<emph>Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister:</emph> Electronic Edition. Performed by Charlie Poole Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this title. Text transcribed by Monique Prince Text encoded by Elizabeth S. Wright First edition, 2003 ca. 7K Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2003.

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 Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister Performed by Charlie Poole 1 p. Recording Label Record Date Call number FC-344 General Collection/Sound Recordings (#30001), (Southern Folklife Collection, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

The electronic edition is a part of the UNC-CH digitization project, Documenting the American South.

These song lyrics are transcribed from a recording by Charlie Poole held from the Southern Folklife Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. These lyrics accompany a digital audio file.

The text has been encoded using the recommendations for Level 4 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines.

Spell-check and verification made against printed text using Author/Editor (SoftQuad) and Microsoft Word spell check programs.

 Library of Congress Subject Headings English Ballads, English -- Texts. Ballads, English. Folk songs, English -- United States -- Texts. Folk songs, English -- United States. Textile factories -- North Carolina -- Songs and music. 2005-02-21, Celine Noel and Wanda Gunther revised TEIHeader and created catalog record for the electronic edition. 2003-09-11, Elizabeth S. Wright finished TEI-conformant encoding and final proofing. 2003-08-21, Elizabeth S. Wright finished TEI/SGML encoding 2003-07-17, Monique Prince finished transcribing the text. Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister May I sleep in your barn tonight, Mister? It's cold lying out on the ground And the cold north wind is whistling And I have no place to lie down I have no 'bacco nor matches I'm sure that I'll do you no harm I will tell you my story, kind mister Though it rests in my heart like a thorn It was three year ago last summer I never will forget that sad day When a stranger came out from a city And he wanted to stop for his health Now the stranger was fair, tall and handsome And he looked like a man who had wealth Said he wanted to stop in a country Said he wanted to stop for his health Now my wife said she'd like to be earning Something to add to our home And she talked 'til I finally decided That the stranger could enter our home Last night as I came from my workshop Whistling and singing with joy I was expecting a kind-hearted welcome At the gate from my wife and my boy Nothing did I spy but a letter Placed in the room on a stand And the moment my eyes lay upon it I picked it right up in my hand Now the note said Stella and the stranger Had run away and taken my child And I'm sure that a God up in heaven And will do as the stranger deserves