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EXPORT TOWN (THE NOEL GIRL; THE LEXINGTON MURDER; THE OXFORD GIRL) Sung by: Lowell Harness Recorded in Pangburn, AR 7/29/63 Click here to listen to the original recording I used to live and dwell. I used to live in an Export town And owned a flour mill. There was a girl, an Export girl, Had dark and rolling eyes. I asked that girl to marry me, To me she wouldn’t deny. I called at her sister’s house, ‘Bout nine o’clock one night. Her sister, knowing not who I be, She . . . a spite. I says, “My love, let’s take a walk And view the meadows gay, And pray that we will have a chat And name our wedding day.” We walked along, we talked along, ‘Til we came to level ground. I picked a stick up off the ground, And knocked that fair girl down. She fell upon her bended knees. “Oh, Lord, have mercy,” she cried. “Willy, dear, don’t murder me here, I’m not prepared to die.” I heeded not a word she said, But beat her more and more, Until the ground all around us both Was in a bloody gore. I called at my mother’s house ‘Bout twelve o’clock that night. My mother, not knowing who I be, She waked up in a fright. “Darling son, what have you done, To bloody your hands and clothes?” The answer I gave to her Was bleeding at the nose. (Mr. Harness: “That’s all I know if it now. That’s as far as I know. I’ve tried to figure it out from there on, but I can’t.”) Also found in Randolph, Vol. II, #150, “The Noel Girl”; Brown, Vol. II, #65, “The Lexington Murder”; Belden, p. 133, “The Oxford Girl.” |
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All Songs Recorded by John Quincy Wolf, Jr., unless otherwise noted The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas Back to the Song Index Back to the Wolf Collection Homepage ©Copyright 2002 Lyon College |