George Collins- Whitehead (NC) 1926 Lunsford REC; Bronson 21.
[From Recording LC/AAFS, rec. No. 9474 (B3). Recorded by Duncan Emrich, Washington, D.C., 1949. The informant's name is spelled Whitted by Lunsford.
R. Matteson 2015]
"George Collins" Sung by Bascom Lamar Lunsford; learned from Lois Whitehead [?], " student at Leicester High School, Blue Ridge Mts., N.C., in 1926.
1. George Collins came home last Saturday night,
He was taken down sick an' died;
His true love was in the next room
Sewing her silk so fine.
2. When she heard George Collins was dead,
She laid her silks aside,
She got down on her bended knees,
She wept, she mourned, she cried.
3 "Oh, Mary, oh, Mary, get up from there,
Why do you weep an' mourn?
For there are other young men around,
To see You weep and mourn."
4 "Mother, Oh, Mother, I know there are
Other young men aroun',
I'll follow George Collins by night and by day,
I'll follow him to his grave.
5. "Lay off, lay off that coffin lid,
Unfold those sheets so white,
So I may kiss those cold pale lips'
For I know they'll never kiss mine'
6. "God pity the dove that mourns for her love,
And flies from pine to pine.
And may you be as true to your love
As I have been to mine."