 |
| HARRISON'S YELLOW ROSE, DOWNTOWN BAYFIELD, HWY.13... |
 | ||
| HARRISON'S YELLOW ROSE, CORNER OF 6TH AND WILSON... |
 |
| ..."THE YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS" |
Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 57 degrees F at the ferry dock, 56 on the back porch, Wind variable, calm. The sky is clear, the humidity 84%. The barometer is taking a nosedive, now at 29.93". Today will have highs around 60, tomorrow in the mid-seventies. It will then cool off considerably, with mixed skies, and a chance of rain on Saturday.
Everything that hasn't bloomed earlier is blooming now and it is hard to keep up with it all, but we will try to do so in subsequent posts.
There is a large rose bush on the corner of 6th and Wilson that I am quite certain is the old fashioned “Harrison’s Yellow Rose,” which has been grown for almost two centuries and is still available. There are a number of these venerable old roses blooming around Bayfield. It is only a spring bloomer, but when in flower is covered with semi-double, fragrant flowers. It is thorny and spreads, so must be used with caution, but is a worthwhile plant in a sunny location (mine has succumbed to heavy shade). This is the rose that was carried across the country by settlers moving west, and has thus become also known also as “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” and "The Oregon Trail Rose." It was a chance hybrid occurring around 1830 in the garden of a Mr. Harrison of New York City. It was grown and marketed by Prince's Nursery on Long Island.
The song, “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” is thus associated with this rose. The “Yellow Rose” of the song, however, was a young mulatto (hence the "yellow") woman. Named either Molly Morgan or Emily Wade, she is credited in folklore as a heroine of the 1836 Battle of San Jacinto, in which the Texas militia under Sam Houston destroyed the Mexican army of the tyrant Santa Anna, with virtually no Texas casualties, thus attaining Texas independence from Mexico.
Molly (or Emily) purportedly seduced the Mexican general on the afternoon of the battle, facilitating the Texan surprise attack. Soon after the battle, the song “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (composer unknown) became popular and has remained so as a Texas folk song. In 1955 it was arranged and played by Mitch Miller and his orchestra and became a national hit song, even eclipsing Bill Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock.”
Texas became an independent republic in 1836, and voluntarily joined the Union in 1845. The legend and the song say a lot about Texas and Texans. The Battle of San Jacinto was considered payback for the massacre at the Alamo, a visit to which cannot fail to stir an American's soul, as the battle was at the time a struggle for freedom from tyranny, a one-sided, obviously futile fight, which volunteers joined, knowing they would surely die. Iconic figures of American history did die there, among them Davey Crocket and Jim Bowie.
There is a large rose bush on the corner of 6th and Wilson that I am quite certain is the old fashioned “Harrison’s Yellow Rose,” which has been grown for almost two centuries and is still available. There are a number of these venerable old roses blooming around Bayfield. It is only a spring bloomer, but when in flower is covered with semi-double, fragrant flowers. It is thorny and spreads, so must be used with caution, but is a worthwhile plant in a sunny location (mine has succumbed to heavy shade). This is the rose that was carried across the country by settlers moving west, and has thus become also known also as “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” and "The Oregon Trail Rose." It was a chance hybrid occurring around 1830 in the garden of a Mr. Harrison of New York City. It was grown and marketed by Prince's Nursery on Long Island.
The song, “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” is thus associated with this rose. The “Yellow Rose” of the song, however, was a young mulatto (hence the "yellow") woman. Named either Molly Morgan or Emily Wade, she is credited in folklore as a heroine of the 1836 Battle of San Jacinto, in which the Texas militia under Sam Houston destroyed the Mexican army of the tyrant Santa Anna, with virtually no Texas casualties, thus attaining Texas independence from Mexico.
Molly (or Emily) purportedly seduced the Mexican general on the afternoon of the battle, facilitating the Texan surprise attack. Soon after the battle, the song “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (composer unknown) became popular and has remained so as a Texas folk song. In 1955 it was arranged and played by Mitch Miller and his orchestra and became a national hit song, even eclipsing Bill Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock.”
Texas became an independent republic in 1836, and voluntarily joined the Union in 1845. The legend and the song say a lot about Texas and Texans. The Battle of San Jacinto was considered payback for the massacre at the Alamo, a visit to which cannot fail to stir an American's soul, as the battle was at the time a struggle for freedom from tyranny, a one-sided, obviously futile fight, which volunteers joined, knowing they would surely die. Iconic figures of American history did die there, among them Davey Crocket and Jim Bowie.
THE YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS
(Mitch Miller rendition, 1955)
- 1) There's a yellow rose in Texas, That I am going to see,
Nobody else could miss her, Not half as much as me.
She cried so when I left her It like to broke my heart,
And if I ever find her, We nevermore will part.
- [Chorus]
- She's the sweetest
little rosebud ;That Texas ever knew, Her eyes are bright as diamonds,
They sparkle like the dew;You may talk about your Clementine, And sing
of Rosalee, But the YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS Is the only girl for me.
- 2) Where the Rio Grande is flowing, The starry skies are bright,
She walks along the river In the quiet summer night:
I know that she remembers, When we parted long ago,
I promise to return again, And not to leave her so.
[Chorus]
-
3) Oh now I'm going to find her, For my heart is full of woe,
And we'll sing the songs together, That we sung so long ago
We'll play the banjo gaily, And we'll sing the songs of yore,
And the Yellow Rose of Texas Shall be mine forevermore.
- [Chorus]
 |
| THE ALAMO, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS (Google photo) |
 |
| THE FLAG OF TEXAS |
No comments:
Post a Comment