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Lakes of Pontchartrain

from Live Bait by SaltyPaws

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The Lakes of Pontchartrain is an American (US) ballad about a man who is given shelter by a beautiful Louisiana Creole woman. He falls in love with her and asks her to marry him, but she is already promised to a sailor and declines.

lyrics

T'was on one bright March morning I bid New Orleans adieu
And I took the road to Jackson town, me fortune to renew
I cursed all foreign money, no credit could I gain
Which filled me heart with longin' for the Lakes of Pontchartain.


I stepped on board of a railroad car beneath the morning sun
And I rode the roads 'til evening and I laid me down again
All strangers here, no friends to me 'til a dark girl towards me came
And I fell in love with a Creole girl from the Lakes of Pontchartrain.


I said my pretty Creole girl, me money here's no good
If it weren't for the alligators I'd sleep out in the wood
You're welcome here kind stranger, our house it's very plain
But we never turn a stranger out at the Lakes of Pontchartrain.


She took me to her mammy's house and she treated me quite well
The hair upon her shoulders in jet black ringlets fell
To try and paint her beauty I'm sure t'would be in vain
So handsome was my Creole girl from the Lakes of Pontchartrain.


I asked her if she'd marry me, she'd said it could never be
For she had got another and he was far at sea
She said that she would wait for him and true she would remain
'Til he returned for his Creole girl from the Lakes of Pontchartrain.


So fair thee well me bonny girl I never see you no more
But I'll ne'er forget your kindness and the cottage by the shore
And at each social gathering a flowin' glass I'll drain
And drink a health to me Creole girl from the Lakes of Pontchartrain.

credits

from Live Bait, released November 13, 2015

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SaltyPaws Punta Gorda, Florida

When you think of wandering minstrels, do you ever think they might live on a boat? SaltyPaws is a sailing acoustic duo, living aboard their catamaran, sailing and singing the Atlantic eastern seaboard. You'll hear guitar and 5 string banjo, spiced with harmonica and concertina. Wherever the boat is in port, you'll find Bentley and Jim joining a jam, at an open mic, or busking a street corner. ... more

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