Way back when I was in Girl Scouts--I think that was the connection--we used to get on the church stage and do a skit that began, "'Twas a year ago today/that my Nellie went away/She was sixteen, the village queen/The prettiest girl you ever seen." Each person took a role--Nellie, the father, the wicked lover, etc.--and we recited this in a singsong manner, accompanied by deep knee bends. It's an indelible memory of my childhood, but I never can remember the rest of the words. The story is of course going to be obvious melodrama--Nellie is lured away by a mustachioed villainous actor; a year later, she returns home bringing her infant. She has been abandoned. Everyone I asked about this looked at me blankly, indeed I think they thought I was a bit addled.
But last night I found a whole web site devoted to it. The poem or skit or whatever it is bears the title "Who's knocking on my door?" and there are countless variations in the wording. But it's more universally known than I thought. Most people remember it from the '40s and '50s. For me, it was like finding an old friend.
Now if someone could track down the Easter hymn we used to sing in children's choir: "One early Easter morning/I wakened with the birds/And all around lay silence/Too deep for earthly words." MY friend Barbara, who went to church and sang in the choir with me, remembers it but she doesn't know any more words than I do. My friend Betty, now retired after forty years as a church organist, never heard of it--and I thought she knew every possible piece of church music! Google doesn't help. Anyone know that song?
But last night I found a whole web site devoted to it. The poem or skit or whatever it is bears the title "Who's knocking on my door?" and there are countless variations in the wording. But it's more universally known than I thought. Most people remember it from the '40s and '50s. For me, it was like finding an old friend.
Now if someone could track down the Easter hymn we used to sing in children's choir: "One early Easter morning/I wakened with the birds/And all around lay silence/Too deep for earthly words." MY friend Barbara, who went to church and sang in the choir with me, remembers it but she doesn't know any more words than I do. My friend Betty, now retired after forty years as a church organist, never heard of it--and I thought she knew every possible piece of church music! Google doesn't help. Anyone know that song?
16 comments:
Little Nell
It was a dark and stormy night
When my Nelly went away
And I'll never forget her
Til my dying day
She was just 16
And the village queen and the prettiest trick
That the valley ever seen
The farm ain't the same since me Nelly went away
The rooster died and the hen won't lay
But in this window I'll put a light
40 below zero, gosh what a night
Who's that a knocking at the door?
It's your own Little Nell
Don't you know me anymore?
What happened to the actor guy
Who used to call you Honey
Did he leave you all alone when you hadn't any money
Oh, he's a slick town guy and he lies with ease
And he's got more money that a dog has fleas
But he left me alone when I was most forlorn
The very night that my little Dumbell was born
Is that there Dummy
Well it ain't no other
The gosh-darned image
Of his gosh-darned mother
Hoity Toity my fair beauty
Or you'll come to harm
Cos I hold the mortgage
On your gash-darned farm
Give me back my Dummy
Your Dummy
My Dummy
Your Dummy
My Dummy
Who's this a comin
It sounds like a mule
I ain't no mule you gash-darned fool
Can't you tell by me badge
I'm the constibule
Now what's the harm
Do please tell
Well he ain't done right by my Little Nell
Yes I have
You have not
Yes I have
You have not
And I guess I'll have to fine him a dollar and a quarter
Which all goes to prove the price of sin
And tomorrow night we play East Lynn
"One Early Easter Morning" by Ralph E. Marryott
One early Easter morning I waken'd with the birds,
And all around lay silence Too deep for idle words.
One early Easter morning,
I heard a quiet weeping Beside a silent tomb. . . .
I think that the words I remember are probably the first and last verse. I have searched online for lyrics, and found the sheet music available to order at http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/One-Early-Easter-Morning/1858842
but have not found the lyrics listed yet.
The ones I remember are:
One early Easter morning,
I wakened with the birds,
And all around lay silence,
Too deep for idle words
One early Easter morning.
And as the dawn was lifting (rising?)
Across the eastern sky
I thank God for Easter morning
When Christ the Lord rides by
One early Easter morning.
My experience was similar in that we sang this song in church choir when I was in high school. I remember it and sing it aloud every Easter morning.
I think that the words I remember are probably the first and last verse. I have searched online for lyrics, and found the sheet music available to order at http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/One-Early-Easter-Morning/1858842
but have not found the lyrics listed yet.
The ones I remember are:
One early Easter morning,
I wakened with the birds,
And all around lay silence,
Too deep for idle words
One early Easter morning.
And as the dawn was lifting (rising?)
Across the eastern sky
I thank God for Easter morning
When Christ the Lord rides by
One early Easter morning.
My experience was similar in that we sang this song in church choir when I was in high school. I remember it and sing it aloud every Easter morning.
"One Early Easter Morning" was beautiful this morning--sunrise, as it went from dark to light, with a soloist and three back-up singers. Too short but lovely.
I too remember being in Girl Scouts and doing "The Nellie Poem" with the deep knee bends! As I got older I would lay in bed at night trying to piece together the lines I could remember from that time. We would rehearse in the church in our small town in Ohio during the late 60's. What a coincidence to find someone with the same experience!
I too remember being in Girl Scouts and doing "The Nellie Poem" with the deep knee bends! As I got older I would lay in bed at night trying to piece together the lines I could remember from that time. We would rehearse in the church in our small town in Ohio during the late 60's. What a coincidence to find someone with the same experience!
I was going to direct anonymous to the web, but I remember now that my son posted the lyrics. I was so glad to find them because, like you, I was troubled that I couldn't remember them all.
I remember the final part of One Early Easter Morning. I was about 6 (now I am 70!). Someone fill in the blanks...
"At last the dawn came flaming
Across the Easter Sky
Thank God for ....
When Christ the Lord ...
I was in children's choir, and I remember some words to the *last part of One Early Easter Morning, though I was 6 (now I am 70).. The song is sung very softly until this last part ... which I remember singing with big smiles and profound joy.
At last the dawn came flaming
Across the Easter sky
Thank God for Easter morning
When Christ the Lord ...(missing)
(( Then quietly finishes with ...))
One early Easter morning.
Best wishes!
Thanks for reminding me and once again leading down memory's path. I was wishing they'd sing it at sunrise again this year.
One early Easter morning
I wakened with the birds.
And all around lay silence,
too deep for idle words
I heard a quiet weeping,
beside a silent tomb
There in the early morning
within my little room.
At last the dawn came flaming,
Across the Eastern sky.
thank God for Easter morning,
When Christ the Lord rides by.
Seems like there's another verse between 2 and 3.
I grew up in Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, and we sang this
at Easter - with Vance Taylor choir director and his wife Clarabelle, organist.
What wonderful memories.
https://archive.org/details/1932-USA-Archives-1932-06-23-Joe-Haymes-Orch-Little-Nell
This is a 1932 recording of "Little Nell" by Joe Haymes Orchestra - very well done!!! Originally Nell was a character out of Charles Dicken's The Old Curiosity Shop. Over the years people have come up with more stories of her.
-Bubba if replying use finetunes@aol.com
Thanks, Bubba. Wow! You found a really old blog, but thanks for the update. I'll check out the recording. And I didn't know Little Nell came from Dickens, though it certainly fits. Tiny Tim and Little Nell--his kind of characters.
Perhaps someone will find this. It's been a long time since anyone has celebrated "Little Nell."
My father's high school friend, Keith Baker, penned a parody of "Little Nell" and chose to use characters from one of Victorian England's most popular potboilers, "East Lynn." Remember the last line of "Little Nell"? "Come back tomorrow night and we'll play "East Lynn!" Well, here it is:
“‘Twas a rather dismal day when old Lizzie went away,
And I’ve thought about it some in the casual sort of way.
She was then eighteen, not precisely lean,
But a pretty little thing, if you know what I mean.
East Lynn is not the same since old Lizzie went away:
The tea’s rather awful, and the crumpets – like hay!
In the turret window I’ve left a taper burning;
This of course indicates how dreadfully I’m yearning.
[KNOCK AT THE DOOR]
Good heavens, could that be someone knocking at my portal?”
[ENTER ISABEL] “Archibald, it’s Isabel, older but still mortal!”
“I say, where’s that bounder who took you to Devon,
The one you referred to as being, ‘from Heaven’?”
“He was a dreadful bore with a score of hobbies.
The flat was always packed with collectors and bobbies.
I left him the day he took up the French horn;
The very same day little ‘Reggie’ was born.”
“Is that little Reggie?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, he looks quite a bit like a whisky flask.
But you can’t stay here with that infant prating!”
“Oh Archie, you are exasperating!”
“If I had that scoundrel I’d send him packing!
Producing progeny without any backing.”
[ENTER SCOUNDREL] “Aha, Lady Isabel, so here’s where you are!”
“How dare you come in without removing your cigar!
You’ve had your last shot at the East Lynn ‘pheasants’;
Now kindly attend to removing your presence.”
[SCOUNDREL CHUCKLING] “I’m now in charge of the Queen’s social list;
Don’t worry about it – you’ll never be missed.
“Good heavens, this is an awkward position.
You wouldn’t dare tend to my omission!”
“Yes, I would.”
“No, you wouldn’t.”
“Yes, I would.”
“No, you wouldn't.”
“Yes, I would.”
“No, you wouldn't.”
[ENTER COCKNEY CONSTABLE] “Wot’s goin’ on ‘ere? Wot’s all the strife?”
“He’s been most rude to my former wife.”
“No I haven’t.”
“Yes, you have.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Yes, you have.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Yes, you have.”
“I say, this is really a very bad show,
“So, wot did ‘e do, is what I wants to know!”
“He’s ruined my piece of mind with his blasted lady killing!”
“Well…he oughta be fined about a Pound and a Shilling.”
Which goes to prove that sin is hell –
Come back tomorrow night and we’ll play “Little Nell”!
Terrific version. Thanks for sharing. Little Nell always brings back such good memories. I'm glad to revisit it again today.
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