MURDER! Week — Nelstone's Hawaiians — "Fatal Flower Garden"

Today's song is a lovely yet creepy ditty titled "Fatal Flower Garden." Found on Harry Smith's American Anthology of Folk Music, the tune is the work of Nelstone's Hawaiians, an Alabammy band about which little is known. Note that the band was reflecting the first fad for Hawaiian music back in the 20s (Martin Denny was a latecomer!) with its name and use of slide guitar--soon to become a standard instrument in "country" music. Andrew Bird fans will note that Mr. Bird also covered this tune (though, as we shall see, in a less offensive form).

Nice as the song may sound, its slanderous theme (the murderous gypsy woman killing a plump little white boy) was even more offensive in its original form as a delightful 13th Century ballad of the Jewish blood libel. Originally titled "Little Sir Hugh," and before that "The Jew's Daughter" (WARNING: The link leads to an annoyingly loud MIDI page) describing how a nefarious Jewess captured and crucified Little Sir Hugh in order to use his Christian blood to make matzoh. Horrifying what turns up when you scratch the surface of a jaunty little tune of Kindermort, isn't it?