The song was first collected in 1909 as "Down in the Valley."

Lyr. Add: DOWN IN THE VALLEY
Belden, 1910

Down in the valley, valley so low,
Late in the evening, here the train blow.
The train, love, hear the train blow;
Late in the evening, hear the train blow.

So build me a mansion, build it so high
So I can see my true love go by,
See her go by, love, see her go by,
So I can see my true love go by.

Go write me a letter, send it by mail,
Bake* it and stamp it to the Birmingham jail.
Birmingham jail, love, Birmingham jail,
Bake* it and stamp it to the Birmingham jail.

Roses are red, love, violets are blue.
God and his angels know I love you,
Know I love you, know I love you,
God and his angels know I love you.

* "So written, clearly, in the MS; but probably date is meant." Or was the singer referring to the old joke about baking a file into a cake? Collected by Miss Hamilton in 1910 from Frank Jones, West Plains Missouri. Page 488, H. M. Belden, Editor, "Ballads and Songs," Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society, Univ. Missouri Studies, vol 15, No. 1, Univ. Missouri Press.


Belden says it was also collected in Kentucky, Arkansas (without mansion), and Georgia (wind blows, not train, and no mention of jail or letter.