5. The Cruel Brother

OLDER BALLADS MOSTLY BRITISH: 5. The Cruel Brother (Child 11)

5. The Cruel Brother (Child 11)

Although not very old, at least by the record (the earliest recorded text is Child's G, from Herd's Scottish Songs, 1776), The Cruel Brother' was widely known in the earlier nineteenth century; Child has eleven versions (some of them fragmentary), mostly Scotch but including two from Ireland and one from the west of England, where it was "popular among the peasantry" about 1846. But it is disappearing. It is included in Christie's Traditional  Ballad Airs and in Kidson's Garland of English Folk Songs but not in either of Greig's collections nor in the Journal of the Folk-Song Society. In this country it has been reported only twice: by Barry (JAFL xxviii 300-1) from someone in Boston in whose family it had been "traditional for three generations," and by Sharp from North Carolina (SharpK I 36-7). Both of these belong to the same tradition, which is — to judge from the refrain — that of Child's J, from Ireland, though possibly from the Scotch or West of England forms. There are three sisters and three wooers in all the American texts, as there are also in Child's F, G, I, J. K ; presumably simply because ballad singers are fond of series of three, for only one lady and one wooer are of significance in the story. There are two texts in the present collection, both secured by Mrs. Sutton in the mountain country of western North Carolina.

A. 'Oh Lily O.' From the singing of "Granny" Houston of Bushy Creek in Avery county, "a doctor-woman as well as a ballad singer," says Mrs. Sutton; "signs of her profession of doctor-woman hung all around her cabin walls" and she was "furiously indignant over a tonsil clinic that the State was holding over at the county seat." From Mrs. Sutton's description one gathers that she was of Irish extraction.

1 There were three sisters playing at ball
Oh Lily O
There were three lawyesr courting them all,
Lily O, sweet hi O

2 The first to come was dressed in red,
Oh Lily O
He asked if she would he his bride,
Lily O, sweet hi O

3 The next to come was dressed in blue,
Oh Lily O
Saying 'Oh my sweet, I've come for you,'
Lily O, sweet hi O

4 'Oh, you must ask my father dear,'
Oh Lily O
'And you must ask my mother, too,'
Lily O, sweet hi O

5 Oh, I have asked your father dear,'
Oh Lily O
'And I have asked your mother, too,'
Lily O, sweet hi O

6 'Oh, you must ask my sister Ann,'
Oh Lily O
'And you must ask my brother John,'
Lily O, sweet hi O

7 'Oh, 1 have asked your sister Ann,'
Oh Lily O
'Your brother John I did forget,'
Lily O, sweet hi O

8 Her father led her down the steps,
Oh Lily O
Her mother led her to the gate,
Lily O, sweet hi O

9 Her sister led her through the close,
Oh Lily O
Her brother put her on the horse,
Lily O, sweet hi O

10 He took a pen knife long and sharp,
Oh Lily O
He stobbed his sister through the heart,
Lily O, sweet hi O

11 'Oh, lead me gently up the hill,
Oh Lily O
'And I'll sit down and make my will,'
Lily O, sweet hi O

12 'Oh, what will you leave to your modier dear?'
Oh Lily O
'My velvet dress and golden gear,'
Lily O, sweet hi O

13 'What will you leave to your sister Ann?'
Oh Lily O
'My silver ring and golden fan.'
Lily O. sweet hi O

14 'What will you leave to your brother John?'
Oh Lily O
'The gallows tree to hang him on.'
Lily O, sweet hi O

B. 'Lily O.' From the singing of Mrs. Becky Gordon, Saluda Mountain, Henderson county, July 1928. Mrs. Gordon "sings every song I have been able to collect heretofore, and then some," Mrs. Sutton wrote to Dr. Brown. A fuller and more coherent version than A. The "block" of stanza 9, from which to mount a horse, is. I believe, American; it appears in no other version. The refrain is the same.

1. There were three sisters a-playin' of ball,
O Lily O
There were three lawyesrs a-courtin' them all.
Lily O, sweet hi O

2 The first one come were dressed in white,
The next one came were dressed in black.

3 The next one come were dressed in blue,
Sayin', 'Now, my dear, I've come for you.'

4 'Oh, you must ask my father dear,
You must ask my mother too.

5 'You must ask my sister Ann,
And you must ask my brother John.'

6 'I have asked your father dear.
And I have asked your mother too ;

7 'And I have asked your sister Ann ;
Your brother John I did forget.'

8 Her father led her down the stairs,
Her mother led her to the gate.

9 Her sister Ann went to the block,
Her brother John for to help her up.

10 As she stooped down to kiss him sweet,
And with his knife he stobbed her deep.

11 'Ride on, ride on, my daughter dear,'
'No, I must he and bleed and die.'

12 'Oh, what do you will to your father dear?'
'My house and home that I leave here.'

13 'And what do you will to your mother dear?'
'My bloody clothes that I leave here.'

14 'And what do you leave to your sister Ann?'
'My silver rings and golden fan.'

15 'Oh, what do you will to your brother John?'
'A rope and gallows to hang him on.'

16 'What do you will to your brother John's wife?'
'Pain and sorrow all her life.'

17 'What do you will to your brother John's child?'
'All this wide world to spend its life.'

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The Cruel Brother
(Child II)

 

'Oh, Lily O.' Sung by "Granny" Houston, of Bushy Creek, in Avery county. There is no record, only a score procured by Mrs. Sutton. No date given.

 

For melodic relationship cf. *SharpK I, 36, No. 6A, measures 4-5 with 3-5 in our version.

Scale: Mode III, plagal. Tonal Center: f. Structure: ab (4,4).

 


'Lily O.' Sung by Mrs. Rebecca (Aunt Becky) Gordon. Procured by Mrs. Sutton at Saluda Mountain, Henderson county, July, 1928.


For melodic relationship cf. *SharpK i 37, No. 6B, measures 9-10 with 4-5 of this version.

Scale: Mode IH. Tonal Center: c. Structure: aa1 (3,4).

In this connection should be observed the irregular structure that results from the elision in the third measure. Normally, "ball" would occupy one whole measure and "Oh, Lily" another. As the singer sang it exactly as noted, it is anyone's guess why this shortening of values took place. Perhaps it was due to lack of breath.