The 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 Pontcahrtrain
I stepped on board of a railroad car
Beneath the morning sun
I rode the rods till evening
And I laid me down again
All strangers there, no friends to me
Till 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’d sleep out in the wood
«You're welcome here kind stranger
Our house is very plain
But we never turned a stranger out
On the banks of Pontchartrain»
She took me into her mammy’s house
And she treated me right well
The hair upon her shoulders
In jet black ringlets fell
To try to paint her beauty
I’m sure 't would be in vain
So handsome was my Creole girl
By the lakes of Pontchartrain
I asked her if she’d marry me
She said that 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
Till he’d return to his Creole girl
By the Lakes of Pontchartrain
So fare thee well, my bonny own girl
I never may see you more
But I’ll ne’er forget your kindness
In the cottage by the shore
And at each social gathering
A flowing glass I’ll drain