Soldier Life- Ethel Edward (GA) 1916 Rawn
[My title, none given. From: "More Songs and Ballads from the Southern Appalachians" by Isabel Nanton Rawn and Charles Peabody in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 29, No. 112 (Apr. - Jun., 1916), pp. 198-202.
Rawn, originally from NC, supplied versions from Georgia she collected while attending college and teaching. Her ballads sent to Campbell, dated as early as 1909. Some were published in EFFSA in 1917, 1932, however, she was not recognized as the contributor.
R. Matteson 2017]
II. [Soldier Life] sung by Ethel Edward of Mount Berry, Georgia. Collected by Rawn.
Soldier life is a dreary life;
It robs poor girls of their heart's delight,
It causes them to weep, it causes them to mourn,
For the loss of a true-love never to return.
"Captain, Captain, tell me true,
Does my sweetheart dwell with you?"-
"No, kind miss, he is not here.
He got killed in a battle, my dear."
"Hand me a chair and I sit down,
A pen and write it down.
At every line I drop a tear,
At every verse cry, 'Willy, my dear.' "
"O father! O father! go build me a boat,[1]
That I may on the ocean float.
I hail every boat as I pass by,
And I inquire of my sweet sailor boy.
It on rocks went as I passed by[2],
There I let your true-love lie."
1 Compare for the double address "Lord Randall," etc., passim
2. This is a response from the captain-- obviously, part of the text is missing.