Let Me Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister, Lyric Variant 02

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.

Ballads, English

Adultery--Songs and music

Homelessness--Songs and music

Letters--Songs and music

Let Me Sleep in Your Barn Mister, Let Me Sleep in Your Barn

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

Let Me Sleep in Your Barn To night Mister.

Let me sleep in your barn to-night Mister,
‘Tis so cold lying out on the ground.
And the cold -South wind is a blowing,
And I have no place to lay down.

You must know that I use no tobacco,
Neither carry no matches nor pipe.
I will do you no harm, -not a bit, sir
Let me sleep in your barn just to-night.

You may ask me how long I’ve been traveling,
Or been living this kind of a life.
If you’ll listen, I’ll tell you a story,
Though it cuts through my heart like a knife.

It was three years ago last Summer,
I shall never forget that sad day,
When a stranger came from a city,
So tall ,so handsome and gay.

He looked well dressed and sporty,
He looked like a man who had wealth,
And he said he had come to this Country
Just to stay here a while for his health.

And my wife said she’d love me with earnest
For something to add to our hoard,
So she begged me until I consented
To let the stranger stop and board.

One evening as I came from my workshop,
I was whistling and singing for joy,
Expecting a kind hearty welcome
From my wife and a kiss from my boy.

And nothing I found but a letter
Which some one had placed there for me.
And the moment my eyes fell upon it,
I at once picked it up just to see.

And the words that were written upon it
Seem to burn till my brow run me wild,
For they say that the stranger and Nellie
Have run off and taken my child.

Oh, theres surely a God up in heaven
Which I’ve always been taught to believe
And I pray that He’ll give to my boy
A life that he ought to receive.

Let me sleep in your barn to-night ,Mister
‘Tis so cold lying out on the ground
And the snow is falling around me
And I have no place to lay down.

113_LetMeSleepInYourBarn_Lyric_02