Susan's lamentation. Tune--"Though far beyond the mountains"

The flowery and literary language, diction, and references in this love song suggest English origin and the carefully placed quotation marks surrounding the lover’s speeches suggest that Coverly’s broadside version was copied from a well-printed original.

The song is a narrative by a woman whose lover was sent away “by his father’s strict command.” While it is not clear what either of the pair did, verse 11 suggests a pregnancy (“my shame”) although there’s no indication that a child was born. There are few text concordances but those there are suggest that the lyric found fertile ground in America. A broadside version from Providence, Rhode Island, around 1826-36 is titled “The Unfortunate Lady of Kentucky.” The song was collected in 1930 and again in 1940 by Vance Randolph. His informant said the song was also known as “Nancy Wilson” and was “written by a girl of that name, who committed suicide near Frankfort, KY, in the early years of the nineteenth century” (Randolph 4:243-46).

The indicated tune on Coverly’s broadside is the first line of the song titled “Owen” (for the music see Mary’s Dream). However, these lyrics have one too many syllables to fit that tune comfortably.