Lady Gay- (VA-NC) pre1956 Richard Chase
[No informant named, no date given. From Chase; American Folk Tales and Songs, 1956. Chase says this is the southern Appalachian version of "The Wife of Usher's well."
Richard Thomas Chase (February 15, 1904 – February 1988), collected Jack tales and folk songs and was an organizer of the Whitetop Festival in Virginia. He knew many folk singers (Horton Barker, for example) in the 1930s and 1940s.
R. Matteson 2015]
1 There was a lady and a lady gay
And three fine sons had she
She sent them away to the north country
For gain some high degree.
2. They'd not been gone but a very short time,
About a year and a day.
when death, swift death, came a-hastening along
And swept her sons away.
3. If there is a King in Heaven, she cried,
A King that will grant my boon,
he'll send to me my three young sons.
Oh I pray that he send them soon.
4. It was just about Old Christmas Time
when the nights were cold and clear;
She looked and she saw her three young sons
come walking home to her.
5. She spread a table with a clean white cloth,
she set out cake and wine.
Come eat, come drink, my three little sons,
come eat and drink of mine.
6. We cannot eat your cake nor bread,
we cannot drink your wine,
for yonder stands our Saviour dear,
and to him we must resign.
7. She made them a bed in their own back room,
brought out her clean white sheets,
And covered them over with a cloth of gold
that they might soundly sleep.
8. Wake up, wake up! said the oldest one,
the birds are singing for day.
Our Saviour dear is a-calling loud,
and away we must go away!
9. Green grass, green grass grows over our heads,
Cold clay lies on our feet,
And every tear you shed us,
It wets our winding sheet.