It Rained a Mist- Heitt (WV) 1917 Cox A
[From: Folk-Songs of the South by John Harrington Cox- 1925; his notes follow. The date is at least 40 years older.
R. Matteson 2013, 2015]
19. SIR HUGH, OR, THE JEW'S DAUGHTER (Child, No. 155)
Fourteen variants have been found in West Virginia, under various titles (cf. Cox, xlv, 160). They all tell the same brief story and differ in trifling details only. The version agrees closely with Child G and H. Child K of the English versions is very similar. Stanza A 6 and the corresponding stanzas in other variants are most like Child F 4 and N 6.
For American texts see Child, 111, 248, 249 (Philadelphia and Baltimore); Newell, Games and Songs of American Children, p. 75 (New York; reprinted by Child, in, 251); Krehbiel, New York Tribune, August 17, 1902 (see Journal, xv, 195); Belden, Journal, xrx, 293 (Missouri; Kentucky); Tolman, Journal, xxrx, 164 (Indiana; reprinted by Pound, No. 5 A); Kittredge, Journal, xxix, 166 (probably from Connecticut); Tolman and Eddy, Journal, xxxv, 344 (Ohio); Focus, in, 396, 399 (Virginia); Steger and Morrow, The University of Virginia Magazine, December, 191 2, p. 115 (Alabama; the same in Smith, p. 16, and Pound, No. 5B); Campbell and Sharp, No. 26 (North Carolina). For further references see Journal, xxix, 164; xxx, 322; xxxv, 344. Add Bulletin, No. 7, p. 6; No. 9, p. 7; No. 11, p. 5.
A. "It Rained a Mist." Communicated by Miss Violet Hiett, Great Cacapon, Morgan County, February, 1917; obtained from her father, who learned it when a child from his mother.
1 It rained a mist, it rained a mist,
All o'er, all o'er the land;
And all the boys of our town,
Went out to toss their ball, ball, ball,
Went out to toss their ball.
2 At first they tossed their ball too high,
And then again too low;
And over into the Jew's garden it went,
Where no one dared to go.
3 One little boy said, "I'll not go in,
Unless my playmates do;
For I have heard whoever goes in,
Shall never come out again."
4 Out came the Jew's daughter, all dressed, all dressed,
All dressed in red so grand:
"Come in, little lad," said she,
"You shall have your ball again."
5 At first she showed him a big red apple,
And then a gay gold ring,
And then a cherry as red as blood,
To entice this little boy in.
6 She took hold of his little white hand,
And through the castle they went,
She penned him in the cellar below,
Where no one could hear him lament.
7 She pinned him in a napkin,
And pinned him very tight;
And called for a vessel of brightest gold,
To catch his heart blood in.
8 "Please lay my Bible at my head,
My prayer-book at my feet;
And if my playmates ask for me,
Tell them that I'm asleep.
9 "O lay my prayer-book at my feet,
My Bible at my head;
And if my playmates ask for me,
Tell them that I am dead."