Lonesome Valley- Pearl Brewer (AR) 1958 REC Parler B
[Ozark Folk Song Collection: Reel 262, Item 5. Collected by Edwin R. Bethune For Mary C. Parler; transcribed by Frances Majors.
R. Matteson 2016]
Lonesome Valley (The Bramble Briars) Sung by Mrs. Pearl Brewer of Pocahontas, Arkansas on August 1, 1958
Listen: http://digitalcollections.uark.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/OzarkFolkSong/id/2771/rec/4
Two true loves, as they sat talking,
Two brothers heard what they had said;
Saying: "Your courtship will soon be over,
For tomorrow we'll force it to an end."
So in the morning, they rose early,
And planned a-hunting for to go.
They insisted on their sister's lover
To come and go along with them.
They rode o'er hills and they rode o'er mountains;
They rode o'er land that never was known.
They rode till they came to the Lonesome Valley,
And there they left him dead alone.
So that evening as they's returning,
Their sister asked where her true love was.
We lost him in a game of hunting,
And him no more we could not find.
She went to bed all broken-hearted,
And in a dream her true love came;
Saying: Your brothers have murdered me harshly[1]
And left me in the valley alone.
So in the morning she rose early;
She dressed herself, put on her gloves;
Said: I'll ride o'er hills and I'll ride o'er mountains
I'll seek no rest till I find my love.
She rode o'er hills and she rode o'er mountains;
She rode o'er land that never was known.
She rode till she came to the Lonesome Valley,
And there she found him dead alone.
His rosy cheeks it had almost faded;
His lips were salty as cadidon[2] brine.
She kissed him over and over, a-singing,
You once was a darling friend of mine.
So that evening as she's returning,
Her brothers asked where she had been.
Sang: Hold your tongues, you deceitful villians;
You've murdered my love, and you both shall hang."
So in the morning they rose early,
And attempted to cross the dark blue sea.
But the wind rose high and the waves overtaken them,
And they both saw their watery graves.
1. originally, "rash and cruel"
2. ? usually "salty as any brine"