Forsaken House Carpenter- Moore (NC) c 1919 Greer E
[From The Greer Collection online at Appalachian State University.
The Forsaken House Carpenter was typed and sent in by Arthur K. Moore, (1899-1982) a student of Dr. Greer from Lenoir, Caldwell County, North Carolina. I'm assuming he was 20 at the time (making the date 1919), but this is just a guess, he could have been a former student. It must have been typed by Moore, since he typed his name at the bottom- I hope he wasn't an English major! I'm editing it using the penciled corrections written on the typed manuscript and correcting other obvious errors.
R. Matteson 2013]
Forsaken House Carpenter- Sent in by Arthur K. Moore, (1899-1982) a student of Dr. Greer from Lenoir, Caldwell County, North Carolina.
If you will forsake your house Carpenter,
And go away with me.
I'll take you where the grass grows green,
On the banks of the sweet Enoree.
Oh who will shoe my baby's feet,
Who will glove its hands [1].
Or who will kiss its sweet little lips
When you are in a far off land.
She went away and dressed herself,
Most beautiful to behold.
And she rode through the town.
And shined like reverand [2] gold.
She hadn't been gone but about two days,
I'm sure it was not three.
Till she began to weep- she wept and morned [3],
She wept most bitterly.
Oh is it for my gold you weep,
Or is it for my store?
Or is it for your your House Carpenter,
Whose face you'll see no more?
Its not for your gold I weep,
Nor neither for your store.
But it is for my sweet little babe,
Whose face I'll see no more.
She hadn't been gone but about three days,
I'm sure it was not four.
Till she sprang from the ship into the deep blue sea,
And sank for to rise no more.
Arthur K. Moore.
1. has feet. This verses is from Lass of Roch Royal
2. probably silver and gold but I'll leave it as originally typed. Also found in "The Brown Girl"
3. has moan.
From: I. G. Greer/W. Amos Abrams Manuscript Files Series, Folksong Files Subseries, W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC