Young Hunting- Lunsford (Appalachians) 1929
[This was collected by Bascom Lamar Lunsford with music arranged by Lamar Stringfield. It was published in 1929 in 30 & 1 Folk Songs from the Southern Mountains. No source or location was given and there are no song notes. The title is not local but was the generic title given by Lunsford. This version seems to be reworked by Lunsford and has elements of other folk songs. Only the 4th and 5th stanzas can be identified with Young Hunting.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
Young Hunting- Lunsford (Appalachians) 1929
As I walked out one mornin' this spring,
For to hear the little birds sing sweet.
I leaned my head on an old oak tree,
For to see two lovers meet.
For to hear two lovers meet my dear
And hear what they had to say
That I might learn a little more of their mind,
Before I went away.
Come in, come in, my old true love,
And sit you down by me.
It's been three quarters of a year or more,
Since together we have been.
I can't come in, and I won't come in
I haven't a moment of time,
I've heard you had another true love,
And your heart was no longer mine.
When your heart was mine, it was O my dear,
And your head upon my breast,
You could a made me believe the moon in the south,
And the sun rose in the West.