Serenade- Mrs. Jennie L. Wade (IN) 1935 Brewster B
[From: Brewster; Ballads and Songs of Indiana ; Indiana University Publications, Folklore Series; 1940. His notes follow,
R. Matteson 2016]
28 THE DROWSY SLEEPER
Six variants of this song have been recovered in Indiana, under the following titles: "The Drowsy Sleeper," "Mollie," and "Serenade."
For American texts, see Belden, Herrig's Archiv, CXIX, 430; Campbell and Sharp, No. 47; Cox, p. 348; Greenleaf and Mansfield, p. 151; Hudson, Folksongs, p. 161; Journal, XX, 260; XXIX, 200; XXX, 338 (contains an Indiana text); XXXV, 356; XLV, 55 (one stanza); Pound, p. 51; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 139; Sharp, Folk-Songs of English Origin . . ., 2d series, p. 48; Sturgis and Hughes, p. 30; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 190 (fragment). British: JFSS, I, 269; II, 56. See also Baskerville's study, "English Songs on the Night Visit," in PMLA, XXXVI, 565-614.
B. "Serenade." Contributed by Mrs. Jennie L. Wade, of Mount Vernon, Indiana. Posey County. June 22, 1935. With music.
[music]
Text and air contributed by Mrs. Jennie L. Wade; noted by Mrs. Johnson
1. "Awake, arise, ye drowsy sleeper;
Awake, arise, 'tis almost day;
And open wide your bedroom window,
Hear what your true love has to say."
2. "Who's there, who's there at my bedroom window,
A-callin', callin' loud for me?"
" T is I alone, your own true lover;
Awake, arise, and pity me.
3. "Go, love, go and ask your father
If you this night my bride may be.
If he says 'no,' love, come and tell me ;
'T is the very last time I'll trouble thee."
4. "I dare not go and ask my father
While he's on his bed of rest,
For by his side he has a weapon
To slay the one that I love best."
5. "Go, love, go and ask your mother
If you this night my bride may be;
If she says 'no' love, come and tell me;
*T is the very last time I'll trouble thee."
6. "I dare not go and ask my mother
Nor let her know my love's so near,
But you must go and love some other
And whisper gently in her ear."
7. "O Mollie, Mollie, dearest Mollie,
You've caused my tender heart to break;
From North Carolina to Pennsylvania
I've crossed the ocean for your sake[1].
8. "I'll go down by some distant river
And there I'll spend my days and years,
And I'll eat nothing but the wilier,[2]
And I'll drink nothing but my tears."
9. "Come back, come back, my wounded lover;
Come back, come back, come back," cried she;
"And I'll forsake my father and mother,
And go along, along with thee."
1. 7 and 9 are similar to "I Will Set My Ship" versions from Scotland.
2. For willow