The Lakes Of Pontchartrain

T'was on one bright March morning I bid New Orleans adieu
 And I took the rode to Jackson town, me fortune to renew
 I cursed all foreign money, no credit could I gain
 Which filled me heart with longin' for the Lakes of Pontchartain.
 I stepped on board of a railroad car beneath the morning sun
 And I rode the roads 'til evening and I laid me down again
 All strangers here, no friends to me 'til a dark girl towards me came
 And I fell in love with a Creole girl from the Lakes of Pontchartrain.
 I said my pretty Creole girl, me money here's no good
 If it weren't for the alligators I'd sleep out in the wood
 You're welcome here kind stranger, our house it's very plain
 But we never turn a stranger out at the Lakes of Pontchartrain.
 She took me to her mummy's house and she treated me quite well
 The hair upon her shoulders in jet black ringlets fell
 To try and paint her beauty I'm sure t'would be in vain
 So handsome was my Creole girl from the Lakes of Pontchartrain.
 I asked her if she'd marry me, she'd said it could never be
 For she had got another and he was far at sea
 She said that she would wait for him and true she would remain
 'Til he returned for his Creole girl from the Lakes of Pontchartrain.
 So fair thee well me bonny o' girl I never see no more
 But I'll ne'er forget your kindness and the cottage by the shore
 And at each social gathering a flowin' glass I'll raise
 And drink a health to me Creole girl from the Lakes of Pontchartrain.