Bowie, Bowerie- Tolliver (KY) 1932 Niles
[From the 1961 book, The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles. The text seems traditional, but it's arranged in an unusual fashion, with the refrain sung first. Niles' notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
Bowie, Bowerie
(Niles No. 7 B)
It was a soft-spoken, bewhiskered old man named Arlie Tolliver who sang "Bowie, Bowerie" at Cumberland, Ky., on July 12, 1932. Here we find a shortened version of the great ballad of "The Twa Sisters." Child gives two versions running to 28 verses. In this variant the story is told in 8 verses. Arlie Tolliver was old and bent with years, but his singing voice was clear and accurate. Before he would start singing, however, I had to sing for about an hour. After that, it was not easy to stop him.
I gave him a twist of chewing tobacco, which he seemed to prize very much. Later, when I was getting ready to take my leave, he took me aside and said: "I wonder - be they any drinkin' liquor in that fancy-lookin' automobile of yourn?" I told him no, and reminded him that it was against the law to transport drinkin' liquor in automobiles, plain or fancy. He looked disappointed and said, "I was only a-askin'."
Bowie, Bowerie- Arlie Tolliver (Cumberland, Kentucky) 1932 Niles
1. Bow-ie, bow-er-ie,
A lord once lived by the deep blue sea,
He had daughters one, two, three,
Bow-ie, bow-er-ie, bow-ie,
Bow-er-ie, bow down-e-rie.
2. Bow-ie, bow-er-ie,
A lord once lived by the deep blue sea,
He had daughters one, two, three,
Bow-ie, bow-er-ie, bow-ie,
Bow-er-ie, bow down-e-rie.
The daughters walked on ocean's rim,
The mean one pushed the beauty in.
"If you will lend your lily-white hand,
I'll give you my fee and my land."
"I'll neither lend you either hand,
'Cause I will have your lover and your land."
The miller pushed her farther in,
He wanted of her silly[1] pin.
And when she died, the fiddles played,
Her father heard how she had been slayed.[2]
The miller and the ugly one
Hanged for the murder they had done.
Footnotes:
1 Silver.
2 This verse could be construed as a reference to the supernatural. In some of the original versions, bones from the
slain maiden's body are made into a harp, and the harp sings out the story of the murder.