The Cambric Shirt- Moser (NC) pre1937 Moser REC
[From: North Carolina Folk Songs and Ballads Sung by Artus Moser, Folkways 1974. "The Elfin Knight" or "The Cambric Shirt" learned from Artus Moser's mother, who learned it from her mother. This rare NC version was recorded from Moser's mother in 1937. A bio follows:
R. Matteson 2014]
Artus Monroe Moser, born in 1894 in Hickory, North Carolina
Father: David Lafayette Moser
Mother: Cordia Elizabeth (King) Moser
Moser's maternal ancestors were among the pioneer settlers of Western North Carolina. His mother's great-uncle, William Franklin Foster, founded Newton Academy, the first school west of the Blue Ridge. His father worked in the Forestry Service on the Biltmore Estate and later on Mount Mitchell. As an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Moser became interested in local history. As a professor at the University of Tennessee, at Knoxville, and later at Lincoln Memorial University, at Harrogate, Tennessee, he continued to gather historical material about Western North Carolina. He also became a collector of folk ballads and folklore for the Library of Congress. In 1943 he became professor of Social Sciences at Asheville-Biltmore College. Artus Moser died in Swannanoa on December 24, 1992.
THE CAMBRIC SHIRT- taken from Cordia Elizabeth (King) Moser 1937 and sung by Artus Moser 1974
Can you make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Without any needle or seamster's work?
And (then) you shall be a true lover of mine
will you wash it in yonder's well
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Where there's no water and never has been? [1]
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
Can you dry it on yonder's thorn
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Which never bloomed blossom since Adam was born?
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
Now you asked question three
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
If you will answer as many for me,
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
Can you find an acre of land
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the salt water and the sea sand?
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
Can you plow it with a ram's horn
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And sow it and plant it all down in corn?
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
Will you reap it with a sickle of leather,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And haul it home on a peafowl's feather?
And you shall be a true lover of mine
When you've done and finished your work
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Then come and get your cambric shirt
And you shall be a true lover of mine.
1. This line usually ends, "nor rain never fell?"