Farewell My Lilly Dear, Copy

This item is part of the I. G. Greer Folksong Collection which consists of more than 300 individual song titles and their variants as collected by Isaac Garfield Greer (1881-1967) from informants, primarily in Ashe, Wilkes and Watauga counties. The collection includes manuscripts, typescript transcriptions produced by Dr. Greer’s clerical staff, and handwritten musical notations. Songs range from traditional Child Ballads, traditional English and Scottish ballads as well as their American variants, to 19th century popular music to musical compositions of local origin.

Popular music--United States

Farewells--Songs and music

Love--Songs and music

Enslaved persons--Songs and music

Foster, Stephen Collins, 1826-1864

AC.113 Isaac Garfield (I.G.) Greer Papers and Recordings

W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Appalachian State University

Greer, I. G. (Isaac Garfield), 1881-1967

PDF

English

Text

Lilly, Dear

Oh, Lilly dear, it grieves me,
The tale I have to tell
Old master sends me roaming,
So Lilly, fare you well
Oh, fare you well, my true love
Farewell old Tennessee.
Then let me weep for you love,
But do not weep for me.

Chorus.
Farewell, forever to old Tennessee,
Farewell my Lilly dear, don't weep for me.

I'm going to roam this wide world,
In lands I've never hoed,
With nothing but my banjo,
To cheer me on the road
For when I'm sad and weary
I'll make the banjo play
To 'mind me of my true love
When I am far away.
Chorus.

I wake up in the morning
And walk out on the farm,
And Lily am a darling
She takes me by the arm,
We wander through the clover
Down by the river side
I tell her that I love her
And she must be my bride.
Chorus

Oh, Lily, dear its mournful,
To leave you here along,
You'll smile before I leave you,
And weep when I am gone,
The sun can never shine love
Too bright for you and me,
As when I worked beside you
In good old Tennessee.
Chorus.

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