Another song related to "The Prisoner's Song" is "Sweet Lulur." Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on the song:Sweet Lulur
DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a policeman in Danville. "He bound my feet in cold iron, all tangled my feet in chains, But before I'd go back on my Lulur, I'll have them tangled again." He notes that "If it hadn't a-been for sweet Lulur, it was Lulur that brought be here."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1915 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: police prison love
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
BrownIII 350, "The Prisoner's Song" (7 texts plus 1 fragment, 2 excerpts, and mention of 1 more; "A"-"C," plus probably the "D" excerpt, are "The Prisoner's Song (I)"; "E" and "G," plus perhaps the "H" fragment, are "Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight"; "J" and "K" are "Sweet Lulur")
Sandburg, p. 307, "Way Up on Clinch Mountain" (2 texts, 1 tune; the "A" text is "Rye Whiskey," but the short "B" text is perhaps this or something like it though probably composite, perhaps with "The Wagoner's Lad")
Roud #767
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Prisoner's Song (I)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight" (floating lyrics)
Notes: Roud, presumably following Brown et al, lump this with "The Prisoner's Song" group. It appears to me distinct. - RBW
File: BrIII350Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index InstructionsThe Ballad Index Copyright 2004 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.
Sweet Lulur
He bound my feet in cold iron,
All tangled my feet in chains
But before I'll go back on sweet Lulur
I'll have them tangled again.
Chorus:
O Lulur, O Lulur my darling,
O Lulur, O Lulur my dear,
If it hadn't been for sweet Lulur,
Sweet Lulur that brought me here!
I had three ships on the ocean
All lined with silver and gold,
And before I'll go back on sweet Lulur
I'll have them hoisted and sold.
From John M. Greer of Boone, Watauga County, North Carolina, 1915.
source: #350J from the Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore, Volume III