MARY OF THE WILD MOOR
His fiddle touched the strings and he began to play.
Softly Laura began to sing... -- By the Shores of Silver Lake, Chapter 14, "The
Surveyors' House"
"Mary of the Wild Moor" was a popular tavern song in England. It is also known as "Mary on the Wild Moor," "The Wild Moor," "When Mary Came Wandering Home," and "The Winds Blew Across the Wild Moor." The lyrics used in By the Shores of Silver Lake are credited to Joseph W. Turner, published in 1845. It is unclear whether he wrote the lyrics or simply adapted them. Once brought to America, the song was popular on the entire eastern coast, across the United States into Wisconsin, and south to the Ozarks. Because of the large number of lyric sheets printed, the words to "Mary of the Wild Moor" tended to stay similar in different parts of the country.
In the manuscript for By the Shores of Silver Lake, Wilder included "Mary of the Wild Moor," saying that Pa was glad there was no one around to interfere with his music, and that as Pa started playing, Laura "knew that one" and started singing softly to herself.
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MARY OF THE WILD MOOR (Joseph Turner adaption)
One night when the wind it blew cold, Blew bitter across the wild moor; Young Mary she came with her child, Wand'ring home to her own father's door; Crying father, O pray let me in, Take pity on me I implore, Or the child at my bosom will die, From the winds that blow 'cross the wild moor.
O, why did I leave this fair cot, Where once I was happy and free; Doom'd to roam without friends or a home, O, father, take pity on me. But her father was deaf to her cries, Not a voice or a sound reach'd the door; But the watch-dogs did bark, and the winds Blew bitter across the wild moor.
O, how must her father have felt, When he came to the door in the morn; There he found Mary dead, and the child Fondly clasped in its dead mother's arms. While in frenzy he tore his gray hairs, As on Mary he gazed at the door; For that night she had perished and died, From the winds that blew 'cross the wild moor.
The father in grief pined away, The child to the grave was soon borne; And no one lives there to this day, For the cottage to ruin has gone, The villagers point out the spot Where a willow tree droops over the door; Saying, there Mary perished and died, From the winds that blew 'cross the wild moor. |
MARY OF THE WILD MOOR (from By the Shores of Silver Lake)
One night when the winds blew bitter, Blew bitter across the wild moor, Young Mary she came with her child, Wandering home to her own father's door, Crying, Father, O pray let me in! Take pity on me I implore Or the child in my arms will die From the winds that blow across the wild moor. But her father was deaf to her cries Not a voice nor a sound reached the door But the watch dogs did howl And the village bells tolled And the winds blew across the---
Use the navigation bar above to listen to "Mary of the Wild Moor" - midi sequence by Lesley Nelson-Burns. If you do not see the midi player above, click HERE to listen.
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