Cutting Down the Pines
Traditional
- Lyrics written by
- [Traditional]
- Originally written by
- [Traditional]
- Language
- English
- Adapted from
-
Cutting Down the Pines written by [Traditional]
- Comments
-
The Knickerbocker Line was a public transport route from Brooklyn to Manhattan in New York City, named after the city’s founding Dutch settlers. Originally it was a horse-drawn omnibus, later a tram line and ultimately replaced by the subway system. This song originates from the horse-drawn omnibus era, circa 1840-1860. A version called The Stage Driver published in “Burnt Cork Lyrics” by James Unsworth in 1859 is a blackface minstrel description of a driver who falls for a pretty young girl at a stop on Broadway.
In addition to the tune, there are clear links in the opening verse to the words from Cutting Down the Pines. The song is known to have been subject to many parodies published in songsters in the 1860s. In later texts, the subject has shifted from the driver to the female passenger who further transforms to a seamstress thus creating a double meaning for knickerbocker. There is also a British variant, estimated to stem from the 1860s, in which the setting is transferred to the London to Bristol railway line and the tailoress becomes a pick-pocket stealing a watch. This was popularised in music halls and is collected as 2149 in the Roud Index of folk songs. - Licensing
- Request a synchronization license