Well met, well met, my own true love!

voiceCollected by Irene Carlisle Transcribed by Mary C. Parler Fred High High, Arkansas March 20, 1951 Reel 106, Item 4 The House Carpenter's Wife (CHILD 243, James Harris, or The Daemon Lover) "Well met, well met, my own true love! Well met, well met!" says he; "I've just returning from the salty-water sea And it's all for the sake of thee, And it's all for the sake of thee." "I once could have married a king's daughter, oh, And she would have married me; But I've just received a rich crown of gold, And it's all for the sake of thee, And it's all for the sake of thee." "Well, if you could have married a king's daughter, oh, I'm sure you air to blame; For I have married a house carpenter, And I think he's a nice young man; And I think he's a nice young man." "Will you leave your own true love, And go along with me? I'll take you where the grass grows green On the banks of sweet Willee, On the banks of sweet Willee." "What have you got to maintain me on, Or keep me from slaverie?" "I have seventeen fine ships on board, Seventeen boatsmans or more; Seventeen that's a-sailing for sea That shall be at yore command; That shall be at yore command." She called her babes all to her knee, And kisses she give him three; Says, "Stay at home, my sweet little babe; Keep y' pappy good companie; Keep y' poppy good companie." She dressed herself all neat and clean, All pasted o'er with green; Every town that she passed through, They would take her to be some queen; They would take her to be some queen. -more- The House Carpenter's Wife Reel 106, Item 4 Continued They hadn't been on sea two weeks, Am sure it was not three, Till this young lady begin to weep, And she wept most bitterlie, And she wept most bitterlie. "Are you weeping for silver or for gold? Are you weeping for fear? Are you weeping for the house carpenter That you left when you come with me here, That you left when you come with me here?" I am not weeping for silver or for gold, Or I am not a-weeping for fear; But I am weeping for the sweet little babe That I left when I come with you here; That I never shall see any more." They hadn't been on sea three weeks, Am sure it was not four, Till this young lady she sprang from the ship, And she sank for to rise no more, And she sank for to rise no more. "A curse, a curse to all seamen! A curse, a curse!" cried she; "You've robbed me of my sweet little babe And stoled my life away, And stoled my life away."Funding for digitization provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Happy Hollow Foundation