The Dying Soldier- McNew (KY) 1937
[From Southern Folklore Quarterly - Volumes 2-3 - Page 65; 1938, with music; Bronson 22. Collected by the Kirklands. Their notes follow.
R. Matteson 2012, 1014]
THE TWA BROTHERS (Child 49) "The Dying Soldier," said by the singer to be a Civil War song, was recorded July 25, 1937, by Dr. Claudius M. Capps, a physician, who learned it many years ago from Miss Nanie McNew, of Carlisle, Kentucky.
The Dying Soldier- Miss Nanie McNew (Carlisle, KY) 1937
Oh, Willie, take my highland shirt,
Tear it from gore to gore,
And wrop it around my bleeding wounds,
And I will bleed no more
Willie took his highland shirt,
Tore it from gore to gore,
And wropt it around his bleeding wounds;
He still bled more and more.
Oh, Willie, take me on your back
And carry me to the church door,
And lay me down on the cold ground
And I will bleed no more.
Willie took him on his back
And carried him to the church door,
And laid him down on the cold ground
And he bled more and more.
Oh, Willie, go dig my grave,
Dig it both wide and deep,
And place my prayer book by my side,
A marble stone at my head and feet.