Bed Window- C. Hooker (NC) 1924 Chappell B
[From: Folk-songs of Roanoke and the Albemarle by Louis Watson Chappell; Ballad Press, 1939. The last stanza is unique and the penultimate stanza (which similarly appears: "Don't you see the clouds a-rising") is rarely found.
R. Matteson 2016]
B. "Bed Window" - sung by Columbus Hooker of East Lake, NC in 1924.
Who is that at my bed window?
It is me, love, at your bed window,
And for your sake I am standing here[1].
Love, O love, go ask your mother
If you this night my bride can be,
And if she says no, then love, come tell me
And it will be the last time I'll trouble thee.
I shan't go nor ask my mother,
She is lying on her bed at rest,
And on her breast there is a letter
From the young man that I love best.
Then, love, go ask your father
If you tonight my bride can be,
And if he says no, then love, come tell me
And it wilt be the last time I'll trouble thee.
I shan't go and ask my father
Lying on his bed at rest,
And in his hand he holds a weapon
To slay the one that breaks his rest.
Don't you see the clouds a-gathering?
They gather thick and thunder loud.
I live in hopes I'll see some pleasure
Before these clouds overthrow.
Over the hills and down the valley
O William Reilly he did roam,
Over the hills and down the valley
Poor William Reilly dead was found.
1. Her two line response is missing instead a line from him is given.