Early American Ballads. 249
Another ballad also has Pretty Polly for a heroine. Perhaps the two are offshoots of a single old history ; in the song already cited the hero could be a " sailor on the sea." The version belongs to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Henderson County, North Carolina.
Poor Jack he 's gone a-sailing, With trouble on his mind, He has left his native country, And his darling girl behind.
And sing oh ! and sing oh !
So fare you well my darling.
There was a rich old farmer, In London he did dwell, And he had an only daughter, The truth too I will tell.
She went into a tailor's shop, And dressed in man's array, She enlisted with the captain, To carry her away.
" Your waist it is too slender, Your fingers they are too small, Your cheeks too red and rosy, To face the cannon ball."
" My waist it is none too slender, My fingers they are none too small, It will never change my countenance, To face the cannon ball."
And when the battle was ended, Pretty Polly marched around, Among the dead and wounded, Her darling boy she found.
And she took him in her arms, And she carried him to the town, And she called for some physician, To heal his bleeding wounds.
This couple now are married, How well they do agree, This couple they are married, And why not you and me ?
And sing oh ! and sing oh !
So fare you well my darling. 1
1 Contributed by Mrs. E. M. Backus.
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