Man Returning Home- H. Sykes (Hull) 1967 REC
[From a recording on 19th May 1967 of the singing of Harold Sykes of Hull, aged 40. He could not remember where he picked it up but it must have been either in the Royal Navy just after the war or the Royal Airforce some time after. He was a great favourite in the Sods' operas.
R. Matteson 2017]
A Man Returning Home- from the singing of Harold Sykes of Hull aged 40 on 19th May, 1967. Recording by Steve Gardham.
A man returning home one night
Once found his house without a light.
He went upstairs to go to bed
When a sudden thought came to his head.
He went into his daughter's room,
And found her hanging from a beam.
He took his knife and cut her down,
And on her breast these words he found.
Oh, Lord, I wish my babe was born,
And all my troubles they were gone,
So dig my grave and dig it deep
And place white lilies at my feet.
My love was for a sailor boy,
Who sailed upon the ocean blue,
So if you find one good and true
Don't change an old love for a new.
They dug her grave and dug it deep,
And placed white lilies at her feet,
And at her head a turtle dove,
To prove that she had died for love.