Hattie Bell- anon (NC) c.1918 Greer MS
[From I.G. Greer Collection, an MS titled Pretty Fair Maid Down In The Garden- Lyric 03; Appalachian State University Digital Collections.
This is a composite of "Pretty Fair Maid Down In The Garden (AKA Sweetheart in the Army; Broken Token); "Drowsy Sleeper and "Madam." There are only two stanzas of Madam. See also O Hattie Bell collected by Sharp also in NC.
R. Matteson 2017]
HATTIE BELLE - no known informant; I.G. Greer Collection MS c. 1918.
Hattie Belle, go ask your Mama,
If you can be my darling bride;
If she says yes, come back and tell me
If she says no, we'll run away.
My Mama says she is not willing,
My Papa says I am too young;
But oh, kind sir, I am not willing
To run away and marry you.
Kind, Miss, I have some gold and silver,
Kind Miss, I have a house and land;
Kind Miss, I have a ship on the ocean,
We'll sail to some distant land.
I do not want your gold and silver,
I do not want your house and land;
I do not want your ship on the ocean,
All I want is a handsome man.
I have a sweetheart in the army,
For seven long years he has been gone,
And if he stays for seven years longer,
No man on earth shall marry me.
Perhaps your sweetheart has been drowned
Or gone to some fair and distant land,
Or to some fair young girl has married;
You'll never see his face again.
But if he's drowned, I hope he's happy,
Or gone to some fair and distant land,
Or some fair young girl has married,
I love the one that marries him.
You're not the man of noble honor,
You're not the man I took you to be,
Or you wouldn't impose on a single lady
Who is a bride prepared to be.
He ran his hands all through his pockets,
His fingers, they were slender and small.
He then drew forth a nickle-placed diamond,
And at his feet his love did fall.
He picked her up all in his arms,
Kisses gave her, one, two, and three,
I am your sweetheart from the army,
And have come home for to marry you.