Pennsylvania of 1876, a short section describes wedding ceremonies and marriage customs, including a wedding tradition where two young men from the bridegroom procession were challenged to run for a bottle of whiskey. In Caldwells's Illustrated Combination Centennial Atlas of Washington Co. One of those phrases is "He's kiss'd black Betty." Other sources give the meaning of "Black Betty" in the United States (from at least 1827) as a liquor bottle. In January 1736, Benjamin Franklin published The Drinker's Dictionary in the Pennsylvania Gazette offering 228 round-about phrases for being drunk. Historically, the "Black Betty" of the title may refer to the nickname given to a number of objects: a bottle of whiskey, a whip, or a penitentiary transfer wagon.ĭavid Hackett Fischer, in his book Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America ( Oxford University Press, 1989), states that "Black Betty" was a common term for a bottle of whisky in the borderlands between northern England and southern Scotland it later became a euphemism in the backcountry areas of the eastern United States.
The origin and meaning of the lyrics are subject to debate.
Subsequent recordings, including hits by Tom Jones and Spiderbait, retain the structure of this version. The song was eventually, with modified lyrics, remade as a rock song by the American band Ram Jam in 1977. There are numerous recorded versions, including a cappella and folk. Some sources claim it is one of Lead Belly's many adaptations of earlier folk material. " Black Betty" ( Roud 11668) is a 20th-century African-American work song often credited to Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter as the author, though the earliest recordings are not by him.
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