Margaret MacArthur's Folksongs of Vermont was on Sandy and Caroline Paton's Folk-Legacy label, and Sandy made sure very album had good notes. The album (and notes) are available at Smithsonian Folkways.

Band 5: MOTHER IN THE GRAVEYARD
MacArthur: A Georgia song, sung to me in Brattleboro, Vermont, by Hildreth Brown of Hancock, New Hampshire. She learned it from her aunt, Caroline Lewis Gordon, who had learned it from slaves on the Flint River Plantation in Georgia.

MOTHER IN THE GRAVEYARD

Mother in the graveyard, and I'm on the ground,
Look for me.
Mother in the graveyard, and I'm on the ground,
Look for me.
And I want God's bosom to be my pillow.
Hide me over in the Rock of Ages,
Look for me.

I am a-climbin' Jacob's Ladder, look for me,
I am a-climbin' Jacob's Ladder
And I want God's bosom to be my pillow,
Hide-me over in the Rock of Ages,
Look for me.

Drive the chariot to my door, look for me,
Drive the chariot to my door, look for me.
Drive the chariot to my door
And I want God's bosom to be my pillow,
Hide me over in the Rock of Ages,
Look for me.

Oh when you see Brother Peter when you get to the Kingdom,
Look for me,
Oh when you see Brother Peter when you get to the Kingdom,
And I want God's bosom to be my pillow,
Hide me over in the Rock of Ages,
Look for me.


As far as I can see, the song is not in either Roud or the Traditional Ballad Index.


Recording by Anna and Elizabeth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owl6pZc0zlI

There's a terrific article about the song at the Website of Sing Out! Magazine: https://singout.org/mother-in-the-graveyard/