Billy Came Over the Main White Ocean- Hill (AL) 1947 Arnold; Version A
[From An Alabama Songbook, from songs collected by Byron Arnold; edited Halli, version A; In 1950, Byron Arnold published a collection of 153 songs entitled Folksongs of Alabama (University of Alabama Press).
What isn't pointed out in the notes below is the lineage of this version. Randolph collected a version with music that was learned circa 1880 in Missouri, and another version was collected and published (actually before Randolph's) in 1940:
Beldon B. 'Willie Came over the Ocean.' Secured by Miss Hamilton, 1909, from Julia Rickman, one of her pupils in West Plains High School.
'Willie came over the main, wide ocean,
Willie came over the sea,
Willie came over the main, wide ocean,
Willie came courting me.'
Peggy Seeger recorded an adaptation of Hill's version (collected by Arnold) on The Long Harvest, record 6, accompanied by dulcimer:
Billy Came Over The Main White Ocean- Arranged Seeger
1 Billy came over the main white ocean,
Billy came over the sea,
Billy came down to my father's house,
Billy came a-courtin' of me, me, me,
Billy came a-courtin' of me.
2 Go choose you a part of your mother's gold,
And part of father's fees,
And to some far country we will go
And married we will be, be, be,
And married we will be.
3 She went and took a part of her mother's gold
And down to her father's stable,
And there she took a choice of thirty,
And a choice of thirty and three, three, three,
And a choice of thirty and three.
4 She mounted upon a milk-white horse,
And Billy on a damsel grey;
They rode down to the sea shore,
The length of a long summer day, day, day,
The length of a long summer day.
5 "You mount you down you little pert bird,
So lay you down," said he,
"For the six kings' daughters I've drowned here
You the seventh will be, be, be,
You the seventh will be".
[instrumental]
6 "Turn your face all around and about
And view the green leaves on the tree,
To see what a scandal it will be
To drown me in the sea, sea, sea,
To drown me in the sea".
7 He turned his face all around and about
To view the green leaves on the tree.
She took him by his slender waist
And plunged him in the sea, sea, sea,
Plunged him in the sea.
8 "Reach forth, reach forth your lily-white hands
And take me out of the sea;
I'll fill the promises I've made to you
Married we will be, be, be,
Married we will be".
9 "Lie there, lie there, you false-hearted man,
You as well as to lie there as me;
For the six king's daughter's you have drowned
And the seventh I won't be, be, be,
And the seventh I won't be.
10 She mounted on a milk-white horse
A-leading of a damsel grey;
She rode up to her father's house
Just three hours till day, day, day,
Just three hours till day.
11 Hush up, hush up, you little pert bird,
Don't tell no tales on me,
For I left poor Billy beneath the waves
A-looking after me, me, me,
A-looking after me.
Best to compare Belden's text since Randolph's is a single stanza. It's clear from the other versions that it's "main wide" not "main white" which was misheard by the collector or informant.
R. Matteson 2014]
Billy Came Over the Main White Ocean
(Child 4, Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight)
Among the most widespread of traditional songs is this ballad about a young woman who disposes of a villain as he would have disposed of her. In the United States, however, the mysterious, supernatural elf-knight of British and European variants has been rationalized into a greedy human suitor. Mrs. Hill's sixth and seventh stanzas are particularly interesting because they contain the heroine's request, unique in America, that the man turn away to ponder the moral consequences of murder. His doing so, of course, provides her the opportunity to kill him in self-defense. Most frequently, she asks him to avert his eyes from her nakedness, as in Mrs. Ezell's version, which is otherwise less complete and interesting than the A text. Like a number of American singers, Hill may have considered allusion to a naked woman in poor taste. In many versions, when the heroine returns home her parrot threatens to tell all it knows of her rendezvous and is silenced only by the promise of a fine new cage. All that is left here of this scene is the somewhat confusing last stanza and a misplaced reference to the heroine herself as "pert bird" in the fifth stanza.
As sung by Hill, the third, fourth, and fifth stanzas are defective. Mirroring the preceding, the third stanza should probably include the second stanza's second line, and perhaps the first line of the fifth stanza should really be the third line of the fourth
stanza, with "They rode" dropped from "the length of a long summer day, day, day). Following the record of other American texts, we can locate what seem to be the results of mishearings in Hill's rendition. "Damsel" in the fourth and tenth stanzas should probably be "dapple," and "false-haired" should be "false-hearted." But "false-haired" certainly carries intriguing implications. Other American versions also open with a stanza in the first person.
A. Billy Came Over the Main White Ocean- Sung by Mrs. Lena Hill, Lexington, June 10, 1947.
1 Billy came over the main white ocean,
Billy came over the sea,
Billy came down to my father's house,
Billy came a-courtin' of me, me, me,
Billy came a-courtin' of me.
2 "Go and choose you a part of your mother's gold
And a part of father's fees,
And to some fair country we will go,
And it's married we will be, be, be,
And it's married we will be."
3 She went and took a part of her mother's gold,
And down to her father's stable,
And there they took a choice of thirty and three, three, three,
The choice of thirty and three.
4 She mounted upon a milk white horse
And Billy on a damsel gray;
They rode the length of a long summer day, day, day,
The length of a long summer day.
5 They rode up to a seashore,
"Light you down, you little pert bird,
So light you down," said he,
"For the six kings' daughters I've drowned in here,
And the seventh you shall be, be, be,
And the seventh You shall be'"
6 "Turn your face all around and about
And view the green leaves on the tree,
And see what a scandal it will be
To drown me in the sea, sea, sea,
To drown me in the sea."
7. He turned his face all around and about
To view the green leaves on the tree;
She took him by his slender waist
And plunged him in the sea, sea, sea,
And plunged him in the sea.
8 "Reach forth, reach forth your lily-white hands
And take me out of the sea;
I'll fill all the promises I've made to you
And it's married we will be, be, be,
And it's married we will be."
9 "Lie there, lie there, you false-haired man,
You as well as to lie there as me,
For the six kings' daughters you have drowned in the sea,
And the seventh I wont be, be, be,
And the seventh I won't be."
10 She mounted upon a milk white horse,
A-leading of a damsel gray;
She rode up to her father's house
Just about three hours 'fore day, day, day,
Just about three hours 'fore day.
11 "Hush up, hush up, you little pert bird,
Don't you tell no tales on me,
For I left poor Billy a-lying beneath the waves
A-looking after me, me, me,
A-looking after me."