American Ballads and Folk Songs: page - 0217

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	____________American Ballads and Folk Songs Wid a pair o' blue duckins on, A-lookin' for a home, Jes a-lookin' for a home. BILL MARTIN AND ELLA SPEED Lead Belly, self-acknowledged king of the twelve-string guitar, said that Bill Martin had shot po' Ella down in the street not long before he moved to Dallas, and that her sad death was already celebrated by the street musicians (of whom he was one). According to his own story, he helped to make up some of the loosely woven stanzas that tell the tale of Martin's jealousy. Each couplet is to be repeated twice except in the case of the four-line stanzas, which are to be sung as written. See "Alice B" in The American Songbag.
	Bill Martin he was long an' slender, Better known by bein' a bartender. Bill Martin he was long an' slender, Better known by bein' a bartender. Bill Martin he was a man whut had a very small hand, He worked ev'y night at de coffee stand. [117]