Black Jack David- Roberts (MS) 1932 Hudson B
[Single stanza with music from Bronson TTCB, no. 115. Taken from Hudson and Herzog, 1937, No. 26. Full text taken from Folksongs of Mississippi; Hudson 1936.
R. Matteson 2015]
B. "Black Jack David"- Sung by a Lafayette County tenant's daughter, and noted by Mrs. Buchanan, Blue Mountain, Miss. Text from Miss Annie Laurie Roberts, communicated in 1932.
1. Black Jack David came ridin' around;
He sang so loud and merry;
He hung his bugle around his side
Till he charmed in the arms of a lady
Till he charmed in the arms of a lady.
2 "How old are you, my pretty little miss,
How old are you, my honey?"
She answered him with a "He, ho, ha,
I'll be sixteen next Sunday."
3 "If you will come and go with me
And be my wife forever,
I'll swear by the sword that hangs by my side
You'll never want for money."
4 She put on her white kid gloves
All made of Spanish leather;
She put on her high-topped boots,
And they rode off together.
5 "Go saddle me out that big white horse,
The one that rides so speedy;
I'll ride all day and I'll ride all night,
I'll overtake my lady."
6 They [We] rode all day and they rode all night [1]
Till they [we] came to the river muddy,
And there I spied my lady
In the arms of Black Jack Davy.
7 "Have you forsaken your house and home?
Have you forsaken your baby?
Have you forsaken your own true love
And gone with a Black Jack Davy?"
8 "Yes, sir, I've forsaken my house and home;
Yes, sir, I've forsaken my baby;
Yes, sir, I've forsaken my own true love
And gone with a Black Jack Davy."
9. "Last night you slept on a warm feather bed,
Beside your loving baby;
Tonight you'll sleep on the cold, cold ground,
In the arms of a Black Jack Davy,
In the arms of a Black Jack Davy."
1. Switches to third person narrative here. The brackets with [We] were added by Hudson to keep it in first person.