THE RED MAN'S WIFE

'Tis what they say,
The little heel fits in a shoe,
'Ttis what they say
Thy little mouth kisses well, too.
'Tis what they say
Thousand loves that you leave me to rue
That the tailor went the way
That the wife of the Red man knew.

Nine months did I spend
In a prion closed tightly and bound
Bolts on my smalls*
And a thousand locks frowning around.
But o'er the tide
I would leap with the leap of a swan
Could I once set my side
By the bride of the Red-skinned man.

I thought,O my life
That one house between us love would be
And I thought I would find
You once coaxing my child on your knee
But now the curse of the high one
On him let it be
And on all of the bands of the liars
Who put silence between you and me.

There grows a tree in the garden,
With blossoms that tremble and shake
I lay my hand on its bark
And I feel that my heart must break.
My one wish alone
My soul through the long months ran
One little kiss
From the wife of the Red-skinned man.

But the Day of Doom shall come
And hills and harbors be rent
A mist shall fall on the sun
From the dark clouds heavily rent
The sea shall be dry
And earth under mourning and ban
Then loud shall he cry
For the wife of the Red-skinned man.

* There are three "smalls": the wrists, elbows and ankles

From Mountain Minstrelsy of Pennsylvania, Shoemaker
Old Irish ballad adapted to the Pennsylvania lumber camps. Originally "Red-Haire
d Man"
filename[ WIFERED2
RG
mudcat.org

---

PLEASE NOTE: Because of the volunteer nature of The Digital Tradition, it is difficult to ensure proper attribution and copyright information for every song included. Please assume that any song which lists a composer is copyrighted ©. You MUST aquire proper license before using these songs for ANY commercial purpose. If you have any additional information or corrections to the credit or copyright information included, please e-mail those additions or corrections to us (along with the song title as indexed) so that we can update the database as soon as possible. Thank You.