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Pretty Polly/Gosport Tragedy/Cruel Ship's Carpenter
Pretty Polly; Painting by Richard L. Matteson Jr. C 2009
Old-Time, Song & Breakdown
ARTIST: from the Stanley Brothers 1951.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: Gosport Tragedy was popular in England and colonies early 1700s;
RECORDING INFO:
Estil C. Ball, "Pretty Polly" (on LomaxCD1701, LomaxCD1705); "Pretty Polly" (AFS, 1941; on LCTreas)
Frank Bode, "Pretty Polly" (on FBode1)
Dock Boggs, "Pretty Polly" (Brunswick 132A, 1927); (on Boggs1, BoggsCD1)
Coon Creek Girls, "Pretty Polly" (Vocalion 04659, 1939; Perfect 16102, 1935?)
Bill Cornett ,"Pretty Polly" (on MMOKCD)
Cranford & Thompson, "Pretty Polly" (Melotone 45092, 1935)
John Hammond, "Purty Polly" (Challenge 168, 1927)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "Pretty Polly" (Brunswick 116, 1927)
Ivor Melton & band, "Pretty Polly" (on Persis1)
Pleaz Mobley, "Pretty Polly" (on JThomas01)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Pretty Polly" (on NLCR13)
Jean Ritchie, "Pretty Polly" (on RitchieWatson1, RitchieWatsonCD1)
Sauceman Brothers, "Pretty Polly" (Rich-R-Tone 457, n.d.)
Pete Seeger, "Pretty Polly" (on PeteSeeger16)
Lee Sexton, "Pretty Polly" (on MMOKCD)
B. F. Shelton "Pretty Polly" (Victor 35838, 1927; on BefBlues1)
Stanley Brothers, "Pretty Polly" (Columbia 20770, 1951)
Pete Steele, "Pretty Polly" (AFS 1587/1702, 1938; on PSteele01, KMM)
Turner & Parkins, "Pretty Polly" (Superior 2635, 1931)
Jack Wallin, "Pretty Polly" (on Wallins1)
RELATED TUNES: Gosprt Tragedy; Cruel Ship's Carpenter
OTHER NAMES: "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter" "The Gosport Tragedy"
SOURCES: Ceolas; Folk Index; Traditional Ballad Index; Mudcat
Randolph 153, "Pretty Polly" (2 texts plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
BrownII 64, "The Gosport Tragedy" (3 texts plus 1 excerpt and mention of 1 more; Laws lists the "A" text as P36A, and the rest as P36B, but "D" and probably "C" are "Pretty Polly")
Brewster 64, "Pretty Polly" (1 text plus a fragment)
Leach, pp. 698-700, "The Gosport Tragedy" (2 texts, but only the second goes with this piece; the first is, obviously, "The Gosport Tragedy")
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 79, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wyman-Brockway II, p. 110, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, pp. 69-70, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 140-141, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 89, "Come, Pretty Polly" (3 texts, 1 tune)
JHCoxIIA, #17A-C, pp. 73-78, "Pretty Polly," "Come, Polly, Pretty Polly" (2 texts plus an excerpt, 2 tunes; the "A" text is the full "Cruel Ship's Carpenter" version; "B" is the short "Pretty Polly (II)"; the "C" fragment is too short to tell but has lyrics more typical of the latter)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 53-54, "" (1 text, very short even by the standards of this worn-down song)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 128-134, collectively titled "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter" but with individual titles "Pretty Polly," "Dying Polly," "Pretty Polly," "Pretty Polly," "Pretty Polly," "Oh, Polly!" (6 texts; 5 tunes on pp. 395-398; of these only the "C" text has a ghost; in "D" and "E" there is no ghost but Willie's ship sinks; these presumably should file with Laws P36, while "A," B," and "F" go here)
Lomax-FSUSA 84, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 143-144, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 227, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
NOTES: Old‑Time, Air. Paul Clayton says the song was derived from an English broadside called "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter;" in American tradition Polly is led over hills and deep valleys until finally murdered. Gerry Milnes calls it a “time-worn chestnut,” widely sung and played. Shanachie 6040, Gerry Milnes & Lorraine Lee Hammond – “Hell Up Coal Holler” (1999). Tradition Records TLP 1007, Hobart Smith ‑ "Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians" (1956).
Willie urges Polly to go riding with him "some pleasure [to] see" before they get married. Although she is "afraid of [his] ways," she comes, only to find her new-dug grave awaiting her. Willie kills and buries her and heads home (or out to sea)
This much-shortened form of "The Gosport Tragedy" has now taken on a life of its own. Although no clear line between the two can be drawn, I tend to call the piece "The Gosport Tragedy" if it includes the ghost and "Pretty Polly" if it omits.
One of Cox's texts (the C text, which also has a tune) was called by the informant "Young Beeham." There is no basis for this in the text of the song. One has to think this the result of some sort of confusion with "Young Beacham." - RBW
Many if not most American versions are probably traceable back to B. F. Shelton's recording, which was enormously (and deservedly) popular.
According to J. M. Jarrell of Wayne Co., WV, cited by J. B. Cox in "Traditional Ballads Mainly From West Virginia," in the early 19th century one Polly Aldridge was murdered by William Chapman, who was convicted and executed in Martin Co., KY, and this ballad was being sung about the killing c. 1850. -
"Pretty Polly" from Stanley Brothers:
PRETTY POLLY
(Traditional)
Oh Polly, Pretty Polly, would you take me unkind
Polly, Pretty Polly, would you take me unkind
Let me set beside you and tell you my mind
Well my mind is to marry and never to part
My mind is to marry and never to part
The first time I saw you it wounded my heart
Oh Polly Pretty Polly come go along with me
Polly Pretty Polly come go along with me
Before we get married some pleasures to see
Oh he led her over mountains and valleys so deep
He led her over hills and valleys so deep
Pretty Polly mistrusted and then began to weep
Oh Willie, Little Willie, I'm afraid to of your ways
Willie, Little Willie, I'm afraid of your ways
The way you've been rambling you'll lead me astray
Oh Polly, Pretty Polly, your guess is about right
Polly, Pretty Polly, your guess is about right
I dug on your grave the biggest part of last night
Oh she knelt down before him a pleading for her life
She knelt down before him a pleading for her life
Let me be a single girl if I can't be your wife
Oh Polly, Pretty Polly that never can be
Polly, Pretty Polly that never can be
Your past recitation's been trouble to me
He opened up her busom, as white as any snow.
He opened up her busom, as white as any snow.
He stabbed her through the heart,
and the blood did overflow.
Oh went down to the jailhouse and what did he say
He went down to the jailhouse and what did he say
I've killed Pretty Polly and trying to get away
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