My Pretty Colleen- Coit (MA) 1916 Sharp A (1917 edition)
[My title, replacing the generic Lady Isabel. From English Folk Songs From the Southern Appalachians I; Sharp/Campbell 1917. This version was Sharp A in 1917 but did not appear in the 1932 edition because it was from Massachusetts. This caused the first versions (before 1917) to have different letters in the different editions. It's unclear why a version from Massachusetts was included in a "from the Southern Appalachians" book.
Sharp commented in his notes: 'My Colleen' in version A may, or may not be, a corruption of the May Colvin, Colven, or Collins, of other versions.
According to Barry (1909), the local titles Polly, Collee, Polly Ann, Colvin, Collean, Collenendee, Goldan, Goldin, are generic slang words for the Irish word, cailin, meaning "girl" "girlfriend" or "lover."
R. Matteson 2011, 2014]
No. 3. Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight. [Sharp/Karpeles notes; 1932]
Texts without tunes:—Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads, No. 4. Gavin Greig's Folk-Song of the North-East, ii. art. 106. C. S. Burne's Shropshire Folk-Lore, p. 548. A. Williams's Folk Songs of the Upper Thames, p. 159, Reed Smith's South Carolina Ballads, p. 97. Journal of American Folk-Lore, xix. 232; xxii. 65; xxiii. 375; xxiv. 344; xxvii. 90; xxviii. 148; xxxv. 338.
Texts with tunes—Journal of the Folk-Song Society, i. 246 ; ii. 282 ; iv. 116. English County Songs, p. 164. Kidson's Traditional Tunes, pp. 27 and 172, Northumbrian Minstrelsy, p. 48. Folk Songs from Somerset, No. 84 (published also in English Folk Songs, Selected Edition, vol. i, p. 29, and One Hundred English Folk-Songs, p. 29). A. E. Gillington's Eight Hampshire Folk Songs, p. 4. Gavin Greig's Last Leaves, p. 2. Wyman and Brockway's Lonesome Tunes, p. 82. J. H. Cox's Folk Songs of the South, pp. 3 and 521 (see further references). Mackenzie's Ballads and Sea Songs from Nova Scotia, No. 1. D. Scarborough's On the Trail of Negro Folk Songs, p. 43. Journal of American Folk-Lore, xviii. 132; xxii. 76 (tune only) and 374; xxiv. 333. British Ballads from Maine, p. 14. Davis's Traditional Ballads of Virginia, pp. 62 and 549. Sandburg's American Songbag,
p. 60.
' My Colleen' in version A may, or may not be, a corruption of the May Colvin, Colven, or Collins, of other versions.
A. [My Pretty Colleen] Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight- Sung by Miss Elizabeth Coit at Amherst, Mass., July, 1916
1 O bring me some of your father's gold,
And more of your mother's money,
And two of the best horses in your father's stable
That daily are thirty-three.
2 She brought down some of her father's gold
And more of her mother's money,
And two of the best horses in her father's stable
That daily are thirty-three.
3 He rode on the milk-white steed
And she rode on the bay,
And together they came to the North of Scotland
Three hours before it was day.
4 Light down, light down, my pretty colleen,
I've something here to tell thee.
Six kings' daughters lie drowned here
And thou the seventh shall be.
5 O turn your back to the billowy waves,
Your face to the leaves of the tree,
For it ill beseems an outlandish knight
Should view a stark lady.
6 He turned his back to the billowy waves,
His face to the leaves of the tree,
When quickly she threw both her arms round his neck
And tossed him into the sea.
7 Lie there, lie there, thou false young man,
Lie there instead of me.
You promised to take me to the North of Scotland,
And there you would marry me.
8 O give me hold of your little finger
And hold of your lily-white hand,
And I'll make you the ruler of all my estates
And the ruler of all my land.
9 No, I won't give you hold of my little finger,
Nor hold of my lily-white hand,
And I won't be the mistress of all your estates
And the ruler of all your land.
10 She rode on the milk-white steed,
And by her went the bay,
And together they came to her father's castle
Three hours before it was day.
11 'Twas then the pretty parrot spoke
From his cage upon the wall:
O what is the matter, my pretty colleen,
Why did you not answer my call?
12 O hush, O hush, my pretty parrot,
Don't tell any tales upon me,
And your cage shall be of the beaten gold
And your perch of the almond tree.
13 'Twas then her father spoke
From the chamber where he lay:
O what is the matter, my pretty parrot,
That you're calling so long before day?
14 O these rats, these rats are at my cage door;
They're trying to take me away,
So I am just calling my pretty colleen
To drive these rats away.