The Anti-slavery Harp: A Collection of Songs for Anti-slavery Meetings

Chapter 9: OVER THE MOUNTAIN.

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About This Book

A compilation of abolitionist songs and lyric pamphlets intended for anti-slavery gatherings, offering moral appeals, narratives of suffering, and calls to collective action. Poems dramatize the anguish of enslaved mothers, the fate of separated families, and the experiences of fugitives guided by the North Star, while urging political and religious solidarity against slavery. Several pieces adapt their words to familiar popular airs to facilitate communal singing, and the collection blends emotional testimony, exhortation, and patriotic imagery to mobilize audiences for emancipation.

OVER THE MOUNTAIN.

Over the mountain and over the moor,

Hungry and weary I wander forlorn;

My father is dead and my mother is poor,

And she grieves for the days that will never return;

Give me some food for my mother in charity,

Give me some food and then I will be gone.

Pity, kind gentlemen, friends of humanity,

Cold blows the wind and the night’s coming on.

Call me not indolent beggar and bold enough,

Fain would I learn both to knit and to sew;

I’ve two little brothers at home, when they’re old enough,

They will work hard for the gifts you bestow;

Pity, kind gentlemen, friends of humanity,

Cold blows the wind, and the night’s coming on;

Give me some food for my mother in charity,

Give me some food, and then I will be gone.