Down By the Embarras
(Win Stracke)
I've crossed the Des Plaines & forded the Vermilion,
Swum the Little Wabash & followed the Apple,
Calumet's muddy, the Rock River clear,
But down by the Embarras I courted my dear.
Cho: It's hi the lie, lee the lee, give me your hand,
It's hi the lie, lee the lee, give me your hand,
It's hi the lie, lee the lee, give me your hand,
There's many a river that waters the land.
The broad Illinois flows glossy and gliding,
The crooked Kaskaskia flows weaving and winding,
Abe Lincoln's Sangamon, it crosses the plain,
But I never will walk by the Embarras again.
She hugged me and she kissed me, called me her dandy,
The Mackinaw's rocky, the Kankakee sandy,
She kissed me, she hugged me, she called me her own,
Down by the Embarras she left me alone.
The girls of Fox River they're plump and they're pretty,
The Spoon and Macoupin have many a beauty,
Chicago flows slowly past girls by the score,
So down by the Embarras I'll wander no more.
"Embarras," pronounced "AM-BRAW." These rivers are all in Illinois. Recorded by
Art Thieme and Cindy Mangsen on "Songs O The Heartland," Kicking Mule Records.
JD
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!