Down in the Greenwood's Valley-(KY) 1967 Jameson
[No informant named. From the 1967 book, Sweet Rivers of Song, edited Gladys Jameson with music; Berea College. Her notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
This sad ballad is derived from THE CRUEL MOTHER, and THE GREENWOOD SIDING, songs from the British store of legends .
Few ballads center about a cruel mother and her sins, though other members of a family frequently appear in ballads of dark tragedies.
DOWN IN THE GREENWOOD'S VALLEY
1. There lived a widow sad and lone,
Sing low, low winds, lowly;
Two babies small she called her own,
All down in the Greenwood's Valley.
2. One day she met a fair young man,
Sing low etc.
Who smiled and warmly clasped her hand,
All down etc.
3. O, then the widow's heart grew warm,
She thought her love could do no harm.
4. For days and weeks the widow yearned,
But oh, her love was not returned.
5. As time went on she felt ashamed,
And then her darling girls she blamed.
6. O, then she dressed them all in white,
And killed them both one lonely night.
7. But still the young man stayed away,
She saw there'd be no wedding day,
8 O, now she wanders through the wild,
Her soul is lost, her love, her child.