Where Are You Going? I'm Going to Lynn- Perkins (VT) pre1931 Flanders A
[My title, shortened to fit in the heading space. From Flander's Ancient Ballads; 1966; notes by Coffin follow. See: Track 03a : Cambric Shirt (Elfin Knight) - voice performance by Cleon Perkins at Rutland (Vt.). Classification #: CH002. Dated 1931. Listen: https://archive.org/details/HHFBC_tapes_C02B.
Also in The New Green Mountain Songster p. 8 where they write:
The curious expression, "she's worth a true lover of mine," in place of the usual "she shall be a true lover of mine," masks a clue to the actual date and age of the text. The archaic English wryth, worth, "to become," corresponding to the German werden was still in use in the latter part of the seventeenth century. As the singer says, "We always sang it that way," there is not the least doubt that "she's worth a true lover of mine" is founded on an established tradition. The expression "she's worth" is an obsolete form of the future tense: it means, "she shall become," or "she shall be" so that the sense is the same as in the modern reading with the of the archaic word, folk singers generally emended the line to conform to modern usage, "She shall be a true lover of mine"; as in the present instance to understand "worth" as a noun or an adjective.
Miss Perkins version must have been in tradition since the first half of the seventeenth century, then, at least as old as Child A, a broadside dated about 1670.
The notes from The New Green Mountain Songster were not repeated in Flanders' Ancient Ballads. The title was changed from "Cambric Shirt" because there is no "cambric shirt" in the text. This version is old. It may date back to 1670 in Scotland, or it may date back to the late 1700s or early 1800s in the US, without proof there's no way to tell.
R. Matteson Jr. 2014]
The Elfin Knight [Notes by Coffin]
(Child 2)
On page 227 of Ben Botkin's Folksay 1930, L. W. Chappell points out that "Riddles, perhaps even more than most types of traditional lore, have a way of 'staying put.' " It is not surprising then to find "The Elfin Knight," widespread, but relatively unvarying, in both Britain and America. The major collections in the two countries usually include it, and it has been the object of a good bit of study. Its popularity is undoubtedly due to its presence in broadside tradition; Child B is a black-letter text from Restoration times, and the ballad appears in American songsters and on American broadsheets just before the Mexican war, Phillips Barry, with the help of George Lyman Kittredge, has reviewed the printed tradition of the song in JAF, XXX,
284, and a bibliography of song-sheet texts is given there. For a start on further references, see Coffin, 30-31 (American); Dean-Smith, 65, and Belden, (English); and Greig and Keith, 1-2 (Scottish).
The relationship of this song and others like it to British courtship customs and vestigial fertility rites has never been thoroughly discussed. However, there is enough evidence to warrant research along these lines. As most scholars have recognized, the elfin lover of the British texts and child's title is nor native to the ballad and the riddler is a mortal lad. The situation is that of courtship, not unlike the one in the widespread Aarne-Thompson, Mt. 875. The most common refrain, as in Versions A-B and D-G, a corruption of "rosemary and thyme," preserves the plant symbolism of fidelity and fertility. It is these herbs that the girl such as Madeline in Keats's "The Eve of St. Agnes" put on either side of her bed ro dream of her lover. Also, the riddle, as Charles Francis potter indicates on page 940 of The standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and, Legend, may be solved as a sort of sympathetic magic to insure the success of critical ventures like those into love and marriage. certainly the relation of riddling ro puberty and fertility rites is to be found everywhere.
The song is in Phillips Barry's British Ballads from Maine, 3.
The eight tunes included here fail into three main groups: 1) the versions sung by Underhill, Luce, Delorme, and possibly Perkins; 2) the versions of Gray and Daniels; and 3) those of Morton and Richards, whose relationship, if any, is quite distant. There is also a possibility that the Perkins version is related to that of Richards rather than group 1. Group 1 corresponds to BCI, group B, and so does group 2, although the two groups represent distant relatives in BCI. Strangely enough, our group 3 also corresponds ro some tunes in the large group B in the BC classification, whose integrity is upheld only by a large number of intermediate versions, and which consists of rather diverse materials. our groups 1 and 2 seem to have variants which are widespread in the United States, in conjunction with Child 2 texts. The Perkins, Morton, and Richards tunes have fewer analogues and are not so typically representative of the Anglo-American ballad style as the other tunes in this collection of Child 2.
A. Where Are You Going? I'm Going to Lynn. From Miss Amy Perkins, as recalled from the singing of Emery R. Fisher, Rutland, Vermont. An identical text was collected from Miss Perkins' brother, Cleon Perkins, then mayor of Rutland. The Perkins' ancestors, Craigues, McClarys, and Fishers, were of Scotch descent and related to the famous Adams family of Massachusetts. The family established, itself in New Hampshire and Vermont about the time of the American Reuolution. Published in The New Green Mountain Songster, 8. H. H. F., Collector; Fall, 1931
Structure: A B C D (4,4,4,4); Rhythm A; Contour: each half descending; Scale: hexachordal; t.c. D. Note also the repeated tones the small range (major sixth). For melodic relationship see FCB4,3(B), especially the beginning and end.
Oh, Where Are You Going? I'm Going to Lynn.
"Oh, where are you going?" "I'm going to Lynn."
Every globe goes merry in time.
"Give my love to the lady within
And tell her she's worth[1] a true lover of mine.
"Oh, tell her to buy her a yard of tow[2] cloth,"
Every globe goes merry in time,
"For to make me a fine shirt,
And she shall be a true lover of mine.
"Oh, tell her to stitch it without any needle,"
Every globe goes merry in time.
"Stitch it and sew it without any seam,
And she shall be a true lover of mine.
"Oh, tell her to wash it in yonder dry well,"
Every globe goes merry in time,
"Where water ne'er stood nor rain ne'er fell,
And she shall be a true lover of mine.
"Oh, tell her to hang it on yonder high thorn,"
Every globe goes merry in time,
"One that ne'er stood since Adam was born,
And she shall be a true lover of mine.
"Oh, tell her to iron it with a flat rock,"
Every globe goes merry in time,
"One that's ne'er cold and one that's ne'er hot,
And she shall be a true lover of mine.
"Oh, tell this young lady when she's finished her work,"
Every globe goes merry in time,
"Come to me and I'll give her a kiss,
And she shall be a true lover of mine."
(Answer)
"Oh, where are you going?" "I'm going to Cape Ann."
Every globe goes merry in time.
"Give my love to this same young man,
And tell him he's worthy this, true love of mine.
"Oh, tell him to buy him an acre of land,"
Every globe goes merry in time"
"'Twixt the sea shore and the sea sand,
And he shall be a true lover of mine.
"Oh, tell him to plow it with an old horse's horn,"
Every globe goes merry in time.
"Sow it all over with one peppercorn,
And he shall be a true lover of mine.
"Oh, tell him to reap it with a sickle of leather,"
Every globe goes merry in time.
"Bind it up with a peacock's feather,
And he shall be a true lover of mine.
"Oh, tell him to cart it on a cake of ice,"
Every globe goes merry in time.
"Cart it in with a yoke of mice,
And he shall be a true lover of mine.
"Oh, tell him to stack it in yonder high barn,"
Every globe goes merry in time,
"One that ne'er stood since Adam was born,
And he shall be a true lover of mine.
"Oh, tell him to thresh it with his wooden leg,"
Every globe goes merry in time.
"Fan it up in the skin of an egg,
And he shall be a true lover of mine.
"Oh, tell this young man when he's finished his work,"
Every globe goes merry in time,
"Come to me and I'll give him a kiss,
And he shall be a true lover of mine."
1. worth: to become. See also notes from New Green Mountain Songster- above.
2 tow: a fiber of flax, hemp, or jute- as in "tow rope."
--------------------
X:47
T:The Cambric Shirt
T:The Elfin Knight
B:Bronson
C:Trad
O:Flanders, and others, I939, pp. 8-IO. Sung by Amy Perkins;
O:learned from Emery R. Fisher, Rutland, Vt. Transcribed
O:by George Brown. From The New Green Mountain Songster,
O:edited by Helen Hartness Flanders, Elizabeth Flanders
O:Ballard, George Brown, and Phillips Barry; copyright I939
O:by Helen Hartness Flanders.
N:Child 2
M:6/8
L:1/8
N:There are variant versions on stanzas 2, 4, and 5, and
N:stanza 12 is entirely different.
P:ABC ADC ABC AEC AFC (ABC)6 G (ABC)3 % playing order
K:Gmix % Hexatonic ( -7) Ionian/Mixolydian
[P:A] Id | ddd ddd | eBB d3 |
w:Oh, where are you go-ing? I'm go-ing to Lynn.
c2 B A2 A | BBB [P:B]|| G3 | B2 G B2 A/A/ |
w:Eve-ry globe goes mer-ry in time, Give my love to the
GBd [P:C]|| d2 d | eeg BGB | AGA G3 |]
w:la-dy with-in And tell her she's worth a true lov-er of mine.
[P:D] B3 | BGA B3 | d2 d [P:E] || G2 G | BGG B2 A | G2 B ||
w:time For to make me a fine time where wat-er ne'r stood nor rain ne-
[P:F] G3 | BGA B2 B | ddd [P:G] || Id | ddd d/d/dd | e2 B g3 |
w:time, One that had stood since Ad-am was Oh tell him to cart it on a cake of ice
c2 B A2 A | BBB G3 | B2 A BAA | G2 B d2 d | e2 d ccB | AGA G3 |]
w:Eve-ry globe goes mer-ry in time, Cart it in with a yoke of mice, And he shall be a true lov-er of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, where are you going?" "I'm going to Lynn."
W:Every globe goes merry in time,
W:"Give my love to the lady within
W:And tell her she's worth a true lover of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell her to buy her a yard of tow cloth,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time,
W:"For to make me a fine shirt,
W:And she shall be a true lover of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell her to stitch it without any needle,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time.
W:"Stitch it and sew it without any seam,
W:And she shall be a true lover of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell her to wash it in yonder dry well,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time,
W:"Where water ne'er stood nor rain ne'er fell,
W:And she shall be a true lover of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell her to hang it on yonder high thorn,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time,
W:"One that had stood since Adam was born,
W:And she shall be a true lover of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell her to iron it with a flat rock,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time,
W:"One that's ne'er cold and one that's ne'er hot,
W:And she shall be a true lover of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell this young lady when she's finished her work,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time,
W:"Come to me and I'll give her a kiss,
W:And she shall be a true lover of mine."
W:
W:Answer
W:
W:"Oh, where are you going?" "I'm going to Cape Ann."
W:Every globe goes merry in time.
W:"Give my love to this same young man,
W:And tell him he's worthy this true love of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell him to buy him an acre of land,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time,
W:" 'Twixt the sea shore and the sea sand,
W:And he shall be a true lover of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell him to plow it with an old horse's horn,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time,
W:"Sow it all over with one peppercorn,
W:And he shall be a true lover of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell him to reap it with a sickle of leather,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time,
W:"Bind it up with a peacock's feather,
W:And he shall be a true lover of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell him to cart it on a cake of ice,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time.
W:"Cart it in with a yoke of mice,
W:And he shall be a true lover of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell him to stack it in yonder high barn,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time,
W:"One that ne'er stood since Adam was born,
W:And he shall be a true lover of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell him to thresh it with his wooden leg,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time.
W:"Fan it up in the skin of an egg,
W:And he shall be a true lover of mine.
W:
W:"Oh, tell this young man when he's finished his work,"
W:Every globe goes merry in time,
W:"Come to me and I'll give him a kiss,
W:And he shall be a true lover of mine."