Lord Thomas- Grogan (NC) 1919 Greer/ Brown H
[From MS in the Abrams collection; partially given in The Brown Collection of NC Folklore; Vol. 2 1952. Complete text from MS is at bottom of this page. I've corrected minor spelling and stanza line errors. At least four measures are defective: 3, 6, 11, and 12.
The MS has written by Clara Grogan, and I assume 'Fannie' is a nickname.
R. Matteson 2014]
H. 'Lord Thomas.' Sent in by I. G. Greer in 1919 from the singing of his cousin Miss Fannie Grogan of Silverstone, Watauga county. A fairly normal text of twelve stanzas. Both Thomas and Ellinor consult their respective mothers. There are, however, some passages corrupted to the point of being unintelligible. The first two lines of stanzas 3 and 6 run:
He went he dressed all in his best
His majesty, they were brown
and
She went she dressed all in her best.
Her majesty. They were green
and the account of the stabbing runs:
The brown girl she had a little pen knife
With blades both keen and sharp
Between the long blade and the short
She pierced fair Ellinor right in the heart.
H. 'Lord Thomas.' Sung by Miss Fannie Grogan. Recorded at Silverstone, Watauga county, 1919.
Scale: Hexatonic (4), plagal. Tonal Center: f. Structure: abed (2,2,2,2) Circular tune (V).
1. "Come mother, come mother, come tell us all,
Come tell us all as one--
Whether I must marry Fair Eleanor[1] dear,
Or bring the Brown girl home?"
2. "The Brown girl she has house and land,
Fair Eleanor she has none;
I'll give you take my own advice,
To bring the Brown girl home."
3. He went dressed all in his best,
His Majesty, they wore brown,[2]
And every town they rode around,
They took him to be some Lord.
4. He rode till he came to fair Eleanor's gate,
He tingled all on[3] the ring.
There was none so ready to let him come in [4]
But fair Eleanor herself.
5. "Come mother, come mother, come tell us all,
Come tell us all as one--
Whether I must go to Lord Thomas' wedding,
Or stay and tarry at home.
6. She went she dressed all in her best.
Her majesty, they wore green[5]
And every town she rode around,
They thought her to be some queen.
7. She rode till he came to Lord Thomas' gate,
She tingled all on the ring.
There was none so ready to let her come in
But Lord Thomas himself.
8. He took her by the lily-white hand
And led her through the hall;
And sat her down by his own right side,
Before the company all.
9. "Lord Thomas, Lord Thomas is that your bride?
She's wonderfully brown you see.
You could have married as fair [a] skin girl
As e'er the sun shone on."
10. The Brown girl she had a little pen knife
With blades both keen and sharp
Between the long blade and the short
She pierced fair Eleanor right in the heart.
11. Lord Thomas he drew his sword,
He cut the Brown girl's head smooth off,
And drew the body apart.
12. He drew the handle towards the floor,
Saying," I never did see three true lovers meet,
Without sudden death to part.
13. "Go mother, go mother, go dig my grave,
Go dig it wide and deep,
And place fair Eleanor in my arms
And the brown girl at my feet."
1. Her name is spelled differently throughout
2. they "were" brown; majesty is probably something like "merry maids"
3. along in MS
4. Obviously corrupt last lines of stanza
5. they "were" green