Rosemary One Time- Drake (TX) pre1952 Owens
[From Texas Folk Songs; Owens, 1950: Owens notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
This version of "The Elfin Knight" is the only one I found in Texas. Rod Drake insisted on "rosemary one time" as the words. When I suggested "rosemary and thyme" he rejected them. He had never heard of thyme.
ROSEMARY ONE TIME- Sung by Rod Drake, Silsbee, Texas, 1952.
As you go through that yonders town,
Rosemary one time,
Admire your address that young lady
And ask her to be a true lovier of mine.
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
Rosemary one rime,
\Without a seam or a seamster's work,
And then she'll be a true lovier of mine.
Tell her to wash it at a dry well,
Rosemary one time,
Where rain never was and water never fell,
And then she'll be a true lovier of mine.
Tell her to dry it on a thorn,
Rosemary one time,
\il7here leaf never growed since Adam was borned,
And then she'll be a true lovier of mine.
Tell her when her work is all done,
Rosemary one time,
To let me know and I'll get my shirt,
And then she'll be a true lovier of mine.
As you go through that yonders town,
Rosemary one time.
Admire your address to that young man,
And ask him to be a true lovier of mine.
Tell him to plant me one acre of corn,
Rosemary one rime,
Between the salt water and the sea shore,
And then he'll be a true lovier of mine.
Tell him to plough it with a thorn,
Rosemary one time,
Plant it all over with one grain of corn,
And then he'll be a true lovier of mine.
Tell him to reap it with a stirrup leather,
Rosemary one time,
Bind it all up in a peafowl feather,
And then he'll be a true lovier of mine.
Tell him to carry it to the mill,
Rosemary one time,
Every grain a bushel fill,
And then he'll be a true lovier of mine.
Tell him to thrash it against the wall,
Rosemary one time,
Whatever he does, don't let a grain fall,
And then he'll be a true lovier of mine.
Tell him when his work is all done,
Rosemary one time,
Come to this town and I'll give him his shirt,
And then he'll be a true lovier of mine.