Lord Randal- old lady (North Carolina) 1955 Moser
[Folkways Recording 02112, by Artus Moser, 1955. The following information is from Folkways 02112: North Carolina Ballads; 1955
R. Matteson 2014]
Artus Moser (Singer) and college professor Artus Moser's interest in song collecting began when his students in Tennessee insisted they knew better versions of ballads than those presented in their textbooks. This collection of North Carolina songs comes from his renowned collection of traditional music, and includes informative liner notes by folklorist Kenny Goldstein.
SIDE 2, Band 4 LORD RANDAL (Child #12)
This is one of the most widely diffused of the traditional British ballads in America. Unlike Barbara Allen (Child #84), and Lord Thomas and Fair Annet (Child #73), both of whose distribution was greatly aided by frequent printings in pocket songsters, Lord Randal owes its unusually widespread circulation to purely oral tradition.
Most American variants of this internationally widespread ballad (variant ballads have been collected from all parts of Europe) tell the same story. By means of a dialogue, a man tells his mother he has been with his sweetheart, has eaten what was apparently a poisoned supper, and is now quite sick. In some versions (as in this case) his dogs are revealed to have died from their part of the meal. The hero then goes on to will his possessions to various kin, finally bequesting some horrible death to his sweetheart whom he names as his poisoner.
The particular version sung here by Professor Moser is fragmentary, the "bequest" stanzas and the climactic end having been dropped. In this sense, it very closely follows the version printed by Scott in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. Scott suggests the ballad may Eave originally referred to the death of Thomas Randolph, a Scots noble and warrior who died in 1332. He writes: "Our historians obstinately impute his death to poison." In the same work he indicated the similarity of the ballad story to that of King John's death. The ballad has been subjected to a great amount of research, much of it concerning the names given to the hero. Names other than Randal which appear in North Carolina variants include Randolph, Tiranti, Ransome, and Lorendo. Numerous other names appear in variants collected in other states, many of them, however, similar in sound to, or corruptions of, Randal. Professor Moser learned similar texts from several people in his community. The particular tune sung here is from a recording he made of an old lady near Woodfin, N.C., about four miles north of Asheville on the French Broad River.
[Listen: Moser 1955]
"Oh, where have you been rambling, Lord Randal, my son?
Where have you been rambling, my handsome young man?"
"I've been to the wildwood, mother, make my bed soon
For I'm wearied with hunting and I want to lie down."
"Oh, who met you there, Lord Randal, my son?
Oh, whom did you meet there, my handsome young man?"
"Oh, I met with my true love, mother, make my bed soon
For I'm wearied with hunting and I want to lie down."
"Oh, what did you have for your supper, Lord Randal, my son?
What did you have for your supper, my handsome young man?"
"I had eels boiled in brew, mother, make my bed soon
For I'm wearied with hunting and I want to lie down."
"And what became of your bloodhounds, Lord Randal, my son?
What became of your bloodhounds, my handsome young man?"
"Oh, they swelled and they died, mother, make my bed soon
For I'm wearied with hunting and I want to lie down."
"Oh, I fear you are poisoned, Lord Randal, my son?
Oh, I fear you are poisoned, my handsome young man."
"Oh, yes I am poisoned, mother, make my bed soon
For I'm wearied with hunting and I want to lie down."