False Knight- Mrs Stanley (Ches) 1967 Dearnley
[From Seven Cheshire Folk-Songs, by Dorothy Dearnley, Arranged by Freda Brislee, London, Oxford University Press, 1967, 6, 1967.
Pete and Chris Coe apparently learned the song from Dorothy Furber (or Furbur?) from Heswall, Cheshire. Dearnley's source was Mrs Stanley of New Ferry, but there are many similarities to the version by Pete and Chris Coe.
R. Matteson 2018]
THE FALSE KNIGHT- Mrs Stanley of New Ferry, 1967
"Oh, where are you going?"
Said the false knight unto the child on the road.
"Oh, I'm going to school,"
Said the bonny little girl of sev'n years old.
"And what have you got there?"
Said the false knight unto the child on the road.
"My dinner and my primer,"
Said the bonny little girl of sev'n years old.
"And what is for your dinner?"
Said the false knight unto the child on the road.
"Some bread and some meat,"
Said the bonny little girl of sev'n years old.
"And will you give me share?"
Said the false knight unto the child on the road.
"Not a bite for your tooth,"
Said the bonny little girl of sev'n years old.
"Oh, what are you going for?"
Said the false knight unto the child on the road.
"To learn the word of God,"
Said the bonny little girl of sev'n years old.
"Oh, I think I hear a bell,"
Said the false knight unto the child on the road.
"Yes, it's ringing you to hell,"
Said the bonny little girl of sev'n years old.