| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
246 Indiana University Publications, Folklore Series
45 MARY OF THE WILD MOOR
Only one version of this song, known also as "A Cold Winter's Night" and "The Winds that Blow Across the Wild Moor," has been recovered in this state.
For other texts and references, see Cox, p. 437; Journal, XXVI, 355; XXIX, 185; XXXV, 389; XLV, 70; Mackenzie, Ballads, p. 164; Pound, No. 35; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 335; Shoemaker, p. 96; Shoemaker, Mountain Minstrelsy of Pennsylvania, p. 114; Sturgis and Hughes, Songs from the Hills of Vermont, p, 36; Neely, Tales and Songs of Southern Illinois, p* 149; Cox, Traditional Ballads, p. 87.
British: Kidson, Traditional Tunes, p. 77.
"Mary of the Wild Moor." Contributed by Mrs. A. J. Hopkins, of Boonville, Indiana. Warrick County. May 27, 1935.
1. It was on a cold winter night, And the wind very loudly did roar;
Poor Mary came wandering home with her babe Till she came to her own father's door.
2. "0 why did I leave this dear spot,
Where I once was so happy and free,
And now I must roam without friends or a home,
And no one to take pity on me?
3* "0 father, dear father," she cried, "Come down and open the door, Or this child in my arms will perish and die As the winds blow across the wild moor/'
4 But the old man was deaf to her cries; Not a sound of her voice reached his ears, But the watchdog did howl and the village bell tolled As the wind blew across the wild moor.
5. Then how must the old man have felt When he opened his door in the morn? Poor Mary was dead, but the child was alive, Tightly clasped in his dead mother's arms. |
||