2, 1967, four days before he was to go to England for the second tour, Ashley died. The life and career of one of the best traditional musicians was part of the past.
Text above originally posted on ClarenceAshley.com in 2007. Retrieved for this article from https://web.archive.org/web/20070626182235/http://www.clarenceashley.com/bio.html
After his death in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Ashley’s remains were buried in his family’s cemetery outside near Forge Creek, TN.
Connections
The House Carpenter, like Fatal Flower Garden, and Henry Lee before it, is based on a Child Ballad, and per Harry Smith’s requirements, this one was assigned a higher number by Child (243) than the song it followed (155).
Unlike the preceding songs, The House Carpenter doesn’t feature a murder. But, like the two songs before it, The House Carpenter includes the death of someone who was lured to their doom. Also, the song includes betrayal by a woman (as did the previous two songs). While the woman’s abandonment of her family didn’t cause anyone to die (in this particular version), it was a betrayal just the same.
The song introduces the theme of marriage to the Anthology, and it’s a topic that will show up again very soon. It’s also worth a mention that this is the first banjo song in the collection, but certainly won’t be the last.
Other Interpretations
Smith’s “Discography” section of the liner notes references two recordings, which I’ve included below. The liner notes also reference “AAFS”, but there’s no AAFS in the index of the liner notes.
I initially thought it was an acronym derived from the final four words of the document titled “Check-list of Recorded Songs in the English Language in the Archive of American Folk Songs”. The full 144-page list is available at the Internet Archive, and a PDF version is available for download.
The list consists of folk songs that were recorded in each state, and I analyzed the data and found 37 instances of The House Carpenter being recorded across 18 states, and a song called “The House Carpenter’s Wife” from Texas, which may be the same song.
Arkansas (Mona)
California (San Jose)
Florida (High Springs and Newberry)
Illinois (Carbondale and Evansville)
Indiana (Princeton)
Kentucky (Clay County, Dunham, and Harlan)
Mississippi (Magee)
Oklahoma (Tishomingo)
Missouri (Springfield)
New Jersey (Gloucester)
New York (Sloatsburg)
North Carolina (Crossmore, Ebenezer Church, Elk Park, Madison County, Morganton, Rominger, Silverstone, and Tuckasegee)
Ohio (Akron and Hamilton)
South Carolina (Mullins)
Tennessee (Luttrell, Maryville, and Smithville)
Vermont (East Calais),
Virginia (Clintwood, Ferrum, Galax, Norton, Whitetop, and Wise)
Wisconsin (Crandon).
Sadly, the check-list contains only the song titles and the locations in which they were recorded, but omits such details as when or by whom the recordings were made. Thus, for our purposes, there are only the two specific recordings referenced by Smith.
Not satisfied with this “AAFS” conundrum, I checked Alan Lomax’s List of American Folk Songs on Commercial Records, another document Smith referenced when assembling the Anthology, and found no other recordings of “The House Carpenter” listed, although there could be other variants with different names that I’ve missed. (I have created a YouTube playlist of all the songs from Lomax’s list that are available on YouTube in the US. It’s not complete, but it’s the closest to a complete set that I’ve found.)
I was working on the article for “Drunkard’s Special”, the next song on the set, when I discovered that “AAFS” is an acronym used in Folk Music of the United States, a twenty-two album series of records launched by the Library of Congress in 1942. Further research revealed that AAFS stands for “Archive of American Folk Song”, and it was originally part of the Library of Congress. It’s now called the “Archive of Folk Culture” and it’s part of the American Folklife Center. These AAFS numbers represent the archive’s internal classification system. So, the AAFS 1 mentioned in the Discography is below.
Discography
Bradley Kincaid’s 1933 recording of The House Carpenter, referenced by Smith, is quite different from Ashley’s but tells the same tale.
The Carolina Tar Heels “Can’t You Remember When Your Heart Was Mine?” is basically the same story, although the lyrics differ slightly from The House Carpenter.
“AAFS 1” in Smith’s liner notes turns out to be Texas Gladden’s 1941 recording of “The House Carpenter”. Texas Gladden was a folk song enthusiast and singer who collected a wide array of folk songs. The liner notes for the CD release of her recordings gives extensive details about this fascinating lady. This recording was made by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress, and is the first song on the first volume of the twenty-two volume set Folk Music of the United States.
Later Interpretations
The House Carpenter was recorded by Bob Dylan in 1961 during the sessions for his second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and released in 1991 on Bob Dylan’s The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991. Dylan’s spoken intro references the supernatural themes that were discarded when the song crossed the ocean.
Here’s an absolutely fantastic performance by Doc Watson and Jean Ritchie recorded live at Folk City in 1963. I can’t find any fault whatsoever in this performance. Both Watson and Ritchie deliver the goods, and the whole album is worth a few listens.
This duet featuring Robin Holcomb and Todd Rundgren was included on the 2006 Harry Smith Project album, a release that was recorded over several concerts organized by the late, great Hal Willner. As with many of Willner’s arrangements, the instrumentation here is inventive, and creates an eerie, haunting atmosphere. Holcomb and Rundgren work the space like absolute champions, each delivering monumental vocal performances.
Here’s yet another version of the song with unexpected instrumentation. This take comes from Pentangle, the British folk rock band who included The House Carpenter on their 1969 album Basket of Light. Here’s a knockout live performance of the song from their January 4, 1971 performance for BBC in Concert.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading! Speaking strictly as the author, I have particularly enjoyed exploring the evolution of this song, and am especially fascinated by the modern interpretations of it.
Next up, we’ve got another Child ballad that discusses themes of marital discord; Coley Jones’ 1929 recording of “Drunkard’s Special”.
I must always mention that I couldn’t have done this without the work of many other people over the years. The resources I consulted when writing this analysis are below, and if you’re interested in learning more, they’re a great place to start. Again, the archived bio of Clarence Ashley I quoted so extensively in the article is highly recommended.
If you have corrections, suggestions, or additional information I didn’t cover, please share it in the comments. If you appreciate this series, subscribe and share it with folks you think might enjoy it.
Sources
Clarence Ashley - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Ashley
Biographical information from clarenceashley.com - Text was first published in Tom Clarence Ashley: An Appalachian Folk Musician (Masters Thesis: East Tennessee State University) - Written by Minnie M. Miller, August 1973
https://web.archive.org/web/20070626182235/http://www.clarenceashley.com/bio.html
FamilySearch.org page for Clarence Earl McCurry Ashley- https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/9J7T-Z31
Clarence Ashley’s gravesite on Find a Grave
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60633194/clarence-earl-mccurry_stage_last_name_was_ashley
DAHR (Discography of American Historical Recordings) entry on Clarence Ashley
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/110173/Ashley_Clarence?Matrix_page=100000
House Carpenter information from archived version of ClarenceAshley dot com.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150101170728/http://www.clarenceashley.com/music/housecarpenter.html
Text of Child Ballad 243. James Harris, (The Daemon Lover) from Sacred-Texts
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch243.htm
The Daemon Lover - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daemon_Lover
3 “The House Carpenter” by Clarence Ashley | My Old Weird America Blog entry
https://oldweirdamerica.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/3-the-house-carpenter-by-clarence-ashley/
"The House Carpenter" - Clarence Ashley | Where Dead Voices Gather - Life at 78 RPM
https://theanthologyofamericanfolkmusic.blogspot.com/2009/11/house-carpenter-clarence-ashley.html
Sing Out! Article on the Daemon Lover from 2012 (part one is available on the Sing Out! Website, but parts 2-4 are only available via Wayback Machine)
Part 1 https://singout.org/the-demon-lover-the-house-carpenter/
Part 3 https://web.archive.org/web/20150922090153/http://singout.org/2012/09/06/some-are-carpenters-wives/
Liner notes for “Ballad Legacy” by Texas Gladden;
Hobart Smith - Rounder Records (11661-1800-2), Released in 2001.
https://archive.org/details/cd_ballad-legacy_texas-gladden-hobart-smith/page/n16/mode/1up