91
Servant Man
Under various names — The Rejected Lover,' 'The Rambling
Beauty,' 'The Lonesome Scenes of Winter' — this is pretty widely
known in the Southern mountains: in Virginia (SharpK ii 98,
101-2, OSC 139-40), West Virginia (F"SmWV 39-40), Kentucky
(SharpK 11 100, BKH 145), Tennessee (SharpK 11 97, JAFL xlv
111-12), North Carolina (SharpK 11 97, 98-9), Missouri (BSM 191,
195) ; also in Wisconsin (JAFL lii 17-18, carried thither from Ken-
tucky). Though texts and titles vary, it holds pretty consistently to
one story: the girl scorns her wooer (most often telling him 'You
can't come again'), later changes her mind and giv^s her lover the
chance to return her treatment in kind. Mrs. Steely reports a form
of it as found in the Ebenezer community in Wake county.
'Servant Man.' Communicated by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga
county, in 1915. Mrs. Daisy Jones Couch of Durham remembered the
O I. I) K R I! A I. I, A D S MOSTLY H R I T 1 S H 303
first Stanza only. With the tunc(s). as sunt>; l)y Mrs. J. J. Miller of
Lenoir and by Mrs. Polly Rayfield.
1 I once knew a little girl,
I loved her as my life ;
rd freely give my heart and hand
To make her my wife.
2 I took her by the hand
And kisses gave her three.
Saying, i'U be your humble servant man
If you will marry me.'
3 I took her by the hand
And rolled her in my arms
And asked her once more
If she would marry me.
4 She looked upon him
With scorn and disdain,
Saying. 'You humble servant.
You can't come again.'
5 He left her six weeks,
Which caused her to complain.
She wrote him a letter
Saying, 'Oh, do come again.'
6 He wrote her an answer
He hadn't forgot the time
She told him
He couldn't come again.
7 She wrote him another
She had forgot the time;
'Oh, do come again.'
8 He wrote another ;
He wrote her full to know
Sometimes young folks venture
Where they ort not to go.
9 If you see a green growing willow
The top it will wilt away.
The roots they will decay ;
So the beauty of a pretty fair maid
Will soon fade away.
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91
Servant Man
'Servant Man.' Sung by Mrs. J. J. Miller and Mrs. Polly Rayfield. Recorded
as MS score, probably at Lenoir in 1915. Our text is practically identical with
that of SharpK 11 96, No. 109A.
For melodic relationship cf. **FSmWV 39-40; OSC 139.
Scale: Hexachordal. Tonal Center: c. Structure: abcc^ai (2,2,222) This
could be interpreted several ways. First, as abai, where b is then 'an inverted
bariorm. Secondly, a could be called what A. Lorenz terms 'Rahmensatze.'