Lowland Lonesome Low- Wiley Proffitt (NC) 1937 Brown E; Also Frank Proffitt 1940 and 1959
[Listed as version E in the Brown Collection of NC Folklore. Frank Proffit sent in the text he collected from his father. On the Greer Collection MS is written: Sung by Mr. Wiley Proffitt Sugar Grove, N. C. to his son, Frank Proffitt.; August 21, 1937. Proffitt writes: "There are other verses" but fails to provide them. Later in 1959 he added some verses which did not appear on his "Her Bright Smile" recording made by Frank Warner. The Greer collection provides this info:
Wiley Proffitt, 1869-?
Collector Frank Proffitt, 1913-1965
Geographic Location Sugar Grove, Watauga County, North Carolina
Associated Date 1937-08-21
R. Matteson 2014]
Brown Collection: 47. The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)
(Child 286)
The oldest form of this, Child's A, is a seventeenth-century broadside; later modifications of it, in broadsides and stall prints down into the nineteenth century, are nearer to the form in which it is traditionally current in our time. It is a favorite among American ballad singers. For its vogue, see BSM 97-8 [1], and add to the citations there given Massachusetts (FSONE 136-7), North Carolina (FSRA 43-5), Florida (FSF 326-8), the Ozarks (OFS I 195-201), Michigan (BSSM 214-15), and Wisconsin (JAFL LII 11-12). It is altogether probable that its popularity is due in part to the sonorous refrain, and perhaps also to the tune or tunes used. There are six texts in our collection.
Footnote (above): 1. There are two errors in the citations there given. The LL reference should be 238-9, not 228-9; and the JFSS 11 reference should be 244, not 224.
E. 'Lowland Lonesome Low.' Contributed by Frank Proffitt of Sugar Grove, Watauga county, 1937. Four stanzas, corresponding to stanzas 1, 4, 5, 7 of A.
Lowland, Lonesome Low [text sent in by Proffitt from Greer Collection]
I had a little ship in South Amer-e-kee
That went by the name of the Golden Willow Tree,
As it sailed on the lowland, lonesome low;
As it sailed on the lowland sea.
Up stepped a little man "What will you give me
To sink it in the lowland, lonesome low,
To sink it in the lowland sea?
"I have house, and I have land and one daughter only
That will be at your command,
If you'll sink it in the lowland, lonesome low,
If you'll sink it in the lowland sea.
"He had a little instrument just for the use;
Cut nine gashes in the salt water juice.
As he sunk it in the lowland, lonesome low,
As he sunk it in the lowland sea.
LOWLAND LOW- Frank Proffitt, c. 1940 on Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still, The Warner Collection, Volume II.
There was a little ship in South Amerikee
That went by the name of the Golden Willow Tree
As she sailed on the lowland lonesome low
As she sailed on the lowland sea
Up stepped a little man: "What will you give me
To sink her in the lowland lonesome sea
To sink her in the lowland lonesome low
To sink her in the lowland sea?"
I have houses and I have land
One only daughter that'll be at your command
If you sink her in the lowland lonesome low
If you sink her in the lowland sea
He had a little instrument just for the use
He cut nine gashes in the salt water juice [1]
And he sunk her in the lowland lonesome low
He sunk her in the lowland sea
1. usually, sluice
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Lowland Low (or, The Golden Willow Tree)- as sung by Frank Proffitt, 1959; Traditional American Folk Songs from the Anne & Frank Warner Collection
There was a little ship in south Amerikee
Was known by the name of the Golden Willow Tree
And she sailed on the lowlands, lonesome low,
For she sailed on the lowland sea.
Now she had not been a-sailing, not very long,
In weeks not more than three,
Until they spied a ship all sailing high,
And it was the Turkish Robberee.
"Oh, what shall I do! Oh, what shall I do!"
Our jolly well captain, cried he,
"I a-feared we all will be took by the Turkish Robberee
And be sunk in the lowland sea."
Up steps a little man, "What will you give to me
For to sink her in the lowland, lonesome sea,
To sink her in the lowlands, lonesome low,
If I sink her in the lowland sea?"
"I have at home houses and lands,
Also my youngest daughter will be at your command,
If you'll sink her in the lowlands, lonesome low,
If you'll sink her in the lowland sea."
All down in the briny deep swum he,
He swum beneath the Turkish Robberee,
All a-sailing high on the lowlands low,
Sailing so high on the lowland sea.
He took a little instrument just for the use,
And cut him nine gashes in the salt water juice,
And he sunk her in the lowlands, lonesome low,
He sunk her in the lowland sea.
Back he comes a-swimmin', back comes he,
Back to the side of the Golden Willow Tree,
As she sailed upon the lowlands, lonesome low,
As she sailed upon the lowland sea.
"Have you made the writ to your houses and lands,
And vowed for me to have your fair daughter's hand?
For I've sunk her in the lowlands, lonesome low,
I've sunk her in the lowland sea."
"A fool only gives of his houses and lands,
And his youngest daughter to be at your command.
You can go sink in the lowlands, lonesome low
You can sink in the lowland sea."
Up he went and down went he until the count of three,
Then he sunk to the bottom of the lowland sea.
He sank in the lowlands, lonesome low,
He sank in the lowland sea.