As I went down to Louisville some pleasure for to find,

voiceCollected by Merlin Mitchell Transcribed by Kyle Perrin Fred High Reel 8 Item 5 High, Ark. February 20, 1950 The Lily of the West As I went down to Louisville some pleasure for to find, There come a girl from Lexingtown, so pleasing to my mind; Her hair was laid in diamonds and a star upon her breast, They called her handsome Mary, the lily of the West. I courted her for a long time, her love I expect to gain, Until she turned her back unto me, and I to her the same; But I never shall forget that day that the love(?) lie on my breast, And I talked to my sweet Mary, the lily of the West. She had rings on ever finger that come from a distant shore, Ten thousand hundred dollars laid up for her in store, 'Tis enough to entice a king or prince, how costlie did she dress, And I called her my sweet Mary, the lily of the West. One day when I was walking down by the shady grove, There come a man from Lexingtown, come dashing with my love, He sung a song most 'l odious, it did my soul oppress, But he called her his sweet Mary, the lily of the West . My rifle on my shoulder, my dagger in my hand, I caught him by the collar, how bold I did him stand, Me being mad and desperate, how quicklie I pierced his breast, For talking to my Mary, the lily of the Westst • They took me to the justice, he only but made my plea, The jury found me innocent, the judge he set me free, And they did not say more or less, Begone you scornfulest Mary, the lily of the West. There was one man among them that was so honorable mean, He had me bound in iron and chains and brought me back again, They put me in the guardhouse, my life to explore, There was five at every window and six at every door . I went around in the guardhouse, I surveyed it 'round and around, I jumped out one window and knocked five of them down; The footmans and the horsemans they quicklie followed me, But I wheeled old Jack (four) 'round three times and gained my liberty. I traveled through the westerns, I traveled through • •• (end of tape)Funding for digitization provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Happy Hollow Foundation