Lord Lovell- I. L. M. (NJ-MA) pre1905 Barry A JOAFL
[From: Traditional Ballads in New England III by Phillips Barry; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 18, No. 71 (Oct. - Dec., 1905), pp. 291-304.
This is from the third and last part of Barry's Traditional Ballads in New England. All three parts were published in 1905 in three consecutive editions of the JOAFL. This part has some additional variants of ballads in the first two parts in the Addenda. These early ballads are fully preserved because Barry recognized that including the tune whenever possible was as important as including lyrics.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
XIV. LORD LOVELL
A. Probably derived from an early broadside, now lost, from which the ballad has been transmitted in a large number of versions, differing from each other but slightly. Communicated to me by I. L. M., Vineland, N. J., as derived from a resident of Nantucket, Mass.
1. Lord Lovell he stood at his castle gate,
A-combing his milk-white steed,
When along came Lady Nancy Bell,
A-wishing her lover good speed, speed, speed,
A-wishing her lover good speed.
2. "Oh, where are you going, Lord Lovell?" she said,
"Oh, where are you going?" said she,
"I'm going, my dear Lady Nancy Bell,
Foreign countries for to see."
3. "When will you be back, Lord Lovell?" she said,
"When will you be back?" said she,
"In a year or two, or three at most,
I'll be back to my Lady Nancy."
4. He had been gone a year and a day,
Foreign countries for to see,
When languishing thoughts came into his head,
Lady Nancy he 'd go to see.
5. So he rode and he rode on his milk-white steed,
Till he came to London town,
And there he heard St. Patrick's bells,
And the people a-moaning around.
6. "Oh, what is the matter?" Lord Lovell he said,
"Oh, what is the matter?" said he,
"There's a lady dead," a woman said,
"And they call her the Lady Nancy."
7. He ordered the grave to be opened wide,
The shroud to be turned down low,
And as he kissed her clay-cold lips,
The tears began to flow.
8. Lady Nancy, she died the same as to-day,
Lord Lovell the same as to-morrow,
Lady Nancy she died of pure grief,
Lord Lovell he died of sorrow.
9. They buried them both in St. Patrick's churchyard,
In a grave that was close by the spire,
And out of her breast there grew a red rose,
And out of Lord Lovell's a brier.
10. They grew and they grew to the church steeple top,
And then they could grow no higher,
They twined themselves in a true lover's knot,
For all true lovers to admire