O Father, Build me a Boat- Mary Wilson (WV) 1975 Gainer
[From Folk Songs from the West Virginia Hills, 1975 by Patrick Gainer. Gainer's text seems to be recreated (i.e. the used of "female," in first stanza, a word not found in tradition-- the title named after 2nd stanza, etc.).
This is a version of Oikotype C, however questionable its origin. Gainer was well aware of Cox's WV versions.
R. Matteson 2017]
O Father, Build me a Boat- sung by Gainer's great-aunt Mary Wilson before 1975.
1. It was early, early in the month of May,
Down by the green fields I chanced to stray,
I heard a female to sigh and say,
The lad she loved was gone far away.
2. O father, father build me a boat,
for o'er the ocean I long to float
[text upcoming]