Lord Randall- (NC) c.1921 Sutton; Brown B
[No informant, place, or date supplied. Brown Collection of NC Folklore, 1952, Vol 2 and Vol. 4. Brown editor's notes follow. Sutton began collecting for Brown c.1920 and stopped by the end of the 1920s. I'm giving a standard date as c.1921. Music is at the bottom of page from Vol. 4.
R. Matteson 2014]
6. Lord Randal (Child 12)
Though not old, at least in English, Lord Randal is very widely known and sung; see BSM 24-5, and add to the references there given Cumberland (ETSC 96-9), Massachusetts (FSONE 191-3), North Carolina (FSRA 14), Tennessee (SFLQ XI 120-1), Florida (FSF 247-8), Arkansas (OFS I 64), Missouri (OFS I 64-7), Indiana (BSI 51-2), and Michigan (BSSM 35-6). There are four texts in the present collection.
B. 'Lord Randall.' Reported by Mrs. Sutton, but without notation of time or place or singer. The stanza structure is as in A; it is given here only for the first stanza, but the repeats are the same throughout.
1 'Oh, where have you been, Lord Randall, my son?
Oh, where have you been, my handsome young man?'
*I have been to the greenwood; mother, make my bed soon,
For I'm weary with hunting and I want to lie down.'
2 'Who cooked you your dinner?'
'My true love she cooked it.'
3 'What had you for dinner?
'Eels fried in fresh butter.'
4 'She's fed you snake poison.'
'Oh, yes, I am dyin'.'
5 'What leave you your mother?'
'My lands and my houses.'
6 'What leave you your brother?'
'My hounds and my horses.'
7 'What leave you your true love?'
'A rope for to hang her.'
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Music from Vol. 4:
B. 'Lord Randall.' Sung by anonymous singer. Contributed by Mrs. Sutton without indication of singer, place, or date.
Scale: Mode III, plagal. Tonal Center: a-flat. Structure: aba1b1 (2,2,2,2) aa11 (4,4).