Bluegrass Messengers

The Two Sisters- Brown Collection (NC) 1915

[The Brown Collection of NC Folklore, 1952 is one of the better US collections and has eight versions - five with music examples.]

OLDER BALLADS MOSTLY BRITISH: 4. The Two Sisters (Child 10)

4. The Two Sisters (Child 10)

For the range of this story in other lands and tongues, see Child's headnote; for its occurrence in Great Britain and America since Child's time, consult BSM 16-17 and add to the list there given  Vermont (NGMS 3-4), Tennessee (BTFLS viii 71), North Carolina (FSRA 13), Florida (SFLQ viii 138-9), Arkansas (OFS I 50-2, 53-5, 59-60, 63), Missouri (OFS I 52-3, 55-8, 60-2), Ohio (BSO 17-8), Indiana (BSI 42-50), and Michigan (BSSM 32-4).  Mr. Paul G. Brewster, who has made an intensive study (as yet unpublished) of this ballad, believes that, as ballad, it is definitely  Scandinavian in origin, starting in Norway some time before the  seventeenth century and spreading to Sweden, Denmark, the Faeroes  (and thence to Iceland), Scotand, England, and America; and that  the corresponding folk tale tradition is Slavic, probably Polish.  The "singing bones" — the revelation of the crime by a fiddle made  from the dead girl's body — have almost entirely vanished from  American texts, but a trace of them is preserved in our version C.  All but one of the versions in our collection belong to the common  American tradition, marked by the "bow down" refrain.

A. 'The Two Sisters.' Secured by Professor E. L. Starr of Salem College  from an unnamed informant and sent to Dr. Brown in 1915. The intercalated refrain runs without change through all the stanzas. "Knight"  is marked as a variant reading for "Squire" in stanza 2.

1 There was a man lived in the west
Bow down, bow down
There was a man lived in the west
Bow once to me
There was a man lived in the west,
He had two daughters of the best.
I will be true, true to my love.
And my love will be true to me.

2 A Squire he courted the eldest one,
But he loved the youngest one.

3 He gave the youngest a gay gold ring
And to the eldest gave not a thing.

4 He gave the youngest a satin cap;
The eldest she got mad at that.

5 One day as they walked by the river side
They sat at the bank and they cried and they cried.

6 The eldest she pushed the youngest in;
The youngest said it was a sin.

7 She swam till she came to the miller's pond.
And there she swam all around and around.

8 'O miller, miller, save my life,
And I will be your loving wife.'

9 The miller threw in his hook and line
And pulled her out by the hair so fine.

10 The hook and the line were laid on the shelf —
If you want any more, why, sing it yourself.

B. 'Old Man from the North Countree.' Contributed by Otis S. Kuykendall of Asheville in 1939. The intercalated refrain and repeat line run  through all the stanzas without change.

1 There was an old man from the North Countree
Bow down
There was an old man from the North Countree
Bow down and balance me
There was an old man from the North Countree,
He had daughters one, two, three.
I'll be true to you, my love, if you'll be true to me.

2 He bought the youngest a silken hat;
The eldest daughter couldn't stand that.

3 They walked down to the water's brink.
The eldest pushed the youngest in.

4 She floated down to the miller's dam.
The miller pulled her to dry ground,

5 From her hands he took five rings,
And then he pushed her in again.

6 They hung the miller on the gallows high;
The eldest daughter hung near by.

C. 'The Two Sisters.' Mrs. Sutton got this from the singing of Mrs.  Rebecca Gordon of Cat's Head on Saluda Mountain, who also sang for her 'The Earl of Murray' (Child 181); see p. 160 below. This version  is remarkable in two ways; it is the only version found in America, so  far as I can learn, that uses the "Edinboro" refrain, and it preserves,  what is almost as rare in American versions, something of that feature  which Child thought was the essential core of the story, the revelation of the crime through a part of the dead girl's body — in the older versions  some of her bones as well as her hair, but here merely her hair. The  "Edinboro" refrain is found in Child's B (from two of Mrs. Brown of  Falkland's manuscripts), D (from Kinloch's manuscripts), and E (from Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe's Ballad Book)— all excellent versions.

1 There were two sisters in a bower,
Edinboro, Edinboro,
There were two sisters in a bower,
There came a boy to be their love.
Edinboro town

2 He courted the oldest with a ring,
But loved the youngest above everything.

3 He courted the oldest to be his wife,
But loved the youngest as his life.

4 Upon one morning bright and clear
The oldest called to her sister dear,

5 And took her down to the old mill stream
And with her hands she pushed her in.

6 'Your rosy cheeks and yellow hair
Have stole my love for evermore.'

7 Sometimes she sunk, sometimes she swam.
Till she came down to the old mill dam.

8 The miller raised the flood gates up
And pulled the drowned lady out.

9 You couldn't see her golden hair
For jewels fine that were so rare.

10 You couldn't see her fingers white
For golden rings she wore on them.

11 He took three strands of her yellow hair
And with them strung his fiddle rare.

12 The first tune that it did sing
Was 'Farewell to my father king.'

13 The second tune that it did sing
Was 'My sister Ellen drowned me.'

D. 'A single stanza,' in Dr. Brown's hand, probably taken down from some  student's recitation. The refrain varies slightly from that in A and that  in B, but is still basically the same.

Two little sisters living in the west
Sing a dinii, sing a day
Two little sisters living in the west
The boys all bound for me
Two little sisters living in the west,
The young man loved the younger best.
And I'll be true to my true love
Because she's true to me.

E. No title. One of the songs secured by Professors W. Amos Abrams  and Gratis D. Williams, of Appalachian State Teachers College, from  the singing of Pat Frye of East Bend, Yadkin county, in 1945. See  headnote to 'Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight' G. It is a reduced version; marked by the contributors "incomplete."

1 As we war walking along the sea brim
Bow down
As we war walking along the sea brim
A bow to bend to me
As we were walking along the sea brim
The oldest pushed the youngest in.
Prove true, true to my love, prove true to me.

2 'Oh miller, oh miller, yonner swims a swan
I believe in my soul 'tis sister Kate.'

3 The miller was hung along the mill gate.
For drownding of my sister Kate.

There is in the Gollection an anonymous fragment, the first stanza with the customary "bow down" refrain, which is described as "sung on the Michigan log-rafts."

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The Twa Sisters (Child 10) Music

A. 'The Two Sisters.' There is no recording of this version, but the Collection  contains two manuscript copies, in different hands but otherwise identical, of  the words and tune. It is included here, though it is probably not of North Carolina provenience.

For melodic relationship cf. *FSF 243-4, No. 147A. The melodic intervals  of the first three measures of our version are the same. Scale: Heptachordal, plagal. Tonal Center: f. Structure: aa1a1b (4,4,4,4).

B. 'Old Man from the North Countree.' Sung by Otis S. Kuykendall. Recorded  at Asheville, Buncombe county, in 1939.

[See music above with text]

For melodic relationship cf. *SharpK i 33, No. 5I, first three measures, and  likewise BSM 21, version E. Scale: Hexatonic (4), plagal. Tonal Center: e-flat. Structure: aa1a2b (4, 4,  4 ,3 ). This is a rather sophisticated structure (a1 is terminally incremented); this brings about the elision between a1 and b.

E. 'Twa Sisters.' Sung by Pat Frye, of East Bend, Yadkin county, in 1945. From  the original recording by Dr. W. A. Abrams. It is quite evident that the singer  has shortened the melody at vital cadential points, measures 3 and again 11.

For melodic relationship cf. *BSM i8, version A, last two measures; version B, our measures 6-7 with 7-8; ibid. 21, version E, our measures 3-4 and  6-7 with 3-4 and 7-8; also SharpK I, No. 5B, measures 6-7 and possibly 5K,  the latter, however, being in minor key. The general melodic outline of the  first four measures has points in common with FMNEE 37: 'Binnorie.'
Scale: Heptachordal, plagal. Tonal Center: f,  or ab (7,7), an unusual build-up.   Structure: aa1bb1 (3,4,4,3),

F. 'Twa Sisters.' Sung by Horton Barker. Record contributed by Dr. W. A.  Abrams to the present editor in 1951; also sung to the latter personally by the  same singer at his home in Chilhowie, Virginia, June, 1952. Cf. FSS 521, 'The  Miller's Two Daughters,' to show how different ideas of various songs can be  combined to form a new version. [Barker was not from NC but his version is included here.]

For melodic relationship cf. ***JAFL, xlv, 1932, 2-3, No. 175; **FSSH 39,  No. 4A. Beginning with the third measure, there is considerable similarity;  also SharpK i. No. 5B, measures 8-9 with 5-6 in our version; ibid., first two  measures in both, and 5L, our measures 9-12 with 13-16 there.
Scale: Mode III, plagal. Tonal Center: e-flat. Structure: abcdb1a1 (2,2,2,2.  2,2) ; b1 and a1 are considerably varied.

1. There was an old woman lived on the sea shore,
Bow and balance to me.
There was an old woman lived on the sea shore,
Her number of daughters one, two three four,
And I'll be true to my love,
If my love will be true to me.

2 There was a young man came there to see them,
Bow and balance to me.
There was a young man came there to see them,
And the oldest one got struck on him,
And I'll be true to my love, [dear,]
If my love will be true to me.

The remaining stanzas follow the same pattern.

3 He bought the youngest a beaver hat
And the oldest got mad at that.

4 'O sister, o sister, let's walk the seashore
And see the ships as they sail o'er.'

5 While these two sisters were walking the shore
The oldest pushed the youngest o'er.

6 'O sister, o sister, please lend me your hand
And you may have Willie and all of his land.'

7 T never, I never will lend you my hand.
But I'll have Willie and all of his land.'

8 Sometimes she sank and sometimes she swam
Until she came to the old mill dam.

9 'O father, o father, come draw your dam.
Here's sister a mermaid or a swan.'

10 'O miller, o miller, here's five gold rings
To put me safe on shore again.'

11 The miller received those five gold rings
And pushed the maiden in again.

12 The miller was hung on his old mill gate
For drowning little sister Kate.

G. 'The Twa Sisters.' Sung by Mrs. Anna Johnson. Recorded from the original  procured by Dr. W. A. Abrams at North Wilkesboro, Wilkes county, September 14, 1941. The last four measures of our version show some relationship  with those of the Horton Barker version.

For melodic relationship cf. **SharpK I, 31, No. 5G, almost throughout;  FSSH 39, No. 4A and AMS 27. *DD 70-71 : compare our 'Down and balance  to me' with 'Bowes down' and 'Bow and balance to me' ; also the beginning in  both which recurs when the phrase is repeated. Likewise our last 6 measures  with the last five of the other version. OFS I, 60, No. 4G. Compare the phrase 'daughters one, two, three.'