Fol Fly on the Road- (ME) pre1870 Barry JAFL
[My title, originally, The False Knight Upon the Road; collected Phillips Barry; Sung before 1870, in Fort Kent, Me., by a French girl, recollected by M. L. F., Portland, Me., Oct. 16, 1907. Published in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 24, No. 93 (Jul. - Sep., 1911), pp. 344-349. The one verse text and notes follow:
R. Matteson 2014]
I. THE FALSE KNIGHT UPON THE ROAD (Child, 3) Sung before 1870, in Fort Kent, Me., by a French girl who could speak very little English, as learned from an illiterate Irish family. From "The False Knight upon the Road," A, Folk-Songs of the North Atlantic States recollected by M. L. F., Portland, Me., Oct. 16, 1907.
1. "What have you in your bottle, my dear little lad?"
Quo the fol fol Fly on the road,
"I have some milk for myself for to drink!"
Said the child, who was seven years old.
In this text the words "fol fol Fly" are very likely corrupted from "foul, foul Fiend;" that is, the Devil. Fragmentary as it is, the text is interesting as attesting the survival, in America, of a ballad supposed to be long extinct, and, furthermore, as retaining a form of the theme more primitive than that of Motherwell's version.
Recent adaptations include "The False False Fly" from Canadian singer-songwriter Jane Siberry as recorded on her album "Hush" released in 2000.