Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- Brown (KY) 1930s Niles C
[From: The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles; 1961. Collected and probably rewritten by Niles.
R. Matteson 2014]
Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- (Niles No. 28 C) Sung by Christine Brown (KY) 1930s Niles C
1. "Oh Mother, oh Mother, go read this riddle,
Go read it one, two, three,
And say whether I shall go to Lord Thomas's wedding
Or stay at home with thee."
2. She dressed herself in scarlet white,
Her waist it was of green,
And every city that she passed through,
She was taken to be some queen.
3. She rode till she came to Lord Thomas's yard,
She jingled at the gate,
No one so ready as Lord Thomas himself
To rise and let her in.
4. He took her by her lily-white hand,
He led her through the hall,
And placed her at the head of the table
Among those ladies all.
5. "Lord Thomas, Lord Thomas, is that your bride?
That looks so very brown,
When you could have married as fair a one
As ever the sun shone on."
6. The brown girl she had knife in hand,
Both keen and very sharp,
Between a long and the end of a short,
She pierced fair Ellen's heart.