Pretty Polly- Nelson (NS) pre1937 Creighton B
[My title, replacing the generic "Lady Isabel". From Traditional Songs from Nova Scotia by Creighton and Senior; 1950. Compare to Child E. In this case, both the girl and the parrot are named "Pretty Polly." An excerpt from The Creighton-Senior Collaboration follows.
R. Matteson 2014]
The Creighton-Senior Collaboration, 1932-51 by David Gregory, Athabasca, Alberta
The next weekend the two collectors decided to explore the communities of Kinsac (north of Halifax), to look up singer William Nelson, and nearby Enfield (further up the road towards Truro), where Andrew Scott lived. Helen had already made the acquaintance of the Nelson family, as she related in A Life in Folklore:
[My] father was my companion [when] we drove to Kinsac to see Mr. William Nelson. We found a nice old couple but there had been a drowning accident in the village and they were grieving. I showed him my book of songs and decided to leave it with him for a little while hoping it would remind him of some he knew, and that by the time our picnic was over he might be inclined to sing. On our return we found he hadn't shaved for fear of missing us, and he'd been so engrossed in the book he had forgotten to smoke his pipe. He had been ill lately and the beginning wasn't encouraging, but he soon got used to us and slipped into real old time form with a variant of "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight." The tune for this and also 'The Three Ravens" sounded good, so we arranged a return trip on Saturday with Doreen. It proved a bad day because she had just put on her display of folk dancing at the summer school that Friday and was too tired to be enthusiastic over anything. As so often happened, an hour's rest beneath a sheltering tree revived her. [14]
Tired or not, Doreen did what Helen wanted, and William Nelson obligingly sang four Child ballads: "The Three Crows" (# 26), "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (#4), "Sir James the Ross" (# 213) and "Barbery Ellen" (# 84). He also offered "The Railroad Song", "The Hanover Mills" and "Down By Yon Rocky Shore". The next day the two collectors found Andrew Scott at the Renfrew Gold Mine near Enfield, and he sang "Johnny Riley" for them, as well as two Child ballads about battles at sea, 'The Golden Vanity" (# 286) and "Henry Martin" (# 250). Another informant located at Enfield was John C. Horne, who offered three songs: "Death on the Humber", "William and Nancy" and "Lovely Nancy", although Doreen preferred Walter Roast's tune for the latter item.
Footnote: 14. A Life in Folklore, 106.
[Pretty Polly] Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight [B] as sung by William Nelson; 1937
1. There was a lord in London Town
He courted a lady gay,
And all that he courted this lady for
Was to take her sweet life away.
2. "Come give to me of your father's gold,
Likewise your mother's fee,
And two of the best horses in your father's stable
For there stands thirty and three."
3. She mounted on her milk white steed
And he the fast travelling grey,
They rode till he came to the seashore side
Three hours before it was day.
4. "Alight, alight my pretty Polly,
Alight, alight," said he,
"For six pretty maids I have drownded here
And you the seventh shall be.
5. "Now take off your silken dress
Likewise your golden stay,
For I think your clothing too rich and too gay
To rot all in the salt sea."
6. "Yes I'll take off my silken dress
Likewise my golden stay,
Before I do so, you false young man
You must face yon willow tree."
7. Then he turned his back around
And faced yon willow tree,
She caught him around the middle so small
And throwed him into the sea.
8. And as he rose and as he sank
And as he rose said he,
"Oh give me your hand my pretty Polly,
My bride forever you'll be."
9. "Lie there, lie there you false young man,
Lie there instead of me,
For six pretty maids you've drownded here
And the seventh one has drownded thee."
10. She lighted on her milk white steed
And led the fast travelling grey,
And rode till she came to her father's outside
One hour before it was day.
11. The parrot in the garret so high
And unto pretty Polly did say,
"'What's the matter my pretty Polly
You're driving before it is day?"
12. "No tales, no tales, my pretty Polly,
No tales, no tales," said she,
"Your cage will be made of the glittering gold
And yours of ivory.
13. "No tales, no tales, my pretty Polly,
No tales, no tales," said she,
"Your cage will be made of the glittering gold
And hung on yon willow tree."