Cambric Shirt- McCord (AR) 1940 Randolph B
[From Ozark Folksongs; Randolph 1946.
R. Matteson Jr.]
B. Text from Mrs. May Kennedy McCord, Springfield, Mo., Nov. 14, 1940; she had it from Mrs. Ethel Estes Sure, Fayetteville, Ark. Mrs. Sure called it "a two-part song," and wrote the word his in parenthesis before the first stanza, and the word her in parenthesis before the 5th stanza.
Are you a-goin' to Yonder Town,
Rosemary and thyme?
My best respects to this young lady,
Tell her she's a true lover of mine.
Tell her to make a cambric shirt,
Rosemary and thyme,
Without a seam or a seam to her work,
Then she'll be a true lover of mine.
Tell her to wash it in the well,
Rosemary and thyme,
Where water never run nor rain never fell,
And then she'll be a true lover of mine.
Tell her to dry it on a thorn,
Rosemary and thyme,
Where leaves never growed since Adam was born,
And then she'll be a true lover of mine.
Are you a-goin' to Yonder Town,
Rosemary and thyme?
My best respects to this young man,
Tell him he's a true lover of mine.
Tell him to clear three acres of ground,
Rosemary and thyme,
Between the seashore and Egypt's land,
And then he'll be a true lover of mine.
Tell him to plow it with a thorn,
Rosemary and thyme,
And plant it all o'er with one grain of corn,
Then he'll be a true lover of mine.
Tell him to reap it with a stirrup leather,
Rosemary and thyme,
Heap it all on one Peafowl's feather,
Then he'll be a true lover of mine.
Tell him to carry it to the mill,
Rosemary and thyme,
And every grain a barrel fill,
Then he'll be a true lover of mine.