Lord Arnold's Wife- Quimby (ME) 1928 Barry E
[From Barry Eckstorm, Smythe; British Ballads from Maine, 1929. Extensive notes which I assume are mainly from Barry may be found US and Canada versions page. This version probably dates back to the early 1880s.
R. Matteson 2015]
LITTLE MUSGRAVE AND LADY BARNARD
(Child 81)
E. "Lord Arnold's Wife." Received, January, 1928, from Mrs. Della A. Quimby of Bucksport, by the kindness of Mrs. Susie C. Young. These fragments are what Mrs. Quimby recalls of the song as sung by her father, John H. Starr, who learned it of his mother Hannah (Soper) Starr. Melody recorded by Miss Ella Poole, Canton, Mass.
[music]
'Twas a holy day, a high holiday,
The best day of the year,
Little Matthew Grove he went to church
The Holy Word to hear.
The first came down was in scarlet gay,
The next came down was in pearl,[1]
The next that came was Lord Arnold's wife,
She's the handsomest of them all.
3. . . .
. . . .
"Lay up, lay up, my Little Matthew Grove
And keep me from the cold."
4. "Get up, get up, you Little Matthew Grove
And put some clothing on;
It never shall be said, when you are dead,
That I killed a naked man."
5. Sweetly sings the nightingale
And sweetly plays the band,
Lord Arnold has killed the handsomest man
That ever trod England's land;
6. Sweetly sings the nightingale
And sweetly sings the sparrow;
Lord Arnold has killed his fair lady
And he will be hung tomorrow.
1. probably for "pall"