Katie Maury- Hatfield (PA) 1857 Shoemaker
From North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy As Sung in the Backwood Settlements, Hunting Cabins and Lumber Camps in Northern Pennsylvania, 1840-1910 Compiled by Henry W. Shoemaker, Litt. D. (Author of "Black Forest Souvenirs, etc.) Published by the Altoona Tribune Company- 1919.
59—KATIE MAURY Sung by John Hatfield, stonecutter, in Wayne Township, Clinton County, about 1857. Collected by John H. Chatham. (Probably a modern version of "The Baffled Knight" in Pepy's Collection.)
Young men, draw near unto me,
And listen to my story.
I'll tell you of a plan I took
To fool Miss Kate Maury.
I went unto her father's house,
Just like a clever fellow;
I told her that the plums were ripe,
And they were getting mellow.
And if she would go with me
Down into yonder bower,
"And if your father won't come by
We'll spend a happy hour."
I did not have to ask her twice,
She put on her best bonnet.
My heart was beating very fast,
As 'cross the fields we ran it.
"It's now we're here alone,
And no one knows the matter.
It's you must die or else comply,
For I've no time to flatter."
Kate seemed quite pleased, my hand she squeezed,
"There's but one thing I fear, sir;
Is that my father may come this way,
And he would find us here, sir.
"But if you'll climb the highest tree
That rises in this bower,
And if my father keeps away,
We'll spend the happy hour."
Kate stood at the foot of the tree
Until I had ascended:
"It's you may get down the way you got up,
For now your fun is ended.
"You look just like an owl," she said;
"Your company I shun, sir.
You may eat your plums and suck the stones,
For I am going to run, sir."
Away Kate heeled it over the plain,
And left me here distracted.
I ripped, I swore, my shirt I tore,
To think how I had acted.
But when I came to think it o'er,
How cunning she had fooled me,
I took fair Katie for my wife,
And ever since she's ruled me.
My song grows tough, I've sung enough,
I've nothing more worth rhyming,
But every time Kate smiles on me,
She makes me think of climbing.