530
Hicks' Farewell
William Walker, who compiled The Southern Harmony, and
Musical Companion (printed at Philadelphia, 1847), says (p. 19)
in a footnote to this son^ that it "was composed by the Rev. B.
Hicks, (a Baptist minister of South Carolina,) and sent to his wife
while he was confined in Tennessee by a fever of which he after-
wards recovered." A version entitled 'The Dying Father's Fare-
x.r.F.. V(,i. in, (40)
590 NORTH CAROLINA F L K L R K
weir is included among songs published by Emma AI. Backus in
JAFL XIV 288-9, "taken . . . from the lips of elderly reciters, who
have given them as current and popular in Central North Carolina
in the days of their youth, about the first quarter of the nineteenth
century." Jackson W'SSU 202 and SFSEA 31 contain other texts
and information. Davis FSV 299 lists three \'irginia texts by
titles and first lines.
No title. From the Adams MS book (western North Carolina, 1824-25),
owned by Professor W. Amos Abrams. The MS spellings, lines, and
stanzas have been followed verbatim ct literatim. Bracketed words have
been supplied by the editor from The Southern Har)U(m\ version where
the Adams' reading is defective.
1 The time is swiftly rolling on
That [When J I must faint iS: die
My body to the dust return
And there forgotten lie
2 Let persecution rage around
And unto Christ [Anti-Christ] appear
My silent dust beneath the groimd
Shall no disturbance heare
3 Through cold and heat I oft times went
And wandered through distress [in desi)air|
To call on siners to repent
And seek there saviors face
[And seek the Saviour dear]
4 My brother preachers boldly speak
And stand on Zions wall
Revive the weak [strong], confirm the weak
And oft times [after] sinners call
5 ^ly breathren all I bid adieu
[My brother preachers, fare you well]
Your fellowship I love
In time I never se you more
[In time no more I shall you see]
We soon shall meet above
6 My little babes lies near my heart
[My little children near my heart]
For nature bind
[And nature seems to bind]
It greaves me strong for to dejjart
And leave them all behind
7 C) lord to them a father be
And sheald them from all harm
R K K 1 C, 1 U S S N C S 591
That they may noc to worship the
And dwell upon thy charms
8 My loveiiig wife, my hosom friend
the ohject of my heart
So sweet the time with you Ive spent
My sweet iJv; harmliss dove
9 M\- love yon oft times lood'd |look'd?J for me
And oft times se me come
But now 1 must depart from you
And nevermore return
10 My loveing- wife weep not for me
Niether lament nor morn
for you will cjuickly come to me
for we shall never part finis amen
M. L. Ada MS
--------------------------------
530
Hicks' Farewell
'Hicks' Farewell.' Sung by G. F. Church, Heaton, Avery county, August 10,
1939. For different texts cf. JAFL xiv 288-9. This version has the title 'The
Dying Father's Farewell' and according to the former, our text is only half
of the stanza found there. There are three stanzas given. Cf. also WSSU
202 and for further remarks, Logan, Sketches of the Broad River and Kings
Mountain Baptist Association from 1800 to 1882, 406-9.
F-469
My time swift - ly roll - ing-
That when I must faint and die-
My bod - y to the
dust re - turn And there for - got - ten lie.
For melodic relationship cf. ***FSoA 7 ; SFSEA 31 ; and SharpK 11 142-
3, No. 1 22 A and F.
Scale: Mode H, plagal. Tonal Center: e(m).
= aai (4,4).
Structure : aba^b^ (2,2,2,2)