King William & Lady Margaret- French (VT) c1846; Flanders D
[My date from Flanders info. Margaret as sung= Marg'ret. From Ancient Ballads; Flanders , 1966.
R. Mattteson 2014]
D. King William and Lady Margaret. Sung by Miss Maude Horton in Poultney, Vermont, as known to her mother, of English forebears. A native of Mt. Holly, Vermont, she was born Ellen French, in 1836. This tune seems a variant of "Johnny Scot" as sung by Jonathan Moses, of Orford, New Hampshire. Sung from her written lines, of which this is a copy. H. H. F., Collector
April 22, 1946.
King William and Lady Margaret
King William was a hunting man
A hunting of the deer,
(He courted such a girl as Lady Margaret was;
All on a fine summer year.) (Repeat last two lines)
Lady Margaret sat in a high window,
A combing of her hair;
(And who did she see but King William
And his bride a- going to church together) (Repeat)
Down she threw her ivory comb
And "tossted" back her hair,
(She threw herself out the bar window
And never saw light any more.)
King William dreamed a troublesome dream,
His dream it was not good,
(He dreamed that his bower house was all on fire;
And his bride's chamber full of blood')
King William rose, Put on his clothes
And told it to his dear,
(I will go and see how Lady Margaret is;
By the leave of you, my dear.)
Up he goes and down he goes'
And knocks all aloud at the ring,
(There was no one so ready as Lady Margaret's brother
to arise and let him in.)
Is she in the Parlor, he says,
Or is she in the hall,
(Or is she in the long chamber,
The uppermost room of all.)
She is not in the Parlor, he says,
Nor is she in the tee,
(But she is dead in the long chamber
Who died for the love of thee.)
He turned down the milk-white sheet
And viewed her body dead,
(Methinks thou are a paler one,
I left you cherry red.)
I will kiss your clay cold lips,
Although you can't kiss mine,
(And I will make a solemn vow
And never kiss lips after thine.)
Lady Margaret died on yesterday,
King William died on the morrow.
(Lady Margaret died for pure true love,
King William died of sorrow.)
Lady Margaret was buried in the high church yard,
King William was buried beside her;
(And out of her grave sprung a red rose
And out of his a briar.)
The red rose and the briar grew,
They grew to the mountain top
(The red rose and the briar met
And tied in a lover's knot.)
The red rose and the briar grew,
They grew to the top of the spire,
(The red rose and the briar met
And died away together.)
Come all ye people that pass by
And view these two bodies asleep.
(It will cause the hardest heart to ache,
And the driest eye to weep.)