The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #20334   Message #1301152
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
19-Oct-04 - 07:50 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: The Prisoner's Song (Dalhart , et al.)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Prisoner's Song (Dalhart , et al.)
It appears in Sam Henry's "Songs of the People," with the title "Gaol Song." He notes that it also appeared as "Swansea Gaol" and "Sweet Swansea." Thus we have it in Ireland and Wales. Five verses are given, none new. First lines are:

Oh, I wish I had someone to love me, etc.
Please meet me tonight by the moonlight, etc.
I go to my new cell tomorrow, etc.
I have got a fine ship on the ocean, etc.
If I had the wings of an angel, etc.

"Sam Henry's Songs of the People," H746, p 62, with music, Univ. Georgia Press.