New England's Daughter

New England’s Daughter
(Mary Lee Partington)


The town was shocked to hears news that Emmeline did wed the boy
Who trailed her age ten years or more and traded sadness for lover’s joy.

Refrain: Cold New England cold, cold New England cold.

She was New England’s daughter; Emmeline was her name,
And though I never knew her, I’ll tell her story just the same.
Some people say that Yankee land boasts a cold that chills desire,
But love that stirs a young girl’s heart can turn to broken ice…untended fire.

Refrain

Emmeline was just fourteen when she joined the Lowell hoard
Of girls from farms and hungry towns who paid a weaver’s wage for room and board.
Emmeline was small and quick and learned to work with grown-up skill,
And with her nimble industry, she pleased the foreman of the mill.

Refrain

A man of wealth and middle years, he had the means to treat her well;
In fact, his wife would one day own the Corporation’s ringing till.
So began a dark affair between the foreman and the maid;
The child she bore in secrecy became the forfeit that she paid.

Refrain

The child was taken from her side before she knew a face or name
And given to a family who traveled westward to stake their claim.
A shattered but a wiser girl returned up north to Fayette, Maine
To take her childhood place once more amidst the pine trees and the pain.

Refrain

A spinster’s life was Emmeline’s in all the years that tumbled past
Until one day a handsome lad rode into Fayette at the last.
The heart that Emmeline had hid from all her suitors and from the truth
Came rushing desperately to claim the handsome stranger despite his youth.

Refrain

The town was shocked to hear the news that Emmeline did wed the boy
Who trailed her age ten years or more and traded sadness for lover’s joy.
New England cold is cruelty, New England cold is vengeance bound;
The cold rewarded Emmeline: a boy she married…her son she’d found.

Refrain