Lakes of Pontchartrain

It was on one fine March morning
I bid New Orleans adieu
And I was on 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 sat on board a railway car
Beneath the morning sun
And I road the roads 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
But if it weren't for the alligators
I would sleep out in the woods"
"You're welcome here kind stranger
Our house is very plain
But we never turn a stranger out
From the lakes of Pontchartrain."

She took me into her momma's house
And treated me right well
The hair upon her shoulder
In jet black ringlets fell
To try and paint her beauty
I'm sure it would be in vain
So handsome was my Creole girl
By the lakes of Pontchartrain

I asked her would she'd marry me
She said it could never be
For she had got another
And he was of at sea
She said that she would wait for him
And faithful she would remain
Waiting for her sailor
By the lakes of Pontchartrain

So fare you well my Bonny ol girl
I never will see you no more
I wont forget your kindness
In the cottage by the shore
At every social gathering
A flowing glass I'll raise
And I'll drink a health to my Creole girl
And the lakes of Pontchartrain