Jedidiah 1777 - Eliza Gilkyson

Jedidiah out in the snow

Walkin' the frozen trenchlines

Wet boots and his wool coat comin' apart at the seams

Rations of hard-baked dough

Handfuls of melting snow

What else can a man live on but his dreams?

Not twenty miles away

In the mansions of Philadelphia

Loyalists lay their money down on the king

We’ve provision enough for the day

But if victory were just for the wealthy

Our noble cause wouldn’t be worth the hardship we’re suffering

Send the cloth for a good waistcoat

I dream of your hearth and the fields of oat

I awake to the drum and the trembling note of the fifer

May it please God in His great mercy

To shelter our friends and our family

I remain your son most faithfully, Jedidiah

I have seen a man, who has seen a man

Who has heard the king

Tell of his intention our independence to declare

The peace will undoubtedly bring

A great revolution in commerce

May it be our rightful fortune to come in for a share