House Carpenter- Lawhorne (VA) 1937 Wilkinson MS Bronson 27
[My title. From Bronson TTCB, III, 1966; No. 27 as taken from Wilkinson's MS.
Winston Wilkinson worked with Arthur Kyle Davis, Jr. collecting and transcribing ballads, fiddle tunes and songs in the 1930s. "In March of 1934 Davis was able to obtain some funding from the Civil Works Administration, one of the Depression-generated New Deal programs. With that assistance he hired John Stone to collect folksongs and Winston Wilkinson to transcribe music." Wilkinson also contributed his article “Virginia Dance Tunes” to Southern Folklore Quarterly in March 1942. Davis also published More Traditional Ballads of Virginia in 1960 with Winston Wilkinson's transcriptions. Wilkinson also illustrated "Virginia Fiddle Tunes."
R. Matteson 2013]
From: The Virginia Folklore Society: A Retrospective
The Arthur Kyle Davis, Jr. Years: Meetings of the Society were held intermittently between 1924 and 1967, with both the purpose and organization of the Society becoming less clearly defined and apparent. There were periods of intensive collecting, recording and publishing, alternating with intervals of relative inactivity with regard to folklore.
In 1929, Arthur Kyle Davis, Jr. completed his initial work as editor and published 51 ballads collected under the auspices of the Society in Traditional Ballads in Virginia.
In March of 1934 Davis was able to obtain some funding from the Civil Works Administration, one of the Depression-generated New Deal programs. With that assistance he hired John Stone to collect folksongs and Winston Wilkinson to transcribe music. The project only lasted three weeks, but in that short time Stone managed to add another 89 songs to the Society's archive.
House Carpenter [The Deamon Lover]- Mrs. Nellie Lawhorne (Waynesboro, VA) May 5, 1937 Wilkinson MS (E); No title Cf. Bronson's note to the preceding variant No. 27.
1. Well met, well met, my old true love,
Well met, well met, said he.
I've just returned from the salt, salt sea,
And it's all for the sake of thee.
2. I once could have married the king's daughter dear,
And she would have married me.
But I refused a crown of gold,
And it's all for the sake of thee.
3. Well if you could have married the king's daughter dear,
I'm sure you are to blame;
For I have married a house carpenter,
And I'm sure he's a nice young man.
4. Won't you forsake your house carpenter,
And come and go with me?
I'll take you where the grass grows green,
On the banks of sweet Willie.
5. She gathered up her sweet little babe,
And the kisses gave it three.
Saying, Stay at home, my sweet little babe;
Keep your father's company.
6. She dressed herself in silk array,
Most beauty to behold;
And as she walked along the street
She shone like glittering gold.
7. They hadn't been on the sea quite two weeks,
I'm sure it was not three,
Before the lady began to weep,
And she wept most bitterly.
8. Curse be to all the seafaring men,
And woe be unto light;
You've stolen me away from my house carpenter,
And have robbed me of my life.
9. They hadn't been on the sea quite three weeks,
I'm sure it was not four,
Before the ship it sprang a leak,
And sank to rise no more.