08. LADY GAY by Buell Kazee
Vocal with banjo.
New York City, January 16, 1928.

There was a lady and a lady gay
Of children she had three
She sent them away to the north country
For to learn their grammar-y

They had not been there very long
Scarcely six months and a day
'Till death, cold death, came hasting along
And stole those babes away

It was just about Old Christmas time
The nights being cold and clear
She looked and she saw her three little babes
Come running home to her

She set a table both long and wide
And on it she put bread and wine
"Come eat, come drink, my three little babes
Come eat, come drink of mine!"

"We want none of your bread, Mother
Neither do we want your wine
For yonder stands our Savior dear
And to Him we must resign

"Green grass grows over our heads, Mother
Cold clay is under our feet
And every tear you shed for us
It wets our winding sheet"

An earlier name for this ancient British ballad is "The Wife of Usher's Well." "Old Christmas" is another name for January 6, the date when the infant Christ was visited by the Three Wise Men. Buell Kazee was an educated Kentuckian with mountain roots who performed folk songs learned both from his childhood environment and literary texts. Click here for an essay on Old Christmas.

Back to List of Recordings | Previous Recording | Next Recording