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ORPHAN CHILD Sung by: Jewel Hawkins Recorded in Batesville, AR 7/30/62 Click here to listen to the original recording One night as she stole to his lonely bed, "Oh, Father, dear Father, come go through with me, And three beautiful angels you shall see." "A dream, a dream, my precious child, Your aching head and your feverish wile." "A dream, a dream, it cannot be, For dreams do not come and talk with me." They did talk, for Sister Mary said, Her spirit was blessed, though her body were dead. It is once a flower can die and . . . . . . abide in a bright blue sky. "I saw little Willy a-standing there, With his bright blue eyes and shining hair, And the tears that he shed did fall like pearls, And I wiped them away with my own blue skirt." And the tears that he shed, you can see As he said, "Little Sister, come go home with me." My gentle old mother, her eyes grew dim, As she said, "Let her stay for comfort here. A few more months in sorrow given, And we'll have them to live with us in Heaven." (Dr. Wolf: "Now, he learned these songs from his mother. What was your mother's maiden name? What was her full name?" Mr. Hawkins: "Sarah Elizabeth Hawkins . . . er, Young." Dr. Wolf: "Sarah Elizabeth Young. Where was she born?" Mr. Hawkins: "Mountain Home, Arkansas." Dr. Wolf: "Born at Mountain Home, Arkansas. Did she grow up there? She grew up there and Mr. Hawkins was born . . . You were born in Independence County, weren't you? Yep. And he learned these songs from his mother, and I suppose she learned them from her people up around Mountain Home. Do you know anything about where she learned them? I guess she learned them up around Mountain Home, from her people there. But she sang a good many songs.") |
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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 |