Banks of the Yarrow- Riddle (AR) 1965 Wolfe
[From: three recordings of this ballad by Riddle; two from The Wolfe Collection and one from Max Hunter's Collection.
According to Cazden: "Almeda Riddle's version (Abrahams) bears as its title Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, yet its text clearly belongs with Child 214, and its tune is quite like the version of that made familiar by Kidson (see notes to #1). The accompanying comment by Abrahams is also surprising in its assertion that the ballad had "never been collected in the New World."
Almeda Riddle recorded several versions of this ballad. The texts and music to two versions recorded by John Quincy Wolfe Jr. in 1970 and one by Max Hunter in 1965 are below.
This is essentially an exact version of, or rewrite of, Child 215C, which probably should be considered part of 214. Almeda Riddle collected ballads orally and from print and perhaps, like Aunt Molly Jackson and her Robin Hood ballads, may have obtained a translation or translated Child 215C. Her version was mentioned and the text given in her 1970 book, "A Singer and her Songs," which she was surely working on from the mid to late 1960s- the same time this ballad became part of her repertoire. According to Riddle, she didn't sing this song until recently but ""knew this song as a child. . ." The telling stanza that points to using a print version is Stanza 3, third line: "You'll get a letter e'er it is e'en." It's a long way from Scotland's "Eppie Fraser, daughter of a tramp, and unable to read, circa 1840" to Heber Springs, Arkansas.
R. Matteson 2013, 2016]
Banks of the Yarrow- As sung by Almeda Riddle, Heber Springs; 1970; Recorded by John Quincy Wolfe Jr. She had changed the title from "Fair Willie Drowned In Yarrow" as recorded by Max Hunter on October 23, 1965.
THE BANKS OF THE YARROW (1) Sung by: Almeda Riddle
(Mrs. Riddle: “I think I’ll pull my shoes off. My feet are killing me. The shoes are big but my feet are burning. And I just sing better barefooted -- you see, I am from the hills.”)
“My Willie’s rare, and he’s so fair,
My Willie’s wondrous bonny,
And he has promised he’d marry with me,
If he ever did marry with any.
“But sister, dear, I’ve had this dream,
And I fear it means sorrow.
I dreamed I pulled the heather green
On the bonny banks of Yarrow.”
“Now sister, dear, I’ll tell your dream,
And it does mean sorrow.
You’ll get a letter e'er it is e'en,
For Willy’s been drowned in the Yarrow.”
She looked upstream, she looked downstream,
With much distress and sorrow.
She found him where the heather was green
On the bonny banks of Yarrow.
Her hair, it was three quarters long,
The color being yellow.
She tied it ‘round his middle small;
Thus pulled him from the Yarrow.
“Last night I made my bed full wide
Tonight it will be narrow.
No man shall ever sleep by my side;
My Willy’s drowned in the Yarrow.”
THE BANKS OF THE YARROW (2) Sung by: Almeda Riddle Recorded on 5/14/70
Listen: http://web.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/songs/riddlebanks1304.html
“My Willie’s rare, my Willie’s fair,
My Willie’s wondrous bonnie.
My Willie has promised he would marry with me,
If he ever did marry with any.
“But sister, dear, I’ve had this dream,
And I fear it means sorrow,
For I dreamed I pulled heather green
On the bonnie banks of the Yarrow.”
“Sister, dear, I’ll tell your dream,
And it doth mean sorrow,
For you’ll get a letter e’er it is e’en.
Your lover’s drowned in the Yarrow.”
She looked for him upstream, searched for him down,
With much distress and sorrow.
She found him where the heather grew green
On the bonnie banks of the Yarrow.
Now her hair, it was three quarters long;
The color, it was yellow.
She tied it ‘round his middle small;
Thus pulled him from the Yarrow.
“Last night my bed was made full wide;
Tonight it shall be narrow.
No man shall ever sleep by my side;
My Willie’s drowned in the Yarrow.”
Fair Willie Drowned In Yarrow- As sung by Almeda Riddle, recorded by Max Hunter on October 23, 1965.
Listen: http://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/songinformation.aspx?ID=584
VERSE 1
My Willie's rare and Willie's fair
And Willie's wonderous bonnie
My Willie has promised he'd marry with me
If he ever did marry with any.
VERSE 2
O, Sister dear, I've had this dream
And I fear it means sorrow
I dreamed I was pulling heather green
On th bonnie banks of the Yarrow
VERSE 3
Sister dear, I tell your dream
An' it doth mean sorrow
You'll get letter -- rare it is in
Your lovers' drowned in th Yarrow
VERSE 4
She searched for 'im up stream, searched for 'im down
With much distress an' sorrow
And found 'im where willows grew
On th bonnie banks of Yarrow
VERSE 5
Her hair it being three quarters long
The color it was yellow
She tied it around his middle small
An' pulled 'im from th Yarrow
VERSE 6
Last night my bed was made full wide
Tonight I'll make it narrow
No man shall ever sleep by my side
Since Willie's drowned in th yarrow