Thursday 15 May 2008

For beauty and for virtue she was of far renown...

Funny how things stick in the mind. It is many years since I last heard tell of a girl named Nancy Brown, and I thought I had forgotten the story, but Hillary Clinton's win this week has reminded me that Nancy lived in the hills of West Virginia...
...Now she went up in the mountains
With the deacon one fine day
And came rollin' down the mountains
A wiser girl they say
She came rollin' down the mountains
She came rollin' down the mountains
She came rollin' down the mountains, mighty wise
But she didn't give the deacon
That there thing that he was seekin'
She stayed sweet and pure as West Virginia skies.

Now there came along a cowboy
With laughter and with song
And he took her in the mountains
But she still knew right from wrong
She came rollin' down the mountains
She came rollin' down the mountains
She came rollin' down the mountains, mighty wise
But in spite of all his urgin'
She remained a blessed virgin
Just as sweet and pure as West Virginia skies.

Then there came a city slicker
With his hundred-dollar bills
And he drove her in his Packard
Right up in them thar hills
And they stayed up in the mountains
And they stayed up in the mountains
And they stayed up in the mountains all the night
Then she came down bright and early
More a woman than a girly
And her pappa kicked that hussy out of sight.

Now she's livin in the city
Now she's livin in the city
Now she's livin in the city, mighty swell
And her life's all beer and skittles
And she dines off fancy vittles
And the West Virginia skies can go to hell.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Funny how you don't even need to hear it to know *exactly* how the melody goes... I can even hear the guitar line.

Anonymous said...

Yes, indeed. Like a Schubert song really, a perfect marriage of words and music.

Anonymous said...

Tell you what, Outest: meet me one evening next week at Big Lou's on Exchange Street, bring your guitar and I'll sing along with you.