Lord Lovel- Lowrimore (CA) 1945
[From Some English and Scottish Ballads from California by Burton S. Lowrimore; California Folklore Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Apr., 1946), pp. 210-213. His notes follow. Version B is Child 73.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
Some English and Scottish Ballads from California.-I collected the following ballads from my mother during Christmas vacation, 1945- She had learned them as a child and has never seen any of them in print nor heard them on a radio or phonograph.
A. LORD LOVEL
[This version differs but slightly from Child, 75H. The name of the church has changed from St. Pancras to St. Vernons.]
I. Lord Lovel stood at his castle gate,
Combing his milk white steed;
When along came Lady Nancy Belle,
Wishing her lover good speed, speed, speed;
Wishing her lover good speed.
II. Where are you going, Lord Lovel? she said.
Where are you going? said she.
I am going, my fair Nancy Belle, said he.
Strange countries for to see, see, see.
Strange countries for to see.
III. When will you be back Lord Lovel? she said,
When will you be back? said she.
In a year or two or three at the most,
I'll return to your fair body, dee, dee.
I'll return to your fair body.
IV. He had not been gone but a year and a day,
Strange countries for to see;
Till at last strange thoughts came into his head,
Lady Nancy Belle he would see, see, see.
Lady Nancy Belle he would see.
V. He rode and he rode on his milk white steed,
Till he came to London town,
And there he heard St. Vernon's bell,
And the people all mourning around, round, round,
And the people all mourning around.
VI. Is there any one dead? Lord Lovel he said,
Is there any one dead? said he,
The lord's daughter's dead, a lady replied,
And they called her Lady Nancy, cee, cee,
And they called her Lady Nancy.
VII. He ordered the grave to be opened forth,
And the shroud to be folded down,
And there he kissed her clay cold lips
Till the tears came trinkling down, down, down,
Till the tears came trinkling down.
VIII.
Go dig me a grave Lord Lovel said,
Go dig me a grave, said he.
[Three lines in this stanza and two in the next are missing.]
IX. . . .
. . . .
And out of her bosom grew a red, red rose,
And out of Lord Lovel's a briar, briar, briar,
And out of Lord Lovel's a briar.
X. They grew and they grew till they reached the church top,
And they could not grow any higher,
And there they entwined in a true lovers knot,
Which true lovers always admire, mire, mire,
Which true lovers always admire.
B. [The following fragment is sung to the same tune as "Lord Lovel." It resembles "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor," Child, 73D.]
Go dig me a grave both wide and deep,
And lay me down to sleep,
And put fair Alander in my arms,
And the brown girl at my feet, feet, feet,
And the brown girl at my feet.