Lord Lovel- Britton (VT) 1945 Flanders J
[From Flanders; Ancient Ballads; 1966, version J.
R. Matteson 2014]
Lord Lovel
(Child 75)
Phillips Barry in British Ballads from Maine, 145-47, gives a good history of this song, telling of its popularity among the nineteenth-century printers and the many uses it served for political parody and music hall gaiety. The American versions which are known wherever ballads are sung almost all stem from the same tradition as Child H, an 1846 London broadside. American printers reproduced texts from this tradition throughout the period between the Mexican and Civil Wars. The Flanders versions are in no way exceptional and are much what one would expect to find. As with texts from other areas, the original name of the church, St. Pancras (see E), has undergone radical modification, but all in all proximity to print has held variation to a minimum. The tune to "Lord Lovel" is also consistent. In South Carolina Ballads (Cambridge, Mass., 1928), 121, Reed Smith comments that "the difference between reading [Lord Lovel] as a poem and singing it is the difference between tragedy and comedy." The use of a tune that is too light for the story no doubt accounts for the tact that parodies have turned up in Maine, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Missouri, among other places, in this country (see Coffin, 79, for a bibliography) and in Scotland (see Greig and Keith, 57) abroad. Bibliographical references can be had in Coffin, 78-79 (American); Dean-Smith, 85 (English); and Greig and Keith, 57-58 (Scottish).
The five tunes given here are related, four of them very closely. Only the Fish tune diverges. In order to save repetition of references, the related tunes for the group consisting of the Grindell, Moore, Britton, and Pierce. Tunes are given here: SAA,20; SSC, 122; Sharp , 149 (C), 149 (D and E), 116 (distant), and 147 (distant); AA, 124; DV,524, No. 20 (E, L, and O); EO, 39, 40; BES, 139 (not too close); BI, 92. obviously this tune group is very widespread and its correlation with the Child 75 text is great.
J. Lord Lovel. Sung by Mrs. Laura Britton of Putnel, Vermont, as learned from her mother, who was Martha Sleeper, born in Chelsea, Vermont. M. Olney, Collector; January 8, 1945; Structure: A B C Dl D2 (2,2,2,2,2); Rhythm A; Contour: arc; Scale: major.
Lord Lovel he stood at his castle gate
A-combing his milk-white steed,
When along came Lady Nancybelle,
A-wishing her lover good speed, speed, speed,
A-wishing her lover good speed.
"Oh, where are you going, Lord Lovel?" she said;
"Oh, where are you going?" said she.
"I'm going, I'm going I know not where,
Strange countries for to see, see, see,
Strange countries for to see."
He hadn't been gone but a little over a year
Strange countries for to see,
Before a strange thought entered into his head,
Lady Nancy for to see, see, see,
Lady Nancy for to see.
So he rode, he rode on his milk-white steed
'Til he came to London town,
And there he heard the church bells ring
And the people go moaning around, 'round, 'round,
The people go moaning around.
"Who's dead, who's dead?" Lord Lovel, he said;
"Who's dead, who's dead?" said he.
"The princess is dead," the lady replied;
"Some call her Lady Nancee, cee, cee,
Some call her Lady Nancee."
He ordered the grave to be opened forthwith
And the shroud to be folded down,
And there he kissed her clay-cold cheek
While the tears came trickerling down, down, down,
While the tears came tricklin' down.
Lady Nancy she died the same as today;
Lord Lovel he died tomorrow,
And from her heart there grew a white rose,
And from Lord Lovel's a briar, briar, briar,
And from Lord Lovel's a briar.
They grew, they grew till they reached the church top
Where they could grow no higher,
And there they tied a true lover's knot
That true lovers always admire, mire, mire,
That true lovers always admire.