My Father Gave Me an Acre of Ground- Coffee (TN) 1934 Niles A
[From Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p 14-15. Music upcoming. This is the first version with the rare (in the US) refrain: "Sing ivy, sing ivory."
R. Matteson 2014]
My Father Gave Me an Acre of Ground- Simeon B. Coffee; Hamblen Co. TN 1934; Niles A
1. My father gave me an acre of ground,
Sing ivy, sing ivory.
My father gave me an acre of ground,
Parsley, rosemary and thyme,
My father gave me an acre of ground,
Betwixt the sea sider all around,
And she shall be a lover of mine.
2. He made a piowing-share out of leather,
Ivy, sing ivory,
He made a plowing-share out of leather,
Parsley, rosemary, and thyme,
He made a plowing-share out of leather,
And he harrowed it down with a white turkey's feather,
And she shall be a lover of mine,
Parsley, rosemary, and thyme.
3. He planted hit down with Hickory King, *
And laid it by with a red robin's wing.
4. If you would make me a cambric shirt,
All woven around with no needle work.
5. If you would wash and dry hit well,
Where ne'er a drap of water fell.
6. If you would dry hit on a thorn,
That blossomed when King John was born.
7. And when the corn is cut and bound,
I'll wear my shirt in yonders town.
8. And when 'tis done all speedily,
Plaid or no plaid, married we'll be.
* A variety of wide-grained white field corn, planted extensively in the southern mountains.