Susannah Clargy

There was a lady, lived in Cain
Susannah Clargy were her name,
Courted were she by a widow's son,
And he soon became her fav'rite one.

He gave to her a ring of gold,
Saying, "Take this, love, and do it behold,
And take it as a deed from me
And let our hearts united be.

She wished that she might never thrive
As long as she had breathe alive,
Nor ever enjoy the sweet heavens above
If ever she proved false in love.

But before twenty-four weeks had come, gone and passed,
Susannah forgot her vows at last
She soon agreed with another to wed,
What sad destruction she had wed.

And when this news he came to hear,
He wrung his hands, he tore his hair,
He went to her in a woeful case
But she would not let him see her face.

He took his leave of his beautiful bride,
Then wandering by the riverside;
The very next morning he was found,
Buried in blood above the ground.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .
That very night a ghost at Susannah's side
Saying, "O you are mine, alive or dead
ALthough you are with another wed."

From English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, Sharp
Collected from Margaret Jack Dodd, VA, 1918
DT #511
Laws P33
RG
oct96