Pretty Polly- James York (NC) c.1940 Abrams REC
[Fragment from W. Amos Abrams Folksong Collection; Mr. James York performs 'Pretty Polly.' York also transcribed a version of The Gosport Tragedy from Pearle Webb, which is Brown B. This version is one of several (Campbell MS; Uncle Pat Frye; etc.) that have been attached to different waltz time songs including The Cuckoo" and "Wagoner's Lad."
R. Matteson 2016]
Pretty Polly --sung by Mr. James York, c. 1940
Listen: http://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/1ab4ab481e37b765c3cdaeaca0817748.mp3
I'm troubled, I'm troubled, I'm troubled in mind,
And if trouble don't kill me[1] I'll live a long time.
Pretty Polly, pretty Polly would you think it unkind,
For me to sit by you and tell you my mind.
My mind is to marry and never to part,
For the first time is saw you you wounded my heart.
1. recording skips here