Yon Green Valley- Harold Whitney (NB) 1960 Manny
[From songs of the Miramichi by Manny and Wilson 1968. This is a family version know in the Whitney family as far back as 1925. Compare this version to the one sung by his sister Marie Hare-- Harold's version is missing a stanza.
R. Matteson 2017]
Yon Green Valley- as sung by Harold Whitney of Strathadam, New Brunswick in the 1960 Maramichi Folksong Festival.
O, the first young man that came a-courting me,
I'll have no doubt that he loved me,
With his false heart and flattering tongue,
He was the first to entice me when I was young,
For the first six months his love proved kind,
Until at last he changed his mind.
Saying, "My parents call, and I must obey,
So it's goodbye, love, I am going away."
"I will hold you fast, I'll not let you go,
For you are mine by right, you know;
So fulfill those vows that you made to me
As the bright sun rose o'er yon green valley.
"It was on this book, love, you made me swear,
And these few lines you soon shall hear,
No other promise was I to make,
With no other young man, all for your sake.
"Now, must I go bound while you goes free?
Must I love a man who don't love me?
Or must I act a childish part
And love a man who has broke my heart?
"It was on the green, love, where we sat down,
Nothing but small birds came fluttering 'round,
Changing their notes from tree to tree,
As the bright sun rose o'er yon green valley.
"I will sing one song, and I'll sing no more,
Since the man has gone that I adore.
I will change my mind like the wavering wind,
And I'll depend no more on false mankind[1]. "
1. last two words spoken