Oh Mary Dear- Mrs. Ollie Jacobs (KY-WS) c.1871 REC
[From: Recording at Wisconsin Folksong Collection online. The letter, similar to Georgia version (Morris, 1950) is a corruption of the letter in the Scotch versions:
In his right hand he holds a letter,
And it speaks greatly to your dispraise. (Greig-Duncan C)
R. Matteson 2016]
A version “Oh Mary dear, go ask your mother” came to northern Wisconsin from Kentucky with the Jacobs Family at the turn of the century. Recordings were made from the singing of Mrs. Ollie Jacobs (LC No. 4983) and of her daughter, Mrs. Pearl Jacobs Borusky (LC No. 4984).
Oh Mary Dear- Sung by Mrs. Ollie Jacobs, age 79, Pearson, Wisconsin, recorded in 1941. The Jacobs family learned the song in their earlier home in Carter County, Ky. They came to Wisconsin in 1906. Learned in school when she was a little girl- about 1871.
Listen: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WiscFolkSong/data/audio/MmBib/WiscFolkSong/500/reference/000459r.mp4
Oh Mary dear, go ask your mother,
If you indeed may marry me
And if she says, "No" come back and tell me
And it's the last time I'll trouble thee.
Oh no I can't ask my mother,
For she's in her bed of rest.
And in her hand she holds a letter,
That has caused the most, of my distress.
Oh Mary dear, go ask your father,
If you indeed my wife can be,
And if he says, "No" come back and tell me
And it's the last time that I'll trouble thee.
Oh no I can't ask my father,
For he lies on, his bed of rest.
And in his hand he hold a weapon
To slay the one that I love best.