Mary Hamilton- Niles (KY) pre1916 Niles A
[From: The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, 1961. According to Niles this version comes from his father John Thomas "Tommie" Niles, who was a farmer, foundry worker, a deputy sheriff, a fireman and square-dance caller who loved ballads and was himself a good folk singer.
Niles calls this the "only complete" version of the ballad found in North America and that "the other reported texts are fragments." Niles took this ballad down from his father at Christmastime in 1916.
As usual, nearly all of Niles ballad are of questionable authenticity and even if he did get the ballad from his father, he probably rewrote it. The question of authenticity arise from the rarity of the ballad-- it simply wasn't known in that region. It possible he could have got it from print, who knows. Sharp found no versions in Kentucky, nor did Lomax, nor did Roberts or anyone else for that matter. The Ritchie version is probably from print and other sources. It seems unlikely that the ballad would turn up in Louisville and not be found in that area.
R. Matteson 2015]
Mary Hamilton (Niles No. 51A)
Mary Hamilton- Sung by
1. "Rised up, rised up, Mary Hamilton,
Rised up and tell unto me:
What did you with that sweet little boy
You dandled on your knee,
You dandled on your knee?"
2. "Speak not, speak not agin my name,
And let your folly be.
It was no baby ye hear cryin'
But misery that pained me."
(repeat last line of each verse)
3. She had not been to the King's high court
A twelvemonth and a day.
Oh, it's never she went to comfort the Queen
But often she went to play.
4. Queen Mary came a-trippeling,
Her hair so fine to see:
"What did you with that sweet little boy
You dandled on your knee?"
5. "I rowed him in my handkerchief,
I throwed him in the sea.
I could not have him come between
The prince's bed and me."
6. "Oh, it's little did my mother know
The day she held up my head,
What lands my foot would fall upon
Or how I'd earn my bread."
7. "Oh, it's little did my father think
The day he gathered me in,
That I would go in furrin land
And die on gallows' pin."
8. She would no wear the velvet gown,
She would not wear the brown,
"Oh, it's dress me up in red and scarlet
When I pass through the town."
9. "Cast off, cast off my scarlet gown,
And then a napkin tie
Around my eyes lest I shall see
The death I am to die."
10. "Last night Queen Mary had four Maries,
The night she'll have only three.
'Twas Mary Seaton and Mary Beaton
And Mary Carmichael and me."
11. "Last night I washed Queen Mary's feet
And combed her golden hair.
The gallow's pin is my reward
And shame beyond my shame."