Scolding Jay

Scolding jay scolding jay
What makes you fret and worry
My mama told me before she died
Don’t be in such a hurry

Scolding jay scolding jay
You’re in my garden early
Flitting in the top of an old pine tree
Screaming like a banshee

I’ve been all around this old wide world
And I just got back today
Searchin for my own true love
Ever since she went astray

Scolding jay scolding jay
This morning I heard you screaming
So loud and shrill from the top of the hill
I thought I was still dreaming

Scolding jay scolding jay
What makes your coat so blue
Could it be that your love has gone
Or that she’s been untrue

I’ve been all around this old wide world
And I just got back today
Searchin for my own true love
Ever since she went astray

Scolding jay scolding jay
Have you seen my pretty Nancy
She left home late last fall
Going up the country

Scolding jay scolding jay
Tell me this now surely
Where have you been, oh have you seen
My pretty dark-eyed girly

I’ve been all around this old wide world
And I just got back today
Searchin for my own true love
Ever since she went astray

Scolding jay scolding jay
What makes you treat me mean
I don’t know whose body you found
There beside the stream

Scolding jay scolding jay
Oh how I rue the hour
I struck her down on the cold cold ground
And killed my brown-eyed flower

I’ve been all around this old wide world
And I just got back today
Searchin for my own true love
Ever since she went astray