Drowsy Sleeper- B. Stutsman (MO) 1878 Randolph E
[My title. From: Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, vol. I, British Ballads and Songs, pp. 244-249. This version has "the letter of dispraise" that is found in the Scotch "I Will Put My Ship In Order." In this version there is no suicide. A stanza follows 6 that tells that the young man is leaving to live in great despair. The last stanza parallels the Scotch, it's too late for her lover has left, never to return- unless "the fish fly and the seas go dry."
R. Matteson 2016]
E. [Drowsy Sleeper] From Mrs. Bessie Stutsman, Strafford, Mo., Apr. 8, 1938. Mrs. Stutsman had it from her father, who sang it in 1878.
1. "Wake up, wake up, you drowsy sleeper,
Wake up, wake up, it's almost day,
How can you lay and sleep and slumber
When your true love is going away?"
2. "Oh, who's this come to my bedroom window?
Oh, who's this come to bother me?"
"It is your own true-hearted lover,
And it is all for the sake of thee."
3. "Oh Molly dear, go ask your mother
If ever you my bride shall be,
If she says 'No,' come back and tell me,
It will be the last time I'll bother thee."
4. "I will not go and ask my mother,
She is lying on her bed of rest,
And in each hand she holds a letter[1]
To ruin the one that I love best."
5. "Oh Molly dear, go ask your father
If ever you my bride shall be,
If he says no, come back and tell me,
It will be the last time I'll bother thee."
6. "I will not go and ask my father,
He is lying on his bed of rest,
And in each hand he holds a weapon
To murder the one that I love best."
* * * * * *
7. Come back, come back, true-hearted lover,
Come back and run away with me,
I will forsake both father and mother,
And it's all for the sake of thee.