Darling Nelly Gray

1 There's a low, green valley on the old Kentucky shore,
Where I've whiled many happy hours away,
A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door
Where lived my darling Nellie Gray.
O my poor Nellie Gray, they have taken you away,
And I'll never see my darling any more;
I'm sitting on the river and I'm weeping all the day,
For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

2 When the moon had climb'd the mountain, and the stars were shining too,
Then I'd take my darling Nellie Gray,
And we'd float down the river in my little red canoe,
While my banjo sweetly I would play.
O my poor Nellie Gray, they have taken you away,
And I'll never see my darling any more;
I'm sitting on the river and I'm weeping all the day,
For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

3 My eyes are getting blinded, and I cannot see my way;
Hark! there's somebody knocking at the door,
Oh! I hear the angels calling, and I see my Nellie Gray,
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore.
Oh, my darling Nellie Gray, up in heaven there, they say,
That they'll never take you from me any more;
I'm a coming—coming—coming, as the angels clear the way,
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore.

Source: Seth Parker's Hymnal #191