Lord Bateman- Henderson (WV) 1953 Musick B
[From: Ballads and Folksongs from West Virginia by Ruth Ann Musick; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 70, No. 277 (Jul. - Sep., 1957), pp. 247-261. Her notes follow.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
Musick's Notes: Among other songs which Mrs. Henderson sang (first at the West Virginia Folklore Society meeting in the summer of 1953 and later for my tape recordings), "The Murder of McKinley" is particularly interesting because the refrain, though evidently intended as a kind of prayer, is sung to the tune of "How Dry I Am." Some of her variations in text are both interesting and puzzling, e.g., in "Six Kings' Daughters" she uses the phrase, "She gathered him up in her white metal arms"; in "The Two Sisters," the refrain "Most gentily" seems somewhat misleading when combined with the last stanza; and in her "Lord Thomas" there occurs the line "She rode till she came to his stock market," which at first I misunderstood to be "salt market," though the former was subsequently established as correct so far as she is concerned. Mrs. Henderson has very few fragments. She has an excellent memory, and most of her songs tell the complete story.
5.2. Contributed by Mrs. T. B. Henderson of Flemington (see Ex. 8) [7]
(1) Lord Bateman was a noble lord;
He was a lord of high degree;
And therefore he would not be contented
Until he'd taken a voyage to sea.
(2) He sailed east, he sailed west,
He sailed unto a Turkish shore,
Where he was caught and bound in prison,
Never to see daylight no more.
(3) The king, he had an only daughter,
And a pretty young girl was she;
She stole the keys to her father's prison,
She swore Lord Bateman she would see.
(4) "Have you got houses, have you got land,
And are you lord in your country?
And what would you give to a Turkish lady,
Who'd set you at your liberty?"
(5) "Yes, I have houses and I have land,
And I am lord in my country,
And I'd give it all to anybody
Who'd set me at my liberty."
(6) She gave him a slice of her best bread,
A bottle of their Turkish wine,
And every toast she drank unto him,
"I wish Lord Bateman was my own."
(7) She took him down to the sea harbor,
She bargained with a ship of fame,
Saying, "Fare you well, my young Lord Bateman,
I never shall see you again."
(8) Lord Bateman made a solemn vow,
And that for seven long years to stand,
Saying, "I will marry no other woman,
If you will marry no other man."
(9) "For seven long years I'll wait for thee,
Full seven long years and one year more,
And if I don't hear nothing from you,
Then I will leave the briny shore."
(10) Full seven long years was done and over,
Full seven long years had come and passed,
She gathered up her gay good clothing
And vowed the ocean she would cross.
(11) She went up to Lord Bateman's castle,
She knocked most loudly at the ring.
"Who's there, who's there?" cried the brave young porter,
"Who would knock so loud would fain come in."
(12) "Say, is this here Lord Bateman's castle?
And is his Lordship now within?"
"Oh, yes, oh, yes," cried the young proud porter,
He, this morning, brought his young wife in."
(13) She wrang her hands, she tore her hair,
She cried aloud, "I am undone!
I wish, I wish, but all in vain,
I wish I was back in Turkey again."
(14) "I want a slice of his best bread,
A bottle of his Spanish wine,
I want to know if he yet remembers
Who freed him from his iron band."
(15) He went into Lord Bateman's castle,
And fell upon his bended knee.
"Arise, arise," said young Lord Bateman,
"Arise, arise, and tell to me."
(16) "There is a lady in your castle,
And she does weep most bitterly;
For seven long years I've been in this country,
As fair a lady never to see."
(17) "And she has rings on every finger,
And on her middle finger three;
She has enough of gold about her
To buy your bride and her company."
(18) "She wants a slice of your best bread,
A bottle of your Spanish wine,
She wants to know if you yet remember
Who freed you from your iron band."
(19) Lord Bateman rose up from the table,
He made the golden dishes fly,
Saying, "Take my gold, and take my silver,
That is my handsome Susan Coy."
(20) Up speaks, up speaks the young bride's mother,
In a voice most loud and high,
Saying, "Will you forsake my youngest daughter,
And marry now that Susan Coy?"
(21) "It's true I married your youngest daughter,
But she's not none the worse of me,
For she came here on a horse and saddle,
And can go home in coaches three."
(22) He took her by the lily-white hand,
He led her o'er the marble stone,
He changed her name from Susan Coy
To the bride of Lord Bateman.