House Carpenter- Smith (AR) 1961 Parler
[From: Ozark Folk Song Collection Reel 394, Item 6.
Listen: http://digitalcollections.uark.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/OzarkFolkSong/id/2661/rec/8
Collected by Esther Mayberry for M. C. Parler; transcribed by M. C. Parler
R. Matteson 2016]
The House Carpenter- Sung by Fred Smith of Bentonville, Ark. June 30, 1961
"Well met, well met, my own true love,
Well met, well met," said he,
"I just returned from old England's shores
And it's all for the sake of thee.
I've just returned from old England's shores
And it's all for the sake of thee."
"'Tis I could have married a king's daughter dear,"
I'm sure she would o' had me,
But I forsook a crown of gold
And 'twas all for the love of thee.
But I forsook a crown of gold
And 'twas all for love of thee."
"If you could 'a' married a king's daughter dear,
I'm sure you are to blame,
For I have married a house carpenter
And I think him a fine young man.
For I have married a house carpenter
And I think him a fine young man."
"If you will leave your house carpenter
And go along with me,
I'll take you where the grass grows so green
On the banks of the sweet Willee.
I'll take you where the grass grows so green
On the banks of the sweet Willee."
"If I should leave my house carpenter
And go along with thee,
What have you got for to keep me upon,
To keep me from poverty?
What have you got to keep me upon,
To keep me from poverty?"
"Well, I have forty ships at sea,
And forty more on land,
And if you will only go with me,
They shall be at your command.
And if you will only go with me,
They shall all be at your command.
She gathered up her sweet little babe
And give it kisses three,
Saying, "Stay at home, my precious little babe,
Keep your papa company."
Saying, "Stay at home, my precious little babe,
Keep your papa company."
They had been on board no more weeks than two,
I'm sure it was not three,
Till she was found on her true-lover's ship
A-weeping most bitterly.
Till she was found on her true- lover's ship
A-weeping most bitterly.
"What are you weeping for, my love?
Are you weeping for more gold?
Are you weeping for more store?
Are you weeping for the house carpenter
That you never shall see any more?"
"I'm neither weeping for more gold
Nor weeping for more store,
But I'm weeping for that precious little babe
That I never shall see any more.
But I'm a-weeping for the precious little babe
That I never shall see any more."
They had been on board no more weeks than three,
I'm sure it was not four,
Till her true-lover's ship it sprang a leak,
And it sank for to rise no more.
Her true-lover's ship it sprang a leak
And it sank for to rise no more.
If she would 'a' stayed with her house carpenter,
I'm sure she would 'a' lived well,
But now her body lies in the salt sea,
And her soul we cannot tell.
But now her body lies in the salt sea
And her soul we cannot tell.