House Carpenter- Hall (AL) 1952 Browne
[From: LC/AAFS rec. No. 11,691 (B27); by Ray Browne. Also Bronson 20.
R. Matteson 2013]
House Carpenter- Sung by Miss Drucilla Hall, Milford, Alabama on July 23, 1952. Collected by Ray Browne.
[music upcoming]
1. I'm just returned from sailing over sea
And it's all for the love of thee.
I could have married the king's daughter fair
But refused for the love of thee.
2. . . . .
. . . . .
Now I am married to the house carpenter,
And I think we can agree.
3. If you will come and go with me
I'll carry you far far away,
I'll carry you where the grass grows green
On the banks of the sea, salt sea.
4. They had not sailed more than two weeks,
I'm sure they hadn't sailed three,
Till this fair damsel began for to weep,
And she wept most bitterly.
5. Are you a-weeping for your gold
Or is it for your store?
Are you weeping for the house carpenter
Which you never can see any more?
6. I'm neither weeping for my gold
Nor is it for my store,
But I'm weeping for my tender little babe
Which I never can see any more.
7. What banks, what banks are those I see?
They're just as white as a snow.
'Tis the banks of heaven, she cried unto me.
Where all good people go.
8. What banks, what banks are those I see?
They're just as black as a crow.
'Tis the banks of hell, she cried unto me,
Where you and I shall go.
9. I hope no good will come to you,
For stealing the house carpenter's wife,
There sprang a leak into their ship,
And it sank to arise no more.