Lord Randal- Thompson (VA) 1941 WPA Hylton
[From the WPA Collection by James M. Hylton. Wise, Virginia. (Folk Songs & Ballads). This is not a traditional version. Hylton's notes follow and are at the end. This is not a traditional version, but rather a rewrite of Child A by the former, Lucille Thompson, which was given to her mother on a piece of paper and was not sung.
I'm including this because it's easy to see how copies of published versions have become accepted in some situations as "traditional." Apparently Hylton didn't know Child A and couldn't make that assessment.
What gives this away definitively is the change of the last line in stanza 6, just as the change in Child A.
R. Matteson 2014]
Told to me by Mrs. J.W. Thompson, Big Stone Gap, Virginia, on October 21, 1941, after an all night visit at their home in that place. She gives me herewith a version which she had written down on paper belonging to her oldest daughter, Lucille, who is now married and living in Bristol, Va-Tenn., and who was educated at Big Stone Gap High School, Virginia Intermont College and Johnson City Business College. Like the members of her family before her she was interested in Folk Tales and Lore and in her spare time stowed away some old prints, clippings, original manuscripts etc. She wrote this version for a friend and after her Mother heard it read several times she also had a copy stowed away for her own benefit. However it may be necessary to note that in this version of this Song the Randal is spelled with only one "L".
"Lord Randal"
I. Oh where have you been Lord Randal, my son?
And where have you been my handsome young man?
I have been at the greenwood; mother, make my bed soon,
For I am sick with huntin' and fain would lie down.
II. And what met you there Lord Randal, my son?"
And what met you there, my handsome young man?
Oh I met with my true-love; mother, make my bed soon,
For I am sick with huntin' and fain would lie down.
III. And what did she give you, Lord Randal, my son?
And what did she give you, my handsome young man?
Eels fried in a pan; mother, make my bed soon,
For I am sick with huntin' and fain would lie down.
IV. And what got your leavins, Lord Randal, my son?
And what got your leavins, my handsome young man.
My hawks and my hounds; mother, make my bed soon,
For I am sick with huntin' and fain would lie down.
V. And what became of them, Lord Randal, my son?
And what became of them, my handsome young man?
They stretched their legs out and died; mother, make my bed soon,
For I am sick with huntin' and fain would lie down.
VI. 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 am sick at the heart and fain would lie down.
VII. What do you leave to your mother, Lord Randal, my son,
What do you leave to your mother, my handsome young man?
Four and twenty milk cows; mother, make my bed soon,
For I am sick at the heart, and fain would lie down.
VIII. What did you leave to your sister, Lord Randal, my son?
What did you leave to your sister, my handsome young man?
My gold and my silver; mother, make my bed soon,
For I am sick with at the heart and fain would lie down.
IX. What did you leave to your brother, Lord Randal, my son?
What did you leave to your brother, my handsome young man.
My house and my land; mother, make my bed soon,
For I am sick with at the heart and fain would lie down.
X. What did you leave to your true-love, Lord Randal, my son?
What did you leave to your true-love, my handsome young man?
I leave her hell and fire; mother, make my bed soon,
For I am sick with at the heart and fain would lie down.
Note: Mrs. Thompson tells me that her daughter was taught in School that the boy Lord Randal was poisoned by his sweetheart, that fain meant gladly and that leavins were lover-over scraps from a meal. JMH.