Are You the Doctor?- Chisholm (VA) 1916 Sharp E; Davis G
[From English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, Vol 2 by Cecil J. Sharp (1859-1924) and Maud Karpeles; 1932 edition. Additional text from Davis, Traditional Ballads of Virginia; 1925. It was common for Sharp to provide music and leave the text off if he felt the text was poor and he had other version with more complete text.
My title, Sharp used the generic title, The Brown Girl for all versions, no local titles supplied. Sharp called the ballad "Fine Sally" in his filed notes.
This ballad is not to be confused with the popular ballad, Child No. 73 Lord Thomas and Fair Annet, which is commonly known in the US, and Canada as "The Brown Girl."
US and Canada versions are based on the hundreds of late 18th century English broadsides sometimes titled "The Sailor from Dover" or "Sally and her Truelove Billy."
Child's B version of 295, "The Brown, Brown Girl" collected by Rev. S. Baring-Gould, introduced stanzas from the "Sally and her Truelove Billy" songs. In his article "Folk Song Tradition, Revival and Re-Creation" Steve Gardham has shown that Baring-Gould's ballad is a re-creation of two ballads and not traditional.
To put it simply, the versions are not related to "The Brown Girl" but are part of the "The Sailor from Dover" and "Sally and her Truelove Billy" song group. In the US and Canada some common titles are "Pretty Sally," "Sally," and "A Rich Irish Lady." They have been put here following Bronson and others who have attached them to Child 295, not because they belong here.
R. Matteson 2014]
Notes from Cecil Sharp No. 44. The Brown Girl.
Texts without tunes:— Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads, No. 295. Gavin Greig's Folk-Song of the North-East, i, art. 79. Broadside by Such, 'Sally and her True Love Billy' Cox's Folk Songs of the South, p. 366 (see also further
references). Journal of American Folk-Lore, xxvii. 73 ; xxxii. 502 ; xxxix. 110.
Texts with tunes: — Christie's Traditional Ballad Airs, ii. 241. Kidson's Garland of English Folk Songs, p. 20. Journal of American Folk-Lore, xviii. 295 (tune only). Journal of the Folk-Song Society, viii. 5. British Ballads from Maine, p. 418.
Davis's Traditional Ballads of Virginia, pp. 537 and 604.
'Colours' (Texts A and B) may be a corruption of 'country' as given in Folk Songs of the South.
Version J is reminiscent of The Death of Queen Jane (No. 32).
[Are You the Doctor?]- Sung by Mr. N. B. CHISHOLM at Woodridge, Va., Sept. 23, 1916
1. Are you the doctor they sent for me here?
Or are you the young man that I loved so dear?
Or are you the doc tor can kill or can cure?
Without your assistance I'm ruined, I'm sure.
2 "And stand by your bed till you breathe the last breath,
And I'll dance on your grave when you're cold in the earth."
3 She pulled from her fingers gold diamond rings three,
Saying: "Take them and wear them when you're dancing on me.
I'll freely forgive you, although you won't me,
Farewell to this vain world, it's all vanity."