Wind and Rain- Kilby Snow (Virginia) c. 1913
[From Smithsonian Folkways Recording: Kilby Snow: Country Songs and Tunes with Autoharp (Folkways 03902), 1969. One of the few US versions that includes the making of the violin from her body parts. Snow's first five stanzas have been taken from another song similar to, or part of, the "Knoxville Girl/Berkshire Tragedy" ballads. Stanza six onward is the rare archaic "wind and rain" ballad which is compared to Rev. Sims (1931) and Dan Tate (1941).
R. Matteson 2011, 2014, 2018]
Bio from Folkways: John Kilby Snow was born on May 28, 1905 in Grayson County Virginia near Independence. At age 3, his family moved to nearby North Carolina where his father bought him an old five bar Zimmerman autoharp that Kilby played left-handed. At the age of five he entered and won $20 gold for first place in the autoharp division at a fiddler's contest held at Brown's Warehouse in Winston-Salem, NC. This earned Kilby the title of Autoharp Champion of North Carolina. At the age of six, he was blinded in his left eye by a stone chip. Kilby married his wife Lillie in 1925 and began performing on the autoharp in live shows and on radio throughout the South. In the late 1950s Kilby moved north and by the early 1960s was living in Nottingham, PA when he was "discovered" by Mike Seeger of the New Lost City Ramblers.
According to Snow, he learned the song from his grandfather around 1913 when he was seven or eight years old. Grandfather Thomas Snow was a Cherokee Indian born in 1812 and died in 1916 (104 years old). An earlier recording of a similar version "Wind and Rain," was made George and Gerry Armstrong in 1961 on the Armstrong's Simple Gifts album.
Snow's “Wind and Rain” was used by Bob Dylan to create “Percy’s Song”, versions of which appeared on Dylan’s Biograph box set and on various bootlegs. Snow's version has also been recorded by Robin Greenstein (see his lyrics below), Jerry Garcia (Greateful Dead) and many others.
WIND AND RAIN Kilby- Snow (1969 recording; learned circa 1913)
It was early one morning in the month of May
Oh the wind and the rain
Two lovers went fishing on a hot summer’s day
Crying the dreadful wind and rain
He said to the lady “Won’t you marry me?”
Oh the wind and the rain
“And my little wife you’ll always be,”
Crying the dreadful wind and rain.
She cried, "Oh no, that will never do,"
Oh the wind and the rain
I love you but I can't marry you,"
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
Then he knocked her down and he kicked her around
Oh the wind and the rain
Then he hit her in the head with a battering ram
Crying the dreadful wind and rain
He threw her in the river to drown
Oh the wind and the rain
He watched her as she floated down
Crying the dreadful wind and rain
She floated on down to the mill in time
Oh the wind and the rain
The miller fished her out with his long fishing line
Crying the dreadful wind and rain
He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones
Oh the wind and the rain
He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones
Crying the dreadful wind and rain
He made a fiddle bow of her long curly hair
Oh the wind and the rain
He made a fiddle bow of her long curly hair
Crying the dreadful wind and rain
The only tune that fiddle would play,
Oh the wind and the rain
The only tune that fiddle would play,
Is oh, the dreadful wind and rain
__________________
The Wind and Rain- Robin Greenstein (adapted from Kilby Snow)
It was early one morning in the month of May
Oh the wind and the rain
Two lovers went walking on a hot summer's day
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
He said to the lady "won't you marry me"
Oh the wind and the rain
"And my little wife you'll always be"
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
Then he knocked her down and he kicked her around
Oh the wind and the rain
Then he knocked her down and he kicked her around
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
He hit her in the head with a battering ram
Oh the wind and the rain
He hit her in the head with a battering ram
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
He threw her in the river to drown
Oh the wind and the rain
He threw her in the river to drown
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
He watched her as she floated down
Oh the wind and the rain
He watched her as she floated down
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
She floated on down to the miller's millstream
Oh the wind and the rain
He watched her as she floated down
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
The miller fished her out with a long fishing pole
Oh the wind and the rain
The miller fished her out with a long fishing pole
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones
Oh the wind and the rain
He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
He made a fiddle bow of her long curly hair
Oh the wind and the rain
He made a fiddle bow of her long curly hair
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
The only tune that fiddle would play, was
Oh the wind and the rain
The only tune that fiddle would play, was
A crying the dreadful wind and rain