Lord Bakeman- Harrison (NS) 1928 Mackenzie A
[No date given, learned before 1928. From: Ballads and Folk Songs from Nova Scotia, Mackenzie 1928. Similar to Mackenzie B and C from the Rogers family, of Pictou County, NS.
This is based on the print versions of the ballad as found in The Forget Me-Not Songster of c.1844 and other print versions in the New England area which are identified by the opening line:
In India lived a noble lord,
Mackenzie apparently prompted his informant with the broadside text (for example see: Quest of the Ballad, 1919), so that it was recreated missing only one verse. Although sung, it's hard to say how much of the text the informant knew. See Mackenzie's notes below. Cf. Creighton F, which is copied from print as well as sung.
R .Matteson 2014]
(Child, No. 53)
The three variants of this ballad that were sung for me in Nova Scotia agree substantially in phraseology. They all specify India (instead of London, Northumberland, or England) as the home of the noble lord, and in no case do they mention the boring of his shoulder while he is in captivity (as in Child A, B, D, E, H, I, N, and in a version orally circulated in the United States) or the tree to which he was chained in his prison (as in Child L and in the version in oral circulation in England). The status of the Nova Scotia version may therefore be readily determined by reference to Kittredge's notes on the ballad (Journal, XXX, 292-296): it corresponds to the "Lord Bakeman" of early American broadsides, which was printed also in The Forget Me Not Songster
(New York, Nafis and Cornish, about 1840), pp..I71-I74, and it The Old Forget-Me-Not Songster (Boston, Locke and Dubier), pp. 171-174.
For references to British and American texts and a discussion of their variations and peculiarities , see notes by Kittredge referred to above; also, Cox, p. 36.
A. "Lord Bakeman." From the singing and recitation of Alexander Harrison, Maccan, Cumberland County.
1. In India there lived a noble lord,
His riches was beyond compare,
He was the darling of his parents,
And of their estate an only heir.
2. He had gold and he had silver,
And he had houses of high degree,
But still he never could be contented
Until a voyage he had been to sea.
3. He sailed east and he sail6d west
Until he came to the Turkish shore,
Where he was taken and put in prison,
Where he could neither see nor hear.
4 For seven long months he lay lamenting,
He lay lamenting in iron bands,
There happening to see a brisk young lady,
Who set him free from his iron chains.
5. The gaoler had one only daughter,
A brisk young lady gay was she;
As she was walking across the floor,
She chanced Lord Bakeman for to see.
6. She stole the keys of her father's prison,
And said Lord Bakeman she would set free.
She went unto the prison door
And opened it without delay.
7. "Have you got gold, or have you got silver?
Have you got houses of high degree?
What will you give the fair lady,
If she from bondage will set you free?"
8. "Yes, I've got gold and I've got silver,
And I've got houses of high degree.
I'll give them all to the fair lady,
If she from bondage set me free."
9. "It's not your silver nor your gold,
Nor yet your houses of high degree;
All that I want to make me happy
And all that I crave is your fair body.
10. "Let us make a bargain and make it strong,
For seven long years it shall stand:
You shall not wed no other woman,
hlor I'll not wed no other man!"
11. When seven long years were gone and past,
When seven long years were at an end,
She packed up all her richest clothing,
Saying, "Now I'll go and seek my friend."
12 She sailed east, she sailed west,
Until she came to the Indian shore,
And there she never could be contented
Till for her true love she did inquire.
13 She did inquire for Lord Bakeman's palace
At every corner of the street.
She inquired after Lord Bakeman's palace
Of every person she chanced to meet.
14. And when she came to Lord Bakeman's palace
She knocked so loud upon the ring,
There's none so ready as the brisk young porter
To rise and let this fair lady in.
15. She asked if this was Lord Bakeman's palace,
"Or is the lord himself within? "
"Yes, yes," replied the brisk young porter,
"He and his bride have just entered in."
16. "Ask him to send me one ounce of bread,
And a bottle of his wine so strong,
And ask him if he's forgot the lady
That set him free from his iron chains."
17. The porter went unto his master
And bowed low upon his knees.
"Arise, arise, my brisk Young Porter,
And tell me what the matter is."
18. "There is a lady stands at your gate,
And she doth weep most bitterly.
I think she is as fine a creature
As ever I wish my eyes to see.
19. "She's got more rings on her four fingers,
And round her waist has diamond strings.
She's got more gold about her clothing
Than your new bride and all her kin.
20. "She wants you to send one ounce of bread,
And a bottle of your wine so strong,
And asks if you have forgot the lady
That set you free from yow prison chains."
21. He stamped his feet upon the floor,
He broke the table in Pieces three.
"Here's adieu to you, my wedded bride,
For this fair lady I will go and see!"
22. Then up spoke his new bride's mother,
And she was a lady of high degree:
"'Tis you have married my only daughter."
"Well, she's none the worse for me!"
23. But since my fair one has arrived,
A second wedding there shall be.
Your daughter came on a horse and saddle,
She may return in a coach and three."
24. He took this fair lady by the hand,
And led her over the marble stones.
He changed her name from Susannah fair,
And now she is the wife of Lord Bakeman.
25 He took her by the lily-white hand,
And led her through from room to room.
He changed her name from Susannah fair,
And she is called the wife of Lord Bakeman.