Lord Lovinder- Henneman (NC) c.1900 Brown A;
[From Brown Collection of NC Folklore; Vol. 2; 1952. An editor's notes follow.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
Lord Lovel (Child 75)
Possibly it is the very simplicity of the sentiment that has made this ballad so persistently a favorite; certainly it has little else (unless, perhaps, the tune) to commend it. For its range since Child's time, both in the old country and in America, see BSM 52. To the texts there listed should be added Kentucky (BTFLS iii 92), Tennessee (SFLQ xi 124-5), North Carolina (FSRA 27-8), Florida (SFLQ viii 150-2), Missouri (OFS i 113-15). Ohio (BSO 39-45), Indiana (BSI 79-91), and Michigan (BSSM 27-8). The texts vary but little, going back, perhaps in all cases, to a London broadside of a hundred years ago, Child's H. To the variations in the name of the church whose bells announce the death of the lady, some of which are listed in BSM, North Carolina adds one more, "St. Banner's" (version B below). For the most part the church is not named in the North Carolina texts; Lord Lovel returns to "Cruel Clark's" (A), to "London Tower" (C), to "London town" (D F G) and hears the bells, but the church is not named. For an adaptation to the purposes of political satire during the Civil War, see volume 111, section ix.
The texts are so much alike that only a few are given in extenso.
A. "Lord Lovinder.' From the John Bell Henneman collection, made about the beginning of this century; where, does not appear, but somewhere in North Carolina.
1 Lord Lovinder at the stable door
Rubbing down his steed.
Up steps Lizzie le Dunciebell:
'Lord Lovinder, I wish you much speed.
2 'My father is an angry man,
He has made one solemn vow:
True lovers' own heart's blood to see,
. . . . . . .
3 'Well, I will go to Prince Harry's land
And there I will remain.
At the end of seven long years
I'll turn unto you again, my love.'
4 'Too long, too long, Lord Loving,' she said,
'Too long to dwell alone.
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
5 He hadn't been in Prince Henry's land
But space but half a year
Before strange dreams run into his mind;
He thought on's love [left] behind.
6 He called to his awaiting boy
To bring his milk-white steed.
Also unto his little foot-page
To bring him his bridle range.[1]
7 He rode, he rode till he came to Cruel Clarks, [2]
He asked how came strange bells to ring.
'They ring for Lizzie le Dunciebell,
An own true lover of thine.'
8 He put his foot in the last stirrup.
Looking on every side;
There he spied six lily-white maids
Burying his own true bride.
9 'Oh. take her up, you lily-white maids,
Oh. take her up,' says he.
'That I may make one solemn vow
Never to kiss none but she.'
10. First he kissed her red rosy lips
At last he kissed her chin
. . . . .
Where all his delight lay in.
11 'O mother, dear mother, make my bed of sorrow,
. . . . .
For I shall die tomorrow.'
12 They buried 'em both in the new church yard
. . . . .
Out of her breast there sprung a red rose,
Out of his a brier.
13 They grew, they grew till they got to the top of the palings,
They grew, they grew till they got together
And there they remained for ever.
----------------------
1. Probably for "reins."
2. This may be a corruption of some name of a church, but what name the editor is unable to guess.