Sweet Soldier Boy- Lee Monroe Presnell (NC) c.1961 Paton
[From The Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, North Carolina, I, Folk-Legacy Records, recorded by Sandy Paton .See also The new American songster, Charles W. Darling - 1992. Cf. Soldier Boy by Buna Hicks
R. Matteson 2017]
"Sweet Soldier Boy" sung by Lee Monroe Presnell of Beech Mountain recorded about 1961 by Sandy Paton.
1. Dark is the color of my true lover's hair
His cheeks was like a lily fair,
If he'd return, it would give me great joy,
For I never loved any like my sweet soldier boy.
Oh, if he'd return, it would give me great joy,
For I never loved any like my sweet soldier boy.
2 "Father, father, go build me a boat
And over the ocean I will float;
And every ship that I pass by,
There I'll inquire for my sweet soldier boy.
Oh, it's every ship that I pass by,
Oh there I'll inquire for my sweet soldier boy."
3 She rowed her boat into the plain;
She saw three ship[s] a-coming from Spain.
She halted each ship as it drew nigh;
Oh, there she inquired for her sweet soldier boy.
4 "Captain, captain, tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail with you?
Answer me, oh, answer me; you'll give me great joy,
For I never loved any like my sweet soldier boy.
5 "Oh, no lady, he's not here;
Got drownd-ed in the gulf, my dear.
At the head of Rocky Isle, as we passed by,
There we let your true lover lie.
At the head of Rocky Isle, as we passed by,
There we let your true lover lie. "
6 She rowed her boat unto a rock,
I thought, my soul, her heart would break.
She wrung her hands all in her hair,
Just like some lady in despair.
7 "Go dig my grave both wide and deep,
A marble stone at my head and feet,
And on my breast a turtle dove,
To show to the world that I died for love."