Sweet William- elderly Scotch lady (OK) c.1938 Moore A
[From Ethel and Chauncey O. Moore, Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1964. There's no way to tell how old this is- all that's known is the Moores got it around 1938 when they started their collection (published in 1964.) Apparently because of space considerations, they did not give other versions.
R. Matteson 2014]
Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight
"Of all ballads this has perhaps obtained the widest circulation," says Professor Child in his extensive comments on Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight (see Child,I,22). The fine story outlives the ballad form, and when the song is forgotten, it is told in prose. Though not the most popular ballad in Oklahoma, it is well known, there being twenty complete variants in our collection. For references and versions, see Arnold, 54-55 ; Belden, 5-16; Brewster, 3 1-36; Chappell, 12; Child, I, 22-62; Cox, 3; Creighton and Senior, 2-9; Davis, 62-85; Eddy, 6-13; Gardner and Chickering, 29-31 Greenleaf and Mansfield, 3-6; Hudson, 61-66, Journal, Vol. XXII, 65 (Beatty), Vol. XVIII, 148 (Perrow), Vol. XXXV, 338 (British references), Vol. LII, 16 (Treat); Mackenzie, Quest, 93,174, 183; Morris, 237-41; Owens, 34-36; Randolph, I, 41-47; Scarborough, 43; Scarborough, Song Catcher, 126-28; Sharp I, 5-13; Smith, 97 ; and Wyman and Brockway, 82-87.
Sweet William was taken down by Zelda Hillis of Oklahoma City. Her only comment about the text was that "an elderly Scotch lady" living in Oklahoma City had dictated the words. Contributed by Sardis Roy Hadsell, former professor of English at the University of Oklahoma, this is the first ballad of our collection. At the conclusion of a conversation in which it was decided that some study in balladry should be a subject for a thesis, Professor Hadsell drew from his own ballad collection the following variant, saying that it would make a good beginning. This kind man, a true scholar and friend, continued as long as he lived
to advise and encourage us in our undertaking.
Sweet William on a fine summer day,
A-courting of a lady gay;
He won her heart with a free good will,
And led her off astray, -stray, -stray,
And led her off astray.