Here is the text as it was sung for Folk-Legacy by Lawrence Older, of Middle Grove, New York, in 1964. Lawrence learned the song from his father, who sang of "Mary Bright." After hearing the Doc Williams recording, Lawrence changed her name to "Braid." Shows you something of the power of printed or recorded sources. I recall the story of a collector returning to tape a woman's singing of her mother's version of "Barbara Allen." When he realized that what she was singing was very different from what she had sung for him earlier, she explained that she had since heard a record of the song and figured that her mother had it wrong!
MY OLD BROWN COAT AND ME
As sung by Lawrence Older, Middle Grove, NY.
Folk-Legacy C-15
Oh, the moon was out, the stars were bright,
The larks were singing free;
Come listen while I sing about
My old brown coat and me.
I lived upon my father's farm
Till I was twenty-one;
I bought a farm, then, of my own
And a man's life begun.
I fell in love with Mary Braid,
Her father owned a store;
There never was a girl beloved
So tenderly before.
Now, Mary Braid was a fair young maid,
But haughty as could be;
She oft-times said she would not wed
My old brown coat and me.
I did not stop to plead my case,
Pleading was in vain;
I bade adieu to Mary Braid,
Nor saw her face again.
There's forty summers o'er my head,
There's riches in my store;
My children play out on the green,
My wife stands in the door.
I've land enough, I've money enough,
I've houses tall and high;
There's not a squire in all this land
Can wear such clothes as I.
Now, Mary Braid was a fair young maid,
But haughty as could be;
She was wedded to a lawyer's son
Whose name was Joe Zalee (?).
He wore a coat all shiny black
And looked so very grand
That Mary fancied he would make
A noble and true man.
Now, Mary's husband he became
A pirate on the sea;
She oft-times said she wished she'd wed
My old brown coat and me.
Now girls, when you are called to choose
A man that bends a knee,
Think of the fate of Mary Braid,
My old brown coat and me.
Remember that an old brown coat,
And not so very grand,
Can cover up as warm a heart
As any in the land.
Sorry folks; I can't do the music.
Sandy
Lawrence Older recroding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poSeJPXe924