Federal Hill
Rowan plantation ~ Bardstown,Kentucky
The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home,
'Tis summer, the darkies are gay,
The corn top's ripe and the meadows in the bloom,
While the birds make music all the day.
The young folks roll on the little cabin floor,
All merry, all happy and bright:
By'n by Hard Times comes a knocking at the door,
Then my old Kentucky Home, good night!
Weep no more, my lady,
Oh! weep no more to-day!
We will sing one song for the old Kentucky Home,
For the old Kentucky Home far away.
They hunt no more for possum and the coon
On the meadow, the hill, and the shore,
They sing no more by the glimmer of the moon,
On the bench by the old cabin door.
The day goes by like a shadow o're the heart,
With sorrow where all was delight:
The time has come when the darkies have to part,
Then my old Kentucky Home, good-night!
Weep no more, my lady,
Oh! weep no more to-day!
We will sing one song for the old Kentucky Home,
For the old Kentucky Home far away.
The head must bow and the back will have to bend,
Wherever the darkey may go:
A few more days, and the trouble all will end
In the field where the sugar-canes grow.
A few more days for to tote the weary load,
No matter, 'twill never be light,
A few more days till we totter on the road,
Then my old Kentucky Home, good-night!
Weep no more, my lady,
Oh! weep no more to-day!
We will sing one song for the old Kentucky Home,
For the old Kentucky Home far away.
Words & music by Stephen Collins Foster (1826-1864)
Judge John Rowan, cousin of the Rowan family of Bardstown,
said that Foster was inspired to write "My Old Kentucky Home"
when visiting Federal Hill,the Rowan plantation, in 1852.
Although he lived most of his life in Pittsburgh, Foster wrote
lovingly and knowingly about the South. It is documented that
Foster visited New Orleans in 1852. He is the only songwriter
to have two of his works chosen as state songs. In addition to
"My Old Kentucky Home," Foster's "Old Folks At Home" is the
state song of Florida. Incidentally, he wrote the song about
life on the Suwannee River without ever having seen that river.
