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Go and leave me if you wish, love,
Never let me cross your mind,
Since you have been with another,
Go and leave me, never mind.
Many's the tale of love you've told me,
Many's the long and weary mile
We have wandered, love, together,
Talking of life's weary trial.
Many's the night with you I rambled,
Many's the hour wth you I spent,
I thought your heart was mine forever,
But now I find it was only lent.
Go and leave me if you wish, love,
I will stay and think on thee,
Sitting in my chair of sorrow
With your baby on my knee.
Collected in 1951 from Mrs. Way of Bonavista, NL, and in 1952 from Mrs. Lucy Heaney of Stock Cove, NL, by Ken Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, p.453, by the National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
Kenneth Peacock noted that this was one of the most poignant laments in his whole Newfoundland collection. A text of this rare item appears in Gavin Greig's Folk Songs Of The North East, and Sharp noted an Appalachian variant called The Dear Companion which was recorded by Tom Darby and Jimmie Tarlton on Columbia Records in 1927. The Newfoundland version is a collation from two three-verse variants. Verses 1 and 4 were sung by Mrs. Way, and verses 2 and 3 are from Mrs. Heaney. The tunes were almost identical.
Robert B. Waltz, editor of The Ballad Index notes that this song is similar to Columbus Stockade Blues minus the first verse, though the tune is different.
