The Lonesome Low- (NC) c.1915 Sutton- Brown C
[From the Brown Collection of NC Folklore. I'm guestimating the date for c. 1915. Sutton did most of her collecting before the early 1920s. She collected from Myra Barnett c.1915.
R. Mattteson 2014]
47. The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)
(Child 286)
The oldest form of this, Child's A, is a seventeenth-century broadside; later modifications of it, in broadsides and stall prints down into the nineteenth century, are nearer to the form in which it is traditionally current in our time. It is a favorite among American ballad singers. For its vogue, see BSM 97-8 [1], and add to the citations there given Massachusetts (FSONE 136-7), North Carolina (FSRA 43-5), Florida (FSF 326-8), the Ozarks (OFS I 195-201), Michigan (BSSM 214-15), and Wisconsin (JAFL LII 11-12). It is altogether probable that its popularity is due in part to the sonorous refrain, and perhaps also to the tune or tunes used. There are six texts in our collection.
C. 'The Lonesome Low.' One of two versions reported by Mrs. Sutton, who remarks : "The Golden Willow Tree is a very common ballad in this State. I have collected it in Caldwell, on the Beech Mountain in Watauga, on Toe River, on Big Hungry in Henderson, on Upper Hominy in Buncombe, and on the Rocky Broad in Rutherford. I've heard it in a Gaston county mill village and fishermen sing it on the Albemarle Sound. It is almost as widely known as Barbary Allen." One of the versions she secured from the singing of Myra Barnett (Miller), "from whom I got 42 traditional ballads. Myra fascinated every child in our neighborhood with the songs when I was a little girl." She came from the Brushy Mountains in Caldwell county, near the Wilkes county line. The text of this version is the same as that of A. Her other text bears the title 'The Lonesome Low,' with the music supplied by her sister. Miss Pearl Minish. But her manuscript does not show from which of her many singers of it this text was set down.
1 There was a little ship a-sailin' on the sea,
And she went by the name of The Golden Willow Tree,
As she sailed on the lowland lonesome low.
As she sailed on the lonesome sea. [3]
2 Up stepped a sailor: 'Oh, what shall we do?
For I have spied the Turkish Traveloo
As she sails on the lowland lonesome low,
As she sails on the lowland sea.'
3 Up stepped a young man : 'Oh, what'll you give to me
If I will sink her in the bottom of the sea
As she sails on the lowland lonesome low,
As she sails on the lowland sea?'
4 'I have a house and I have lands,
I have an only daughter that shall be at your command,
If you'll sink her in the lowland lonesome low,
If you'll sink her in the lowland sea.'
5 He turned upon his breast and away swam he.
He swum till he found her a-sailin' on the sea,
A-sailin' on the lowland lonesome low,
A-sailin' on the lowland sea.
6 Some a-playin' cards, and some a-pitchin' dice.
And some a-standin' by them a-givin' good advice
As she sailed on the lowland lonesome low,
As she sailed on the lowland sea.
7 He cut and he slashed, till he cut plumb through,
He cut nine gashes in that Turkish Traveloo;
As she sailed on the lowland lonesome low,
As she sailed on the lowland sea.
8 Some with their hats and some with their caps
And some fur to stop them salt water gaps
As she sunk in the lowland lonesome low,
As she sunk in the lowland sea.
9 He turned upon his breast and away swam he,
He swum till he came to the Golden Willow Tree,
As she sailed on the lowland lonesome low.
As she sailed on the lowland sea.
10 'Oh captain, oh captain, will you be as good as your word?
Oh captain, oh captain, will you take me on board.
As you sail on the lowland lonesome low,
As you sail on the lowland sea?'
11 'Neither will I be as good as my word
Nor neither will I take you on board,
Tho' you've sunk her in the lowland lonesome low,
Tho' you've sunk her in the lowland sea.'
12 'If it was not for the love I have for your men
I'd do unto you as I done unto them,
I would sink you in the lowland lonesome low.
I would sink you in the lowland sea.'
13 He turned upon his back and down sunk he;
He said farewell to the Golden Willow Tree
As she sailed on the lowland lonesome low,
As she sailed on the lowland sea.
Footnote: 3. Miss Pearl sang here "lowland sea."