Loving Henry- Bennett (NC) 1918 Sharp L
[My title replacing Sharp's generic title. From English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, 1932 (Sharp/Karpeles). Notes from the 1932 edition follow. Additional text from Sharp's MS by Bronson 1962.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
Notes from the 1932 Edition: No. 18. Young Hunting.
Texts without tunes: — Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads, No. 68. Cox's Folk Songs of the South, p. 42 (see also further references). Journal of American Folk-Lore, XX. 252.
Texts with tunes: — Child, v. 416. Reed Smith's South Carolina Ballads, p. 107. Journal of American Folk-Lore, xviii. 295 (tune only); XXX. 289. British Ballads from Maine, p. 122. Davis's Traditional Ballads of Virginia, pp. 182 and 566. Sandburg's American Songbag, p. 64. Compare And you shall have the cheers of the cheer cold girl' of D. 4 with 'Ye shall hae cheer, an charcoal clear' in Child's version K 4. Tune H, with text of version G, is published with pianoforte accompaniment in Folk Songs of English Origin, 1st Series.
L. Loving Henry- Sung by Mrs. VIRGINIA BENNETT at Burnsville, N. C , Sept. 13, 1918
Hexatonic (no 6th).
1. Get down, get down, loving Henry, she said,
And stay all night with me.
And your bed shall be made of the purest yellow gold,
And the pillow of ivory.
2. I can't get down, Lady Margaret, said he,
Or stay all night with thee,
For the girl that I left in the Arkansas land
Will longingly look for me.
3. She leaned her hand against the fence,
Just to speak a word or two,
And with a little knife that she held in her hand,
She pierced him through and through.
4. O live, O live, loving Henry, said she,
One hour and a half or three,
And all the doctors that live in this land
Shall come to attend thee.
5 How can I live, Lady Margaret, said he,
One hour and a half or three,
When don't you see my own heart's blood
Is trinkling to my knees?
6 She called the young maids of the town,
Saying: Keep this a secret for me,
And these gold rings that you see on my hands
Shall all belong to thee.
7 Some took him up by the head
And others by the feet;
They carried him away to the broad water side
And plunged him into the deep.
8 Lie there, lie there, loving Henry, said she,
Till the flesh all rots from the bones,
And the girl that you left in the Arkansas land
Will think you're long coming home.
9 Fly down, fly down, pretty parrot, said she,
And rest upon my knee,
And your cage shall be made of the purest yellow gold
And the doors of ivory.
10. I can't fly down, Lady Margaret, said he,
Or rest upon your knee,
For you've just murdered your own true love,
And I fear that you might murder me.