Pretty Fair Maid- Carter (WV) 1957 Musick D
[My title. From: Ballads and Folksongs from West Virginia by Ruth Ann Musick; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 70, No. 277 (Jul. - Sep., 1957), pp. 247-261.
R. Matteson Jr. 2014]
1.4.[ Pretty Fair Maid] Contributed by Mrs. Myrtle Carter of Talcott, who does not remember the title.
(1) She mounted upon the pony brown,
And he on the dapple gray;
They rode till they came to the side of the sea,
On the end of a long summer day, day, day,
On the end of a long summer day.
(2) "Get off, get off, my pretty fair maid,
I'll hitch your beast to the tree.
Take off, take off that lovely gown
And hand it over to me,
For I know it is too finer a gown
To rot in the salt-water sea, sea, sea,
To rot in the salt-water sea."
(3) "Please turn yourself around and stand,
With your face toward the sea,
For I know you are too finer a man
For a naked woman to see, see, see,
For a naked woman to see."
(4) He turned his back-then she gave him a push,
And he plunged into the sea.
"Lie there, lie there, you false-hearted man,
Lie there instead of me.
You would have stripped me naked as I was born,
But I'll take nothing from thee."
(5) She mounted upon her pony brown,
And led the dapple gray,
And rode till she came to her father's house,
On the end of a long summer day, day, day,
On the end of a long summer day.
(6) "Hush up! Hush up, my pretty polly!
Don't tell any tales on me;
I'll buy you a cage of the very finest gold
And hang it in the green willow tree, tree, tree,
And hang it in the green willow tree."