149
The Blind Girl
The authorship of this exercise in pathos has eluded the editor,
though it is patently from print and is widely known and sung in
the South and West. See BSM 275, and add Virginia (FSV
115-16), Indiana (SFLQ iv 191-2), and the Ozarks (OFS iv 191-3).
There are thirteen copies of it in the North Carolina collection.
They are closely alike, and yet full of slight variations, due some-
times to forgetting, sometimes to displacement of parts, and occa-
sionally to improvisation — all indicative of oral transmission. It
will be sufficient to print one of the fuller and more correct texts.
A 'Blind Girl's Prayer.' Contributed by I. G. Greer of Boone, Watauga
county, with the note "Sung for Miss Hundley and set down June 3,
1915." With the air.
B 'The Blind Child.' Set down 5 August 1915, for Thomas Smith by
Mrs. Anne Smith of Sugar Grove, Watauga county, with the notation
that "this song used to be popular in our neighborhood."
C 'The Blind Girl.' From the manuscript songbook of Miss Lura
Wagoner of Vox, where it was entered probably about 191 2. This con-
tains, after the first half of the fifth stanza of A, the following lines
not found in the other texts :
I know I love you, papa dear;
But how I long to go
Where God is light; and I am sure
There'll be no blind ones there.
D 'The Blind Child's Prayer.' From Miss Pearl Webb of Pineola,
Avery county, in 1922.
E 'The Blind Girl.' Contributed by W. Amos Abrams in 1937, with the
notation: "My father learned it from his mother, who learned it from
her mother." Incomplete text; lacks the last half of stanza 4, the
whole of stanza 5, and the first half of stanza 6 of A.
OLDER BALLADS MOSTLY BRITISH 393
F 'Blind Girl's Death.' Secured from Mamie Mansfield of Durham as
sung by F. Coleman in 1922. With the tune.
G 'The Blind Girl.' From Ethel Brown of Catawba county.
H 'The Blind Child's Prayer.' Secured by Julian P. Boyd in 1927 from
Mary Price of Alliance, Pamlico county.
I 'The Blind Child's Prayer.' From Ruth Morgan, Stanly county.
J 'The Blind Child's Prayer.' Contributed by Mrs. Minnie Church of
Heaton, Avery county, in 1930.
K 'The Blind Child.' Contributed by Otis Kuykendall of Asheville
m August 1939.
L 'The Blind Girl.' Contributed by I. T. Poole of Burke county, with
the notation: 'This was obtained from Mrs. W. H. Poole, who reports
that It was popular in Burke county as a community song about twentv-
nve years ago." •'
M 'The Blind Girl's Death.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection.
A
1 'They tell me, father, that tonight
You're to wed a new-made bride,
That you will clasp her in your arms
Where my dear mother died,
That she will lean her graceful head
Upon your loving breast,
Where she who now lies down in death
In life's best hour did rest.
2 'They say her name is Mary, too,
The name my mother bore.
And, father, is she kind and true
Like the one you loved before?
And is her steps as soft and low,
Her voice as sweet and mild ?
And, father, will she love me too,
Your blind and helpless child ?
3 'Please, father, do not bid me come
To meet your new-made bride.
I could not meet her in the room
Where my dear mother died.
Her picture hanging on the wall,
Her books are lying near.
And there's the harp of her soft, sad tune,
And there's her vacant chair.
4 'The chair by which I used to kneel
To say my evening prayer.
Oh, pa, it almost breaks my heart —
394 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
I could not meet her there.
And when I cry myself to sleep,
As now I often do,
Then softly to my chamber creep,
My new mamma and you,
5 'And bid her gently press a kiss
Upon my throbbing brow
Just as my own dear mother did.
Oh, pa, you're weeping, now.
Oh, let me kneel down by your side
And to our Saviour pray
That God's right hand may lead you both
Through life's long weary way.'
6 The prayer was offered, then a song.
'I'm weary now,' she said.
Her father raised her in his arms
And laid her on the bed.
And as he turned to leave the room
One joyful cry was given.
He turned and caught the last bright smile —
His blind child was in heaven.
7 They laid her by her mother's side
And raised a marble fair.
On it engraved those simple words :
'There'll be no blind ones there.'
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149
The Blind Girl
'Blind Girl's Prayer.' Sung by Dr. I. G. Greer. Recorded as ms score at
Boone, Watauga county, June 3, 1915. There are two scores of two versions
by the same singer, of which the second, however, differs only in measure 7,
given as the variation below. As the stanza as printed in II 393 f. consists of
eight lines, this melody will have to be repeated for the second half.
For melodic relationship cf. **FSoA 79; OFS iv 191; *FSSH 371.
Scale: Mode III. Tonal Center: c. Structure: abed (2,2,2,2).
'The Blind Child's Prayer.' Sung by Miss Pearle Webb. Recorded as MS
score at Pineola, Avery county, in 1922. Basically, this tune is only a melodic
variation of 149A.
For melodic relationship cf. **FSoA 79; OFS iv 191, version A.
Scale: Hexatonic (4). Tonal Center: d. Structure: abed (2,2,2,2).
'The Blind Child.' Sung by Otis Kuykendall. Recorded at Asheville in August
1939.
Scale: Mode III. Tonal Center: d. Structure: aba^b (4,4,4,4) = aa^ (8,8).