Mary Bullman Sands, from Allanstand in Madison County, North Carolina, was a singer of old traditional ballads during the early part of the 20th century. She was known locally as "Singing Mary" due to her singing talent and extensive knowledge of the words and melodies of many old-time traditional songs that had been passed down through previous generations. In 1916, English folklorist Cecil Sharp visited Madison County to collect and record traditional folk songs being sung in America that would have originated generations earlier in the British Isles. Sands sang 25 songs for him, 23 of which he included in his book, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians.
Early life and family
Mary Sands née Bullman was born on April 8, 1872, in the Laurel section of Madison County, North Carolina. Her parents were John Wesley Bullman and Rosannah Shelton . She had a twin sister, Martha Bullman, who died while in her twenties. She also had an older sister, Melvina Bullman and an older brother, Christopher Columbus Bullman. John Wesley Bullman was the second husband of Rosannah. Her first husband, Hugh Wallin, was killed in the U.S. Civil War. Rosannah and Hugh Wallin had five sons – Sands's half brothers – some of whom also became well-known traditional ballad singers. In 1892, Mary Bullman married James Monroe Sands, who had moved to Madison County from Danville, Virginia. Together they had ten children, none of whom are currently living.
Cecil Sharp
When Cecil Sharp came to Madison County in 1916 as part of his project to collect old English ballads, Sands was 44 years old and was eight and a half months pregnant with her tenth child. Of the 39 different Madison County singers that sang for Sharp, Sands provided him the second largest number of songs, 25, with Jane Hicks Gentry of Hot Springs, North Carolina providing him the most, a total of 70, 40 of which were published in his book English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. After Sharp's visit, Sands continued to sing, became very active in her church and wrote a number of unpublished religious songs. She was a lifelong resident of Madison County, except for brief stays with her children during the latter part of her life as her health began to fail.
Death
Sands died April 2, 1949, due to complications following a stroke, just a few days short of her 77th birthday. She was buried in the Walnut Methodist Church Cemetery, Walnut, North Carolina.
Songs collected by Sharp
This list includes dates, titles, and volume and page references to the two volumes-in-one edition of Sharp's English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, published in 1932. July 31, 1916
The old ballads collected by Sharp from Sands and others over a century ago have not been forgotten. A number of present-day traditional ballad singers have included Sands's songs in their repertoires for live concerts as well as in sound recordings. Sheila Kay Adams, award-winning singer, musician, story teller, and author, has recorded an album entitled My Dearest Dear, which includes six songs that are part of Sharp's collection from Sands. They are: "Fine Sally", "Awake! Awake!," "My Dearest Dear," "Little Soldier Boy," "Silk Merchant's Daughter," and "Jimmy Randall". Joe Penland, ballad singer and story teller, has recorded several albums that include songs from Sands, with his most recent album, The Mary Sands Project, Volume I, containing eleven of the songs Sands sang for Sharp and one original song written by Sands. They are: "Awake! Awake!," "The Silk Merchants Daughter," "Sweet William," "The House Carpenter," "My Sad Overthrow," "The Handkerchief," "Lady Marget," "The Boatsman and the Chest," "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender," "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight," "Jimmy Randall," and "Your Sins Will Find You Out." "Your Sins Will Find You Out" was written by Sands depicting the 1937 shooting death of her son Chesley in Marshall, North Carolina. Prior to the release of The Mary Sands Project, Volume I, Penland had recorded two other albums that included songs from Sands. They are: Standing on Tradition, which includes "Pretty Saro," and On Shakey Ground, which includes "My Dearest Dear" and "Fine Sally". Other traditional Southern Appalachian ballad singers who have recorded albums containing one or more of Sands's songs include: Donna Ray Norton, Single Girl and Forks in the Road; Bobby McMillon, A Deeper Feeling; Bill Morris, Blue Ridge Mountain Music, Volume II; Jerry Adams, When I First Come to this Country; Doug and Jack Wallin, Family Songs and Storiesfrom the North Carolina Mountains; and Betty Smith,Songs Traditionally Sung in North Carolina.
