George Collins- H. Presnell (NC-AR) 1966 Burton/Manning
[From: Folk Songs II, Burton and Manning, 1969. Despite Burton and Manning's attribution to Dewey- this was probably a community ballad known by Hicks/Harmon/Presnell families.
R. Matteson 2015]
(Stanza 3 [was six lines long- I've divided it; the missing lines appear as stanza 5 in Burton/Manning] repeats the first half of the tune for lines 3 and 4; stanza 4 is sung to the second half of the tune. Cf. Mr. Ward's variant, p. 17.)
George Collins- Sung by Hattie Presnell, Beech Mountain, NC; Dec. 9, 1966. Learned from her husband Dewey, who learned it from Ida McIntyre in Arkansas.
George Collins rode home one cold winter's night,
George Collins rode home one day,
George Collins rode home one cold winter's night
And taken sick and died.
Oh, Mary were sittin' in yonders door
A-sewin' her silk so fine,
And when she heard of George a-bein' dead
She laid her fine silk aside.
She follered him up, she follered him down,
She follered him to his grave;[1]
"Set down the coffin, take off the lid,
Lay back the linen so fine,
That I may miss them pale clay lips,
For I'm sure they will never kiss mine."
She fell down on her bended knee,
She screamed, she cried, she prayed.
"Daughrter[2], oh, Daughrter, what makes you weep so?
There's more young men than George."
"Mother, oh, Mother, George has got my heart
And now hers dead and gone.
"Don't you see that lonesome dove
A-flyin' from pine to pine?
She's a-mournin' for the loss of her old truelove
Just like I mourn for mine."
1. The last two lines were skipped and appear after the next stanza:
She fell down on her bended knee,
She screamed, she cried, she prayed.
2. sung with and extra "r"