Duty Garden- F. Shiflett (VA) 1962 Foss REC
[My title. From LC/AAFS, rec. Nos. 12,004 (B21) 12,005(A1). Collected by George Foss.
Born in 1890s Florence was boarder, friend and distant relative of David and Frankie Morris when Foss collected this ballad from her on Wyatt, Mountain Virginia in 1962. Her father was Wyatt Shiflett and she married Mack Shiflett, one of many Shiflett/Shiflett marriages in the area. (See Foss: From White Hall to Bacon Hollow).
R. Matteson 2015]
Duty Garden[1] ("Little Sir Hugh")- Sung by Florence Shiflett Wyatt's Mountain, near Dyke Va., June 5, 1962.
1. Spoken: It rained o mist, it rained o mist,
It rained all over the city
Sung: Till all those boys in Marlborough Town
Came out to toss the ball, ball, ball,
Came out to toss the ball.
2. First they tossed it . . . too high,
And then again too low
And then over in Duty[1] Garden
where any one das'nt go, go, go,
Where any one das'nt to go.
3. Come, in, my lad, come in, my lad.
You can have your ball again.
I won't come in, I shan't come in,
I've heard of you befo', befo',
I've heard of you befo'."
4 First she offered him a ripe mellow apple,
And then a gay gold ring
And then a cherry as red as blood,
She enticen'd the little boy in, in, in,
She enticen'd the little boy in.
5. She taken him by his little white hand,
And through the cellar she went
She pinned him down to the cellar door, door,
where no one could hear him layment, layment,
Where no one could hear him layment.
6. Go dig my grave [both wide and deep],[2]
And put my bible[3] at my head and feet,
And at my head a gay gold ring,
And when my playmates call for me,
Tell them I am dead.
1. Jew'ry Garden
2. The singer although prompted could not remember the last stanza accurately
3. marbles? instead of bible.