“Goin' from the Cotton Fields”

Description

"I'm goin' from the cotton fields, I'm goin' from the cane, I'm goin' from the old log hut That stands in the lane." Hard times force the singer to move north even though Dinah fears the cold. He regrets home and the old master's grave, but must go

Supplemental text

Goin' from the Cotton Fields
  Partial text(s)

          *** A ***

From Harvey H. Fuson, Ballads of the Kentucky Highlands, pp. 121-122.
"Copy furnished by Sallie Little Hatton."

I'm goin' from the cotton fields,
I'm goin' from the cane,
I'm goin' from the old log hut
That stands in the lane.

    Chorus [follows Stanza 4!]
I'm goin' from the cotton fields,
And oh, it makes me sigh,
And when the sun goes down tonight,
I'm bound to say good-bye.

But Dinah, she don't want to do,
She says she's gettin' old,
Away out there in Kansas
The country am so cold.

The flowers that bloom where master sleeps
Will miss my tender care;
No hand like mine will ever come
To keep them blooming there.

I've got to help the children some
'Fore I come to die,
So when the sun goes down to-night
I'm bound to say good-bye.

(Stanzas 1, 5, 10, 12 of 12)

Notes

This has something of a minstrel feel, given that the singer talks about the "little patch of ground That good old master give me 'Fore the Yankee troops come down," as well as the former slave caring for Master's grave. And yet, the overall feel is quite authentic: Hard times and a hard migration. I've no idea what to make of it. - RBW

References

1. Fuson, pp. 121-122, "Goin' from the Cotton Fields" (1 text)
2. ST Fus121 (Partial)
3. Roud #16368
4. BI, Fus121