12B- The House Carpenter- Williams (WV) 1927
[This is a full text of the ballad, although missing the "What hills" ending.
R. Matteson 2014]
12B - THE HOUSE CARPENTER
(James Harris (The Daemon Lover), Child, No. 243)
Communicated by Mr. John A. Moore, Ttreolinge Ohio County, January, 1924. Obtained from Mrs. Flora A. Williams, who learned lt from her mother, who came from Columbia County, Pennsylvania.
Heptatonic, Dorian, with one major third.
1. "Well, met, well met, my pretty fair maid,
Well met, well met," said he,
"I've just come over the sea, salt sea,
And it's all for the love of thee."
2. "I can not go away with thee,
I can not go," said she,
"For I am married to a house carpenter,
And a handsome man is he."
3. "If you will leave your house carpenter,
And come along with me,
I'll take you to where the grass grows green
0n the banks of the Sweet Libertie."
4. She took her babe upon her knee,
And gave it kisses three,
Saying, "Stay at home, my sweet Sttd pretty babe,
And keep your father's company.
5. She dressed herself in purple and green,
Most beautiful to behold,
And as she walked along the street,
She shone like glittering gold.
6. They had not sailed for about three weeks,
I'm sure it was not three,
When she began for to weep, for to weep,
And she wept most bitterly.
7. "Oh, is it for your house carpenter,
Or is it for your feet
That you've began for to weep, for to weep,
And weep so bitterly?"
8. "It is not for your house carpenter,
Nor is it for my fee,
But it is all for the sweet and pretty babe,
That I left when I followed thee."
9. They had not sailed for about three months,
I'm sure it was not four,
When under the deck the ship sprung a leak,
And her weeping was heard no more.
10. Now here's a curse to all sailor men,
As long as they have life,
For the robbing of the house carpenter,
And the coaxing away of his wife.