The Curtains Of Night (I'll Remember You, Love, In My Prayers)
As I'll Remember You, Love, In My Prayers, this was written in 1869 by Will Hays, who was the author of all sorts of songs including We Parted By The Riverside, Nora O'Neale, Nobody's Darling and Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane, and who deserves to be better remembered than he is. The song was only a few years old when it spread westward to become a cowboy favorite, very durable during the 1870s and 1880s and just right for night herding, with its dreamy lilt. Surely it must be one of the most magnificent love songs ever, with all the heavens for a canopy and this angelic tune, the prettiest of the four or five I've heard attached to it. In the 1920s, remembered from the singing of turn-of-the-century mothers and aunts, it had a modest vogue among country singers, including the Tenneva Ramblers and Walter Smith. This version comes from a recording by the Blue Ridge Mountain Singers.

THE CURTAINS OF NIGHT
[I'll Remember You, Love, In My Prayers]
(Will Hays)

When the curtains of night are pinned back by the stars
And the beautiful moon sweeps the sky,
And the dewdrops of heaven are kissing the rose,
It is then that my memory flies
As if on the wings of a beautiful dove
In haste with the message it bears,
To bring you a kiss of affection and say
I'll remember you, love, in my prayers.

    CHORUS
    Then go where you will, on land or on sea,
    I'll share all your sorrows and cares,
    And at night when I kneel by my bedside to pray
    I'll remember you, love, in my prayers.

I have loved you too fondly to ever forget
The love you have spoken for me,
The kiss of affection still warm on my lips
When you told me how true you would be.
I know not if fortune be fickle or fair,
If time or your memory wears,
But I know that I love you wherever you go
And remember you, love, in my prayers.

When the heavenly angels are guarding the good
As God has ordained them to do
In answer to prayers I have offered above
I know that one's watching o'er you.
And may its bright spirit be with you tonight
And guide you up heaven's bright stairs,
And be with the one who has loved you so true,
And remember you, love, in my prayers.

Will Hays, 1869