The Broomfield Hill- Hubbard (Utah) 1871
[One of two versions from this excellent article; both are from the early 1870s.]
From: Traditional Ballads from Utah
by Lester A. Hubbard and LeRoy J. Robertson
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 64, No. 251 (Jan. - Mar., 1951), pp. 37-53
B. "The Broomfield Hill." Sung by Salley A. Hubbard, age 86, of Salt Lake City. She learned it from "Doc" Lish, who worked on her father's farm in Willard in 1871.
"A wage a love a wager and I'll go with thee,
And I'll bet you five hundred to one
That a maiden I may go to the May blooming field
And a maiden I'm sure to return."
Away this young man ran to the May blooming field
His wages all for to win,
He set himself down by a clear purling stream,
And he set till he fell fast asleep.
Nine times she walked around his head,
And nine times she walked around his feet,
And nine times she kissed his ruby, ruby lips
As he lay on the bank fast asleep.
She had a ring on her little finger,
And on his she placed it as his own;
She placed it there as a token of love
That she had been there but was gone.
"If I'd a-been awake when I was asleep
A maiden she never would return,
For her I would have killed and the blood I would have spilled,
And the butcher told the tale of the dead."
"You false-heartedy oung man, you hard-heartedy outh,
Your heart to me is as hard as any stone.
Would you think of killing one who's never harmed you?
I'd a-mourned for the grave you lie in."