This is another temperance song that my mother taught me, learned from her father. Both of my mother's grandfathers were Congregationalist Ministers in Iowa.
Out on the stormy night sadly I roam.
No one to love me, no dear pleasant home.
Dark is the night and the storm rages wild.
God pity Bessie, the drunkard's own child.
Chorus:
Mother, O why did you leave me alone,
No one to love me, no dear pleasant home.
Dark is the night and the storm rages wild
God pity Bessie, the drunkard's own child
We was so happy til father drinked rum.
Then all our trials and troubles begun.
Mother grew weary and wept every day.
Brother and I were too hungry to play.
Barefoot and hungry we wander all day
Looking for work, but "too small" they all say
On the damp ground to lay my head
Father's a drunkard and Mother is dead.
Thus the two wandered, 'til one stormy night
Brother and sister both faded from sight
Then gazing at them, sadly I said
"Father's a drunkard and Mother is dead."
Cheerful, right? Again, I know the tune and only have the chorus memorized. My parents quit singing it in front of me so that I wouldn't sing it at Show and Tell.
And small children shouldn't hear this sort of thing, right? I don't know. I learned an awful lot about the dark side of the world and danger from these songs. I found them helpful. I think they influenced me to be careful....
And think of the refugee children and children everywhere. This is still happening.
here: http://www.pdmusic.org/1800s/66fadamid.txt
and here: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=57166
The tune I learned is slightly different and darker than this: http://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=6196
And some overlapping words with a different tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ooDfYaH08E and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KGiFkcxOus