Black-Eyed Davy- Perry (NC) c.1778 Smith/Brown D
[From Brown Collection of NC Folklore; Vol. 2, 1952. Music at bottom of this page is from Vol. 4, D. Their notes follow. This would be a very important version because of the age if not supplied by Smith, who makes similar exaggerations in More TBVa, 1960, Davis.
Thomas Smith has proven to be an unreliable collector, mainly through his contributions (possible and proven ballad recreations) to Kyle Davis Jr. (More TBVa, 1960) in the 1930s after he and his brother moved to Virginia. In particular his C and D Brown versions of Child 200 are questionable. He collected from Grogan before, and the circumstances were suspicious. Note the similarity to Brown 4D1, given by Greer from the same time period. Sung by Mrs. N. T. Byers:
1 'How old are you, my pretty Polly?
How old are you, my honey?'
She answered him most modestly,
'I'm between sixteen and twenty.'
The text is identical and red flags should have gone up at the Brown Collection!!!
R. Matteson 2015]
37. The Gypsy Laddie (Child 200)
Still widely known and sung; see BSM 73-4, and add to the citations there given Massachusetts (FSONE 207-9), Tennessee (SFLQ XI 130-1), North Carolina (FSRA 217, one stanza only), Florida (SFLQ viii 156), Arkansas (OFS I 152-3, 155-60), Missouri (OFS I 155-9), Ohio (BSO 67-9), Indiana (BSI 134), and Kittredge's bibliographical note JAFL xxx 323. Texts from the Southern states are likely to include, rather incongruously, stanzas from the wooing song 'Where are you Going, my Pretty Maid?' So in Tennessee (FSSH iii), Mississippi (FSM 118-19), and North Carolina (SCSM 218 and versions A B D E G below).
D. 'Black-Eyed Davy.' A third text supplied by Thomas Smith. "Sung March 11, 1915, by Mrs. Peggy Perry, Silverstone, Watauga county. The lady is past 75 years of age and heard the song sung by her grandfather 'Clem Dosset,' who was a soldier in the American Revolution. Mrs. Perry . . . has sung this song, she says, to her children and grandchildren for many years."
1 'How old are you, my pretty Polly?
How old are you, my honey?'
She answered him most modestly,
'I'm between sixteen and twenty.'
Chorus: Ti diddle a tiddle um Davy
Ti diddle a tiddle um Davy
Ti diddle a tiddle um Davy
2 He came home very late in the night
Inquiring for his lady.
The news came sweet from every side :
'She's gone with the black-eyed Davy.'
3 He caught his black and he caught his gray,
And his black was very speedy.
He rode all night and he rode all day
And he couldn't overtake his lady.
4 He rode to the riverside;
The river was deep and muddy.
He rode on to the other side
And there he found his honey.
5 'Will you leave your house and land?
Will you leave your baby?
Will you leave your own true love
And follow the black-eyed Davy?'
6 'I will leave my house and land,
I will leave my baby,
I will leave my own true love
And follow the black-eyed Davy.'
Later Mrs. Perry supplied the following "missing verses." The first of them should perhaps be the second stanza; the second is clearly final,
'Where are you going, my pretty Polly?
Where are you going, my honey?'
She answered him quite modestly,
'I'm going with the black-eyed Davy.'
'If ever I do marry again,
I'll marry for love or riches.
She must wear the petticoat.
And I will wear the britches.'
_______________________
D. 'Black-Eyed Davy.' Sung by Mrs. Peggy Perry. Recorded at Silverstone, Watauga county, March 11, 1915. The beginning on the seventh degree is most unusual.
For melodic relationship cf. *SharpK i 236, No. 33E, measure 1, otherwise only rhythmically. Scale: Heptachordal. Tonal Center: c. Structure: abb1c (2,2,2,2) = ab (4,4).