The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #71024 Message #1215044
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
27-Jun-04 - 01:59 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Courting Too Slow
Subject: Lyr Add: AT THE FOOT OF YONDERS MOUNTAIN
Ollie Gilbert sang a version (Max Hunter Folk Song Collection) that doesn't seem to be mentioned in Mudcat, possibly because of the title which is almost the same as one of the Pretty Saro group (not the same song as "At the Foot of Yonder Mountain," in the DT).
Lyr. Add: AT THE FOOT OF YONDERS MOUNTAIN
At the foot of yonders mountain Where there runs a clear stream I once courted a pretty girl An' Polly was 'er name
When I first saw Polly I could not obtain I then taken a wild fly An' sailed o'er the main.
Where the small birds were singing An' makin' sad mourn I then thought of Polly As I sailed all alone.
I wrote her a letter To keep 'er on my mind She wrote me an answer By bein' so kind.
She wrote, she'd lawfuly married When this letter did go Saying, now I've lost pretty Polly By courtin' too slow.
This young man was taken On his death bed to die He sent for this young girl That once could'a been his bride.
N' as she came near 'im An' approached his bedside Saying, here is the girl That once could'a been my bride.
But now she's married an' left me And I'll die for her sake He threw his arms round her She felt his heart break.
O Willie, you're dead An' I hope you'll find rest Polly, she fainted And died on his breast.
Ollie Gilbert, Arkansas, sung 1969. With Real Audio, in Max Hunter Folk Song Collection. Yonders Mountain