Lord Thomas- Drake (NY) 1944 Cutting A
[From: Lore Of An Adirondack County. Cutting, Edith E. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1944. Her notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
In reciting the following version of Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor (Child, 73), Mrs. Drake was not quite sure of the order of the first stanzas, but the present arrangement seems to be a probably correct one, with Lord Thomas speaking first, then his
mother, and then Fair Eleanor.
LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELEANOR
"Come riddle us, Mother, Mother dear,
Come riddle us both in one,
Whether I marry with fair Eleanor
Or bring the brown girl home."
"The brown girl, she has houses and lands;
Fair Eleanor, she has none,
And therefore, I with my blessing charge you
To bring the brown girl home."
"What news, what news, Lord Thomas?" she said,
"What news have you brought unto me?"
"I've come to ask you to my wedding.
I'm sure that's bad news to thee."
"Come riddle us, Mother, Mother dear,
Come riddle us both in one,
Whether I go to Lord Thomas, wedding
Or whether I tarry at home?"
"The thousands will be your friends, daughter;
Ten times as many your foes;
Therefore, I charge you above my blessing
To Lord Thomas's wedding don't go."
"There the thousands will be my friends,
Ten times as many my foes,
But whether it be life or whether it be death,
To Lord Thomas' wedding I'll go."
She called down her merry maids all
And dressed them all in green;
Every town that she rode through,
They took her to be some queen.
When she arrived at Lord Thomas' bower,
She knocked so loud that it rang.
Who was so ready as Lord Thomas himself
To arise and let her in.
He took her by the lily-white hand
And led her down the hall,
And placed her in the uppermost chair
Above his brown bride and all.
"Is this your bride, Lord Thomas?" she said.
"Methinks she looks wonderful brown.
You might have had as fair a lady
As ever the sun shone on."
"Despise her not," Lord Thomas he said,
"Despise her not unto me,
For better I love your little finger
Than I love her whole body."
The brown girl having a little pen-knife,
It being both long and sharp,
Betwixt fair Eleanor's long ribs and short
She pierced fair Eleanor's heart.
"'What is the matter?" Lord Thomas he said.
"Methinks you look wonderful wan.
You used to have as cherry-red cheeks
As ever the sun shone on."
"What is the matter, Lord Thomas?" she said,
"Can't you very well see?
Blood that was in my cherry-red cheeks
Is trickling down my knee."
Lord Thomas having a little broadsword,
As he was walking the hall,
He cut his brown bride's head from her shoulders
And dashed it against the wall.
Lord Thomas having a little broadsword,
It being both long and sharp,
He put the butt against the wall
And the point against his heart.
There never was three lovers
No sooner did they part.