The Lakes Of Ponchartrain
It was one fine March morning I bid New Orleans adieu,
And I took the road to Jackson town my fortune to renew.
I cursed all foreign money, no credit could I gain,
Which filled my heart with longing for
The Lakes of Ponchartrain
I stepped on board a railroad car, beneath the morning sun,
And I rode the runs till evening and I laid me down again.
All strangers there no friends to me 'till a dark girl towards me came.
And I fell in love with a Creole girl
By the Lakes of Ponchartrain.
I said "My pretty Creole girl, my money here's no good.
If it weren't for the aligators I'd sleep out in the wood."
"You're welcome here, kind stranger, our house is very plain
But we've never turned a stranger out
The Banks of Ponchartrain."
She took me into her mammy's house and treated me right well,
The hair upon her shoulders in yet black ringlets fell,
To try to paint her beauty I'm sure 't would be in vain.
So handsome was my Creole girl
On the Banks of Ponchartrain.
I asked her if she'd marry me. She said that ne'er could be,
For she had got a lover and he was far at sea.
She said that she would wait for him and true she would remain
'til he'd return to his Creole girl
On the Lakes of Ponchartrain.
It's fare thee well, my bonny young girl, I never may see you more
I'll never forget your kindness in the cottage on the shore,
And at each social gathering a flowing glass I'll drain,
And I'll drink a health to the Creole girl
On the Lakes of Ponchartrain.