Landslide, Lyric Variant 01
 


Citation

“Landslide, Lyric Variant 01,” Appalachian State University Libraries Digital Collections, accessed April 26, 2024, https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/items/show/31654.


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Title

Landslide, Lyric Variant 01

Description

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.

Subject

Ballads
Hurricanes--Songs and music
Death--Songs and music
Resurrection--Songs and music

Alternative Title

The Cloudburst

Publisher

W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Appalachian State University

Contributor

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

Format

PDF

Language

English

Type

Text

Transcription

The Landslide.

In the month July, in the year sixteen,
The worst tropical storm fell that ever was seen,
As it made its way from the ocean wide,
Struck with full force on the mountain side.

At the head of Jack branch there were children five,
A father and a mother and all alive
As they stood in the door and the rain came
down,
They saw how quick it covered the ground.

And the pleading voice of Perry was heard:
To the Pines let’s go together”, he said,
But the words of the boy had just been spoken,
When windows of Heaven were thrown wide
open.

The downpour came with terrific roar,
It struck the house, they were thrown to the
floor,
The new born babe in the cradle at rest,
The mother snatched up and pressed to her
breast.

As the house went down they struck a tree,
They were all thrown out, except the three,
As the house went down and the horses too,
The neighbors said “There is work to do”.

Julius and Wilson in their haste,
Turned their steps towards the Wilson place,
They had to take to higher ground,
When they reached the place no house was found.

Down in the house which William built,
Lonas and Lilllie and the children knelt,
Said Julius to Lonas and Lillie too,
“Are your children all safe. I see only two”.

“Oh no,” said he, “ I fear they are drowned”
They have not been seen since the house went
down”.
But down in the bottom by the St. Clair pond,
The bodies of Lewis and Jennie were found.

As the neighbors came and
walked around,
Their teardrops fell fast
on the ground,
But poor little Perry has
not been found,
He sleeps somewhere beneath
the ground.

With a bed of mud and a pillow of clay
He may not be found till
the last great day,
When the angels come with
trumpet sound,
To awake the dead that are
under the ground.

As he awakes in the morning and upward flies,
To meet his loved ones beyond the skies,
Oh, God in mercy and in thy
great love.
Prepare them all to meet
thee above.

That when their trials and
troubles are past,
They may find a home in
Heaven at last.
Through eternity to sing
his praise,
For dying love and saving grace.

By A. M. Bumgarner
Charlotte, N. C.

Informant

A. M. [Andrew Monroe] Bumgarner, 1853-1939

File name

113_Landslide_Lyric_01_ocr

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Allowed tags: <p>, <a>, <em>, <strong>, <ul>, <ol>, <li>