No. 234 I’m Traveling to My Grave or Traveler Soc 37
Pentatonic, mode 1 (I II — IV V VI —)
I’m trav’ling to my grave,
I’m trav’ling to my grave,
I’m trav’ling to my grave
To lay this body down.
My fathers died a-shouting,
rejoicing in the Lord;
The last word I heard them say
Was about Jerusalem,
The saints’ delightful home.
The song is ascribed in the Social Harp to John G. McCurry and Wm. C. Davis and dated 1853. For a variant among the negro spiritual tunes see White Spirituals, p. 261. Compare ‘I’m a Long Time Traveling’ in this collection. Similarity is seen also between the above melody and ‘The Merchant’s Daughter’, second tune, JFSS, i., 160.