[Music]
One day while in a lonesome grove,
Sat o'er my head a little dove;
For her lost mate began to coo,
Which made me think of my mate too.
Ah! little dove, you're not alone,
For I, like you, can only mourn;
I once, like you, did have a mate,
But now, like you, am desolate.
Consumption seized my love severe
And preyed upon her one long year,
Till death came at the break of day,
And my poor Mary he did slay.
Her sparkling eyes and blooming cheeks
Withered like the rose and died;
The arms that once embraced me round
Lie mould'ring under the cold ground.
But death, grim death, did not stop here;
I had one child, to me most dear;
He, like a vulture, came again
And took from me my little Jane.
But, bless the Lord, his word is given,
Declaring babes are heirs of heaven.
Then cease, my heart, to mourn for Jane,
Since my small loss is her great gain.
I have a hope that cheers my breast,
To think my love has gone to rest;
For while her dying tongue could move,
She praised the Lord for pardoning love.
Shout on, ye heavenly pow'rs above,
While I this lonesome desert rove;
My master's work will soon be done,
And then I'll join you in your song.
O hasten on that happy day,
When I must leave this clod of clay,
And soar aloft o'er yon blest plain
And there meet Mary and my Jane.
The song is attributed in the _Social Harp_ to Wm. C. Davis. The first
stanza was evidently inspired by the lines in the traditional English
ballad entitled 'Giles Collins', Sharp, i., 196, which reads:
Look away, look away, that lonesome dove
That sails from pine to pine;
It's mourning for its own true love
Just like I mourn for mine.
Four recently recorded (1917 and 1918) variants of the 'Newberry'
tune, with one stanza of text each are in Sharp, ii., 197f. See also
JAFL, xxv., 276. 'Lonesome Dove', Thomas, 162, has the same text but a
different tune. 'Heavenly Dove' in this collection is a variant tune,
but it is more closely related to the 'Barbara Allen' tune in Sharp,
i., 183ff. 'Newberry' belongs to the 'Lord Lovel' type of tune
mentioned in the Introduction, p. 14. Other melodies of the same type
are listed under 'Dulcimer' in this collection.
No. 35
DEEP SPRING or CONVERTED THIEF (B), KNH 90