Love Letter and Answer- (MA) 1831 Broadside
[From British Ballad From Maine; Barry, Eckstorm and Smythe 1929; This broadside was printed in 1831 in Boston, making it one of the earliest printed versions. Barry et all's notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
A comparison of our texts shows that stanzas 1, 2, and 6 of the broadside are peculiar to it; that stanza 3 of DeCoster's is lacking in Mrs. Young's, and that stanza 4 of DeCoster's is in neither of the other two; while he lacks the stanzas on reaping and storing found in the others. Stanzas 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 of Mrs. Young's text are found in all three copies. The singular "sting of an adder," in Decoster's and Mrs. Young's texts, is not found it any of the Child versions except M in his additions and corrections, I, 484, and in a text quoted in V, 284; yet our two copies came from places far apart.
The broadside version appears to be the base of both our A and B texts. It also seems to be an original of Child J, "communicated by Rev. F. D. Huntington, Bishop of Western New York, as sung to him by his father in 1828, of Hadley, Mass.: derived from a rough, roystering 'character' in the town." This is a fragment of fourteen lines, against twenty-four lines in the broadside (exclusive of refrains in both), and it coincides both in the general trend of the song and in the particular mention of "going to Cape Ann" and the phrase "since Adam was born." It is safe to say that Child J is derived from the old broadside.
But the broadside is linked to Child F (from the Kinloch MSS, I, 75), which begins, "Did ye ever travel, twixt Berwick and Lyne?" This in the American broadside becomes, to where are you bound, are you bound to Lynn?" This, in turn, accounts for the broadside reference to cape Ann, not far from Lynn. Both have the identical phrase "since Adam was born," and the rend of the story is similar deCoster's refrain stands fairly close to that of Child F, while the nonsense burden of our first one corresponds well in length with that of Child J. It seems probable that the American form attained from the same original as the Kinloch MSS text, in which the lover is human.
The supernatural branch of this ballad stock, represented by Child A with its burden, "The wind hath blown my plaid awa' " where the lover is an elfin knight seeking to delude the maiden by riddles, has never been found in this country, unless in the secondary form of a song with a similar refrain, but a different story. This, however, is a recent introduction from abroad, represented by a single stanza, a County Down singer, living in Boston, and by a fuller text or Scottish origin, from New Brunswick.
Whether the American broadside, given as text C, was traditional or not is not known; but at least professor Child found no European original of it and we know no other copy. certainly, in New England, the song has been traditional for several generations. Notes and Queries" of the Boston Evening Transcript (Sept. 9, 1923) , a correspondent who signs himself "doce," says that his grandmother, born in 1819, who used to sing it, recognized it as a riddle song. The shirt "washed with water that never ran" and "dried in sun that never shone," as washed in the dew and dried before the fire. The burden of this text
was:
As every grove grows pleasant and fine.
In the same copy of the Transcript gives another fragment
I walked out one morning in May,
(Ivery rose grows merry in time)
And I met a fair maiden ail cloth green,
And she said she would be a true lover of mine.
Thin sez I to this maiden in green,
(Ivery rose grows merry in time)
"Just sew me a shirt without stitches and seam,
And it's thin ye will be a true rover of mine."
"Plow me five acres of land under ground,
(Ivery rose grows merry in time)
And harrow it with a rake, where the teeth's all ground down,
And it's thin ye wad be a true rover of mine."
This ballad seems to have been brought over early and to exist in purely traditional form. Yet, since it does not show the split, which marks certain ballads like "The Two Brothers" and "Little Mousgrave," where texts from the Appalachian Highlands show identical peculiarities with the New England texts, we may question its being among the earliest imported ballads. It is very well known in New England, but southern texts are lacking, except one from Georgia, reported in JAFL XIII, 120-122. It has been found in California by Mrs. R. F. Herrick, JAFL XIX, 130-131; in Missouri (originally from Vermont), by H. M. Belden, JAFL, XXIII, 430-43]. (originally from Ireland), by G. L. Kittredge, JAFL XXVI, 174-175. Professor Kittredge also reports a text from Maine, JAFL XXX, 284-285, and there is an excellent text in Jane G. Austin's Dr. LeBaron and His Daughters, PP. 314-315.
C. "Love Letter and Answer." An old broadside in the Harris Collection of American Poetry, in Brown University Library, imprint: Sold with a variety of other articles by Hunts and Shaw, N.E. Corner of Faneuil Hall Market, Boston." Dated, 1831 (copy at Library of Congress, broadside: "Love-letter & Answer: And Father, Jerry & I." Sold wholesale and retail, by L. Deming, no. 1, south side Faneuil Hall, Boston., 1831. Not listed by Ford. Though not a Maine item, this is strictly a New England text and should be preserved for comparison with other forms.
1. O where are you bound, are you bound to Lynn?
Let my rose grow merry and fine;
O give my love to a young woman,
In token she's been a true lover of mine,
True lover of mine.
2. Tell her to weave me a yard of cloth,
Let every thread be even and fine;
And touch not a shuttle into the cloth,
In token she's been a true lover of mine,
True lover of mine.
3. Tell her to make it into a shirt,
Let every seam be made neat and fine;
And not put a needle into the work,
In token that she's been a true lover of mine,
True lover of mine.
4. Tell her to wash it out in a dry well,
And cause it to look both neat and fine;
Where there never was a drop of water fell,
In token that she's been a true lover of mine,
True lover of mine.
5. Tell her to hang it out on a green thorn,
Let every rose grow merry and fine,
That never bore a bud since Adam was born,
In token that she's been a true lover of mine,
True lover of mine.
6. Oh where ere you bound, are you bound to Cape Ann?
Let every rose grow merry and fine,
Oh give my love unto a young man,
In token he's been a true lover of mine,
True lover of mine.
7. Tell him to buy me an acre of land,
Let every rose grow merry and fine,
Between the salt water and the sea sand,
In token that he's been a true lover of mine,
True lover of mine.
8. Tell him to plough it up with a cat's horn,
Let every rose grow merry and fine,
And plant it all over with one pepper corn,
In token that he's been a true lover of mine,
True lover of mine.
9. Tell him to reap it before it shall grow,
Let every rose grow merry and fine,
And tread it all down with the sole of his shoe,
In token that he's been a true lover of mine,
True lover of mine.
10. Tell him to gather it into his barn,
Let every rose grow merry and fine,
Where it will not take any harm,
In token that he's been a true lover of mine,
True lover of mine.
11. Tell him to thrash it with a goose quill,
Let every rose grow merry and fine,
And clean it and put it in one egg shell,
In token that he's been a true lover of mine,
True lover of mine.
12. Now tell this young man when he's done all his work,
Let every rose grow merry and fine,
Send him to me he shall have his new shirt,
And still he may be a true lover of mine,
True lover of mine.