The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #105127 Message #2232752
Posted By: Joe Offer
10-Jan-08 - 02:37 AM
Thread Name: Online Songbook:Put's Golden Songster (J.A. Stone)
Subject: ADD: The Last Good-By (John A. Stone)
The Last Good-by [Air: Lily Bell]
In my ear their words are ringing, Though I see their forms no more, Still to hope I'm fondly clinging, On this wild and golden shore. Dreams of home, whene'er I slumber, Carry me to friends so dear; Morning comes, and with it hunger, Mingled with a transient tear.
CHORUS: Oh, never, no, no, never, Shall I, till the day I die, Once forget those friends so clever, Bidding me the last good-bye!
2 When the miner, cold and weary, To his camp returns at night, All around looks cold and dreary, Gold has vanished from his sight! When at home his name is spoken, Does some loved one weep or sigh? Or, are vows so sacred broken, Given with the last good-by!
CHORUS: Oh, never, no, no, never, Shall I, till the day I die, Once forget those friends so clever, Bidding me the last good-bye!
3 'Neath an oak beside the mountain, Stands a miner's lonely grave, Near a cool and sparkling fountain, Far beyond life's troubled wave; Now his friends are sadly weeping, "Can it be he's dead and gone?" Yes, in death he now lies sleeping, Sleeping gently and alone.
CHORUS: Oh, never, no, no, never, Shall I, till the day I die, Once forget those friends so clever, Bidding me the last good-bye!
4 Though I love the mountains dearly, Where the savage, wild, doth roam, Better still and more sincerely Do I love my good old home! When I'm roaming through the canons, 'Mong the fir trees, dark and high, Brings to mind my old companions Bidding me the last good-bye!
CHORUS: Oh, never, no, no, never, Shall I, till the day I die, Once forget those friends so clever, Bidding me the last good-bye!
Put's Golden Songster, pp 19-20 Lyrics (no tune) in Dwyer & Lingenfelter, The Songs of the Gold Rush, p. 172
A young girl named Mary Ann Aldridge had occasion to send a note to a gentleman, and put two r's in her first name in the signature, thus: "Marry Ann Aldridge." the man was a bachelor, and he accepted the proposal at once.
[Tune notes by Artful Codger] The "Lily Bell" most probably intended by Stone is a song of that name published in 1853, lyrics by W.W. Wakelam and music by Charles Mueller. The first name is more frequently spelled "Lilly".