The Lass of Roch Royal- Clark (Ont.) 1962 Fowke
[From: British Ballads in Ontario by Edith Fowke; Midwest Folklore, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Autumn, 1963), pp. 133-162. Her notes follow.
R. Matteson 2015]
Fowke's song notes: "The Lass of Roch Royal" is even rarer in North America than "Hind Horn," if we exclude the multitudinous "Who will shoe my pretty little foot?" stanzas. The note in the Brown collection (88) recognizes only four genuine versions: two from West Virginia and two from North Carolina, and notes that these are all variants of one version, most nearly allied to Child D. The one from Ontario is very clearly a different version: it is unusual in that it does not include the very common "who will shoe?" stanzas, and it does retain something close to the original title in its reference to the "lass of Lochland Lane." It omits much of the original story, starting late, but the part it does retain tells a reasonably complete story. It approximates most closely to Child A, with one striking variation: the stanzas in which the lass recalls the lovers' pledge, usually part of a conversation with Lord Gregory's mother, have here been transferred to a note found in her bosom after death.
None of the Child variants includes anything similar to stanza 6 here. The other stanzas, however, are paralleled roughly in A by 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 12, 13, 33, and 35. Mrs. Clark learned it from her father in her youth. When asked if she had ever heard any more of the story than she now remembers, she insisted that this was the complete song.
TEXT 2: THE LASS OF ROCH ROYAL
Sung by Mrs. Gordon Clark, Richmond, Ontario, 1962
1. "Oh Mother, I had a warning dream,
Oh Mother, I had a dream.
I dreamed the bonny lass of Lochland Lane
Was tapping to get in."
2. "Lie down, lie down, Lord Gregory,
Lie down and take a sleep,
It was just an hour and a half ago,
She was tapping at your gate."
3. "Oh you vile woman, oh you vile woman,
Oh you vile woman you!
Why didn't you rise and let her in
Or even waken me?
4. "Sell to me your grey mare,
Or sell to me the brown,
Or sell to me the fastest horse
That ever a man rode on."
5. And he rode east and he rode west,
And he rode all around.
He rode till he came to the Lochland Lane
And there he found her dead.
6. A dark cloak covered her form divine,
A plaid shawl round her head,
And in her bosom he found a note,
And this is what it read:
7. "Do you remember, Lord Gregory,
When we sat on yonders hill,
We changed the rings from each other's fingers,
But oh mine was the best!
8. "Mine was of the pure, pure gold,
And yours was scarcely tin,
But mine was fond and full of love,
And yours proved false within."
9. "Deal fast, deal fast your bread and wine,
Deal fast and so you may,
For tomorrow morning at this same hour
You'll deal the same for me."
10. He was buried in St. Mary's churchyard,
She in the Lochland Lane,
And from her grave there grew a rose
And out from his a briar,
11. And those two grew and those two flew,
And those two twined together,
And every person who passed thereby
Said those two loved each other.