34. Sir Hugh; or, The Jew's Daughter (Child 155)
It is odd, in view of its theme, which is really the ritual murder of a Christian child by Jews, that this ballad should have persisted as it has in popular favor down to our own times. It has been reported fairly recently as traditional song in three shires of England, in the Bahamas, in Nova Scotia, and in nearly a score of regional collections in the United States. See BSM 69-70, and add to the references there given Lincolnshire (ECS 86), Miss Mason's Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs 46-7, Vermont (NGMS 254-6), Tennessee (BTFLS viii 76-8), Florida (SFLQ VIII 154-5), the Ozarks (OFS I 149-56), Ohio (BSO 66-7), Indiana (BSI 128-33), and Wisconsin (JAFL lii 43-4)- Probably the simple pathos of the little child's death rather than any conscious anti-Semitism explains its persistence. Indeed two of our four texts from North Carolina have lost any trace of the Jew's daughter, as modern texts in general have lost sight of the second element of the original story, the miraculous intervention of Our Lady to restore the child to life. The Brown Collection proper has only one version, our A ; the other three have been contributed by Professor Hudson from his own collection.
A. No title; the common American title 'The Jew's Daughter' or 'The Jew's Garden' would hardly do for a version that has no mention of Jews. Secured by W. Amos Abrams from Mary Bost of Statesville, Iredell county, apparently in 1935 or 1936. The first stanza seems to have been imperfectly remembered. The absence of the repeat in stanzas 3 and 4 is no doubt accidental.
1 It rained a mist,
It rained all over the town.
That evening the sun came out;
The little boys were tossing their balls around.
2 At first they toss one high,
And then they toss one low,
And then they toss one into a lady's garden
Where no one was allowed to go go go,
Where no one was allowed to go.
3 For no one who has ever went in that garden
Has ever come out again.
'Come in, little boy, come in,
You shall have your ball this evening.'
4 'I won't come in, nor I shan't come in,
Except my playmates too.'
'Come in, little boy, come in,
You shall have your playmates too.'
5 At first she showed him a blood-red apple,
And then she showed him a cherry,
And then she showed him a diamond ring
To entice the little boy in, in, in,
To entice the little boy in.
6 She took him by his little white hand.
She led him from hall to hall.
She led him to the dining hall
Where no one could hear his call, call, call,
Where no one could hear his call.
7 She pinned a white cap over his face.
She pinned it with a pin;
She called for a stabbing knife
To stab his little heart in in in,
To stab his little heart in.
8 'Place my bolster at my head
And my Bible at my feet,
And when my schoolmates call for me
Pray tell them that I am asleep sleep sleep.
Pray tell them that I am asleep.
9 'Exchange my bolster to my feet
And my Bible at my head,
And when my playmates call for me
Pray tell them that I am dead dead dead,
Pray tell them that I am dead.'
B. 'It Rained a Mist.' Sent to Professor Hudson in 1932 by one of his students, Miss Marjorie Craig, with the explanation that it "was given me by Cleophas Bray of Roanoke Rapids. While I was teaching there, he attended high school intermittently from one of the mill villages. . . . Cleophas brought me this, saying that his mother (who came from the mountains of North Carolina) used to sing it." Here, as in A, there is no mention of Jews. The failure of the repeat in the fourth line of stanza 6 is probably an accidental omission.
1 It rained a mist, it rained a mist,
It rained all over the town;
And two little boys went to play,
To toss the ball around, around,
To toss the ball around.
2 At first they tossed the ball too high,
And then they tossed it too low,
Then they tossed it into a shop
Where no one was allowed to go, to go.
Where no one was allowed to go.
3 Out came a young miss all dressed in silk,
All dressed in silk so fine:
'Come in, my boy, my pretty little boy.
You shall have your ball again, again.
You shall have your ball again.'
4 'I won't come in, I shan't come in,
Unless my playmate comes too.
For oftimes I've heard of little boys going in
Who never was known to go out again, again.
Who never was known to go out.'
5 She took him by his little white hand,
She led him through the hall
And into the dining room,
Where no one could hear his call, oh call,
Where no one could hear his call.
6 She laid him on a lily-white bed
And covered his little white face,
And then she called for a carving knife
To carve his little heart out,
To carve his little heart out.
7 'Oh place a prayer-book at my head,
And a Bible at my feet,
And if my playmate should call for me,
Just tell him that I'm asleep, asleep,
Just tell him that I'm asleep.
8 'Oh place a Bible at my feet
And a prayer-book at my head.
And if my mother should call for me
Just say that I am dead, O dead,
Just say that I am dead.'
C. 'Ballad.' This text also was sent to Professor Hudson in 1932 by Miss Craig, with the explanation that it "was given me by Vivian Bast, at Greensboro, N. C. Her father owns a circus, and she has lived in various parts of the country and picked up odd pieces of folklore in many places, but this song came from her grandmother in Maryland." Here the murderous lady is "the old Jew's daughter" as in most American texts. The first stanza seems to be metrically defective.
1 It was raining hard the other day,
And, oh, the rain did pour
When all the boys in our town went out
To toss a ball ball ball.
2 At first they tossed the ball too high
And then, oh then, too low.
And then into the old Jew's yard
Where no one dared to go go go.
Where no one dared to go.
3 And then came out the old Jew's daughter
All dressed in silk and lace.
She said, 'Come in, my pretty boy,
And get your ball again gain gain,
And get your ball again.'
4 'I won't come in, I can't come in,
I won't come in at all.
I won't come in, I can't come in
Without my playmates all, all, all,
Without my playmates all.'
5 And then she showed him an apple,
And then a gay gold ring,
And then a cherry as red as blood
To entice the little boy in in in.
To entice the little boy in.
6. She took him by his little white hand
And led him through the hall
And then into the cellar helow
Where none could hear him call call call,
Where none could hear him call.
7. She wrapped him up in a napkin
And pinned it with a pin,
And then she asked for a basin
To catch his life-blood in in in,
To catch his life-blood in.
8. 'Oh place my Bible at my feet.
My prayer-book at my head,
And if my mother should ask for me
Tell her that I am dead dead dead,
Tell her that I am dead.
9. 'Oh place my prayer-book at my head,
My Bible at my feet.
And when my playmates ask for me
Tell them that I'm asleep sleep sleep,
Tell them that I'm asleep.'
D. 'The Jewish Lady.' Sent to Professor Hudson in May 1942 by Miss Margaret Johnson, with the tune and the following notation : "My mother, who is seventy years old, sings the song about the Jewish lady. . . . Mother doesn't know where she learned it, and says she has known it all her life. She was born and reared in Raleigh, right in the house where we now live." The first stanza was imperfectly remembered.
1 A little boy went out one day, [or to play]
Went out to toss his ball,
Went out to toss his ball ball ball.
Went out to toss his ball.
2 At first he tossed it up too high
And then again too low,
And then into a Jewish yard
Where no one was allowed to go go go,
Where no one was allowed to go.
3 A Jewish lady came to the door
All dressed in silk and lace.
'Come in, come in, my dear little boy,
And you shall have your ball again, gain, gain,
And you shall have your ball again.'
4 'I can't come in, I won't come in
Unless my playmates come too,
For I have often heard of a little boy
Who never came back again gain gain,
Who never came back again.'
5 She asked him into the sitting-room
And then into the hall,
And then into the dining-room
Where no one could hear him call call call,\
Where no one could hear him call.
6 'Pray spare my life, pray spare my life,'
The little boy then cried,
'And when I grow to be a man
My treasures shall all be thine thine thine,
My treasures shall all be thine.'
7 She tied a handkerchief o'er his eyes,
His hands behind his back.
And then she took a carving knife
And pierced his little heart through through through,
And pierced his little heart through.
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34. Sir Hugh ; or, the Jew's Daughter (Child 155)
B. 'It Rained a Mist.' Sung by the mother of Cleophas Bray. From previous recording of Dr. W. A. Abrams, Boone; no date. Measures 2-4 are closely related to Mrs. Calvin Hicks's 'Bold Robing' (No. 33) ; measures 7-10 are
very similar.
For melodic relationship cf. ***BB 67, version D; SCB 148-49, first two measures only; **BMFSB 22; JAFL xxxix (1926), 213; BSO 66, No. 20; BB 66-7. Scale: Mode III. Tonal Center: d. Structure: abb1cc1 (2,2,2,2,2) ab (4,6) ; b is terminally incremented.
D. 'The Jewish Lady.' Sung by the mother of Miss Margaret Johnson, ms score received by the present editor in 1952 through the kindness of Professor Hudson. The melodic line of this tune is only a variation of that sung by Mrs. Bray (34B).
For melodic relationship cf. **BSO 66, No. 20; JAFL xxxix (1926), 213; BMFSB 22. Scale: Heptachordal. Tonal Center: d. Structure: abb1cc1 (2,2,2,2,2) = ab (4,6); b is terminally incremented.