[Lord William] Earl Brand- H. B. Shiflett Dyke, Virginia 1936
[My title. From Bronson No. 23, no title, with music, taken from Wilkinson's MS 1935-36. H.B. Shiflett is probably Henry B. Shiflett born July 1884, the son of Charles P. Shifflette (1849- 1925) and Sarah Ann Walton (1849-1929).
This is one of a half dozen versions that have been collected in the Brown's Cove, Abermarle, Green Co. area-- first (c. 1915) by the Virginia Folklore Society under direction of Arthur Kyle Davis, Jr. then by Cecil Sharp (c. 1918), and lastly by George Foss. In 1929 Davis edited and published Traditional Ballads of Virginia; in 1949 he published Folksongs of Virginia and More Traditional Ballads of Virginia, all three under the auspices of the Virginia Folklore Society. Winston Wilkinson, who collected this version and Paul Clayton worked with Davis in the 1930s. Later (c. 1961) George Foss collected and published a version taken from Robert Shiflett. Following is an excerpt of From White Hall to Bacon Hollow by George Foss.
R. Matteson 2014]
White Hall to Bacon Hollow is a stretch of twisting country road, Virginia route 810, crossing the line between Albemarle and Greene Counties. Two later collectors who visited and worked in the White Hall-Bacon Hollow area were Richard Chase and professor Winston Wilkinson whose manuscripts are now kept by the University of Virginia. They were the first collectors to record the songs of some of the finest singers in the region, Ella Shiflett and Victoria Shiflett Morris as early as 1935.
Some of the family names still found in northwest Albemarle County and Greene County date from pre-Revolutionary times: Brown, Frazier and Jones. Other names commonly found are Walton, Powell, Sandridge and Wood. But by far the most commonly found are Morris and Shiflett. This makes the tracing of relationships very difficult since various branches of the family are only very distantly related but share the same name. Robert Shiflett (designated “Raz's Robert,” i.e. Erasmus' son Robert, to distinguish him from the region's numerous other Robert Shifletts) speculates that the family was originally descended from French mercenaries brought over by Lafayette to aid the colonies in their War of Independence. [webmaster's note: this has proven to be incorrect] This is not contradicted by the first reference to a Shiflett I have been able to find, a Joel Shiflett listed as a landholder in Albemarle County in 1789. Another early reference is to Frances Shiflett, daughter of John Shiflett, named as wife of Bland Ballard who died in 1809. Many of the singers mentioned in this book bear the family name Shiflett or are directly related to or married to Shifletts. Marybird Bruce McAllister was the daughter of Polly Shiflett Bruce. Mary Wood's husband was a Shiflett.
[LORD WILLIAM] EARL BRAND- H. B. Shiflett of Dyke, Virginia 1936
1. Wake up, wake up you seven sleepers,
And it's to beware of me;
Take care of your oldest daughter dear,
For the youngest ones a-going with me.
2. He mounted her up on a milk white steed,
And himself on a difle[1] grey.
He drew his buckler down by his side,
And away he went singing away.
3. Wake up, wake up, you seven sons dear,
And put on your armor so bright;
I will never have it said that a daughter of mine,
Will be with a lord all night.
4. They rode, they rode, they better had a-rode,
Along with his lady so gay:
Until he saw her seven brothers bold,
And her father a-walking so near.
5. Get you down, get you down, Lady Margaret: he said,
And hold my stakes for awhile:
Until I fight your seven brothers so bold,
And your father a-walking so near.
6. She held, she held, she better had a-held,
And she never shed one tear;
Until she saw her seven brothers fall,
And her father she loved so dear.
7. Stop your hand, stop your hand, Lord William, she cried,
O stop your hand for awhile;
A many sweethearts I once could have had,
But a father dear I'll have no more.
8. You may choose, you may choose, Lady
You may choose to go or stay; [2]
I'll go, I'll go, Lord William, she cried,
For you left me without any guide.
9. He mounted her up on a milk white steed,
And himself on a diple grey,
He drew his buckler down by his side,
And away went bleeding away.
10. He rode, he rode, he better had a-rode,
Along with his lady so gay:
Until he came to his own mother's stile,
Where once he had loved so well.
11. O mother, O mother, make my bed,
And make it soft and wide;
That I may lay my lady by my side,
That I may rest for awhile.
12. Lord William he died about midnight,
Lady Margaret, just before day;
The old woman died for the loss of her son,
And there was eleven lives lost.
1. dapple
2. abide. The Virginia version have lost the rhyme.