Yorkla Harlin

One morning in may
As the chance for to stray
Just as the day was a-dawning
Oh I spied a lovely maid
And she my heart betrayed
Will you marry me my little Yorkla Harlin?

Oh no, no says she
That thing could never be
For I have a far better darling
His horses and his cows
His ox and sheep and plows
And a bird I call my little Yorkla Harlin

Oh if I should lay you down
Upon the cool ground
Who'd know the least thing about it?
Oh my mammy she'd be mad
And my daddy's twice as bad
If you played up on my little Yorkla Harlin

I took her by the slender waist
And gently laid her down
She being squealing and squalling
And the blackbird and thrush
Sang so quietly in the brush
While I played up on her little Yorkla Harlin

September 28, 1946. Transcribed from the singing of Maynard Reynolds,
in Pittsburg, New Hampshire. Found in the Eloise Hubbard Linscott
collection at the Library of Congress. Digital ID: afc1942002_sr069a