[Pretty Polly] Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight- Sung by Mrs. Bishop, Clay County, Ky., July 16, 1909. Collected by Olive Dame Campbell
[My title, replacing the generic Lady Isabel. From English Folk Songs From the Southern Appalachians I; Sharp/Campbell 1917. This is version C in the 1917 edition and version B in the 1932 edition. The re-lettering occurred because version A in the 1917 edition was from Massachusetts. First stanzas were not sung.
R. Matteson 2011, 2014]
No. 3. Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight. [Sharp/Karpeles notes; 1932]
Texts without tunes:—Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads, No. 4. Gavin Greig's Folk-Song of the North-East, ii. art. 106. C. S. Burne's Shropshire Folk-Lore, p. 548. A. Williams's Folk Songs of the Upper Thames, p. 159, Reed Smith's South Carolina Ballads, p. 97. Journal of American Folk-Lore, xix. 232; xxii. 65; xxiii. 375; xxiv. 344; xxvii. 90; xxviii. 148; xxxv. 338.
Texts with tunes—Journal of the Folk-Song Society, i. 246 ; ii. 282 ; iv. 116. English County Songs, p. 164. Kidson's Traditional Tunes, pp. 27 and 172, Northumbrian Minstrelsy, p. 48. Folk Songs from Somerset, No. 84 (published also in English Folk Songs, Selected Edition, vol. i, p. 29, and One Hundred English Folk-Songs, p. 29). A. E. Gillington's Eight Hampshire Folk Songs, p. 4. Gavin Greig's Last Leaves, p. 2. Wyman and Brockway's Lonesome Tunes, p. 82. J. H. Cox's Folk Songs of the South, pp. 3 and 521 (see further references). Mackenzie's Ballads and Sea Songs from Nova Scotia, No. 1. D. Scarborough's On the Trail of Negro Folk Songs, p. 43. Journal of American Folk-Lore, xviii. 132; xxii. 76 (tune only) and 374; xxiv. 333. British Ballads from Maine, p. 14. Davis's Traditional Ballads of Virginia, pp. 62 and 549. Sandburg's American Songbag,
p. 60.
' My Colleen' in version A may, or may not be, a corruption of the May Colvin, Colven, or Collins, of other versions.
[PRETTY POLLY] LADY ISABEL AND THE ELF KNIGHT- Mrs. Bishop, Clay County, Ky., July 16, 1909; Appears in Bronson and EFSSA.
Pull off that silk, my pretty Polly,
Pull off that silk, said he,
For it is too fine and too costly
To rot in the briny, briny sea,
To rot in the briny sea.
Turn your back, sweet Willie, said she,
O turn your back unto me,
For you are too bad a rebel
For a naked woman to see.
She picked him up in her arms so strong
And she threw him into the sea,
Saying: If you have drowned six kings' daughters here,
You may lay here in the room [1] of me.
Stretch out your hand, O pretty Polly,
Stretch out your hand for me,
. . . . . . . . .
And help me out of the sea . . .
She picked up a rock and threw on him, saying:
Lay there, lay there, you dirty, dirty dog,
Lay there in the room of me.
You're none too good nor too costly
To rot in the briny, briny sea.
Hush up, hush up, my pretty parrot,
Hush up, hush up, said she.
You shall have a golden cage with an ivory lid
Hung in the willow tree.
1. room= place
--------------------------
Bronson No. 106 [ABCNotation.com]
T:Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight
C:Trad
B:Bronson
O:Sharp MSS., 3I42/?. Also in Sharp and Karpeles, I932, I,
O:p. 6(B). Sung by Mrs. Bishop, Clay County, Ky., July I6,
O:I909. Collected by Olive Dame Campbell. Text not included in Sharp's MSS.
M:6/8
L:1/8
K:Ddor % Pentatonic ( -3 -7) Ionian/Mixolydian/Dorian [Pi 2]
G | A2 A d2 d | AAA G2 G | A2 A/B/ d2 d |
w:Pull off that silk, my pret-ty Pol-ly, Pull off that* silk, said
A3-A2 D/D/ | G2 G G2 G/G/ | A2 B/A/ G2 B |
w:he,* For* it is too fine and too cost-*ly To
A2 B/A/ G2 E | D2 E G2 B | A2 B/A/ G2 E | D3-D2 |]
w:rot in the brin-y, brin-y sea, To rot in the brin-y sea.
W:
W:Pull off that silk, my pretty Polly,
W:Pull off that silk, said he,
W:For it is too fine and too costly
W:To rot in the briny, briny sea,
W:To rot in the briny sea.
W:
W:Turn your back, sweet Willie, said she,
W:O turn your back unto me,
W:For you are too bad a rebel
W:For a naked woman to see.
W:
W:She picked him up in her arms so strong
W:And she threw him into the sea,
W:Saying: If you have drowned six kings' daughters here,
W:You may lay here in the room of me.
W:
W:Stretch out your hand, O pretty Polly,
W:Stretch out your hand for me,
W:. . . . . . . . .
W:And help me out of the sea . . .
W:
W:She picked up a rock and threw on him, saying:
W:Lay there, lay there, you dirty, dirty dog,
W:Lay there in the room of me.
W:You're none too good nor too costly
W:To rot in the briny, briny sea.
W:
W:Hush up, hush up, my pretty parrot,
W:Hush up, hush up, said she.
W:You shall have a golden cage with an ivory lid
W:Hung in the willow tree.