“One and Twenty”

Description

"My father was a farmer gay, With beef and corn in plenty, I hoed, I mowed, I held the plow, And I longed for one and twenty." Of age at last, the singer enlists. Army life makes him wish for home. He loses a leg, is captured, and goes home crippled

Supplemental text

One and Twenty
  Partial text(s)

          *** A ***

From Emelyn Elizabeth Gardner and Geraldine Jencks Chickering,
Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan, p. 241. "Communicated in 1916."

My father was a farmer gay,
With beef and corn in plenty,
I hoed, I mowed, I held the plow,
And I longed for one and twenty.

I lost my leg, the foe came on;
They had me in their clutches.
I starved in prison until peace came,
And hobbled home on crutches.

(Stanzas 1, 4 of 4)

References

1. Gardner/Chickering 96, "One and Twenty" (1 text, 1 tune)
2. ST GC096 (Partial)
3. Roud #3367
4. BI, GC096