II. 6. COURTING SONGS
[ ]
CONTENTS II. 6. Courting Songs
The Bachelor's Lay........... 119
Katy Dorey............ 122
Johnny McCardner........... 124
Lolly Too-Dum........... 126
Where Have You Been, My Good Old Man?..... 128
Jennie Jenkins............ 129
Married Me a Wife.......... 131
Old Shoes and Leggin's.......... 132
Blue Bottle............. 134
Devilish Mary............ 136
Do Come Back Again.......... 139
My Old True Love........... 140
Fare Ye Well, My Darlin'......... 142
I've Rambled This Country Both Earlye and Late . . . 143
East Virginia............ 144
Long Lonesome Road.......... 146
Little Bonny............ 148
-----------------------------------------------------------------
II. 6. COURTING SONGS
"Back in Tennessee where I learned the songs I sing, the singin' bees were just courtin' bees. The boys and girls would meet 'round at the neighbors' houses and sing in between the courtin'. The one who knew the most songs was always the most popular." —Mrs. Minta Morgan.
THE BACHELOR'S LAY
No. 1337. Mrs. Minta Morgan, Bells, Texas, 1937, See JAFL, 25: 281; Cox, p. 468; Be, p. 263.
1 As I was traveling one morning in May,
I heard an old bachelor beginning a lay:
"Oh, I can't tell why the reason may be
That none of those girls won't marry me.
2 "I've courted the rich and I've courted the poor,
I've often been snubbed at the meetinghouse door,
And I can't tell why the reason can be
That none of those girls won't marry me.
3 "I've offered them silver, I've offered them gold.
And many fine stories to them I have told,
But gold and silver won't do, you now see,
For none of the girls have married with me.
4 "Nine good horses I've rode to death,
I've rode them till they tad no breath,
And five new saddles wore out to the tree,
Yet none of the girls have married with me.
5 "I've been through the mountains, I've traversed the plains;
1 courted the misses, I've courted the dames;
And I can't tell why the reason may be
That none of those girls won't marry me.
6 "I've traveled by land and sailed by sea?
Ten thousands of miles those girls to see,
And I can't tell why the reason can be
That none of those girls won't marry me.
7 "I've sailed on the main and I've followed the coast,
No conquest in love can I honestly boast;
And I can't tell why the reason may be
That none of those girls won't marry me.
8 "I've asked them to tell me what stood in the way,
They've all of them answered, I'd rather not say';
And I can't tell why the reason may be
That none of those girls won't marry me."
9 I thought to myself that while passing along
I'd make a reply to the bachelor's song;
"Oh, sir, I can tell you just what you must do
If you want a young lady to marry you.
10 "Go shave off your whiskers and powder your hair,
Go dress yourself up with the greatest of care,
Put on a broadsword and bright buckles, too,
If you want a young lady to marry you."
11 Now this is the hook and the catch of a bachelor's life,
Cheer up, young man, and get you a wife,
Make no delay, by which you get none,
For this is the way the old bachelor done.
[ *935- See Sh, 2:1195 Ga.2, p. 393.]
KATY DOREY*
Aunt Molly Jackson, New York City, [ * In other versions, "Kittie Morey," or "Katy Morey." ]
"The larger children would sing these little funny songs and us smaller children would hear 'em} and we'd get together and sing 'em and make a big laugh out of 'em. This particular Sunday we was all down under a big shade tree swingin' on the limb and a-singin' one,
"My grandfather hollered over to my father and said what was he a-doin' settiny over there not correctin' his children and them a-singin' sich rough songs as that. And my father he hollered back over to my grandfather and he said} 'If that's all that you've got to do, he says, 'is to be out, he says, 'a-payin' attention' he says. Ho what babies and children says, he says; 'if you don't want these little children, says, Go sing these things and do these things says, 'correct your children that's much larger and older than them an' stop them singin' these songs before them and then, says, 'I'll ashore you, says, 'that my babies and Ranee Rollins's babies won't be a-singin' these songs they learned from the bigger kids, he says."
—Aunt Molly Jackson.
1 Come all you joky boys
And listen to my story,
I tell you a plan I fell upon
To steal Miss Katy Dorey.*
Chorus: Lye too-lye ring-dee-ring-dum,
Lye too-lye ring-dee-ring.
2 I went down to Katy's house, Just like a clever feller;
I told her that the peaches and plums Was getting ripe and meller.
3 I told her that I suited her, I was not trying to flatter;
I told her that her sister Sal Knowed nothing of the matter.
4 I did not have to ask her twice, She put on her best bonnet.
My heart was beating very fast, As 'cross the fields we ran it.
5 "It's now we're here alone, And no one knows the matter;
It's you must die or else comply, For I've no time to flatter."
6 Katy seemed quite pleased, my hand she squeezed: "There's but one thing I fear, sir,
Is that my father may come this way, And he would find us here, sir,
7 "But if you'll climb the highest tree, That rises in this bower,
And if my father keeps away, We'll spend a happy hour."
8 Katy stood at the foot of the tree, Until I had ascended:
"It's you may get down the way you got up, For now your fun is ended,"
9 "You look just like an owl," she said, "Your company I shun, sir;
You may eat your plums and suck the stones. For I am going to run, sir."
10 Away Katy heeled it over the plain, And left me here distracted;
I ripped, I swore, my shirt I tore, To think how I had acted,
11 About three months from that day Kate and I got married,
And about three months after that A lovely son she carried,
12 It's time to hush up foolish song, It's time to quit all rhyming;
But ever' time this baby squalls, Begod, I think of climbing.
JOHNNY McCARDNER
No. 1534. Tune and part of text from Hazel Hudson, Hazard, Ky. Other stanzas from No. 1698 and from Cox, p. 5115 Be, p. 248.
1 Last Saturday night I called at the house
And into the window I crept like a mouse;
I opened the door and I made it straightway
Right into the room where the girls all stay—
And it's hard times.
2 Such a laughing and chattering as we did keep.
We woke the old widow up out of her sleep,
"O daughter, O daughter, O daughter," said she,
"What impudent scoundrel is this before me?"
And it's hard times.
3 "O widow, O widow, you'd better keep calm,
Until you find out just who I am;
It's Johnny McCardner, I go by the name,
A-courting your daughter for the purpose I came"—
And it's hard times.
4 "Oh, you are so old, and she is so young.
You will get suited and she will get stung;
You are so old and she is so young—"
She up with the broomstick and at me she come—
And it's hard times.
5 Out of the window in the ice and the snow,
I mounted my horse and away I did go;
The blood it run down my shins in great grooves,
For I never had been beaten with a broomstick before—
And it's hard times.
6 Come all ye young men, take warning from me,
Be careful when girls you go for to see;
Or else like me you'll meet with your doom,
Get beat like the devil and flogged with the broom—
And it's hard times.
[* Pronounced to rhyme with "dam."]
LOLLY TOO-DUM
No. 1384.. Abner Boggs, Harlan County, Ky., 1937. Other stanzas from Mrs. Emma Dusenberry, Mena, Ark. See Hu, p. 280; Sh, 2:159; Be, p. 266.
One familiar form of folk song carries forward its theme by question and reply of two actors, usually a boy and a girl—a form often used a generation ago in courting bees, neighborhood concerts and on the amateur stage. In America such songs were sometimes called "answer-back" songs. A popular duet of this type began:
Tommy: Pretty, pretty Polly Hopkins, howdy do, howdy do?
Polly: I'm none the better, Tommy Tompkins, for seeing you, for seeing you.
1 As I went out one morning to breathe the morning air,
Lolly too-dum, too-dum, lolly too-dum day.
As I went out one morning to breathe the morning air,
I heard a dear old mother saying, "O my daughter fair,"
Lolly too-dum, too-dum, lolly too-dum day.
2 "You better go wash them dishes, and hush your flattering tongue,
Lolly too-dum, too-dum, lolly too-dum day.
You better go wash them dishes, and hush your flattering tongue;
You know you want to marry, and that you are too young,"
Lolly too-dum, too-dum, lolly too-dum day.
3 "Oh, pity my condition just as you would your own,
For fourteen long years I've lived all alone."
4 "Supposing I was willing, where would you get your man?"
"Why, Lordy mercy, Mammy, I've picked out handsome Sam."
5 "Supposing he would slight you, just as you done him before?"
"Why, Lordy mercy, Mammy, I could marry forty more."
6 "There's peddlers and tinkers and boys from the plow,
Oh, Lordy mercy, Mammy, the fit comes on me now."
7 "Oh, now she is married and well for to do,
Six married daughters, now Pm on the market too."
8 "Why, Lord sakes, Mammy, it's who would marry you?
There's no man alive would want a wife as old as you."
9 "There's doctors and lawyers, and men of all degree,
And some wants to marry, and some will marry me."
IO "Now I am married, it's well for to be,
Ha, ha, ha, you jolly girls, the fit is off of me!"
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, MY GOOD OLD MAN? *
No. 1546. Hazel Hudson, Hazard, Ky., 1937. See Sh, 2:338. [* As arranged by Amadeo de Phillipi this melody was used as the theme of the American School of the Air Series on Folk Music, 1939-40.]
1 Woman: So where have you been, my good old man?
Oh, where have you been, my honey-lovey dove?
So where have you been, my good old man?
You're the best old man in the world.
Man: Been to the store.
2 Woman: So what did you git me, my good old man?
Oh, what did you git me, my honey-lovey dove?
So what did you git me, my good old man?
You're the best old man in the world.
Man: Got you a dress.
3 Woman: How much did it cost, my good old man? etc.
Man: Cost five dollars.
4 Woman: Ain't you 'fraid it'll break you up? etc.
Man: Don't care if it do.
5 Woman: What do you want for your supper? etc.
Man: Five bushels of eggs.
6 Woman: Ain't you 'fraid it'll kill you? etc.
Man: Don't care if it do.
7 Woman: Where you want to be buried? etc.
Man: In the chimney corner.
8 Woman: Ain't you 'fraid of snuffin' ashes? etc.
Man: Don't care if I do,
So long as I'm near you.
JENNIE JENKINS
ah. No. 1345. Ace. on guitar and mandolin and sung by Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Ball, Rugby, Va., 1937. See Sh, 2:3713 Fl.i, pp. 164 S.
1. Man: Will you wear white,
O my dear, O my dear?
Oh, will you wear white,
Jennie Jenkins?
Woman: I won't wear white,
For the color's too bright,
I'll buy me a fol-de-roldy-tildy-toldy, seek-a-double, use-a-cause-a-roll-the-find-me.
Man: Roll, Jennie Jenkins, roll.
2 Man: Will you wear blue, my dear, O my dear?
Oh, will you wear blue, Jennie Jenkins?
Woman: I won't wear blue,
The color's too true, etc.
3 Man: Will you wear red, my dear, O my dear?
Oh, will you wear red, Jennie Jenkins?
Woman: I won't wear red,
It's the color of my head, etc.
4 Man: Will you wear black, my dear, O my dear?
Oh, will you wear black, Jennie Jenkins?
Woman: I won't wear black,
It's the color of my back, etc.
5 Man : Will you wear purple, my dear, O my dear?
Oh, will you wear purple, Jennie Jenkins?
Woman: I won't wear purple,
It's the color of a turkle, etc.
6 Man: Will you wear green, my dear, O my dear?
Oh, will you wear green, Jennie Jenkins?
Woman: I won't wear green,
For it's a shame to be seen, etc.
* * *
"Women don't like these songs about 'Don't believe in a woman, you're lost if you do.' Women don't like such songs because they cause people to lose confidence in women. I mind me of another they sing} cWhen I Was Single'; and that song is another song against the morals of women, and no woman don't like that song.
"Men don't like for women to sing songs like—(They're confined and slaved by their husbands.' They think that causes their women to lose confidence in them. Of course, they don't always get mad; it's owin' to what place they're at. Say, if they're at a party or a dance and it's played, they just pretend to ignore it. hike the song, 'Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies, Be Careful How You Court Young Men.' A lot of times a woman would he singing that and, they'd say "Oh, sing something else, for there's no truth in that' Songs that women makes up about men, about their husbands and about their sweethearts and things like that, they think that we've given them the wrong kind of a deal and it's not justice and it's not right and they protest and everly have as far back as I can remember."
—Aunt Molly Jackson.
MARRIED ME A WIFE
e. No. 648. Ace. on guitar and sung by Gant family, Austin, Texas, 1936.
1 Married me a wife in the month of June,
Rissolty, rassolty, row, row, row,
I carried her home in a silver spoon,
Hey, gee-wallity, nickety-nollity, rest of your quality,
Nickety, nackety, now, now, now.
2 She combed her hair but once a week,
She says that combs are all too cheap.
3 She sweeps the floor but once a year,
She says that brooms are all too dear.
4 She churns her milk in the old man's boot,
For the sake of a dasher she uses her foot.
5 The butter is made of old grizzly gray,
The milk takes legs and walks away.
OLD SHOES AND LEGGIN'S
No. 1355. Uncle Alex Dtmsford, Galax, Va
•> 1937*
Other stanzas from Angie Clark, Mullins, S.C. See Sh.2, 935 Cox, p. 492 Be, p: 264.
"He was an old rich man that had plenty of money and plenty of gold and silver, and this girl's mother wanted her to be nice to him and try to keer fer him because he was a wealthy man; and the girl—he simply didn't appeal to her, and naturally she didn't want him at any cost.
"In the mountains you'd sing this song any time that the mother begin to talk to the daughters about marryin' some old man, when probably maybe they already kindly felt like they was in love or fancyin' some young man in the neighboring county. Then they sang it as a kind of protest song."
—Aunt Molly Jackson.
1 A man that was old came a-courtin' one day
And the girls wouldn't have him
He came down the lane and walked on a cane,
With his old shoes on and his leggin's.
2 Mamma told me to open the door,
I shan't have him;
I opened the door and shoved him to the floor,
With his old shoes on and his leggin's.
3 My mother, she told me to give him a chair,
For the girls wouldn't have him;
I gave him a chair and he looked mighty quare,
With his old shoes on and his leggin's.
4 My mother she told me to hang up his hat,
Oh, but I wouldn't have him!
I hung up his hat and he kicked at the cat,
With his old shoes on and his leggin's.
5 My mother she told me to give him some meat,
Oh, but I wouldn't have him!
I gave him some meat and oh, how he did eat,
With his old shoes on and his leggin's.
6 Mamma told me to bake him a pie,
Oh, but I wouldn't have him!
I baked him a pie and he swore he ate a fly,
With his old shoes on and his leggin's.
7 My mother she told me to give him a hoe,
Oh, but I wouldn't have him!
I gave him a hoe and he jumped Jim Crow,
With his old shoes on and his leggings.
8 Mamma told me to bake him a cake,
Oh, but I wouldn't have him!
I baked him a cake and he swore he ate a snake,
With his old shoes on and his leggings.
9 My mother she told me to give him a saw,
Oh, but I wouldn't have him!
I gave him a saw and he played "Rye Straw,"
With his old shoes on and his leggin's.
10 My mother she told me to put him to bed,
Oh, but I wouldn't have him!
I put him to bed and he stood on his head,
With his old shoes on and his leggin's.
11 Mamma told me to saddle his horse,
Oh, but I wouldn't have him!
Saddled his horse and he went North,
With his old shoes on and his leggings.
12 My mother she told me to send him away,
For the girls wouldn't have him;
I sent him away and he left us to stay,
With his old shoes on and his leggings.
BLUE BOTTLE
No. 1359. Ace. on guitar and sung- by Mrs. Carlos Gallimore, Galax, Va., 1937. See Sh, 1:3415 Hu, p. 174.
1 When I was a bachelor, brisk and young,
Courted a lady with a flattering tongue;
Kisses I gave her were a hundred and one.
I promised to marry, but I didn't tell her when,
I promised to marry, but I didn't tell her when.
2 Monday morning I married me a wife,
Thinking I'd live a happier life.
Fiddlin' and dancin' and all the fine plays,
How happy we were in all those days,
How happy we were in all those days!
3 Tuesday morning I carried her home,
I thought to my soul I had a wife of my own.
She curled her nose and scold and scold,
If ever I heard the like before. (2)
4 Wednesday morning I went to the wood,
Thinkin' to my soul she would never be good,
Cut me a lash where the willows grow green,
Think she's the toughest that ever I seen. (2)
5 Thursday morning I lashed her well,
Cuffed her more than tongue can tell;
"If this is the best that you're goin' to do,
The devil may have you tomorrow before two." (2)
6 Friday morning at break of day
On her death pillow she was scolding away;
Ruffets and the Cuffets and the little devils came,
And carried her away to the home of the same. (2)
7 Saturday morning as I lay alone,
I had no wife, no bride of my home,
My blue bottle is my best friend,
My week's sorrow has now an end. (2)
DEVILISH MARY
e. No. 18. Jesse Stafford, Crowley, La., 1934- Other stanzas from Mrs. S. P. Griffin, Newberry, Fla. See Sh, 2:200.
"There was a woman that we called her 'Puss Erving', had a son named Dock, and we called him 'Puss's Dock.' He and his wife lived in adjomin* rooms with me. These mining shacks were built with jour rooms on Four Mile Creek, and two families lived in these houses with a bedroom and kitchen for each family.
"He got to singiny against her one morning and he had the blues because he was forty-one dollars in debt, and he was a-making his song. He was set-tin* with the baby—they just had one child; they was young^ people—he was a-settiny by the stove and a-nussiny the baby and he was a-singiny:
" (Oh, Pm forty-one dollars in debt To the old Durell Coal Comfany; Pm going back to Rock Holt And leave old Nettie standin3 in the mud uf to her knees3
That was his wife. She started to sing back at him,
"Oh, yes, I'm going back to Rock Holt, Kentucky, And I'll swing those petty boys around and around;
He throwed the baby down on the bed and smacked her plumb across the house, and they got into a fight over that; and me and Jim Stewart we run in, and I pulled him one way and he pulled her another, and we stopped the fight. But when we run in he had her right by the hair pullin* her right down. They'd very often get to singin' against each other and get mad and get into a fight that way" —Aunt Molly Jackson.
1. I went up to London Town
To court a fair young lady
I inquired about her name
And they called her Devilish Mary.
Chorus: Come a fa la ling, come a ling, come a ling,
Come a fa la ling, come a deny.
2 Me and Mary began to spark, She got in a hurry,
Made it all up into her mind
That she'd marry the very next Thursday.
3 We hadn't been married but about two weeks Before we ought to been parted;
Every time I looked cross-eyed,
She knocked me in the head with the shovel.
4 She washed my clothes with the old soapsuds, She filled my bath with switches,
She let me know right at the start She was gonna wear my britches.
5 One day I said to Mary, "Oh, we'd better be parted." Just as soon as I said the word, Bundled up her clothes and started.
6 She filled my heart with sadness, She sewed my side with stitches,
She jumped and she kicked and she popped her heels, And she swore she'd wear my britches.
7 If I ever marry again in this wide world, It'll be for love, and not for riches; Marry a little girl about two feet high So she can't wear the britches.
DO COME BACK AGAIN
e. No. 1362. Mrs. W. P. Davis, Galax, Va., 1937. See Sh, 2:96 if.
"This is a mighty sorrowful soundin* song" said Mrs. Alice Williams of Ashland} Kentucky > "but I like it. It's the one that Canas used to sing when he came over the mountain a-courtin} me. He made it sound as mournful as he could sd*s to make me pity him"
"Did you pity him?"
aWelly I reckon so; I been married to him thirty year"
1 Once I knew a little girl, and I loved her as my life; Freely would I have given her my hand and my heart To have made her my wife.
2 I took her by the hand and I led her to the door,
I embraced her in my arms and I asked her once more, Oh, I asked her once more.
3 She looked up in my face with scorn and disdain,
And the answer that she gave me was, "You can't come back again, No, you can't come back again."
4 I stayed away six weeks , this gave her cause to complain. And she wrote me a letter saying, "Do come back again, Oh, do come back again!"
5 I wrote her an answer, it was just to let her know
That young men often venture where they ought not to go. Where they ought not to go.
6 Come, all ye young men, take warning by me: Never place your affections on a green growing tree, On a green growing tree.
7 The leaves they will wilt, and the roots they will decay, And the beauty of a fair young maid will soon fade away, Oh, will soon fade away.
MY OLD TRUE LOVE
No. 1341. Mrs. Gladys Helen Davis and Mrs. Flossie Ellen Evans, Galax, Va., 1937. See Sh, 2:113 if. Cox, p. 413.
"Sometimes people do kill themselves for love, of course. I remember one time Big John told the girl he was engaged to that he was a-goin' over to---------to get whisky. Now she knew he had a child by another woman over there, and she thought that he was a-goiny to see her. So before he started out, she sat down in his lap and grabbed his pistol and throwed it in her breast. When it shot, she jumped so her head nearly touched the ceiling. Big John never got over it." —Aunt Molly Jackson.
1. As 1 walked out one evening late, a-drinking of sweet wine,
I thought my heart would almost break for the girl I left behind.
2 Farewell, farewell, my old true love, farewell, farewell for a while;
I go away, I come again, if it be ten thousand miles.
3 Ten thousand miles, my old true love, I hope that never will be;
For the parting with you, my old true love, will be the death of me.
4 Weep not for me, my old true love, though far from home I be;
I flatter myself I never shall need for friends to comfort me.
5 I would to God I never been born, or died when I was young,
Or never had seen your rosy red cheeks, or heard your flattering tongue.
6 When I forsake you, my old true love, the rocks shall meet the sun;
The fire shall freeze like ice, my dear, the raging sea shall burn.
7 Oh, who will shoe your feet, my dear, or who will glove your hand,
Or who will kiss your rosy red lips when I am in a foreign land?
8 My father will shoe my feet, my dear, my mother will glove my hand,
My rosy red lips will never be kissed till you return again.
FARE YE WELL, MY DARLIN'
d' to df]o. No. 1302. Mrs. Minnie Floyd, Murrells Inlet, S.C., 1937. Text rearranged. See Co, p. 2155 Be, p. 380.
"I went back to Kentucky in 1934 and met this girl named Anna. I asked her if she3d ever gotten married and she said> No. Since her sweetheart was killed in the World War, she never could find no one no more that she could really keer for"
1 So fare ye well, my darlin5, so fare ye well, my dear, Doirt grieve for my long absence, while I am present here. Since it is my misfortune a soldier for to be,
Oh, try to live contented and do not grieve for me.
2 She wrung her lily-white hands and so mournful she did cry, "YouVe enlisted as a soldier and in the war you'll die.
In the battle you'll be wounded and in the center be slain > It'll burst my heart asunder if I'll never see you again."
3 "Pm going away tomorrow to tarry for a while.
So far from my dear darling, it's about five hundred mile, I hope the time is comin' that I and you shall meet, With words and looks or kisses we will each other greet."
4 Where the cannons are loudly roaring, and bullets by showers fall, And drums and fifes are beating to drown the wounded man's call. Stand steady by your captain, let bombs and grapeshot fly, Trust in God, your Saviour, but keep your powder dry.
I'VE RAMBLED THIS COUNTRY BOTH EARLYE AND LATE
I Pve rambled this country both earlye and late, Hard was my fortune and sad was my fate: I came unto my love's door expecting to get in; Instead of seeing pleasure, my troubles just begin.
2 I stood there one hour as patient as Job, Calling to Pretty Polly, "Come open the door." I saw another man enjoying of my room,
I walked away by the light of the moon.
3 I took to my heels just as hard as I could go, I rambled way down in th$ far shady grove, And there I set down with a bottle in my hand, Drinking of brandy and thinking of that man.
4 So earlye next morning Pretty Polly passed me by With her red rosy cheeks and her black sparkling eyes; Her eyes they were so black and her hair were of the same, Pm wounded in my heart: did you ever feel that pain?
5 I wish I were a fisherman on yon riverside, Pretty Polly my object come floating down the tide;
Pd throw my net around her, Pd bring her to the shore, And have Pretty Polly to weep for no more.
6 Green grows the laurel and so does the rue, Sugar is sweet, but not like you;
And since it is no better, Pm glad it is no worse, Brandy in my bottle and money in my purse.
EAST VIRGINIA
ab. No. 1601. Ace. on banjo and sung by Walter Williams, Salyersville, Ky., 1937. See Sh, 2:232.
"Lots of young men would take their banjos along when they was courtin\ but they was others that was too bashful. They was good banjo flayers you could set down under the shade of an affle tree or by the side of a barn by themselves and they could flay wonderfully; but to fut yem before feofley they was shy and ashamed and they couldnyt flay nothin*"
i I was borned and raised in east Virginia, North Ca'lina I did go. There I courted some pretty little woman, Of her age I do not know.
2 Well, her eyes of a dark brown color, Oh, her cheeks of a rosy red j On her breast were square white lilies To show the tears that she had shed.
3 On her feet she wears little slippers, On her hair she wears a bow 5
Oh, the way I love that brown-eyed darling, Nobody on earth shall never know.
4 For when I'm asleep Pm dreaming of you, When Pm awake I see no rest; Moments seem to me like hours,
With ache and pain all through my breast.
5 Pve got a wife and two little babies, All at home, they're all at home.
Oh, the section boss paid me forty-two dollars, All in gold, sir, all in gold.
LONG LONESOME ROAD
e\ No. 1368. Ace. by the Bogtrotters and sung by Fields Ward, Galax, Va., 1937. See Od.2, p. 46$ Sc.i, p. 73. (See also "Look Down That Lonesome Road.")
i Oh, look up and down that long, lonesome road, Hang down your head and cry, my love, Hang down your head and cry.
2 Oh, I wish to the Lord I had never been born, Or died when I was a baby, my love,
Or died when I was a baby.
3 No, I wouldn't be here eatin' this cold corn bread, Or soppin5 in this salty gravy, my love,
Or soppin' in this salty gravy.
4 You caused me to weep, you caused me to mourn, You caused me to leave my home, my love,
You caused me to leave my home.
5 Fll never hold those red rosy cheeks Or hear that flattering tongue, my love, Or hear that flattering tongue.
6 Oh, I wish I had some pretty little girl To tell my secrets to, my love,
To tell my secrets to.
7 This little girl I'm goin' with, Tells everything I do, my love. Tells everything I do.
8 If you don't quit those rough, rowdy ways, Goin' be in some county jail, some day, Goin' be in some county jail.
9 Oh, look up and down that long, lonesome road, Hang down your head and cry, my love, Hang down your head and cry.
"Talkin* about brogans, they was a lasty shoe and a cheap shoe. The first fair I ever had I borrowed from my mammy because my first boy friend had asked me to go to church and I was ashamed to go without shoes. These old brogans was patched up with ground hogys hide because his hide was awful strong, strong enough for shoestrings. When I walked into the church house with my sweetheart, one of the Bowlins, I got the ring of the preacher's voice, and it was my daddy. My daddy was set against the whole Bowlin race, and I knew he'd kill me if he found me with A If. He had done already said, cPll kill my child and bury her before Pll let her blood be mixed with a Bowlin's? So when I heard my daddy's voice, I took off those old patched brogans and ran all the way home in my bare feet J'
LITTLE BONNY
/. No. 1370. Ace. on guitar and sung by Fields Ward, Galax, Va., 1937.
A modern tune of the kind that can be easily accompanied with a couple of chords on a guitar, it is likely to be heard anywhere there is mountain music—over the radio and on "hill-billy" records. "Long Lonesome Road" belongs to the same category.*
Chorus:
Goodbye, little Bonny, goodbye, Goodbye, little Bonny, goodbye. Pll see you again, but the Lord knows when. Goodbye, little Bonny, goodbye.
i I asked your mamma for you 5 I asked your papa, too. They both said, "No, little Bonny can't go." That's all that I can do.
% My trunk is packed and gone, My trunk is packed and gone, My trunk is gone and I'm alone. Goodbye, little Bonny, goodbye.
* For other tunes of the same type, the same provenience and the same vintage, see also "Chilly Winds" and "As I Went Out for a Ramble."