Lord Lovel- Davidson (MO) c.1827 Randolph A
[From Vance Randolph; Ozark Folksongs Vol. 1; 1946. His notes follow. The date seems to be a guess but I'll leave it.
R. Matteson 2015]
See also Scarborough (On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, 1925, p. 55), Sandburg (American Songbag, 1927, p. 70), Reed Smith (South Carolina Ballad. 1928, p. 121), Shay (Drawn from the Wood, 1929, p. 134), Davis (Traditional Ballads of Virginia, 1929, p. 240), Tarkana (Southern Folklore Quarterly 2, 1938, p. 69), Chappell (Folk-Songs of Roanoke and the Albemarle, 1939,pp.
27-28), Eddy (Ballads and Songs from Ohio, 1939, pp.39-as), Gardner (Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan, 1939, pp.43-45), Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England, 1939, p. 233), Belden (Ballad's and Songs, 1940, pp. 52-54), Brewster (Ballads and Songs of Indiana, 1940, pp. 79-91), Morris (Southern Folklore Quarterly 8, 1944, p. 150), the Brown North Carolina Folk-lore Society) collection, where it appears as "Lady Nancibel," etc., and also the references in JAFL (29, 1916, p. 160, n. 1).
The popularity of this piece made it a great favorite with the parodists; see Tony Pastor's New Union Song Book (New York, 1862, p. 66) and Frank Moore's Songs of the Soldiers (New York, 1864, p- 17$. R. G. White's Poetry of the Civil War (New York, 1866, p. 115) contains a satirical song beginning "Lord Lovell he sat in the St. Charles hotel"- a reference to General Mansfield Lovell, who commanded the Confederate troops in New Orleans. A parody in which Abraham Lincoln figured was once very popular in the South (Allan's Lone Star Ballads, Galveston, Texas, 1874, p. 31), and there is a good modern take-off in Carolyn Wells' parody Anthology (New York, 1904, p. 326).
A. Lord Lovel. Sung by Miss Esther Davidson, Rocky Comfort, Mo., Feb. 3, 1927. Mrs. E. McAllister, Springfield, Mo., has an almost identical text which was brought from Scotland by her great-grandparents, and has been in her family for more than two hundred years.
Lord Lovel he stood at his castle gate,
A-comb-in' his milk-white steed,
When a-long come Lady Nancy Bell,
A-wishin' her lover speed, speed, speed;
A-wish-in' her lover good speed.
Oh where are you goin', Lord Lovel, she says,
Oh where are you goin', says she,
I'm goin', my dear Lady Nancy Bell,
Strange countries for to see, see, see,
Strange countries for to see.
When will you be back, Lord Lovel, she says,
When will you be back, says she,
In a year or two or three at the most,
I'll return to my Lady Nancy, -cy, -cy,
I'll return to my Lady Nancy.
He had not been gone but a year an' a day,
Strange countries for to see,
When languishin' thoughts come into his head,
Lady Nancy Bell he would see, see, see,
Lady Nancy Bell he would see.
He rode an' he rode on his milk-white steed,
Till he come to London town,
An' there he heard Saint Varney's bell,
An' the people all a-mournin' round, round, round,
An' the people all a-mournin' round.
Is anybody dead? Lord Lovel he said,
Is anybody dead? says he.
A lady is dead, the people all said,
They called her the Lady Nancy, -cy, -cy,
They called her the Lady Nancy.
He ordered the grave to be opened forthwith,
The shroud was folded down,
An' there he kissed her clay cold lips
Till the tears come a-tricklin' doln, down, down,
Till the tears come a-tricklin' down.
Lady Nancy she died as it might be today,
Lord Lovel he died tomorrow,
Lady Nancy she died of pure, pure grief,
Lord Lovel he died of sorrow, -row, -row,
Lord Lovel he died of sorrow.
Lady Nancy she was laid in Saint Clemens' church yard,
Lord Lovel he was buried close by her,
An' out of her bosom there grew a red rose
An' out of his backbone a briar, briar, briar,
An' out of his backbone a briar.
They grew an' they grew till they reached the church top,
They could not grow no higher,
An' there they twined in a true lovers' knot,
Which true lovers ever admire, -mire, -mire,
Which true lovers ever admire.