Bluegrass Messengers

The Two Brothers- Walton (VA) 1916 Sharp C; Davis D.

[Sharp and Campbell: English Folk songs from the Southern Appalachians; 1917, and is included in Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles: English Folk songs from the Southern Appalachians; Oxford, 1932.

Davis A from Raz Shiflett's children (see also his son Robert Shiflett's version) is from the Brown's Cove area in Virginia. The last verse which is incomplete here is given:

Go home, go home, my loving Susie,
And weep no more for me,
For one sweet kiss from my sweet lips
Will cause your days [to] short on.

What this means (and it's completely lost in Sharp C, is: A kiss from dead brother John will shorten (short on) her life.

R. Matteson 2012,2014]

The Two Brothers- Walton (VA) 1916 Sharp C

1. One evening, one evening,
Two brothers gone from school.
The oldest said to the youngest,
"Let's take a wrastle fall."

2   The oldest threw the youngest down,
He threw him to the ground,
And from his pocket came a penknife
And give him a deathless wound.

3   Pull off, pull off, your woolen shirt,
And tear it from gore to gore,
And wrap it around this deathless wound,
And that will bleed no more.

4  He pulled off his woolen shirt,
And tore it from gore to gore,
And wrapped it around this deathless wound,
And it did bleed no more.

5   It's take me up all on your back
And carry me to yonder churchyard.
And dig my grave both wide and deep
And gentle lie me down.

6   What will you tell your father
When he calls for his son John?
You can tell him I'm in some low green woods
A-learning young hounds to run.

7   What will you tell your mother
When she calls for her son John?
You can tell her I'm in some graded school,
Good scholar to never return.

8   What will you tell your true love
When she calls for her dear John?
You can tell her I'm in some lonesome grave,
My books to carry home.

9   One sweet kiss from your clay, clay lips
Will bring my day short on.[2]

1. Davis has, "Let's take a wrastle fall."
2. Davis says this is "shorten." See intro notes for an explanation.