Lowlands of Holland- Grover (ME) pre1941 Lomax
[Recording by Alan Lomax; from AFS L21 ANGLO-AMERICAN SONGS AND BALLADS from the Archive of Folk Song. Edited by Duncan Emrich. This also appears in Grover's short book of songs.
R. Matteson 2015]
B2-THE LOWLANDS OF HOLLAND. Sung by Mrs. Carrie Grover of Gorham, Maine, at Washington, D. C, 1941. Recorded by Alan Lomax. This song has been traced at least as far back as 1776 in the manuscripts of David Herd deposited in the British Library, and interesting local variants of it have been found in the United States as far west as Missouri where the final line reads "To the lowlands of Missouri, we'll fight for liberty." Mrs. Grover's version from Maine is closer to the British tradition than others found in this country. For references, see: Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs (Columbia, Mo.: State Historical Society of Missouri, 1946), vol 1, p. 339.
I. Last Easter I was married, that night I went to bed,
There came a bold sea captain who stood at my bed head,
Saying, "Arise, arise, you married man, and come along with me
To the low, lowlands of Holland to face your enemy."
2. She clasped her arms about me, imploring me to stay.
Up speaks this bold sea captain, saying,
"Arise and come away! Arise, arise, you married man, and come
along with me To the low, lowlands of Holland to face your enemy."
3. "Oh, daughter dear, oh, daughter dear, why do you thus lament?
There are men enough in our town to make your heart content."
"There are men enough in our town, but there is not one for me,
For I never had but one true love and he has gone from me."
4. "No shoes shall come upon my feet nor comb come in my hair,
No fire bright nor candlelight shine in my chamber more;
And never will I married be until the day I dee,
Since cruel seas and angry winds parted my love and me."