The Parsley Vine- Carter Patterson 1908 Jeffersontown, KY; from John Jacob Niles; (Niles No. 2 B)
[From Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p 17. Music upcoming. Niles notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
The Parsley Vine Notes:
THE SINGER of these verses, Carter Patterson, was an engaging vagabond. On the morning of July 5, 1908, when he sang "The Parsley Vine" for me, he was suffering slightly from the celebration of the Fourth of July. He and all the other numerous Pattersons lived a few miles from Jeffersontown, Ky., in a series of tin shacks by a creek. There were many children, large and
small, and, of course, the traditional beautiful daughter of about 16 summers. The daughter was a waitress in a nearby summer hotel. Carter was a woodsman and a stake maker and a stake driver. As such, he was my assistant. We were both engaged by the county surveyor.
The Pattersons were experts in woods lore. Carter had a name for every weed ind wildflower in the forest. He knew the flower and plant superstitions, how they could be used as cures, and which ones were safe to eat. He told me of a long dead relative who could poison a "human-person with a scrap of wild mushroom no larger than a man's fingernail. It was all in knowing
which mushroom was edible and which one was poisonous.
The Parsley Vine-
1. My uncle gave me an acre of ground,
Parsley hangs upon the vine.
My uncle gave me an acre of ground,
The poorest I did ever find,
Where the parsley hangs upon the vine.
2. My uncle gave me an old gray mare,
Parsley hangs upon the vine.
My uncle gave me an old gray mare,
Who wouldn't work and didn't care,
Where the parsley hangs upon the vine.
3. My lover gave me a linny smock,
Parsley hangs upon the vine,
My lover gave me a linny smock,
But on her door I would not knock,
'Cause the parsley hangs upon the vine.
4. My uncle took my plaid away,
Parsley hangs upon the vine,
My uncle took my plaid away,
In spite of totter and head of gray,
And the parsley hangs upon the vine.