97
Polly Oliver
This form of the female soldier story, widely current both in
print and in tradition — see FSS 387, BSM 183 — is represented by
but one text in our collection and that a pretty disordered one. It
appears to have come from W. Amos Abrams, but has no further
indication of source. It is nearest to Cox's West Virginia version,
by the help of which some of the corrupted places are cleared up,
but not all. For the division into stanzas and the indications of
lacunae the editor is responsible.
'Pretty Polly.' No date or location indicated.
1 Pretty Polly lies musing in her downy bed.
2 T'll go leave my old parents which made me false prove;
I'll go dress like a soldier and follow my love.'
3 Coat, britches, and jacket pretty Polly put on.
Good faith to my soul, she looked like some young man.
4 She went to her father's horse stable, viewed the horse
stable round ;
At last she found one that could travel the ground.
5 With a case of bright pistols and a sword by her side
And with her father's bright gilt like a troop she did ride.^
6 She rode and she rode till she came to the town ;
Right there she got down with a slight of a frown.^
7 The first one come to her was a brave English lord,
Next one come to her was pretty Polly's true love.
* Cox's text has "gueldon," which he glosses as "gelding" ; and "troop"
is of course for "trooper."
* Just what the singer understood by this last phrase is not apparent.
Missouri A has "at the sign on the ground" ; the stall prints, no doubt
rightly, have "at the sign of the Crown."
OLDER BALLADS MOSTLY BRITISH 3I3
8 It's 'Here is a letter from Polly, your dear ;
9 'Look under the seal and there's a guinea to be found.
You and your horse, sir' — pretty Polly was helped round.*
10 Pretty Polly, being drowsy, she hung down her head;
She called for a candle to light her to bed.
11 'To bed?' said the captain, 'here's a bed at your ease,
You may He with me, kind sir, if you please.'
12 'To lie with a soldier is a dangerous thing.
I am a young lord, sir, come to fight for my kind.'*
13 So early next morning pretty Polly she rose.
She dressed herself in a suit of her own clothes.
14 Just like an angel, down stairs she removed:
'Here comes Colonel Wallis, your ideal true love.'^
15 Now Polly is married she lives at her ease.
She goes when she will and she comes when she please,
16 With a maid to wait on her whener^ she goes.
And her ideal true love to ride by her side.
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97
Polly Oliver
'Pretty Polly.' Sung by Mrs. Nora Hicks. Recorded at Mast's Gap, Watauga
county, August 28, 1940. The missing line of the printed version in II 312 was
recovered from the recording. The structure of the melody requires, however,
the stanzas as printed to be grouped in pairs. This is along the lines also fol-
lowed in another version found in SharpK i 345, No. 54B in which our text is
the second stanza.
Whether or not the transcriber of this song forgot to insert a b-flat as sig-
nature IS beyond the judgment of this editor. There was a recording besides
the MS score, but it was among the records which were destroyed in transit to
the Library of Congress. Judging from the general character of the tune,
especially the modulation to the dominant in measure 4, the assumption of a
simple F major scale as a basic material would seem reasonable.
Scale : Hexachordal, plagal. Tonal Center : e-flat. Structure : abcdcca^b (2,2,2,
2,2,2,2,2) =: abb^ai (4,4,4,4).