Little Soldier Boy- Dunn (TN) 1965 Manning/Burton
[East Tennessee State Collection; Burton & Manning, Folksongs 1 pp.47-48
R. Matteson 2014]
According to the Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore this ballad, a broadside, goes back at least to the seventeenth century.
LITTLE SOLDIER BOY- Sung by Joe Dunn, April 1965. Collected by George Conway.
1. There was a bold soldier who played the game of war;
He courted a rich lady who had a land and store.
2. Her riches was so great, they scarcely couldn't be to1d,
But Gypsy loved the soldier because he was so bold.
3. Because he was so gaily, so tall, and brisk and free,
He fought for his wife and his own liberty.
4. A-going to the church and returning home again,
He saw her father coming with seven armed men.
5. "Oh since you are determined to be a soldier's wife,
Lo, down in yon valley, I'll surely take your life."
6."Oh now, " said the soldier, "I have no time to chatter;
I'm here in this wide world, there's o thing for battle.
?. He drew his sword and pistol and caused them to rattle,
And the lady held the horse while the soldier fought the battle.
B. The first one he came to, he pierced through the leg;
The second one he came to, he served the very same.
9. "Let's run, " said the rest; "I am feared we'll ail be slain.
To fight the little soldier I find it all in vain. "
10. Oh up stepped her father a-speaking very bold,
Said, "You may have my daughter and a thousand pounds of gold."
11. "Fight on, " says the lady; "your vow is too small;
Just hold your hand, my soldier, and you shall have it all."