The Traveller

This song is performed by the band "Moonshiner's Daughter"

Cara Croll - lead vocal/bass
Trish Schnurr - vocals/guitar
Mark Schnurr - mandolin
Adam Croll - banjo

I found the lyrics to the song "The Traveller" in an old book of handwritten poems that belonged to my wife’s great-great-grandfather, Thomas Muddle. We originally wondered if he had authored the poems but after investigating realized they were poems he had heard along his journey and written down for his own keepsake. I researched and found that the poem, The Traveller, had been written by the 19th century American poet and author Ella Wheeler Wilcox (best known for her poem “Solitude”……..”Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Weep, and you weep alone”). She wrote The Traveller as a reply to Rudyard Kipling’s “He travels the fastest who travels alone”. I had never heard of Ella Wheeler Wilcox when I read “The Traveller” but the poem resonated deeply. A couple of days later a melody popped into my head and I ran over to find the poem hoping it would fit the melody. To my delight it did.