Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight- Sung by Mrs. Mary Sands, Allanstand, N.C., August 2, 1916. Version A Sharp and Karpeles 1932
[My title, replacing the generic Lady Isabel. From English Folk Songs From the Southern Appalachians I; Sharp/Campbell 1917, where it is version B. In the 1932 edition it is version A, replacing the version from Massachusetts. The first part and the end of the ballad are missing.
R. Matteson 2011, 2014]
No. 3. Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight. [Sharp/Karpeles notes; 1932]
Texts without tunes:—Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads, No. 4. Gavin Greig's Folk-Song of the North-East, ii. art. 106. C. S. Burne's Shropshire Folk-Lore, p. 548. A. Williams's Folk Songs of the Upper Thames, p. 159, Reed Smith's South Carolina Ballads, p. 97. Journal of American Folk-Lore, xix. 232; xxii. 65; xxiii. 375; xxiv. 344; xxvii. 90; xxviii. 148; xxxv. 338.
Texts with tunes—Journal of the Folk-Song Society, i. 246 ; ii. 282 ; iv. 116. English County Songs, p. 164. Kidson's Traditional Tunes, pp. 27 and 172, Northumbrian Minstrelsy, p. 48. Folk Songs from Somerset, No. 84 (published also in English Folk Songs, Selected Edition, vol. i, p. 29, and One Hundred English Folk-Songs, p. 29). A. E. Gillington's Eight Hampshire Folk Songs, p. 4. Gavin Greig's Last Leaves, p. 2. Wyman and Brockway's Lonesome Tunes, p. 82. J. H. Cox's Folk Songs of the South, pp. 3 and 521 (see further references). Mackenzie's Ballads and Sea Songs from Nova Scotia, No. 1. D. Scarborough's On the Trail of Negro Folk Songs, p. 43. Journal of American Folk-Lore, xviii. 132; xxii. 76 (tune only) and 374; xxiv. 333. British Ballads from Maine, p. 14. Davis's Traditional Ballads of Virginia, pp. 62 and 549. Sandburg's American Songbag,
p. 60.
' My Colleen' in version A may, or may not be, a corruption of the May Colvin, Colven, or Collins, of other versions.
[False-Hearted Knight] LADY ISABEL AND THE ELF KNIGHT- Mrs. Mary Sands, Allanstand, N.C., August 2, 1916
Get down, get down, get down, says he,
Pull off that fine silk gown;
For it is too fine and costly
To rot in the salt-water sea, sea, sea,
To rot in the salt-water sea.
Turn yourself all around and about
With your face turned toward the sea.
And she picked him up so manfully
And over'd him into the sea.
Pray help me out, pray help me out,
Pray help me out, says he,
And I'll take you to the old Scotland
And there I will marry thee.
Lie there, lie there,* you false-hearted knight,
Lie there instead of me,
For you stripped me as naked as ever I was born,
But I'll take nothing from thee.
She jumped upon the milk-white steed
And she led the dapple grey,
And she rode back to her father's dwelling
Three long hours before day.
*1932 omits the second "lie there."
---------------------------
Bronson No. 110 [ABCNotation.com]
T: Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight
C:Trad
B:Bronson
O:Sharp MSS., 3I97/2341. Also in Sharp and Karpeles, I932,
O:I, p. s(A). Sung by Mrs. Mary Sands, Allanstand, N.C., August 2, I9I6.
M:4/4
L:1/4
K:Gmix % Pentatonic ( -4 -7) Lydian/Ionian/Mixolydian [Pi 1]
G | A B d d | B A/G/ G G |
A B d B | A3 G/G/ | A B Hd3 A/ |
B A G B | HA B/A/ G E/E/ | D E G B |
"(a)"HA B/A/ G E/E/ | D3 |]
%"(a)" [M:3/2] A3 B/A/ G E/E/ |]
W:
W:Get down, get down, get down, says he,
W:Pull off that fine silk gown;
W:For it is too fine and costly
W:To rot in the salt-water sea, sea, sea,
W:To rot in the salt-water sea.
W:
W:Turn yourself all around and about
W:With your face turned toward the sea.
W:And she picked him up so manfully
W:And over'd him into the sea.
W:
W:Pray help me out, pray help me out,
W:Pray help me out, says he,
W:And I'll take you to the old Scotland
W:And there I will marry thee.
W:
W:Lie there, lie there,* you false-hearted knight,
W:Lie there instead of me,
W:For you stripped me as naked as ever I was born,
W:But I'll take nothing from thee.
W:
W:She jumped upon the milk-white steed
W:And she led the dapple grey,
W:And she rode back to her father's dwelling
W:Three long hours before day.
W:
W:*1932 omits the second "lie there."