Cat. #0679 (MFH #272) - As sung by Tom Aley, Ozark, Missouri on February 8, 1969
VERSE 1
Speed on, speed on, my comrades
Our campsites far away
We must cross th Haunted Valley
Before th break of day
How I became so blighted
I will tell you as you go
By th blight of th haunted hunter
Who walks th midnight snow
VERSE 2
Thru th cold December heaven
Came th pale moon and th stars
As th sun is sinking fast
Behind th purple bars
Th snow it lay drifted
All along th ridge and crest
For miles an' miles along th trail
To th camp for which we pressed
VERSE 3
Said I, th dark is coming
An' for our camp must speed
An' my heart it would be like song
If I had company
So I sang and whistled
Keeping measure as I sped
To th sharpening of my snowshoes
As they sprang beneath my tread
VERSE 4
There was darkness on th hillside
An' in th solum woods
No sight, nor sound, nor motion
For t' break th solitude
Save th whipping of th moosebird
In its piney mount so bold
An' th sharpening of my snowshoes
As they sprang upon th snow
VERSE 5
Not far into my journey
Had I gone upon my way
When a dusky stranger joined me
In a cop suit of gray
Bending on his snowshoes
With a long an' limber stride
I hailed th dusky stranger
As we traveled side by side
VERSE 6
No token of communion
Gave he by word or look
Till a fear chill fell upon me
At th crossing of th brook
For I saw in th swiftest instant
As I followed 'im bending low
Th walking of th stranger
Left no footprints in th snow
VERSE 7
A fear chill fell upon me
As th shadows 'round me posted
And I fell upon th snow bank
As th haunted hunter laughed
There the other trappers found me
Just at th break of day
With by black hair turned quite blanched
As th snow on which I lay
VERSE 8
They spoke not as they raised me
For they knew that in th night
I had seen th haunted hunter
An' withered in his blight
Sing as we speed onward
For th sun is sinking low
An' below us lies th valley
Of th walker in th snow
VERSE 1
Speed on, speed on, my comrades
Our campsites far away
We must cross th Haunted Valley
Before th break of day
How I became so blighted
I will tell you as you go
By th blight of th haunted hunter
Who walks th midnight snow
VERSE 2
Thru th cold December heaven
Came th pale moon and th stars
As th sun is sinking fast
Behind th purple bars
Th snow it lay drifted
All along th ridge and crest
For miles an' miles along th trail
To th camp for which we pressed
VERSE 3
Said I, th dark is coming
An' for our camp must speed
An' my heart it would be like song
If I had company
So I sang and whistled
Keeping measure as I sped
To th sharpening of my snowshoes
As they sprang beneath my tread
VERSE 4
There was darkness on th hillside
An' in th solum woods
No sight, nor sound, nor motion
For t' break th solitude
Save th whipping of th moosebird
In its piney mount so bold
An' th sharpening of my snowshoes
As they sprang upon th snow
VERSE 5
Not far into my journey
Had I gone upon my way
When a dusky stranger joined me
In a cop suit of gray
Bending on his snowshoes
With a long an' limber stride
I hailed th dusky stranger
As we traveled side by side
VERSE 6
No token of communion
Gave he by word or look
Till a fear chill fell upon me
At th crossing of th brook
For I saw in th swiftest instant
As I followed 'im bending low
Th walking of th stranger
Left no footprints in th snow
VERSE 7
A fear chill fell upon me
As th shadows 'round me posted
And I fell upon th snow bank
As th haunted hunter laughed
There the other trappers found me
Just at th break of day
With by black hair turned quite blanched
As th snow on which I lay
VERSE 8
They spoke not as they raised me
For they knew that in th night
I had seen th haunted hunter
An' withered in his blight
Sing as we speed onward
For th sun is sinking low
An' below us lies th valley
Of th walker in th snow
VERSE 1
Speed on, speed on, my comrades
Our campsites far away
We must cross th Haunted Valley
Before th break of day
How I became so blighted
I will tell you as you go
By th blight of th haunted hunter
Who walks th midnight snow
VERSE 2
Thru th cold December heaven
Came th pale moon and th stars
As th sun is sinking fast
Behind th purple bars
Th snow it lay drifted
All along th ridge and crest
For miles an' miles along th trail
To th camp for which we pressed
VERSE 3
Said I, th dark is coming
An' for our camp must speed
An' my heart it would be like song
If I had company
So I sang and whistled
Keeping measure as I sped
To th sharpening of my snowshoes
As they sprang beneath my tread
VERSE 4
There was darkness on th hillside
An' in th solum woods
No sight, nor sound, nor motion
For t' break th solitude
Save th whipping of th moosebird
In its piney mount so bold
An' th sharpening of my snowshoes
As they sprang upon th snow
VERSE 5
Not far into my journey
Had I gone upon my way
When a dusky stranger joined me
In a cop suit of gray
Bending on his snowshoes
With a long an' limber stride
I hailed th dusky stranger
As we traveled side by side
VERSE 6
No token of communion
Gave he by word or look
Till a fear chill fell upon me
At th crossing of th brook
For I saw in th swiftest instant
As I followed 'im bending low
Th walking of th stranger
Left no footprints in th snow
VERSE 7
A fear chill fell upon me
As th shadows 'round me posted
And I fell upon th snow bank
As th haunted hunter laughed
There the other trappers found me
Just at th break of day
With by black hair turned quite blanched
As th snow on which I lay
VERSE 8
They spoke not as they raised me
For they knew that in th night
I had seen th haunted hunter
An' withered in his blight
Sing as we speed onward
For th sun is sinking low
An' below us lies th valley
Of th walker in th snow