CHAPTER IV

LOVERS ON HORSEBACK

Song Stories

Album Liner Notes

In this series of Song Stories we’re taking you behind the scenes of each song.

Chapter IV– The Carolinas is the fourth EP from our album Old Bones Odyssey.

Coming soon: we’re creating a podcast that dives deeper into the stories and history behind our songs.

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Videos

Lovers On Horseback Playlist

2 Videos

Ellen performing Lovers On Horseback Live at Howland Cultural Center

4:53

Lovers On Horseback (Audio)

Lyrics

Lovers On Horseback

“They say you can hear their sighs, kisses on the wind
Like the tree they’re evergreen, souls that never die”-Lyrics/Ellen Kaye

Ellen Kaye – Lead Vocal
Ethan Fein – Guitar, Banjo
Diane Monroe – Violin
Koa Ho – Upright Bass
Zach Mullings – Drums, Bongos
Jackie Presti – Backing Vocals
Soara-Joye Ross – Backing Vocals
© 2022 Ellen C Kaye and Ethan Fein. All rights reserved.

Dancing to life’s sweetest tune
Our tree
Lost in bloom
Spreading branches to the sky
Lovingly to the moon
Watching over lovers riding by

The old cedar tree rests now
On that sleepy hill
Waiting for the sun to rise
‘Neath her sleepy boughs

Polly and Elisha flew
Through loves open doors
Riding on the wings of hope
Loving hearts so true

Ten miles over land they raced
Laughing all the way
Leaping through the air so high
Horses flush with grace
They met Bishop Asbury
Golden circles bright
Clasping reins and hearts, as one
‘Neath that cedar tree

How they rode
How they flew
The wind at their backs
Flashing hooves on fire
Past the sun
Past the sky and the rain
The stars as they blew on past

Building a home close by
That faithful loving tree
Living for the moon to rise
Sweet treasures, bluer skies

They say you can hear their sighs
Kisses on the wind
Like the tree they’re evergreen
Souls that never die

How they rode
How they flew
The wind at their backs
Flashing hooves on fire
Past the sun
Past the sky and the rain
The stars as they blew on past

Polly and Elisha flew
Through loves open doors
Riding on the wings of hope
Loving hearts so true

The old cedar tree rests now
On that sleepy hill
Waiting for the sun to rise
‘Neath her sleepy boughs

‘Neath that cedar
The wings of love will never die
The wings of love will never die
The wings of love will never die

Ellen C Kaye – Lyrics
Ethan Fein – Music
Recorded/Mixed/Mastered by Bill Moss
Ellen C Kaye, Ethan Fein, Bill Moss, Alan Joseph – Producers
Outlier Inn Recording Studio – Woodridge, New York
Samurai Hotel Recording Studio – Queens, New York
A Repair With Gold Production LLC SM
(c) 2023 All Rights Reserved

The Story

Lovers On Horseback

Backstory

“The country was sparsely settled with few preachers, so Polly Willis(Willets) and Elisha Sellars, with two friends, rode horseback 10 miles to intercept Bishop Asbury, after whom Asbury Park, New Jersey was named; who was making a trip through North and South Carolina on horseback. Meeting him, they were married, on their horses, under a cedar tree beside the road. Building a cabin near this place, they lived there for some years. “

A fragmentary four-page record, “NC Burwell History,” was written by Ann Leonard Giersh of Winston-Salem, North Carolina in April 1897. She was 81 years old at the time. In May 1935 George Ernest Burwell Sr., Ann’s nephew, added more details.

Bishop Asbury & Asbury Park History

Asbury Park is a beachfront city on the New Jershey shore. It became a music destination in the 1960’s when many rock and roll bands, rhythm and blues, soul and doo-wop singers performed regularly on the beachfront. It continues to be a touring stop for musicians today. It was founded in 1871 by James A. Bradbury, a broom manufacturer from New York City. He chose to name the city after Francis Asbury, one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. For 45 years Bishop Asbury would travel an average of 6000 miles each year, by horseback or carriage, across the early American colonies, preaching to and marrying all who were interested, including my 4th great-grandparents, Polly Willets and Elisha Sellers.

Polly & Elisha Back Story

On my mother’s side we come from North Carolina, going back a ways to the 1600’s. Lovers On Horseback is about my 4th great-grandmother Mary “Polly” Willets Sellars falling in love with my 4th great-grandfather Elisha Sellars and getting married by Bishop Asbury, of Asbury Park, under a cedar tree on horseback.
Since I was very young I’ve had a few copies of an old informal kind of family tree letter. It was a bit hard to figure out, till I realized that it was written by two different people at different times. First, Ann Leonard Giersch (the aunt of my great-grandfather George Ernest Burwell Sr), wrote the original family history in 1897 when she was 81 years old and then George himself, in 1935, filled in some spots.
In it, they tell this story of Polly and Elisha riding on horseback to be married. How they wed underneath a cedar tree and then built a cabin nearby, where they lived for many years.
The original letter was very plainly written with few words describing this, but it was enough to make me want to write this song. Along with that old letter, I used my cousin Josephine Shaffner Forsberg’s (with her husband Max Forsberg) extensive research on my mother’s North Carolina Burwell line. Josephine and Max’s deep knowledge has been a huge support to our project.