© by Diane Taylor
© Webpage by Jilli 1997
All rights Reserved

Ballad of Whippoorwill John

Now, Sally Kincaid was a sprightly lass,
As gentle and kind as a fawn.
But she fell in love with a crazy man
By the name of Whippoorwill John.
Sally's Pa owned the Notions Store.
He had his retirement planned.
He'd found a rich banker from Fayetteville
And he promised him Sally's hand

But every night by the light of the stars
While her pa was still a'sleepin,
A whippoorwill cried from the mountainside
And Sally would go a'creepin.
She'd run like a fox down the mountain path
To the creek where John sat, grinnin.
It's not my place to redden your face
But they didn't call it sinnin..

The banker got wind from a nosy friend
That Sally was carrying on
With a mountain lad and it made him mad.
He went to find Whippoorwill John.
He huffed and puffed to the base of the bluff
Where he'd been told they were meetin.
He'd follow the trill of that whippoorwill
And he'd give young John a beatin!

But at dusky dark, a homing lark
Woke the banker from his slumber.
Then a whippoorwill from high on the hill
Sent him crashing through the lumber!
He was whippoorwilled up and whippoorwilled down
And the cool air made him shiver.
He thought he was tough till he fell down a bluff
And was whippoorwilled into the river.

It musta been John a'carryin on -
Is that what you been thinking?
Well friend, you're wrong, cause Sally and John
Were married while the banker was sinkin.
How do I know it happened just so?
I've lived my life in this valley
What's my name? I'll tell you the same -
My good friends call me
Sally ..


The End