Little Matha Grove- J. Langille (NS) 1910 Mackenzie D
[From Ballads and Sea Songs from Nova Scotia; Mackenzie 1928. His notes follow.
R. Matteson 2015]
LITTLE MUSGRAVE AND LADY BARNARD
(Child, No. 81)
Two versions in oral circulation in Nova Scotia correspond, on the whole, to Child A. They exhibit, however, the inevitable list of omissions and changes: Little Musgrave has become Little Matha Grove, and Lord Barnard is Lord Arnold (A) or Lord Daniel (B and C); after the duel between the husband and the lover the tale comes more swiftly to its conclusion; A has a final stanza
which is an importation from "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (as in Child D, last stanza); in B, Little Matha Grove recognizes Lord Daniel's wife by the ring on her hand, a detail which is not in Child A, but which appears in Child: E. F, H, J, K, and L.
A composite text, made up from the following versions, was published by me in Journal, XXIII, 371-374 (additional stanzas in Journal, XXV, 182-183), and in Quest, pp. 14-18. For references to versions found in the United States Kittredge, Journal, xxx, 309; Cox, p. 94.
D. "Little Matha Grove." Fragment contributed by John Langille, River John, Pictou County.
Lord Daniel's away to the New Castle
King Henry for to see,
And this very night Little Matha Grove
Shall lie with his wedded lady.
"Cursed be my wife," said he,
"And cursed be my hands,
For I have slain the best-looking man
That ever trod England's lands."