Pretty Polly- David Rogers (NS) 1910 Mackenzie B
[From Ballads and Sea Songs from Nova Scotia by William Roy Mackenzie- 1928. This is one of three versions Mackenzie collected about 1910 around River John, Nova Scotia. Apparently stanzas of other versions were used to fill this one out, since he says he got two stanzas in 1919. Below is an excerpt describing the informant.
R. Matteson 2014]
The Quest of the Ballad By William Roy Mackenzie 1919
The only additions which I made after my interview with John were variant versions of two stanzas, supplied by an old neighbor of Little Ned's named David Rogers, whom I discovered in a town about twenty miles away. David's recollections of the ballad were slim, as the paucity of his contribution will indicate, but he made up in part for this by an earnest assurance that whatever he supplied was sure to be right.
B. [Pretty Polly] From the singing and recitation of David Rogers, Pictou, Pictou county.
1 There was a lord in Ambertown,
He courted a lady gay,
And all he wanted of this pretty maid
Was to take her life away.
2 "Go get me some of your father's gold,
And some of your mother's fees,
And two of .the best horse out of the stable,
Where there stands thirty and three."
3 She got him some of her father's gold,
And some of her mother's fee,
And two of the best horses out of the stable,
Where there stood thirty and three.
4 She mounted on the milk-white steed,
And he the rambling grey.
And they rode till they came to the river side,
Two hours before it was day.
5 "Slack off, slack off, my pretty Polly,
Slack off, slack off," said he,
"For six pretty maids I have drownded here,
And the seventh you shall be!"
6 "O turn your back, you villain," she said,
"And face yon willow tree,
For you are not fit to see
A naked woman like me."
7 "Take off, take off those silken gowns,
Likewise those golden stays,
For they are too rich and costly
To be rotting in the seas."
8 "If I've got to take off those silken gowns,
And all those golden stays,
You must turn your back, you villain," she says,
"And face yon willow tree."
9 And as he turned his back around
To face Yon willow tree,
She got him by the waist so small
And plunged him into the sea.
10 "Lie there, lie there, you villain"' she says,
"Lie there, lie there," says she.
"For six pretty maids you have drownded here,
And the seventh has drownded thee!"
11 She mounted on the milk-white steed
And led the rambling grey,
She rode till she came to her father's house,
Two hours before it was day.
12 The parrot in the window high
Heard what she had to say,
"Where have you been, my pretty Polly,
That you're out so long before day?"
13 The old man in the tower high
Heard what the parrot said,
"What's the matter, my parrot," he said,
"That you hooting so long before day?"
14 "The old grey cat was at my cage door,
And swore she would devour me.
I was only calling for fair MacConnell [1]
To hiss the cat away."
15 "Well said, well said, my pretty parrot!
Well said, well said," said she.
"Your cage shall be made of the glittering gold,
And the door of the white ivory."
16 "Hush up, hush up, my pretty parrot,
And don't tell tales on me;
Your cage shall be made of the glittering gold,
And hung on yon willow tree."
1. Shows the maid has another name, relating to the May Colvin names