Jane Was A Neighbor- Galt/Powers (KY) 1880 Gordon/Barry; published in Appendix A by Bronson
[From a recording by Robert W. Gordon printed first in the Bulletin of the Folk-Song Society of the Northeast - Volume 2 - Page 23 by Phillips Barry, 1931.
The title and opening stanza feature a variation from "in labor" to "a neighbor." This text resembles the version sung by Bascom Lamar Lunsford as published by Scarborough.
Curiously, the Roud index gives another version with the same unlikely title recorded in Georgia in the Robert W. Gordon Collection (American Folklife Center, LOC) Cylinder D7-7 item GG 85.
R. Matteson 2015]
JANE WAS A NEIGHBOR- from the singing of Miss Nellie Galt of Louisville, Kentucky. Learned about 1880 from an Irish girl named Katie Powers. Collected by Gordon.
1. Oh, Jane was a neighbor[1] for six months or more,
Till the neighbors grew weary and left her alone.
2. "Oh neighbor, oh neighbor, oh neighbor," said she,
"Won't you send for my father to come and see me?"
3. Her father was sent for and immajitly[2] came;
Settin' down by the bedside,-- "What's the matter of Jane?"
4. Then she cried and she murmured till she wept her heart sore,
Saying: -- "The red rose of England shall flourish no more!"
5. "Oh father, oh father, oh father," said she,
"'Won't you send, for my mother to come and see me?
6 . Her mother was sent for, and immajitly came;
Settin' down by the bedside, "What's the matter of Jane?"
7. Then she cried and she murmured till she wept her heart sore,
Saying: "The red rose of England shall flourish no more!"
8. "Oh mother, oh mother, oh mother," said she,
"Won't you send for King Henry to come and see me?"
9. King Henry was sent for and immajitly came;
Settin' down by the bedside, "What's the matter of Jane?"
10. When she cried and she murmured till she wept her heart sore,
Saying: "The red rose of England shall flourish no more!"
1. was in labor
2. immediately