Pale Horse, Pale Rider -- anyone know this song?

[English1413]

I'm writing a paper on Katherine Anne Porter, whose story "Pale Horse, Pale
Rider" mentions an old Negro spiritual with the same name. The first line is
"Pale horse, pale rider, done taken my lover away," and the song supposedy goes
on to list the various other people death has taken away, leaving only the
singer.

I'd love to track down the lyrics to this spiritual, because the story only has
the first line, but so far I've had no luck. The closest thing I found was a
song entitled "Pale Horse and His Rider," but the first line is different and
the lyrics aren't like those described in the story. In the story, the
character claims she heard black working people in Texas singing the song
somewhere around 1900. (The story takes place in 1918, so the song has to
pre-date that).

Right now I'm wondering if Porter just made up the song, or if it really
exists. I'd be grateful for any help in tracking it down.

Gray

[English1413]

I just heard of a song called "Pale Horse," but I haven't found the lyrics to
see if it's the one I'm looking for. It was recorded by Elder Curry in 1930,
and starts out with a quotation from Revelations but might possibly then go
into the actual song. Does any one know this song?

Gray

[Art Jackson]

A search found this song.
http://bluegrasslyrics.com/gospel_song.cfm-recordID%3Ds9862.htm
Then there is a book in a series by Katherine Anne Porter called Pale
Horse, Pale Rider. Didn't see anything about a song to go along with it.
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1985/3/85.03.01.x.html
Good luck.

--
Art Jackson W4TOY Owensboro, KY USA
Life is God's open book test. In order to pass,
you must open His book to find the answers.

[Marshall Becker]