Queen's Garden- male singer (BAH) 1935 Lomax REC
[From Alan Lomax's Folksongs of North America. Taken from a 1935 recording of an unidentified elderly male singer on New Bight, Cat Island, made by Mary Elizabeth Barnicle, and Alan Lomax.
R. Matteson 2015]
Queen's Garden- Sung by an old man on New Bight, Cat Island by Mary Elizabeth Barnicle, and Alan Lomax
One day as I was going to school
I bounced my ball so high
I bounced it into the Queen's gardeen
Where no one could see where it fall
Come een, come een my brave young boy
Come een and get your ball
Oh no, oh no I can't come een
Unless my school mates follow
She showed him an apple as green as the grass
She showed him a gay gold ring
She showed him a kerchief as white as snow
So she could entice him een
She took him by the lily white hand
She led him through the hall
She led him into the green gardeen
Where no one could hear when he hollered
She brought a kerchief of linen fine
A knife both long and keen
She brought a basin of marble stone
To catch his lifeblood een