Lakes Of Pontchartrain

It was on one bright March morning I bid New Orleans adieu And I took the road to Jackson town, My fortune to renew I cursed all foreign money No credit could I gain Which filled my heart with longing for The lakes of Pontchartrain I stepped on board of a railroad car Beneath the morning sun And I rode the rods till evening And I laid me down again All strangers there, no friends to me, 'Til a dark girl towards me came, And I fell in love with a Creole girl By the lakes of Pontchartrain I said 'My pretty Creole girl, My money here's no good. And if it weren't for the alligators I would sleep out in the wood' 'You're welcome here, kind stranger, Our house is very plain. And we never turned a stranger out On the lakes of Pontchartrain' She took me into her mammy's house And treated me right well. The hair upon her shoulders In jet black ringlets fell. To try to paint her beauty, I'm sure would be in vain, So handsome was my Creole girl By the lakes of Pontchartrain I asked her would she marry me, She said 'This could never be'. For she had got a lover And he was far at sea. She said that she would wait for him And true she would remain, 'Til he returned to his Creole girl On the lakes of Pontchartrain So fare thee well, my Creole girl I never may see you more But I'll never forget your kindness In the cottage by the shore And at each social gathering A flowing glass I'll drain And I'll drink a health to my Creole girl By the lakes of Pontchartrain