My Pretty Golden; Mrs. Lula S. Riley, aged 81; recorded in 1964
"Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" from Maryland
by Douglas J. Mcmillan
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 78, No. 308 (Apr. - Jun., 1965), pp. 156-157
[Footnotes moved to the end]
Notes & Queries
"LADY ISABEL AND THE ELF-KNIGHT" FROM MARYLAND:-
Because the Child ballads have been so poorly collected in Maryland, and because "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" is so popular elsewhere in North America, the following text and melody of this ballad may be of interest.[1] It was given to me by one of my students in an introductory folklore class at the University of Maryland, Mrs. Joyce Vantucci, who made a tape recording of her grandmother singing it on July 10, I964, in Baltimore. The singer, Mrs. Lula S. Riley, aged 81, said she learned this song when she was a young girl from her mother, Mrs. Lanham (nee Smallwood), in Fairfax, Virginia. Mrs. Vantucci recalled having heard the song sung by her grandmother after reading the words in Albert B. Friedman's The Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-Speaking World, one of our textbooks. Mrs. Vantucci told me that this song especially stuck in her memory because of the heroic role played by "the pretty Golden" and that she had enjoyed hearing her grandmother sing the song as far back as she could remember.[2]
[MY PRETTY GOLDEN]
"Go and get your father's gold,
Likewise your mother's fee,
And down the road to the broad waterside,
And married we will be.
And down the road to the broad waterside,
And married we will be."
She went and got her father's gold,
Likewise her mother's fee,
And down the road to the broad waterside,
It was just three hours till day.
[No burden.]
"Light off, light off, my pretty Golden,
For here we mean to stay.
Six other king's daughters I've drownded here,
And the seventh one you shall be.
Six other king's daughters I've drownded here,
And the seventh one you shall be.
"Strip off, strip off, your gay clothing,
And hang them on yonder strand,
For they are too rich and over costly
To rot in the ocean sand.
For they are too rich and over costly
To rot in the ocean sand.
"Turn your back to the broad waterside,
And your face to the greenleaf tree.
It doesn't become such a villain as you,
An undressed lady to see.
It doesn't become such a villain as you,
An undressed lady to see."
He turned his back to the broad waterside,
And his face to the greenleaf tree,
And around the waist she caught him so small,
And into the sea threw he.
And around the waist she caught him so small,
And into the sea threw he.
"Oh, it's give me your hand my pretty Golden.
Touch not dry land again.
Those promises that I have made unto you,
I'll double them over again.
Those promises that I have made unto you,
I'll double them over again."
"Lie there, lie there, you false hearted lad.
Lie there instead of me.
You thought you'd rob me of my gay clothing,
Nary stitch did you get from me.
You thought you'd rob me of my gay clothing,
Nary stitch did you get from me."
She mounted on her merry brown,
And led his duffle de gray.
Back home to her father's great castle she went,
It was just the break of day.
Back home to her father's great castle she went,
It was just the break of day.
Up speaks this pretty parrot,
All in his cage did lay.
Saying, "where have you been my pretty Golden,
This whole long summer day?"
Saying, "where have you been my pretty Golden,
This whole long summer day?"
"Just hold your tongue, my pretty parrot,
No tales don't tell on me.
Your cage shall be lined with the plainest gay gold,
And hung in the willow tree.
Your cage shall be lined with the plainest gay gold,
And doors of ivory."
Up speaks this good old man,
All in his chamber lay.
Saying, "what is the matter my pretty parrot,
You crow so soon for day?"
Saying, "what is the matter my pretty parrot,
You crow so soon for day?"
"There is a cat at my cage door.
My life she's swearing to slay.
I've just been calling my pretty Golden,
To drive this cat away.
I've just been calling my pretty Golden,
To drive this cat away."
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FOOTNOTES
I. Annie Weston Whitney and Caroline Canfield Bullock, Folk-Lore from Maryland (New York, 1925), 162-173, print several Negro songs without tunes but no Child ballads. The University of Maryland library has an unpublished manuscript by June E. Chance, "Folk Songs from Southern Maryland: Songs Collected from Mrs. G. C. Chance, Gambrills, Anne Arundel County, Maryland," which contains 113 songs without tunes, including Child numbers 2, 10, 74, 75, 76, 84, 200, 243, and 278.
2. Frederic A. Heutte, University of Maryland librarian, transcribed the melody, and Carolyn F. Smith, English Department secretary, prepared the transcription for publication.
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland