Katie Dear- Myrtle Love Hester (AL) 1945 Arnold
[From Byron Arnold, Folksongs of Alabama, University of Alabama Press, 1950, p. 75; with music. The last stanza is rare.
Her father was Rev. Samuel R. Love of Marshall County, Alabama whose parent were Irish and English.
R. Matteson 2016]
“Katie Dear” sung by Mrs. Myrtle Love Hester of Florence Alabama in August 1945.
1. "Oh, Katie, dear, go ask your mother,
Ask her if you my bride may be,
And if she denies you, love, come and tell me
Then that'll be the last I'll trouble thee."
2. "Oh, Willie, dear, that would be useless.
She's in her room taking her rest
And by her side lies a silver dagger
To plunge into my true love's breast."
3. "Oh, Katie, dear, go ask your father,
Ask him if you my bride may be,
And if he denies you, love, come and tell me,
And that'll be the last I'll trouble thee."
4. "Oh, Willie, dear, that would be folly;
He's in his room taking his rest,
And by his side lies a golden dagger
To plunge into my true love's breast."
5. "Then don't you see that cloud a rising
To shield us from the rising sun;
Oh, won't you be glad my own true lover
When you and I become as one?"