Lord Lovel- a lady (MA) 1896 Child Hc
[From English and Scottish Popular Ballads; Vol. 10 Additions and Corrections. Dated pre1896 since Child died on Sept. 11, 1896 having completed most of Vol. 10, published in 1898 by Kittredge. Child's notes follow.
R. Matteson 2015]
211, H. I have received a copy recited by a lady in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was evidently derived from print, and differs but slightly from a, omitting 83,4, 91,2.
Lord Lovel
1 Lord Lovel he stood at his castle-gate,
Combing his milk-white steed,
When up came Lady Nancy Belle,
To wish her lover good speed, speed,
To wish her lover good speed.
2 'Where are you going, Lord Lovel?' she said,
'Oh where are you going?' said she;
'I'm going, my Lady Nancy Belle,
Strange countries for to see.'
3 'When will you be back, Lord Lovel?' she said,
'Oh when will you come back?' said she;
'In a year or two, or three, at the most,
I'll return to my fair Nancy.'
4 But he had not been gone a year and a day,
Strange countries for to see,
When languishing thoughts came into his head,
Lady Nancy Belle he would go see.
5 So he rode, and he rode, on his milk-white steed,
Till he came to London town,
And there he heard St Pancras bells,
And the people all mourning round.
6 'Oh what is the matter?' Lord Lovel he said,
'Oh what is the matter?' said he;
'A lord's lady is dead,' a woman replied,
'And some call her Lady Nancy.'
7 So he ordered the grave to be opened wide,
And the shroud he turned down,
And there he kissed her clay-cold lips,
Till the tears came trickling down.
8 Lady Nancy she died, as it might be, today,
Lord Lovel he died as tomorrow;
And out of her bosom there grew a red rose,
And out of her lover's a briar.
9 They grew, and they grew, to the church-steeple top,
And then they could grow no higher;
So there they entwined in a true-lover's knot,
For all lovers true to admire.