12A- The House Carpenter- Newsome (WV) 1910
[This is the most complete text in this collection (4 versions).
R. Matteson 2014]
12A - THE HOUSE CARPENTER
(James Harris (The Daemon Lover), Child, No. 243)
Contributed by Mr. Aubrey F. Goff, Lenore, Slango County, October 18, 1927. Obtained from Mr. Lawrence Johnson, who learned it from Troy Newsome, Dingess, Slango County, about 1910. Tune noted by Mr. Goff.
1. "Well met, well met, my old true love,
Well met, well met," said he,
"For I've just returned from the salt, salt sea,
And it's all for the sake of thee."
2. "I once could have married a king's daughter fair,
I'm sure she'd have married me,
But I forsaken that king's daughter fair,
And it's all for the sake of thee."
3. "If you could have married a king's daughter fair,
Far better it would have been for thee;
For I an married to a house-carpenter,
And a fine young man is he."
4. "If you'll forsaken your house-carpenter,
Come, go along with me,
I'll take you where the grass is over green,
On the banks of the old Tennessee."
5. What have you got to support me upon,
And save me from slavery?"
"Six ships and an ark on the salt-water sea,
And it's all for the sake of thee."
6. She picked up her tender little babes,
And kissed them one, two, three:
"Stay at home, stay at home with your papa, little ones,
And keep him company."
7. She walked all up and down the deck,
All dressed in purple and green,
And ev'ry station that they sailed by,
They thought she was a queen."
8. They hadn't been sailing more than two weeks,
I'm sure that it wasn't three,
When this young lady began to weep,
And she wept most bitterly.
9. "Are you a-weeping for gold, my love,
Or are you a-weeping for store?
Or are you a-weeping for your house-carpenter,
Which I never expect to see any more?"
10. "I'm not a-weeping for gold," she said,
"And I'm not a-weeping for store,
But I'm a-weeping for my tender little babes,
Which I never expect to see any more."
11. "What hills, what hills are those my love,
That look so bright and green?"
"Those are the hills of heaven, my love,
Which you and I will never see."
12. "What hills, what hills are those, my love,
That look so rough and steep?"
"Those are the hills of hell, my love,
Where you and I must meet."
13. They hadn't been sailing more than three weeks,
I'm sure it was not four,
When there sprang a leak in the bottom of the ship,
And she sank to rise no more.