Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/456

 1 08 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.

So soon his Carfull father went to seak his son with discontent And there hes fond onley son he found ded as a stone a pon the ground.

And there he lay down sopose to rest withe both his hands Acrost his brest his mouth and eyes Closed fast And there poor man he slept his last.

his father vieude his track with greate concern Where he had ran across the corn unevin tracks where he did go did apear to stagger two and frow.

The seventh of August sixty one this fatull axadint was done Let this a warning be to all to be prepared when god does call.

It may probably have been the quaintness of the melody which gave the ballad a wide popularity ; as already mentioned (vol. xii. p. 242), it has obtained currency as a favorite lullaby for children. The composition must therefore have been originally sung rather than composed for reading or even recitation. The parallel case of Isaac Orcutt justifies a suspicion that the verses treating the fate of the Merrick youth were also prepared for chanting at the funeral, and constituted a dirge.

The versions which follow will serve to show in what manner the song was altered in the course of its wide diffusion.

B.

��r^H~n — f^ _ a

�N-^l "r

J — 1 n -1

�— 1^~\~

�1

�L^s tt Li— J *• ° d J d-

�• d -#-*-

�J- J

�— 1 —

— d '

��On Spring -field Moun-tain there did dwell A love - ly youth, I

���knew full well Ri tick a rick

��a Ri tick a rick a ra

On Springfield Mountain there did dwell A lovely youth, I knew full well

Ri tick a rick a ra

Ri tick a rick a ra de ri de ro.

��de ro.

��One Friday morning he did go Down in the meadow for to mow.

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