Faithful Emma was collected by the celebrated Folk Song collector, Lucy Broadwood in the late 1800 hundreds. According to Lucy Broadwood the last verse may have come from another song as there is no mention of “Faithful Emma” but a brief mention of “Fickle Mary” in the last verse, but it still makes for a great song and this is the beauty of Folk Song.
Faithful Emma. Traditional.
The lambs they skip with pleasure and the meadows are all green
One of the finest mountains that ever eyes have seen
There’s fine hunting fine fishing and fine fowling too
At the foot of yonder mountain where the finest flowers grow.
At the top of yonder mountain my true loves castle stands
It is decked up with ivy from the top down to the strands
There’s fine arches fine porches and a diamond stone so bright
It’s a haven for the sailors on a dark stormy night.
At the foot of yonder mountain runs the water so clear
And a ship from the West Indies once lay in anchor there
With a red flag a flying and the beating of a drum
Sweet instruments a playing and the firing of a gun.
If Mary was faithful she might have been my bride
But her mind was as fickle as the rain on the tide
Like a ship on the ocean she was tossed to and fro
May the angels now protect her where so ever she may go.