<P> A girl had stepped out to the edge of the little platform attached to the automobile . She began to sing . Her clothes were unbelievable dirty and ragged, and she, too, was unwashed . Her ash - blond hair hung down in long skeins...But, best of all, she was beautiful, and in her untutored way, she could sing . She smiled as she sang, smiled rather sadly, and sang only a single line of a song . </P> <P> The girl, named Annie Morgan, repeated the fragment seven times in exchange for a quarter per performance, and Niles left with "three lines of verse, a garbled fragment of melodic material--and a magnificent idea". (In various accounts of this story, Niles hears between one and three lines of the song .) Based on this fragment, Niles composed the version of "I Wonder as I Wander" that is known today, extending the melody to four lines and the lyrics to three stanzas . His composition was completed on October 4, 1933 . Niles first performed the song on December 19, 1933, at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina . It was originally published in Songs of the Hill Folk in 1934 . </P> <P> Niles's "folk composition" process caused confusion among singers and listeners, many of whom believed this song to be anonymous in origin . Niles undertook lawsuits to establish its authorship and demanded royalties of other performers of the song . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (November 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table>

John jacob niles i wonder as i wander lyrics