A note on the stuff in parentheses: “c” = circa, “r” = recorded (which doesn't mean copyrighted or "first written"; that may have happened well before), "TA" = Traditional Anonymous. “<” = before, and “>” = after. For instance, a song about a train wreck that happened in 1909 might have a  “>” after the date because no one would have written about an event that had not yet occurred (duh). A song found in a book published in 1857 might have a “<”  as we know the song was known at least by that date. If you see a date after 1923 followed by "PD", it means the song was apparently known for a long while, but not recorded or put into a song books until the date cited. In most of these cases, the name of the writer was never recorded or is now lost. Or perhaps a name was given that was only a good guess and cannot be proven or dis-proven. An acute observer may notice a disproportionate number of 1927 dates. This is the year Carl Sandburg published his "American Songbag", a cornucopia of old American songs. A question mark (?) means I suspect it belongs in this list, but am less than sure. Whenever I found a choice of two dates, which was frequent, I  usually cite the older one. A few songs well-known by multiple names are entered under each name.  Many are known by multiple names, by first line or by repeated phrases. If you do not find what you want on the first try, think outside the box, as it may be here under a variant of the name you know.

​Scroll to your heart's content.

Portland County Jail (1927 PD)
Postman's Lament
The Potter & Robin Hood (Child #121)
Powderhorn
Powder River
Praise God from Who All Blessings Flow (1560)
Praties Grows Small (1844 +?)

Pratt City Blues
Preacher and the Bear (~1905)
Preacher and the Slave (1911)
Preacher in the Pulpit (1922)
Preachin' Blues (?)
Precious Memories
Pretty Baby (1916)
Pretty Fair Maid (1822)

Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody (1919)
Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow (1835)
Pretty Mohee (1847)
Pretty Polly (1856)
Pretty Red Shoes
Pretty Saro (1911)
The Price of Freedom
Prickly Bush (Child 95)
The Priest  & the Nuns
President Garfield's Hornpipe
Prettiest Little Girl in the Country
Pretty Baby (1916)
Pretty Crowing Chicken (Child 248)

Pretty Fair Maid (1822)
Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody (1919)
Pretty Girl, Milking Her Cow (1835)
Pretty Little Dog
Pretty Little Miss
Pretty Little Willow
Pretty Peggy-O (1600s)
Pretty Polly (early 1500s)
Pretty Saro (1911)
The Prickle Holly Bush (Child 95)

Prince of Wails (1924)
The Prisoner's Dream (?)


Prisoner's Song (1924)
Prodigal Son (PD)
The Pucker Street Song
Pull for the Shore (1873)
Pump Shanty
Punching Dough (1922)
Punch Ladle (1899)

Pure Religion
The Purple Dress (Child #173)
Purple Rose of Cairo (1920)

Put Away a Little Golden Ray of Sunshine (1924)
Put in De Golden Shoes (1881)
Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet (1909)
Put On Your Old Red Flannels
Put My Little Shoes Away (1873)
Putting on the Style (1917)
Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey (1910)

Quaker's Courtship (1856)
Quare Bungle Rye (1869)
Queen Eleanor's Confession (Child #156) (1723)
Queen Jane (Child #170) (1776)
Queensland Overlanders
The Queenstown Warning

Quilting Party (1885)
The Quilting Party (1856)
Quit Kicking My Dog Around