song my gram used to sing to me?

Question

When I was little, my grandmom used to sing a song to me but I dont remeber what it was called.
Some of the lyrics are..."in jersey city , where i was born. there was a boy i knew so well....dig my grave and dig it deep, with marble stone from head to feet and on it place a turtle dove, to show the world i died for love.
Those are the only lyrics I remember.
It a really old song. Can anyone help?

Answer 1

all I could find:

In Jersey City where I live now
A butcher boy I loved so well
He courted me my life away
And then with me he would not stay

There is a house in another town
Where my love goes and hangs around
He takes strange girls all on his knee
And tells them that he doesn't love me

Go dig my grave both wide and deep
Put a marble stone at my head and feet
And on my heart a turtle dove
To show the world I died for love

Oh mother dear how can you know
The pain and sorrow I have known
Go get me a chair to sit upon
A pen and ink, I'll write it down

The end of each line she dropped a tear
For bringing back my Willy dear
Her father came home and looking 'round
Said he, "where can my daughter be found?"

Answer 2

I guess there's a few different versions of it because I found this one:

I Died For Love

In a place where I dwell;

There was a boy I loved so well.

He came and stole my heart from me;

And now he's going to set me free.

I even know the reason why;

Me a girl with stupidity that wouldn't lie.

I came home and cried on my bed;

Not a word to my mother was said.

My dad came home late that night;

He searched the house to see if every thing was alright.

He came upstairs and through my door;

To find me hanging above the floor.

He cut the rope to let me down;

And on my jeans a note was found.

Dig a grave dig it deep;

With a marble stone head to feet.

And on that stone place a dove;

To show the world I died for love.

Answer 3

Really old all right. There are even older versions than this one of Died For Love, sung by Joseph Taylor in 1908.

I wish my baby it-e-was born
Lying smiling on its father's knee
And I was dead and in my grave
And green grass growing all over me

I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain
I wish I was a maid again
But a maid again that never can be
Since that-e-young farmer sat wooing me

Dig me my grave long wide and deep
Put a marble stone at my head and feet
But a turtle dove put over above
For to let the world know that I died for love

There's several other versions at the link below.

Answer 4

Some I remember are Glow Worm Petunia in Onion Patch Don't sit Under the Apple Tree with anyone else but me I'm looking Over a 4 Leaf Clover Toot Toot Tootsie Jeepers Creepers Bicycle Built for 2 Oh You Beautiful doll and probably tons more! we sang together a lot, and I even remember some of the old songs to sing to my grandson now.

Answer 5

The verse you quoted is the last one in the song:

MY SWEET SOLDIER BOY (1951)

Dark was the color of my true lover’s hair
His cheeks was like some milky fair
If he will return it will give me great joy
For I never loved any like my sweet soldier boy

Father, father, go build me a boat
And over the ocean I will float
And every ship that I pass by
I will inquire for my sweet soldier boy

She rowed her boat into the plain [main?]
Ahs saw three ships a-coming from Spain
Oh she halted each time as it drew near
Oh there she inquired for her sweet soldier boy

Captain, captain, oh tell me true
Does my sweet William sail with you?
Answer me, oh answer me, you will give me great joy
For I never loved any like my sweet soldier boy

Oh no lady, he is not here
But drownded in the gulf, my dear
At the head of Rocky Island as we passed by
Oh there we let your true lover lie

She ran her boat unto a rock
I thought to my soul her heart would break
She wrung her hands all in her hair
Just like some lady in despair

Go get me a chair to set upon
A pen and ink, I will write it down
At the end of each line she dropped a tear
At the end of each verse cried, Oh my dear

Oh dig my grave both wide and deep
Put a marble stone at my head and feet
And on my breast a turtle dove
To show the world that I died of love

Answer 6

Called "The Butcher Boy." Canadian folk song, lyrics are widely available. To avoid reprinting them all here, search "jersey city"+"marble stone." Good things you remember so few lyrics; your gram must have looked at life through grim-colored glasses.

Answer 7

Carl Sandburg, The American Songbag, San Diego, New York, London, 1990 (originally published in 1927), p. 324.
A variant of "Railroad Boy" aka "The Butcher's Boy" aka "Go Bring Me Back My Blue-Eyed Boy" (Sandburg, p. 324).

Go bring me back my blue-eyed boy,
Go bring my darling back to me,
Go bring me back the one I love,
And happy I will ever be.
Must I go bound while he goes free?
Must I love a man that don't love me?
Or must I act a childish part,
And die for the one that broke my heart?

Late one night when her father come home,
Inquiring where his daughter had gone,
He went upstairs and the lock he broke,
And found her hanging by a rope.

He drew his knife and he cut her down,
He drew his knife and he cut her down,
He drew his knife and he cut her down,
Upon her breast these words he found.

Go dig my grave, go dig it deep,
Go dig my grave, go dig it deep,
Go dig my grave, go dig it deep,
And plant a rose at my head and feet.

Upon my breast a turtle dove,
Upon my breast a turtle dove,
Upon my breast a turtle dove,
To show this world I died for love.

Around my grave go build a fence,
Around my grave go build a fence,
Around my grave go build a fence,
To show this world I had no sense.

Answer 8

I Died for Love
by Dale Klugg, Alford

Answer 9

it's a poem called die for love. i found it at freewebs.com. type in dig my grave and dig it deep. it'll be about 6 items down on the page.

Answer 10

Hmm I hope you find it I can't remember the name and I have heard it myself.