Lord Henry- (VA) 1922 Davis E
[No informant named. From Traditional Ballads of Virginia; Davis, 1929. His notes follow.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
YOUNG HUNTING
(Child, No. 68)
THE hero, who is usually Lord Henry, returning from the hunt, is courteously invited in for the night by his mistress, who is usually Lady Margaret. Lord Henry refuses the invitation rather brusquely, saying that another lady whom he loves more than he loves her is awaiting him. As he leans over to kiss her good-bye, Lady Margaret wounds him sorely with a little pen-knife, In the conversation that ensues, he indicates that he really loves Lady Margaret. He dies, and Lady Margaret, sometimes with the help of her maids whom she offers to reward for silence, throws his body into a deep well. Her parrot speaks accusingly to her, and she tries to cajole the bird with promises, then threatens it, but to no avail. The wily parrot is not to be deterred, and presumably betrays her guilt.
Here the Virginia texts end, as does Child F. They do not go ahead, like Child A and other fuller versions of the ballad, to the coming of the king's duckers, their finding of the body by candle light after a hint from the bird, the lady's protestations of innocence and her attempt to throw the guilt on one of her maids, the trial by fire, which leaves the maid unscathed but consumes the guilty lady.
The names and title of Virginia A, " Lord Barnet and Fair Eleonder," seem to be borrowed partly from "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard (Barnett)" (Child No. 81) and partly from "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor" (Child, No. 73). "Proud Lady Margaret," "Lord Henry," sometimes "Love Henry," and "sir Henry and Lady Margaret," are the titles more properly its own.
A point of special interest in these Virginia variants is their obvious contamination with stanzas from "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (Child, No. 4). Note the stanzas about the bird in all texts, and also stanza 8 of Virginia E. E has also many interesting verbal expressions. A, B, C, D are all excellent ballads, well preserved. The four tunes are also good, especially the strangely wild hunting tune of B.
For American texts, see Barry, No. 18; Bulletin, Nos. 5-7, 10 Campbell and Sharp, No. 15 (North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia); Cox, No. 9, Hudson, No. 9 (Mississippi); Journal XVIII, 295 (Barry, Vermont, melody only); XX, 252 (Kittredge, Kentucky); XXX, 297 (Kittredge, Kentucky, text and melody, Missouri, Indiana); Reed Smith, No. 4 (text and melody); Reed Smith, Ballads, No.4; Sandburg, p.64 (North Carolina); Sharp, Songs, I, No. 3 (Kentucky); Shearin, p. 3; Shearin and Combs, p. 8. For additional references, see Cox, p. 42; Journal, XXXI 297.
E. "Lord Henry." collected by Miss Alfreda M. Peel, of Salem, Va. Giles County. April 23, 1922. with music. This fragment contains many interesting expressions such as "wild match woods," wounded Lord Henry for lee," "ride under the sun," "fairly dame," which justify its inclusion here. The final stanza comes directly from "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight (Child No. 4).
1 "Come in, come in, Lord Henry," said she,
"And stay this night with me."
"I won't come in, nor I won't sit down,
I have not a moment's time."
2 "Away, away to the wild match woods,
Is where you stayed last night."
3 He reached down over to kiss her white cheek,
. . . .
She had a pen-knife in her hand.
She wounded Lord Henry for lee.
4 "You'll neither ride east, you'll neither ride west,
You'll neither ride under the sun.
There's never a doctor that has lungs,
Can cure what I have done."
5 She picked him up by his coal-black hair,
And also by his feet;
She pitched him into a deep draw-well,
Sixteen fathoms deep.
6 "Lie there, lie there, Lord Henry," said she,
"And let your blood run cold;
You've rode your last to the wild match woods
To see that fairly dame."
7 She hung her love on a green willow
Three hours before it was day.
8 "Turn your back, turn your-back, turn your back," says she,
"You might as well be there as me.
Your clothes are not a bit too fine
To rot in the salt, salt sea."