I've always felt that THE SAILOR BOY was close to the deepest root version of this song. When it got to dry land in the USA, it almost demanded to be rewritten for the various geographical areas.

In the Wisconsin lumber woods, as collected by Franz Rickaby, it was THE PINERY BOY. His source was Mrs. M.A. Olin of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. She told Franz Rickaby that..."she had learned it shortly after she came to Wisconsin...in 1867...from a neighbor boy, one Thomas Ward---a great singer."

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THE PINERY BOY

Oh, a raftsman's life is a wearisome one,
It causes them to weep and mourn,
It causes many a fair maid to weep and mourn,
For the loss of a true love that never can return.

Father, oh, father, build me a boat,
That down the Wisconsin I may float,
And ever raft that I pass by
There will I inquire for my sweet Pinery Boy.

As she was rowing down the stream,
She spied three rafts all in a string,
She hailed the pilot as they drew nigh,
And there she did enquire for her sweet Pinery Boy.

"Oh, pilot, oh, pilot, come tell me true,
Is my sweet Willie among your crew?"
Tell me quick and give me joy,
For none other will I have but my sweet Pinery Boy."

"Oh, Auburn was the color of his hair,
His eyes were blue and his cheeks were fair,
His lips were of a ruby fine,
Ten thousand times have they met with mine."

"Oh, honored lady, he is not here,
He's drowned in the Dells, I fear,
'Twas at Lone Rock as we passed by,
Oh, there is where we left your sweet Pinery Boy."

She wrung her hands and tore her hair,
Just like a lady in great despair,
She rowed her boat against Lone Rock,
You'd a-thought this fair lady's heart was broke.

"Dig me a grave both long and deep,
Place a marble slab at my head and feet,
And on my breast a turtle dove,
To let the world know that I died for love.
-----And at my feet a spreading oak,
-----To let the world know that my heart was broke."

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In the California gold fields (1850s) this song became THE CALIFORNIA BOY. It was possibly transported there by a lumberjack trying to strike it rich. All that really changed in the song was the locale --- and the way the young man tried to make a living.

Also, the song THE PINERY BOY is on my CD for Folk Legacy Records at www.folklegacy.com It is called Art Thieme-On The Wilderness Road.

Art