15.  Willie Moore (trad.) 3:18 Art Thieme
Email: folkart@ivnet.com.

"A grand old traditional song from the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and Arkansas (USA). The strange nomenclature and phrases like 'Willie Moore was a king'—'I will not tell you his name in full but his initials are J.R.G.'—'This song was writ in the south Middle West by a man known only to me'—make it a strange enigma of a song that has always grabbed my attention. Is it about murder? Or is it about suicide? Or maybe just an unfortunate drowning in a shallow little stream?
"Grandpa Jones used the tune to 'Willy Moore' for the Child ballad, 'Lord Thomas And Fair Ellender'. Also, it's sort of a version of Romeo and Juliet's story (maybe)!?"—Art Thieme

Willie Moore was a king, his age was 21 / He courted a damsel fair
Well her eyes were as bright as the stars in the night / And wavin' soft was her hair

Well, he courted her all the night and all the day / Till to marry they both did agree
But when they went to get her parents' consent / They said that it never could be

Well, she threw herself into Willie Moore's arms / As ofttimes she had done before
But little did he think when they parted that night / Fair Annie he would see no more

It was on about the sixth day of June, / A day I remember quite well,
It was on the very day that her body disappeared, / In a way that no tongue can tell.

Fair Annie was loved both far and wide, / Had friends come from all around
And in the little brook beside the cabin door / The body of fair Annie was found

Now her parents they both did mourn for her, / One moans while the other one weeps.
And in a little hill beside the cabin door / The body of fair Annie sleeps.

Willie Moore soon did leave that county so they say / From there he soon did depart,
And the last word I heard he was in Montreal, / Where he died of a broken heart

Now this song was writ in the south middle West, / By a man known only to me.
Well, I cannot tell you his name in full / His initials they are J.R.G.

(Repeat 1st verse.)

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Genie: The PDF and other files are ready, per these entries. Should we PM everyone to come and double-check these notes? Please let me know if you want me to do that.

Gorgeous songs and performances, everybody--these CDs are a treasure!

Lin