Fair Ellender- Baber (Mo.) 1924 Randolph D
[Fragment of 3 stanzas from Vance Randolph's Ozark Folksongs, vol. 1- Ballads, 1946. See McGill for similar opening stanza.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
D. Fair Ellender- sung by Mrs. Carrie Baber, Pineville, Mo., June 7, 1924. Randolph D
Mother, oh mother, go riddle my sport,
Come riddle it all to one;
Whether I best marry Fair Ellender,
Or bring the brown girl home.
Your brown girl she has houses an' lots,
Fair Ellender she has none,
Between these two riddles I read to you,
Go bring your bnown girl home.
She dressed herself in scarlet silk,
Her merry maids all in green,
In every town that they passes through
Folks took her to be some queen.