The Pretty Golden Queen- Belden (Missouri) 1903; JAFL 1906
[The names Polly, Colendee, Colvin, Collean, Collenendee, Goldan, Goldin, are generic slang words for the Irish word, cailin, meaning "girl," "girlfriend" or "lover." (Barry 1909) R. Matteson 2011]
From: Old-Country Ballads in Missouri- I
by H. M. Belden
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 19, No. 74 (Jul. - Sep., 1906), pp. 231-240
CHILD 4. - Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight
THE PRETTY GOLDEN QUEEN
Collected by Miss Maude Williams, 1903, as "sung by an old lady near Kansas City. She learned it of a cousin when she was a girl, then living in South Missouri. She never saw it in print."
He followed her up and he followed her down,
Till he came to the place where she be;
"Oh rise you up, my pretty golden queen,
And go along with me,
And go along with me."
(Last line repeated in each stanza.)
She got on the pony young brown
And he got on the dapple gray,
And they rode and they rode
Till they came to the side of the sea.
And they rode and they rode
Till they came to the side of the sea.
"It 's six king's daughters I have drowned here,
And the seventh you shall be.
"Take off, take off those fine silk robes
And lay them on this land,
For they are too fine and costly here
To rot in the salt sea-sand."
"Just turn your eyes to the leaves on the trees,
And your back to the sea "--
And she picked him up
And plunged him into the sea.
"It's take hold, take hold of the skirts of my coat
And pull me out again."
"Lie there, lie there, you false-hearted wretch,
Lie there instead of me.
' You said you drowned six king's daughters here
And the seventh you shall be"
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
"It's take hold, take hold of the skirts of my coat
And pull me out again.
And I'll take you down to old Scotland
And there we 'll be maintained."
"Lie there, lie there, you false-hearted wretch,
Lie there instead of me"
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
So she got on the pony young brown
And led the dappled gray,
And she rode and she rode through the merry green woods
Till she came to her father's hall.
"Hush up, hush up, my pretty parrot dear,
And tell no tales on me:
Your cage shall be of the finest gold
And swung on a willow tree."
Her father was wakened by the noise
. . . . . . . . . . .
"I woke, I woke, my pretty golden queen,
For to drive the cat away."