Pretty Polly- Dryden (TX) pre1941 Owens B
[From Texas Folk Songs; William Owens; 1950, with music. Owens notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
PRETTY POLLY
Called "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" in England and Scotland, "Pretty Polly" is the most widely known of all ballads, according to Francis James Child. Versions of it have been found in Germany, Poland, and Holland, as well as in the British Isles and America. In Texas, however, it is not nearly so well known as "Barbara Allen" and "Fair Ellender."
The version sung by Mrs. Ben Dryden is somewhat similar to an English version called "My Collin." The supernatural element has been lost, and the identity of the betrayer-an elf-knight, or false priest in some versions-is nor revealed. The "six king's daughters" of the English versions have become in Texas "six of the old Virginny girls." In some renditions Pretty Polly confides her story to her "pretty parrot" and begs him not to tell her parents.
B. Pretty Polly. Sung by Mrs. Ben Dryden, Fred, Texas, 1941. There is considerable rhythmic flexibility.
"Go bring me some of your father's gold
And bring me your mother's fee.
Oh, come, oh, come my Pretty Polly
And go along with me.
"I'll take you down by the seashore side,
And there I'll marry thee."
She mounted on her milk white horse
And to some dark she rode.
She rode till she came to the salt water sea,
Where there's none that she could see;
She rode till she came to the salt water sea,
Where there's no one that she could see.
'Get down, get down, my Pretty Polly,
And rein your horse to a tree;
For I have killed six of the old Virginny girls
And the seventh one you shall be.
'Get down, get down, my Pretty Polly,
And rein your horse to a tree;
Pull off them rings, pull off them pearls,
And lay them on my knee;
"For they are too rich and they are too gay
For to lie in the salt water sea;
For they are too rich and they are too gay
For to lie in the salt water sea."
"Oh, turn your back and place your eyes
Along the' juniper tree;
Oh, turn your back and place your eyes
Along the juniper tree."
She pushed him into the salt water sea,
Where there's no one that he could see;
She pushed him into the salt water sea,
Where where's no one that he could see.
'Reach -down your hand, Pretty Polly, I pray,
Reach down your hand to me;
I'll carry you back to your own father's house
Two long hours 'fore it came day."
"Oh, hush, oh, hush, you grand rascal,
And say no more to me,
For it's I shall go to my old father's house
Two long hours 'fore it came day."
'Where have you been, my pretty Polly,
Where have you been I pray?
Where have you been, my pretty Polly,
This long summer day."
"Oh, hush, oh, hush, my pretty parent, [1]
And tell no tales on me
For your house shall be lined with the finest of gold,
And your doors with ivory.
"For I have been to the salt water sea, [2]
Where there's no one that I can see;
For that is six of the old Virginny girls
And the seventh one he shall be."
1. parrot (parent- haha)
2. This stanza is out of place at the end.