From the recording Back to Laurel Hill: Pennsylvania and West Virginia Folk Songs from the Bayard Collection, Vol. I
Jimmie Judd, from Charles Scott Brink, 1861-1950, near Smicksburg, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, August 12, 1948. This ballad is based on a true story about the tragic death of a logger in Ontario.
Lyrics
O Mother, dearest, Mother come, tell to me the right,
It's what became of the sailor boy that come to stay last night.
He's dead, dear daughter, he's dead, and his gold will make a show.
We'll sent his fair body a-sinking down in the low-lands, low.�
His body was always in motion, and I hope his soul got rest;
The fish all in the ocean swims over my true love's breast.
The ship all in the ocean that's tossing to and fro,
It minds me of young Edmund that sailed the lowlands, low.�
O Father, cruel Father, you'll die a public show
For the killing of young Edmund that sailed the lowlands low. �
[How cruel were my parents to murder Edmund so,
To steal the gold of one so bold that sailed the lowlands low.]
His body was always in motion, and I hope his soul got rest;
The fish all in the ocean swims over my true love's breast.
The ship all in the ocean that's tossing to and fro,
It minds me of young Edmund that sailed the lowlands, low.