There was an Old Woman Lived on the Seashore- From Mrs. Mary F. Lindsey, Hebron, Neb. Dated 1870; Pound
[From: Ballads and Songs by G. L. Kittredge; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 30, No. 117 (Jul. - Sep., 1917), pp. 283-369. His notes follow. A summary of this version plus a single (last) verse was given by Pound in her 1915 Syllabus. In American Ballads and Songs- 1922, Louise Pound gives this additional note, "This ballad is known to Miss Marjorie Buicham of Lincoln, Nebraska, as a eucalele [sic] song." This possibly prompted the "dance-song" comment.
R. Matteson 2014]
II. There was an Old Woman Lived on the Seashore. Communicated by Professor Louise Pound, 1916. "In a manuscript collection of songs in the possession of Mrs. Mary F. Lindsey, of Hebron, Neb. Dated 1870." It has obviously been used as a dance-song.
THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN LIVED ON THE SEASHORE
1. There was an old woman lived on the seashore,
Bow down,
There was an old woman lived on the seashore,
Balance true to me,
And she had daughters three or fore.[1]
Saying, I'll be true to my love,
If my love is true to me.
2. The oldest one she had a beau,
. . . .
3. Her beau he bought her a beaver hat,
And sister Kate got mad at that.
4. The oldest and yongest were walking the seashore;
The oldest pushed the yongest ore.
5. She bowed her head and away she swam,
. . . .
6. The miller threw out his big long huck
And safely brought her from the brook.
7. He took from her fingers gold rings ten
And plunged her back into the brook again.
8. The miller was hung on his own mill-gate
For robbing poor sister Kate.
Footnote:
1. four, original spelling kept.