Considerable study remains to be done on the white “blues” of the hills, of which “Darling Cory” is an excellent example. This song is as mountain as
hog and hominy or po’k and possum. It might have been inspired by a boy riding down the creek on a mule after he had been up to the still house!
“Wake up wake up darling Corey
What makes you sleep so sound
The revenue officers are coming
They’re gonna tear your still-house down.
“Well the first time I seen darling Corey
She was sitting by the banks of the sea
Had a forty-four around her body
And a five-string on her knee.
“Go away go away darling Corey
Quit hanging around my bed
Your liquor has ruined my body
Pretty women gone to my head.
“Dig a hole dig a hole in the meadow
Dig a hole in the cold damp ground
Dig a hole dig a hole in the meadow
We’re gonna lay darling Corey down.
“Can’t you hear them bluebirds a-singing
Don’t you hear that mournful sound
They’re preaching darling Corey’s funeral
In some lonesome graveyard ground.”
Please see this great footage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0ONSaN2M1Q