Old Woman Lived in the West- Wilkin (IN) 1935 Brewster C
[My abbreviated title. From Brewster: Ballads and Songs of Indiana, 1940, Indiana University Publications, Folklore Series. Brewster was already preparing (see extensive notes below) for his study of this ballad, which was published in 1953.
R. Matteson 2014]
THE TWO SISTERS (Child, No. 10)
Three good texts and two fragments of this ballad have been recovered in this state. All of them belong with Child R*
For American texts, see Campbell and Sharp, No. 4; Cox, No. 3 (fragment); Gray, p. 75; Hudson, No. 3; Hudson, Folksongs, p. 68; Journal, XVIII, 130; XIX, 233; XXX, 286; XLIV, 295; Pound, Ballads, No. 4; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 164; Shearin, p. 4; Shearin and Combs, p. 7 (fragment); Thomas, p. 70; Smith and Rufty, p. 2; Greig, Last Leaves, pp. 9-13; BFSSNE, III, 21; VI, 5; VII, 14; IX, 4-6; X, 10; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 38; Cox, Traditional Ballads, Mainly from West Virginia, pp. 6, 8; JFSS, I, 253; II, 283; Gordon, Folk-Songs of America, p. 65; PTFLS, X, 141; Stout, Folklore from Iowa (MAFLS, XXIX), p. 1; Botkin, The American Play-Party Song, pp. 338, 339; Neal, Brown County Songs and Ballads, No. 37; Randolph, Ozark Mountain Folks, p. 211.
The ballad is widespread in the Scandinavian countries, where it is known as "Systrarna," "Den talende Strsengeleg," "Dei tvo systar," "Den talende Harpe," "Den underbara harpan," "Systermordet," "Horpu-rima," etc. For Scandinavian versions, see Grundtvig, Danmarks gamle Folkeviser, II, 512-17; III, 875-78; Jyske Folkeminder, X (1889), 69-71, 375-78; Geijer and Afzelius, Svenska Folkvisor (ed. Bergstrom and Hoijer), I, 72; III, 16; Arwidsson, Svenska Fomsdnger, II, 139 f.; Skattegraveren, IV (1885), 161; Sandvik, 0. M., Folke-Musik i Gudbrandsdalen, pp. 102-3; Rancken, J. O., Ndgra prof af folksdng och saga i det svenska Osterbotten, pp. 10-12; Wigstrom, Skdnska Visor, Sagor och Sagner, p. 4; Andersson, Den Aldre Folkvisan (Finlands Svenska Folkdiktning, V1), pp. 75-86; Lindeman, Norske Fjeldmelodier, I, 9; II, 103.
The motif of a murder's being revealed through an inanimate object made from the corpse or associated with it, present in only three or four American texts of the ballad, appears frequently in the oral literature of many peoples. See, e.g., RTP, II, 125, 365 f.; IV, 463; V, 178; VI, 500; VII, 223; Archivio per lo studio delle trad, pop., Ill, 71; Romania, VI, 565; Gonzenbach, Sicilianische Marchen, No. 51; de Gubernatis, Le tradizioni popolari di S. Stefano, p. 154 f.; de Vasconcellos, Tradicoes populares de Portugal, p. 125 f.; Coelho, Contos populares de Brasil, p. 57 f.; Nigra, Canti del Piemonte, No. 19; Journal, IV, 267 ("La Stregha Chitarra"); (his Volksleven, II, 67; VII, 83; Monseur, Bulletin de Folklore Walien, I, 39 f.; Dykstra, Uit Frieslands Volksleven van vroegeren alter, II, 99; de Mont and de Cock, Vlaamsche Wondersprookjes, p. 195 f.; Melusine, I, 423; Doncieux, Romancero frangais, p. 36; Meyrac, Traditions, coutwmes, legendes et contes des Ardennes, p. 486 f.; Sebillot, Litterature orale de la Haute-Bretagne, pp. 220-26; Camoy, Litterature de la Picwdie, p. 236 f.; Grimm, No. 28; Zeitschrift fur deutsches Altertum, III, 35; Erk-B6hme, IAederhort, I, 26; Jahn, Volkssagen aus Pommern u. Rilgen, pp. 399-401; Schneller, Mdrchen zu Sagen aus Walschtirol, No. 51; Afanasjew (Afanasiev), Russische Volksmdrchen, II, No. 137d; Sklarek, Ungarische Volksmdrchen, p. 195 f.; Woycicki, Polnische Volkslieder, p. 105; Naake, Slavonic Fairy Tales, p. 170 f.; Waldau, Bomische Granaten, II, 97; Rud-chenko, South Russian Popular Tales, I, Nos. 55, 56; II, No. 14; Nesselmann, Littauische Volkslieder, p. 320 (=Rhesa, Dainos, p. 231); Ulmann, Lettische Volksliede\r, p. 199; Lewestam, Polnische Volkslied, p. 105; Lagus, Nyldndska Folkvisor, I, 27; Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, I, 253; X, 68, 375; Land-stad, Norske Folkeviser, No. 53; Hammershaimb, Fssrtfsk Anthologi, No. 7; Studach, Schwedische Volksharfe, p. 78; Revue Celtique, II, 199.
For discussion of "The Two Sisters" and its ballad and prose analogues, see Taylor, "The English, Scottish, and American Versions of 'The Two Sisters/" in Journal, XLII (1929), 238-46; Mackensen, Der singende Knochen (FFC, 49); Ploix, "L'os qui chante," in RTP, VIII, 129-41; Kohler, Kleinere Schriften, I, 49, 54, and Aufsdtze ilber Mdrchen und Volkslieder, p. 79 f.; Bolte-Polfvka, Anmerkungen zu den Kinder- u. Hausmdrchen der Brilder Grimm, I, 260-76; Norlind, Studier i Svensk Folklore (Lunds Uni-versitet Arsskrift, NF Afd. 1, Bd. 7, Nr. 5), p. 139 f.; Hartland, The Legend of Perseus, I, 192 f.; Barry, "The Two Sisters: Prolegomena to a Critical Study," in BFSSNE, III, 11-14; and the study of Liestol in Maal og Minne (1909).
C. "There Was an Old Woman Lived in the West." Contributed by Miss Lucile Wilkin, of Connersville, Indiana. Fayette County. September 26, 1935. With music.
1. There was an old woman lived in the West,
Way down, way down;
There was an old woman lived in the West,
Way down by the sea.
There was an old woman lived in the West;
She had two daughters of the best,
I'll be true to my love
If my love'll be true to me.
2. There came a young man a-courting them,
Way down, way down;
There came a young man a-courting them,
Way down by the sea.
There came a young man a-courting them,
A-courting for their house and lands;
I'll be true to my love
If my love'll be true to me.
3. He gave the young one a beaver hat,
Way down, way down;
He gave the young one a beaver hat,
Way down by the sea.
He gave the young one a beaver hat,
And the old one she got mad at that,
I'll be true to my love
If my love'll be true to me.
4. He gave the young one a fine gold ring,
Way down, way down;
He gave the young one a fine gold ring,
Way down by the sea.
He gave the young one a fine gold ring,
And didn't give the old one anything.
I'll be true to my love
If my love'll be true to me.
5. "O Sister, O Sister, let's take a walk,"
Way down, way down;
"O Sister, O Sister, let's take a walk,"
Way down by the sea.
"O Sister, O Sister, let's take a walk,
And we will have a quiet talk."
I'll be true to my love
If my love'll be true to me.
6. They were walking by a flowing stream,
Way down, way down;
They were walking by a flowing stream,
Way down by the sea.
They were walking by a flowing stream,
And the old one pushed the young one in.
I'll be true to my love
If my love'll be true to me.
7. "O Sister, O Sister, hand down your hand,"
Way down, way down;
"O Sister, O Sister, hand down your hand,"
Way down by the sea.
"O Sister, O Sister, hand down your hand,
And you may have my house and land!"
I'll be true to my love
If my love'll be true to me.
8. "I will not hand you down my hand,"
Way down, way down;
"I will not hand you down my hand,"
Way down by the sea.
"I will not hand you down my hand,
And I will have your house and land."
I'll be true to my love
If my love'll be true to me.
9. "O Sister, O Sister, hand down your glove,"
Way down, way down;
"O Sister, O Sister, hand down your glove,"
Way down by the sea.
"O Sister, O Sister, hand down your glove
And you may have my own true love."
Ill be true to my love
If my love'll be true to me.
10. "I will not hand you down my glove,"
Way down, way down;
"I will not hand you down my glove,"
Way down by the sea.
"I will not hand you down my glove,
And I will have your own true love."
I'll be true to my love
If my love'll be true to me.