'Twas a very cold day in December,

voiceCollected by Johnny Page and Jim Hays For Mary C. Parler Transcribed by Frances Majors Sung by Mrs. Lola Stanley Fayetteville, Arkansas December 30, 1958 Reel 265, Item 3 Blood Curdle 'Twas a very cold day in December, The wind was driving the snow. When the mercury of fire, remember, Was rapidly falling below. The storn had been fierce and dreary With a bittery, icy cold blast, When a brakeman, exhausted and weary Returned from his labor at last. Straightway to his room of retiring He was so much need of his rest. Sure none but the brave and the daring Could stand such a terrible test. He scarcely let his head touch the pillow And suffered his eyelids to close, When away on a memory's dry billows He was borne through a vale of repose. He dreamed of his home and his loved ones, Of the schoolhouse under the hill, Of the grapevine swing in the wildwoods And a brook that flows by the mill.Funding for digitization provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Happy Hollow Foundation