Recordings & Info: 10. The Twa Sisters
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Ballad Index
3) Folk Index
4) Child Collection Index
5) Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
6) Folk Trax listing: Two Sisters
7) Wiki
8) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
9) Grateful Dead list of recordings
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) "The Twa Sisters" Going Which Way? by Parker 1951
2) The Twa Sisters: A Santal Folktale Variant by Lily Philipose 1990
3) English, Scottish and American Versions of the 'Twa Sisters' by Archer Taylor 1929
4) Roud Number 8: Twa Sisters (460 Listings)
5) Two Gaelic Variants of "The Two Sisters" - Brewster
6) A Note on the "Herb" and Other Refrains of Certain British Ballads- Gilchrist 1930
7) Bronson's 1945 article, Mrs. Brown and the Ballad (Child B is from Mrs. Brown)
8) The Two Sisters: Prolegomena to a Critical Study- Phillips Barry
9) The Psychopathology of Ballad Singing- Phillips Barry 1935
Alternative Titles:
All Bow Down,
Bow Ye Down,
I'll Be True to My Love,
Lord of the Old Country,
Sister Kate,
The Miller and the Mayor's Daughter,
The Miller's Two Daughters,
The Old Farmer in the Countree,
The Old Lord by the Northern Sea,
The Old Man of (in) the North (Old) Countree,
There Was an Old Farmer,
There Was an Old Jaynor,
(There Was an) The Old Woman (Who) Lived on the Seashore,
There Was an Old Woman Lived in the West,
The Swim Sworn Bonny,
The Two (Three) (Little) Sisters,
The Two Young Daughters,
West Countree.
The Bows of London
The Cruel Sister
Rolling a-Rolling
The Wind and Rain
The Swan Swims Bonnie
The Old Lord by the Northern Sea
Bowie, Bowerie
The Little Drownded Girl
Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom
Old Man from the North Countree
The Youngest Daughter
Minorie
The Mull Dams o' Binorrie
Miller's Daughter
The Ballad Index: Twa Sisters, The [Child 10]
DESCRIPTION: A knight woos two (three) sisters, choosing the younger. The older drowns the younger. Her body is recovered and made into an instrument by a passing miller/musician. As the knight prepares to wed the older sister, the instrument sings out the truth.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1656 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: courting murder music minstrel sister drowning
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland,England(All)) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (47 citations):
Child 10, "The Twa Sisters" (25 texts, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #79, #12, #14}
Bronson 10, "The Twa Sisters" (97 versions plus 6 in addenda)
GreigDuncan2 213, "Binorie" (19 texts, 17 tunes) {B=Bronsons's #4, E=#21, G=#16?, H=#6, I=#13, J=#5?, K=#8?, L=#11, M=#9, N=#10, P=#17, Q=#18, O=#19}
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 8-9, "Binnorie; or, The Cruel Sister" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #7}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 40-46, "The Two Sisters" (5 texts plus 2 fragments, one from the same informant as one of the texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #68}
Belden, pp. 16-24, "The Twa Sisters" (6 texts, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #38, #46, #30}
Randolph 4, "The Miller's Daughters" (8 texts, 5 tunes) {A=Bronson's #66, C=#32, E=#70, F=#94, G=#51}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 18-21, "The Miller's Daughters" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 4C) {Bronson's #32}
Ritchie-Southern, p. 57, "Bow Your Bend to Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 4, "The Twa Sisters" (1 short text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #78}
Gardner/Chickering 2, "The Two Sisters" (2 texts, 2 tunes, but the "B" text is "Peter and I Went Down the Lane") {A=Bronson's #22}
Gray, pp. 75-77, "The Twa Sisters" (1 text, plus an excerpt from Child's "B" text to pad out the story)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 209-210, "The Two Sisters" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 150-170, "The Twa Sisters" (5 English texts plus a fragment; also two variants of a Polish text plus tune and translation; 4 tunes for the English versions) {A=Bronson's #96, B=#54}
Davis-Ballads 5, "The Twa Sisters" (9 texts plus 2 fragments, 6 tunes entitled "The Old Lord of the North Country, or The Three Sisters," "The Old Woman of the North Countrie," "The Two Sisters, or Sister Kate, or The Miller annd the Mayor's Daughter," "The Two Sisters"; 2 more versions mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #25, #71, #40, #55, #27, #39}
Davis-More 6, pp. 35-50, "The Twa Sisters" (10 texts, 7 tunes)
BrownII 4, "The Two Sisters" (3 texts plus 2 fragments)
Chappell-FSRA 3, "The Two Sisters" (1 short text)
Hudson 3, p. 68, "The Two Sisters" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 164-165, "The Twa Sisters" (1 text, locally titled "The Two Sisters")
Brewster 6, "The Two Sisters" (4 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #44}
Greenleaf/Mansfield 3, "The Twa Sisters" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 179-180, "The Bonny Busk of London" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 74-78, "The Twa Sisters" (3 texts)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 150-156, "The Two Sisters"; "The Two Sisters (Wind and Rain) (2 texts, 2 tunes)
OBB 23, "Binnorie" (1 text)
Warner 98, "The Two Sisters That Loved One Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles 7, "The Twa Sisters" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Gummere, pp. 171-173+343, "The Twa Sisters" (1 text)
SharpAp 5 "The Two Sisters" (14 texts, 14 tunes) {Bronson's #91, #55, #27, #39, #74, #73, #50, #34, #45, #63, #59, #47, #65, #41}
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 6, "The Two Sisters" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite text) {Bronson's #45}
Lomax-FSNA 90, "The Two Sisters" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #67}
Hodgart, p. 32, "The Twa Sisters" (1 text)
DBuchan 3, "The Twa Sisters" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's #79}
JHCox 3, "The Twa Sisters" (3 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #43}
JHCoxIIA, #2A-B, pp. 10-13, "There Was an Old Farmer," "All Bow Down" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #69}
Ord, pp. 430-432, "The Bonnie Mill-Dams o' Binnorie"; pp. 459-460, "Hey the Rose and the Lindsay, O" (2 texts, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 3, "The Twa Sisters" (1 text plus two variant verses, 1 tune)
TBB 9, "The Twa Sisters" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 54-56, "The Twa Sisters" (1 text)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 20-24, "The Two Sisters"; "The Two Sisters (The Wind and Rain)" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
LPound-ABS, 4, pp. 11-12, "The Two Sisters"; pp. 12-13, "The Old Man in the North Countree" (2 texts)
Darling-NAS, pp. 56-59, "The Two Sisters"; "Rollin' a-Rollin'"; "Wind and Rain" (3 texts)
Silber-FSWB, p. 224, "The Two Sisters" (1 text)
DT 10, BINNORI* TWOSIS* TWOSIS5* WINDRAIN* SWANSWIM* TWOSIS8 TWOSIS9 TWOSI10 TWOSS11
ADDITIONAL: ADDITIONAL: Emily Lyle, _Fairies and Folk: Approaches to the Scottish Ballad Tradition_, Wissenschaflicher Verlag Trier, 2007, p. 220, [no title] (1 tune, previously unpublished, for Child's "Q" text)
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #427, "The Twa Sisters" (1 text)
Roud #8
RECORDINGS:
Horton Barker, "The Two Sisters" (AAFS 33); "Bow and Balance" (on Barker01) {Bronson's #67}
Anita Best and Pamela Morgan, "The Two Sisters" (on NFABestPMorgan01)
Loman D. Cansler, "The Two Sisters" (on Cansler1)
Lula Curry, "The Squire's Daughter" (on JThomas01)
Bradley Kincaid, "The Two Sisters" (Supertone 9212, 1928)
Jean Ritchie, "The Two Sisters" (AFS; on LC57); "There Lived an Old Lord" (on JRitchie02)
Kilby Snow, "Wind and Rain" (on KSnow1)
Lucy Stewart, "The Swan Swims So Bonnie O" (on LStewart1)
John Strachan, "The Twa Sisters" (on FSB4)
John Strachan, Dorothy Fourbister, Ethel Findlater [composite] "The Twa Sisters" (on FSBBAL1) {cf. Bronson's #16.2 in addenda}
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "An Sgeir-Mhara (The Sea-Tangle, The Jealous Woman)" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Bows of London
The Cruel Sister
Rolling a-Rolling
The Wind and Rain
The Swan Swims Bonnie
The Old Lord by the Northern Sea
Bowie, Bowerie
The Little Drownded Girl
Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom
Old Man from the North Countree
The Youngest Daughter
Minorie
The Mull Dams o' Binorrie
NOTES: The refrains sung with this ballad vary tremendously, but virtually all versions have a refrain of some sort. - PJS
And generally a lyrically attractive one ("the swan swims bonnie," etc.), as has been pointed out by several scholars. I wonder if there isn't something about this ballad that encourages variation; Jean Ritchie reports that, even though they presumably learned the song from the same source, her family had twelve distinct versions. - RBW
The Kilby Snow recording is an unusual one; it contains every element of, "The Twa Sisters" except the sisters; the murderer in this case is the girl's lover. Snow reconstructed the song from early childhood memories of his grandfather (a Cherokee) singing it, though, so it may have diverged at that point. - PJS [Dan Tate's and another West Virgina version independently confirm this as an established variant. See note on Shakespeare: US and Canadian Versions]
Compare the first verse lines of Child 10.H to Opie-Oxford2 479, "There were three sisters in a hall" (earliest date in Opie-Oxford2 is c.1630)
Child 10.H: "There were three sisters lived in a hall, ... And there came a lord to court them all...."
Opie-Oxford2 479 is a riddle beginning "There were three sisters in a hall, There came a knight amongst them all ...." - BS
This item is also found as Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #702, p. 275, but this appears to be simply a greeting rhyme unrelated to the various rather murderous ballads (notably Child 10 and 11) using these lines. - RBW
Folk Index (Keefer) Twa Sisters [Ch 10/Me I-A 2]
US - Two Sisters
-----The Two Sisters [Ch 10/Sh 5/Me I-A 2]
Rt - Wind and Rain; Rollin' A-Rollin; Bow and Balance (to Me); Peter and I; Cruel Sister; Swan Swims So Bonnie O
At - Miller's Two Daughters; Sister Kate; Miller and the Mayor's Daughter; Old Man of the North Country/Countree; Old Woman of the North Countree
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p161 [1650s] (Twa Sisters)
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p163 (Twa Sisters)
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p165 [1860s]
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p166 [1920s]
Wells, Evelyn Kendrick (ed.) / The Ballad Tree, Ronald, Bk (1950), p149
Sing Together. A Girl Scout Songbook, Girl Scouts, Sof (1957/1949), p 44 (Farmer's Daughter)
Luboff, Norman; and Win Stracke (eds.) / Songs of Man, Prentice-Hall, Bk (1966), p216
Richardson, Ethel Park / American Mountain Songs, Greenberg, Bk (1927/1955), p 27
Leisy, James F. (ed.) / Folk Song Abecedary, Bonanza, Bk (1966), p330
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p 74 (Twa Sisters)
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p 76
Leach, MacEdward / The Heritage Book of Ballads, Heritage, Bk (1967), p 11
Armstrong, Frankie. Lovely on the Water, Topic 12TS 216, LP (1972), trk# B.06
Barker, Horton. Anglo American Ballads, Vol. 2, Rounder 1516, CD (1999), trk# 5 [1939/04]
Barker, Horton. Lomax, Alan / Folk Songs of North America, Doubleday Dolphin, Sof (1975/1960), p184/# 90 [1939]
Barnett, Wally/Wallie. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p 21/# 3B [1915] (Miller's Two Daughters)
Batten, Wesley. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 27/# 5B [1916/09/22]
Bender, Louise M.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 55/# 4D [1934/04/20] (Two Young Daughters)
Blackard, Joe (Blackett, Joe). Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 34/# 5K [1918/08/28]
Carlisle, Irene. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 59/# 4F [1941/10/26] (Miller's Daughter)
Chisholm, Louisa. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 28/# 5C [1916/11/23]
Clannad. Dulaman, Shanachie 79008, LP (1979), trk# A.03
Coe, Pete. It's a Mean Old Scene, B.A.S.H 39, LP (1985), trk# B.02 (Down by the Waters Rolling)
Combs, Jenny L.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 35/# 5N [1917/05/30]
Compton, Dan; and Mick Doherty. Ways of the World, Doherty, Compton, Einh.. --, Cas (1982), trk# A.02a
Cooke, Dixie. Cox, John Harrington(ed.) / Traditional Ballads Mainly from West Virgini, WPA, Bk (1939), 2B [1926] (All Bow Down)
Coombs, Elsie. Sharp, Cecil & Maude Karpeles (eds.) / Eighty English Folk Songs from th, MIT Press, Sof (1968), p 26 [1917ca]
Coombs, Elsie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 33/# 5I [1917/09/20]
Cowgill, A. C.. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p521/# 3 [1916ca] (Miller's Two Daughters)
Creighton, Mildred. McNeil, W. K. (ed.) / Southern Folk Ballads, Vol 2, August House, Sof (1988), p150 [1962]
Creighton, Mildred. Abrahams, Roger; & George Foss / Anglo-American Folksong Style, Prentice-Hall, Sof (1968), 2-5 [1962]
Deeton, Mrs. Clercy. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 30/# 5E [1918/09/19]
Drain, Dellie. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 63/# 4H [1942/03/14] (Three Old Maids on a Sauce
Fitzgerald, Florence. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 33/# 5J [1928/04/25]
Franklin, Mrs.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 34/# 5L [1917/05/07]
Fugate, Doanie. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p 47/N 7A [1933/08] (Old Lord by the Northern Sea)
Galloway, G. W.. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p 20/# 6B [1940s]
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Pound, Louise (ed.) / American Ballads and Songs, Scribner, Sof (1972/1922), p 11/# 4A [1916]
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 26/# 5A [1916/09/11]
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Smith, Betty N. / Jane Hicks Gentry. A Singer Among Singers, U. Ky, Sof (1998), p141/# 2 [1916/09/11]
Gooding, Cynthia. Queen of Hearts, Elektra EKL 131, LP (1953), trk# A.04 (Twa Sisters)
Goodhue, F. M.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 50/# 4A [1930/06/29] (Miller's Daughter)
Grey, Sara. Sara Grey, Folk Legacy FSI 038, LP (1970), trk# A.02
Griffin, Mrs. G. A.. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p243/#147A [1937] (Down by the Waters Rolling)
Hall, Rosie. Thomas, Jean & Joseph Leeder / Singin' Gatherin', Silver Burdette, Bk (1939), p57 (Twa Sisters)
Hamricks Family. Cox, John Harrington(ed.) / Traditional Ballads Mainly from West Virgini, WPA, Bk (1939), 2A [1925] (There Was an Old Farmer)
Henry, Violet. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 31/# 5G [1917/05/21]
Hood, Mrs. John. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p 20/# 3A [1915/10] (Miller's Two Daughters)
Hughes, Delie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 35/# 5M [1918/10/09]
Ingenthron, Charles. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 57/# 4E [1941/09/04] (Old Man in the Old C
Ingenthron, Charles. Ozark Folksongs, Rounder 1108, CD (2001), trk# 2 [1941/09/04] (Old Man in the Old Country)
Justis, Violet Savory. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 52/# 4B [1930/07/09] (There Was an Old
Knuckles, Delie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 31/# 5F [1917/05/18]
Lovingood, Charity. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p164 [1930ca]
McCord, May Kennedy. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 60/# 4G [1941/11/12] (Miller's Daughter)
McCurdy, Ed. O Love Is Teasin', Elektra 60402-1-U, LP (1957), trk# 1.02
Mitchell, Effie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 32/# 5H [1918/09/27]
Mitchell, Howie. Mountain Dulcimer - How to Make It and Play It, Folk Legacy FSI 029, LP (1965), trk# B.03b
Murray, Marie. Hubbard, Lester A. / Ballads and Songs from Utah, Univ. of Utah, Bk (1961), p 5/# 2 [1947/07/22]
Niles, John Jacob. American Folk and Gambling Songs, Camden CaL 219, LP (1956), trk# A.01 (Old Lord by the Northern Sea)
Presnell, Lee Monroe ("Uncle Monroe"). Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, NC, Vol I, Folk Legacy FSA 022, LP (1964), trk# 7 [1961/10ca]
Prusser, Bert. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 53/# 4C [1933/05/03] (Miller's Daughter)
Seeger, Peggy. American Folksongs for Banjo, Folk Lyric FL 114, LP (195?), trk# B.03
Seeger, Peggy. American Folk-Blues Train, Castle Music CMETD 648, CD( (2003/1957), trk# 3.13
Shatzel, Thelma. Thompson, Harold W.(ed.) / Body, Boots & Britches, Dover, Bk (1962/1939), p393 [1930s] (Twa Sisters)
Sineath, Mrs. F.. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p246/#147C [1936]
Sistrunk, Martha L.. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p245/#147B [1936] (Two Little Sisters)
Sorrels, Rosalie. Rosalie's Songbag, Prestige International INT 13025, LP (196?), trk# 5
Stekert, Ellen. Songs of a New York Lumberjack, Folkways FA 2354, LP (1958), trk# A.04
Strachan, John. Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 4. The Child Ballads, I, Caedmon TC 1145, LP (1961), trk# A.04 [1950s] (Twa Sisters)
Townsend, O. S.. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p 19/# 6A [1940s] (Twin Sisters)
Walton, Nuel. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 29/# 5D [1916/09/26]
-----Two Sisters of Binnorie
Dyer-Bennet, Richard. Richard Dyer-Bennet 9, Dyer-Bennet 9000, LP (1960), trk# 2
-----The Wind and Rain [Ch 10]
Rt - Twin Sisters ; Two Sisters
Armstrong Family. Wheel of the Year. Thirty Years with the Armstrong Family, Flying Fish FF-70 594, CD/ (1992), trk# 19
Armstrong, George and Gerry. Simple Gifts, Folkways FW 2335, LP (1961), trk# B.09 (Wind and the Rain)
Beers, Evelyne Anderson. Gentle Art, Prestige International INT 13053, LP (196?), trk# A.06
Garcia, Jerry; and David Grisman. Shady Grove, Acoustic Disc ACD 21, CD (1996), trk# 9 (Dreadful Wind and Rain)
Red Clay Ramblers. Stolen Love, Flying Fish FF 009, LP (1975), trk# 10
Red Clay Ramblers. Hard Times, Flying Fish FF 246, LP (1981), trk# 2
Round Town Girls. Round One, Topaz TLS-1228, LP (198?), trk# A.06
Snow, Kilby. 1st Annual Brandywine Mountain Music Convention, Heritage (Galax) 006, LP (1975), trk# 2
Stecher, Jody. Going Up on the Mountain, Bay 210, LP (1977), trk# B.02 (Oh, the Wind and the Rain)
Tate, Dan. McNeil, W. K. (ed.) / Southern Folk Ballads, Vol 2, August House, Sof (1988), p154 [1962] (Two Sisters)
Tate, Dan. Abrahams, Roger; & George Foss / Anglo-American Folksong Style, Prentice-Hall, Sof (1968), 2-6 [1962]
Warner, Jeff; and Jeff Davis. Days of Forty Nine, Minstrel JD 206, LP (1977), trk# B.01 (Wind and the Rain)
Williams Family. All in the Family, Arkansas Traditions 004, LP (1986), trk# A.04
--------Twin Sisters [Ch 10/Sh 5/Me I-A 2]
Uf - Wind and Rain ; Two Sisters
Rm - Farewell to Whiskey
Brigham, Harry E.. Linscott, Eloise Hubbard (ed.) / Folk Songs of Old New England, Dover, Bk (1993/1939), p115 [1920-30s]
------Rollin' A-Rollin [Ch 10]
Rt - Two Sisters
Golden Ring. Golden Ring. A Gathering of Friends for Making Music, Folk Legacy FSI 016, LP (1964), trk# 9
Roth, Kevin. High on a Mountain, Folk Tradition R 003(103), LP (1983), trk# A.01
----------Bow and Balance (to Me) [Ch 10/Me I-A 2]
Rt - Two Sisters ; Binnorie [o Binnorie]
Barker, Horton. Asch, Moses (ed.) / 124 Folk Songs as Sung and Recorded on Folkways Reco, Robbins, fol (1965), p 27 [1961]
Dyer-Bennet, Richard. Richard Dyer-Bennet 6; Songs with Young People in Mind, Smithsonian/Folkways SFW 45053, CD (Smi1), trk# 9 (Bow Down)
Marks, Phyllis. Folksongs and Ballads, Vol 2. Phyllis Marks, Augusta Heritage AHR 008, Cas (1991), trk# 1.11
-----Binnorie [o Binnorie] [Ch 10]
Rt - Bow and Balance (to Me)
Dyer-Bennet, Richard. Folk Songs, Remington RLP-199-34, LP (1951), trk# B.05
Strachan, John. Songs from Aberdeenshire, Rounder 1835, CD (2002), trk# 9 [1951/07/16]
--------Peter and I [Ch 10]
Rt - Two Sisters
Cook, Judy. Far from the Lowlands, Cook CEI-JC02-0005, CD (2000), trk# 7
-------Cruel Sister [Ch 10]
Rt - Lord By the Northern Sea ; Milldams of Binorie ; Two Sisters
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p 77
Armstrong Family. Wheel of the Year. Thirty Years with the Armstrong Family, Flying Fish FF-70 594, CD/ (1992), trk# 21 (Lay the Bent (to the Bonny Broom))
Hellman, Neal. Hellman, Neal; and Sally Holden / Life Is Like a Mountain Dulcimer, TRO, sof (1974), p42
Highwater String Band. 1977 Northwest Folklife Festival, Voyager VRLP 101, LP (1977), trk# 6
Pentangle. Cruel Sister, Reprise RS 6430, LP (1970), trk# A.04
---------Swan Swims So Bonnie O [Ch 10]
Rt - Two Sisters
McMorland, Alison. Belt wi' Colours Three. Scots Songs and Ballads, Tangent TGS 125, LP (1977), trk# A.05 (Swan Swims Sae Bonny O)
McMorland, Alison. Cloudberry Day, Living Tradition LTCD 1003, CD (2000), trk# 5 (Swan Swims Sae Bonny O)
Stewart, Lucy. Traditional Singer from Aberdeen. Vol. 1 - Child Ballads, Greentrax CTrax 031, Cas (Gre5), trk# B.05
The Child Collection (Recordings/Sources)
Æ Wind and Rain Æ 2009
Aes Dana Two Sisters Far Coasts .. & Lost Tracks 2008
Alasdair Roberts & Friends The Two Sisters Too Long in This Condition 2010 5:35 Yes
Alastair McDonald The Jealous Sister (Minorie) Oor Ally's Red Yoyo - and Other Songs for the Young (Of All Ages) 2005
Alex Robb Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
Alex Troup Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
Alison McMorland Swan Swims Sae Bonny O Belt Wi' Colours Three - Scots Songs and Ballads 1977
Alison McMorland The Twa Sisters (The Swan Swims Sae Bonnie) Cloudberry Day - Scots Songs & Ballads 2000 7:51 Yes
Altan The Wind and Rain Live at the Coliseum Theatre, Aberdare, Wales 2006 5:48 Yes
Altan The Wind and Rain Local Ground 2005 4:03 Yes
Alyce Ornella Two Sisters <website> 2007 1:00 Yes
Amos Eaton Two Sisters The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
010 Amps for Christ The Cruel Sister Circuits 1999 4:33 Yes
010 Anastassia Papisova [Meldis] Cruel Sister <website> 2005 4:15 Yes
010 Andrew Bird Two Sisters Music of Hair 1996 4:17 Yes
010 Andrew Calhoun The Two Sisters Telfer's Cows: Folk Ballads from Scotland 2003 4:36 Yes
010 Andrew Rowan Summers The Two Sisters The Faulse Lady 1954 No
010 Anita Best & Pamela Morgan The Two Sisters The Colour of Amber 1991 4:34 Yes
010 Anne Price Two Sisters Hearth & Fire 1997 6:51 Yes
010 Anne Wylie The Swans Swim Bonnie Tir Na nOg 1994 3:47 Yes
010 Any Old Time The Wind and Rain Any Old Time 1982 3:27 Yes
010 Aoife Clancy Two Sisters Soldiers and Dreams 1997 4:04 Yes
010 Ars Ultima De Två Systrarna Den Yttersta Konsten 2004 5:23 Yes
010 Artus Moser The Two Sisters North Carolina Ballads 1955 3:21 Yes
010 Asonance Harfa (The Twa Sisters) Live - Scottish and Irish Folk Songs and Ballads 1998 4:51 Yes
010 Asonance Harfa (The Twa Sisters) Dva Havrani 1995 5:05 Yes
010 Asonance Harfa (The Twa Sisters) Asonance 1 & 2 - Dva Havrani + Duse Mé Lásky 1995 3:33 Yes
010 Atwater-Donnelly Two Sisters And Then I'm Going Home: Atwater-Donnelly Live 2001 10:08 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis Binnorie Harpa 1997 4:44 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis De Talende Strænge Harpa 1997 3:48 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis De to Søstre Harpa 1997 4:28 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis De Två Systrarne Harpa 1997 2:10 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis Den Underbara Fiolen Harpa 1997 5:39 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis Ei Gåmol Vise Harpa 1997 4:22 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis Gullharpa Harpa 1997 3:07 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis Harpan Harpa 1997 4:20 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis Hòrpeslåtten Harpa 1997 2:31 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis Hørpu Ríma Harpa 1997 3:41 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis Kvæði Um Tvær Systur Harpa 1997 5:14 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis Søstrene Harpa 1997 2:20 Yes
010 Aurora Borealis The Miller and the King's Daughter Harpa 1997 3:28 Yes
010 Bagad de Lann-Bihoué Two Sisters 1952-1992 - 40e Anniversaire 1992 2:06 Yes
010 Banquo Two Sisters/The Banshee Reel Live at the Belfry Arts Centre 2000 4:46 Yes
010 Bären Gässlin Zwei Schwestern Mythomania - Von Hexen, Feen, Wassermännern, Zauberern Und Geistern 1999 6:03 Yes
010 Bascom Lamar Lunsford The Old Man from the North Country Minstrel of the Appalachians and His Banjo [Appalachian Minstrel] 1956 2:50 Yes
010 Bedlam The Cruel Sister Bedlam 1999
No
010 Bedlam Bards Wind and Rain Furious Fancies 2006
No
010 Bell Duncan Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 Bergtatt Harpa Røtter 2009 5:27 Yes
010 Bert Jansch, Jacqui McShee & Peter Kirtley Cruel Sister The Loft, Tokyo, Japan 11-05-95 1995 5:51 Yes
010 Betsy McGovern The Two Sisters Trad, Bad and Dangerous 1994 5:30 Yes
010 Betsy Whyte The Twa Sisters Scottish Tradition 5: The Muckle Sangs - Classic Scottish Ballads 1992 3:59 Yes
010 Beulah Greer The Two Sisters Ben Gray Lumpkin Digital Folk Music Collection 1950-1970 1:29 Yes
010 Bird Microphone The Two Sisters Memory Days 2007
No
010 Birgitte Grimstad Two Sisters Ord Over Grind, 51 Beste 1966-1994 1994
No
010 Bob Dylan Two Sisters (incomplete) Karen Wallace's Apartment, St. Paul, Mn, May 1960 1960 2:11 Yes
010 Bob Mills The Two Sisters Whatever Happened? 1997 3:24 Yes
010 Boogertown Gap Two Sisters Smoky Mountain Ballads [Boogertown Gap] 2010
No
010 Brian McNeill & Iain MacKintosh The Wind and Rain Live & Kicking 1999 3:16 Yes
010 Brian McNeill & Iain MacKintosh The Wind and Rain Stage By Stage 1995 3:27 Yes
010 Brian Peters Two Sisters Different Tongues 2003 7:23 Yes
010 Bruce Piephoff Two Sisters Deep River Anthology 1999
No
010 Calliope House The Cruel Sister Within the Fire 2007 5:36 Yes
010 Cammi Vaughan The Twa Sisters Lass of Roch Royal 2005
No
010 Cari Norris Two Sisters Live at the Berea College Celebration of Traditional Music 1982-1997 6:27 Yes
010 Carl Peterson The Twa Sisters Drifting with Michener 2006
No
010 Carl Peterson & The Drambeauties The Prickly Bush Playing Nice Together 2007
No
010 Celtibillies Wind and Rain Come Dance & Sing 2003
No
010 Ceoltoiri The Cruel Sister Women of Ireland 1998 6:49 Yes
010 Charles Ingenthron The Old Man in the Old Country Ozark Folksongs 2001 3:54 Yes
010 Charlie Engle Wind and Rain Out of the Groove 2006 5:29 Yes
010 Charlotte Greig & Johan Asherton Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom John Barleycorn Reborn - Dark Britannica 2007 6:55 Yes
010 Cilla Fisher & Artie Trezise Binnorie O Live at De Zon Folkclub, November 27, 1976 1976 5:23 Yes
010 Clandestine The Cruel Sister The Haunting 1997 5:52 Yes
010 Clannad Two Sisters Dúlamán 1976 4:13 Yes
010 Clannad Two Sisters An Díolaim 1998 4:13 Yes
010 Clannad Two Sisters Naciones Celtas I 1997 4:09 Yes
010 Clannad Two Sisters The Celtic Voice 2000
No
010 Clannad Two Sisters Beginner's Guide to Folk Music 2003
No
010 Clannad Two Sisters The Ultimate Collection 1997
No
010 Clannad Two Sisters Beginnings - The Best of the Early Years 2008 4:08 Yes
010 Claus-Conrad Zieme Intro Cruel Sister Spiral Patterns 1997
No
010 Cloudstreet Two Sisters Swallow the Concertina 2000 4:01 No
010 Crooked Still Wind and Rain Shaken By a Low Sound 2006 3:46 Yes
010 Crooked Still Wind and Rain Shrewsbury Folk Festival 2007 2007 7:04 Yes
010 Crooked Still Wind and Rain Crooked Still Live 2008
No
010 Custer LaRue & The Baltimore Consort Binnorie (The Twa Sisters) Custer LaRue Sings The Daemon Lover - Traditional Ballads & Songs of England, Scotland & America 1993 8:36 Yes
010 Cynthia Gooding The Twa Sisters Queen of Hearts - Early English Folk Songs 1953 6:49 Yes
010 Dalla Three Sisters + Wheag Ha Teag More Salt! 2006 4:11 Yes
010 Dan Dutton The Two Sisters A Murder of Crows 2004 6:38 Yes
010 Dan Evans Cruel Sister + The Autumn Dance Autumn Dance 2002 2:50 Yes
010 Dan Keding The Two Sisters A Man of Simple Pleasures 1986 4:05 Yes
010 Dan Tate The Wind and the Rain Crazy About a Song - Old-Time Ballad Singers and Musicians from Virginia and North Carolina 1992
No
010 Dan Tate The Wind and the Rain Far in the Mountains, Vol. 1 & 2 - Songs, Tunes and Stories from Mike Yates' Appalachian Collections 1979-1983 2002 1:49 Yes
010 Dan Tate Wind and Rain (The Two Sisters) Virginia Traditions - Ballads from British Tradition 1993 1:58 Yes
010 Dave Arthur, Pete Cooper & Chris Moreton The Two Sisters Return Journey - Old Time Ballads & Tunes from the British Isles & America 2003
No
010 David & M Roach The Two Sisters + The Squirrel Hunter + Ducks in a Row Ducks in a Row - Ballads & Dance Tunes from Ireland, Scotland and America 2003
No
010 David Edwards Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 Deirdre Starr Wind and Rain By the Way … 2007
No
010 Det Syng! Horpa Ballader På Vandring 1996 3:00 Yes
010 Dillon Bustin Two Sisters/The Girl I Left Behind Sweet Chariot Music Festival - Volume I 2001 9:18 Yes
010 Dorothy Carter Troubadour Song + Binnorie Troubadour 1976
Yes
010 Eamon's Daughter Two Sisters Buyfang 2004 4:11 Yes
010 Ed McCurdy The Two Sisters A Treasure Chest of American Folk Song 1961 5:00 Yes
010 Ed McCurdy The Two Sisters O Love Is Teasin' - Anglo-American Mountain Balladry 1985 4:57 Yes
010 Edith Ballinger Price Two Sisters The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection
No
010 Ekova Cruel Sister Space Lullabies and Other Fantasmagore 2000 12:34 Yes
010 Elizabeth Stewart Binnorrie Binnorie: Songs, Ballads and Tunes 2005
No
010 Ellen Stekert The Two Sisters Songs of a New York Lumberjack 1958
No
010 Elspeth Cowie Twa Sisters Naked Voice 2000 4:42 Yes
010 Emily Portman Two Sisters The Glamoury 2010 6:22 Yes
010 Ester Sjöberg De Två Systrarna Den Medeltida Balladen (The Medieval Ballad) - Folk Songs in Sweden 1995 2:41 Yes
010 Esther Halpern Two Sisters Esther Halpern Sings from the Gilded Cage 1962 3:19 Yes
010 Ethel Findlater The Bonnie Miller Laddie O' Binnorie BBC Recordings
No
010 Ethel Findlater The Two Sisters O' Binorie The Lover's Stone 1975
No
010 Eunice McAlexander Two Sisters The Ferrum College Collection 1976-1977 3:03 Yes
010 Eunice Yeatts McAlexander The Cruel Sister Crazy About a Song - Old-Time Ballad Singers and Musicians from Virginia and North Carolina 1992
No
010 Eunice Yeatts McAlexander The Cruel Sister Far in the Mountains, Vol. 1 & 2 - Songs, Tunes and Stories from Mike Yates' Appalachian Collections 1979-1983 2002 2:56 Yes
010 Evelyne Beers Wind and Rain The Gentle Art 1972
No
010 Ewan MacColl Minorie A Prospect of Scotland - Topic Sampler 5 1968
No
010 Ewan MacColl Minorie The Real MacColl 1993 3:06 Yes
010 Ewan MacColl Minorie Chorus from the Gallows 1999 3:05 Yes
010 Ewan MacColl Minorie (The Twa Sisters) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 1 1956
No
010 Ewan MacColl Minorie (The Twa Sisters) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 1 [Reissue] 196?
No
010 Ewan MacColl Minorie [Scots] The Long Harvest, Vol. 1 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 3:11 Yes
010 Ewan MacColl The Swan Swims Sae Bonnie [Scots] The Long Harvest, Vol. 1 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 4:47 Yes
010 FiddleSticks The Three Sisters Time and Again 2001 2:12 Yes
010 FiddleSticks Three Sisters Sampler 1998
No
010 FinTan Bonnie Broom Beó 2006 7:50 Yes
010 FinTan Bonny Broom Hooked - Live 2010
No
010 Folk & Rackare De Två Systrarna Folk Och Rackare 1976 4:57 Yes
010 Folk & Rackare De Två Systrarna Folk & Rackare 1976 - 1985 1996 4:57 Yes
010 Folkdove The Wind and the Rain Folkdove 1975 2:30 Yes
010 Folque Harpa Folque 1974 4:53 Yes
010 Frankie Armstrong The Two Sisters Lovely on the Water - Traditional Songs and Ballads 2000 5:00 Yes
010 Fred Smith The Miller's Daughter The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection
3:17 Yes
010 Freya Abbott Ferguson Two Sisters Get Well Soon 2011
No
010 Fugli The Wind and the Rain Shakespeare: All the Thrills Without the Frills 2007
No
010 Gail Williams Wind and Rain Women of a Certain Age - Songs from the American Tradition 2004
No
010 Garibelon Cruel Sister <website> 2007 6:49 Yes
010 George & Gerry Armstrong The Wind and the Rain Simple Gifts 1961 1:43 Yes
010 George Fradley The Two Sisters One of the Best - Songs from Derbyshire 1987
No
010 George Fradley The Two Sisters Down in the Fields - an Anthology of Traditional Folk Music from Rural England 2001
No
010 Gillian Welch, David Rawlings & David Steele Wind and Rain Songcatcher 2001 3:23 Yes
010 Gillian Welch, David Rawlings & David Steele Wind and Rain O Sister Where Art Thou? 2002 3:21 Yes
010 Giordano Dall'Armellina Cruel Sister Ballate Europee Del Tempo Che Fu - Old Time Ballads from Europe 2001 4:33 Yes
010 Gjallarhorn Systrarna (The Sisters) Rimfaxe (Rimemane) 2006 6:13 Yes
010 Glengarry Bhoys Bonnie Broom Juice 2002 5:51 Yes
010 Golden Ring Rollin' A-Rollin' Golden Ring - A Gathering of Friends for Making Music 1964 5:03 Yes
010 Grace Notes Two Sisters Anchored to the Time 2001 3:03 Yes
010 Gunhild Tømmås Horpa Nu Vil Jeg Blott Fortelle (Now I Just Want to Tell) 2000 9:10 Yes
010 Gypsy Reel Two Sisters Live from Vermont 2000 4:36 Yes
010 Hamfist Oh the Wind and the Rain Hamfist @ J State 10-17-06 2006 3:56 Yes
010 Hanita Blair The Two Sisters Minstrel 1992 3:55 Yes
010 Hanz Araki Wind & Rain Wind and Rain 2010
No
010 Hen Party The Wind and the Rain Nobody Here But Us.. 1998
No
010 Henri's Notions Two Sisters The Homecoming 1996
No
010 Hermes Nye Binnorie - The Cruel Sister Ballads Reliques - Early English Ballads from the Percy and Child Collections 1957 3:22 Yes
010 Hilary James Two Sisters Burning Sun 1993 6:15 Yes
010 Horton Barker Bow and Balance Traditional Singer 1962 5:12 Yes
010 Horton Barker The Two Sisters The Library of Congress - Archive of Folk Culture: Anglo-American Ballads, Vol. 2 1999 4:51 Yes
010 In Extremo Twe Søstra/Harpa Hameln 1998 2:40 Yes
010 In Extremo Two Søstra Weckt Die Toten! 1998 2:32 Yes
010 Ingebjørg Liestøl Dei Tvo Systane Folkemusikk Frå Agder - Folk Music from Agder - 2 1995 1:52 Yes
010 Jack Beck The Twa Sisters Half Ower, Half Ower Tae Aberdour - Scots Songs & Ballads 2001 4:04 Yes
010 Jacqui McShee's Pentangle Cruel Sister At the Little Theatre 2000 8:08 Yes
010 Jacqui McShee's Pentangle Cruel Sister In Concert 2008
No
010 Janice Buckner Cruel Sister Renaissance Songs & Ballads 2010
No
010 Jean Jenkins The Man in the North Country The Wife of Usher's Well - Mountain Ballads 1976
No
010 Jean Ritchie The Two Sisters Child Ballads Traditional in the United States, Vol. I 1960 4:56 Yes
010 Jean Ritchie There Lived an Old Lord British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains - Child Ballads, Vol 2 1961 5:18 Yes
010 Jean Ritchie There Lived an Old Lord Ballads from Her Appalachian Family Tradition 2003 5:29 Yes
010 Jean, Edna, Pauline & Kitty Ritchie Twa Sisters The Mary Elizabeth Barnicle-Tillman Cadle Collection
No
010 Jeff Warner & Jeff Davis The Wind and the Rain Days of Forty-Nine 1977
No
010 Jennifer Clarke The Two Sisters Prairie Celt 2004 3:18 Yes
010 Jerry Garcia & David Grisman Dreadful Wind and Rain Shady Grove 1996 4:49 Yes
010 Jerry Garcia & David Grisman Wind and Rain Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA 12-08-91 2001 5:26 Yes
010 Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band Oh, the Dreadful Wind and Rain Almost Acoustic 1998 4:39 Yes
010 Jill Trinka The Wind & Rain Bought Me a Cat and Other Folk Songs, Singing Games, & Play Parties - 2 1995
No
010 Jim Bouchard Wind and Rain 'Toots' Rambles 1996 4:20 Yes
010 Jim Eldon There Was an Old Man in the North Country (The Two Sisters) Steve Gardham Collection 1970-1982 1:26 Yes
010 Jim Malcolm Cruel Sister Resonance 2000 6:27 Yes
010 Jim Moray Two Sisters Sweet England 2003 7:30 Yes
010 Jim Pipkin Two Sisters Fruit of the Yew 2007
No
010 Jim Ruch The Dreadful Wind and Rain <website> 2006 3:04 Yes
010 Jimmy Whyte The Swan Swims so Bonnie Hamish Henderson Collects - Songs, Ballads and a Story from the School of Scottish Studies Archives - Vol. 2 2006 8:07 Yes
010 Jock Duncan Bonnie Mill Dams O' Binnorie The Bothy Songs and Ballads of North East Scotland - Vol.1 1999
No
010 Jody Stecher Oh the Wind and Rain Oh the Wind and Rain - Eleven Ballads 1999 8:51 Yes
010 Jody Stecher Oh, the Wind and the Rain Going Up on the Mountain - The Classic First Recordings 2000 3:51 Yes
010 Joe Jewell & Featherstone The Three Ravens Irish Taters in Ozark Land 1998
No
010 John Jacob Niles Bowie, Bowerie The Ballads of John Jacob Niles 1960 3:09 Yes
010 John Jacob Niles The Two Sisters American Folk and Gambling Songs 1956 5:40 Yes
010 John McCormick Wind and Rain The Farthest Field 2005
No
010 John Rutter & The Cambridge Singers Hey, Ho, the Wind and the Rain Feel the Spirit & Birthday Madrigals 2001
No
010 John Strachan Binnorie, O Binnorie Songs from Aberdeenshire 2002 1:46 Yes
010 John Strachan Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 John Strachan The Twa Sisters (Binnorie) The Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 4: The Child Ballads 1 1961 1:44 Yes
010 John Strachan The Two Sisters BBC Recordings
No
010 John Strachan The Two Sisters O' Binorie Glenlogie - The Classic Ballads 1975
No
010 John Strachan + Dorothy Fourbister + Ethel Findlater The Twa Sisters Classic Ballads of Britain & Ireland - Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales, Vol 1 2000 2:34 Yes
010 John Strachan + Dorothy Fourbister + Ethel Findlater The Two Sisters The Elfin Knight - The Classic Ballads 1 1976
No
010 Johnny Collins Wind and the Rain Free & Easy 1982 3:13 Yes
010 Judy Cook Peter and I Far from the Lowlands 2000 1:56 Yes
010 Julie Fowlis & Eddi Reader Wind and Rain Uam - From Me 2009 3:45 Yes
010 Julie Murphy Two Sisters Black Mountains Revisited 1999 6:06 Yes
010 June Tabor The Wind and Rain + The Falls of Richmond Always 2005 4:49 Yes
010 Kalenda Maya De Två Systrarna Norske Middelalderballader - Norse Ballads 1989 2:31 Yes
010 Kate Fletcher Cruel Sister Fruit 2007
No
010 Kate MacLeod & Kat Eggleston The Two Sisters Drawn from the Well 2002 4:01 Yes
010 Kerfuffle Two Sisters To the Ground 2008 3:42 Yes
010 Kerstin Blodig Horpa Valivann - Rhythmic Ballads from Both Sides of the North Sea 2002 4:05 Yes
010 Kerstin Blodig The Cruel Sister Valivann - Rhythmic Ballads from Both Sides of the North Sea 2002 4:45 Yes
010 Kevin Roth Rollin' A-Rollin High on a Mountain - A Dulcimer Solo Album 1983
No
010 Kilby Snow Wind and Rain Country Songs and Tunes with Autoharp 1969 3:08 Yes
010 Kilby Snow Wind and Rain 1st Annual Brandywine Mountain Music Convention 1975
No
010 Kilby Snow The Wind and Rain Kilby Snow - From the Collection of the Brandwine Friends of Old Time Music 2006
No
010 Kilby Snow Wind and Rain The Brandywine Mountain Music Convention - A Twenty Year Legacy of Old Time Music 2000
No
010 Kong Lavring Dei Tvo Systrar Kong Lavring 1977 5:57 Yes
010 Lalla Rookh Two Sisters Would You Like Kilts with That? 1999 3:58 Yes
010 Laura Boosinger The Wind and Rain Sing It Yourself 1996
No
010 Lee Monroe Presnell The Two Sisters The Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, North Carolina, Vol. I 1964
No
010 Lee Monroe Presnell The Two Sisters That Loved One Man The Warner Collection, Vol. 2 - Nothing Seems Better to Me: The Music of Frank Proffitt and North Carolina 2001 4:08 Yes
010 Lee Monroe Presnell Two Sisters That Loved One Man The House Carpenter 1987
No
010 Lena Larsson De Två Systrarna Den Medeltida Balladen (The Medieval Ballad) - Folk Songs in Sweden 1995 6:29 Yes
010 Leslie Van Berkum & The Deerfield Coffehouse Band & Kent Allyn The Bonny Swans Leslie Van Berkum 2003
No
010 Liam's Fancy The Cruel Sister Storysongs for the Eminence Faire 2008
No
010 Loman D. Cansler The Two Sisters Missouri Folk Songs 1959 4:01 Yes
010 Loreena McKennitt The Bonny Swans The Mask and Mirror 1994 7:21 Yes
010 Loreena McKennitt The Bonny Swans Live in Paris and Toronto 1999 7:05 Yes
010 Loreena McKennitt The Bonny Swans Live in San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts 1995 6:56 Yes
010 Loreena McKennitt The Bonny Swans Nights from the Alhambra 2007 4:45 Yes
010 Loreena McKennitt The Bonny Swans The Journey Begins 2008
No
010 Loreena McKennitt The Bonny Swans Live in Glasgow, Scotland 1995 6:29 Yes
010 Loreena McKennitt The Bonny Swans Mountain Stage Concert (Live on Echoes Radio) 1995 5:25 Yes
010 Loreena McKennitt The Bonny Swans Rainy Night in L.A. 1998 6:38 Yes
010 Lorna MacDonald Czarnota The Cruel Sister Dancing in Dark Waters 2003
No
010 Lucy Stewart The Swan Swims So Bonnie O (The Two Sisters) Lucy Stewart: Traditional Singer from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Vol. 1 - Child Ballads 1961 3:41 Yes
010 Lucy Ward The Two Sisters Adelphi Has to Fly 2011
No
010 Lula Curry The Squire's Daughter American Folk Song Festival - Jean Thomas, the Traipsin' Woman 1960 1:49 Yes
010 Maggie Hammons The Sister's Murder Child Ballads of West Virginia
5:06 Yes
010 Malinky & Ranarim The Twa Sisters + De Två Systrarne Live at Celtic Connections Festival, Glasgow 2007 5:34 Yes
010 Marie Selander De Två Systrarna Å Än Är Det Glädje Å Än Är Det Gråt 1976
No
010 Martin Carthy The Bows of London The Carthy Chronicles 2001 5:55 Yes
010 Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick Bows of London Life and Limb 1990 6:02 Yes
010 Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick The Bows of London The Definitive Collection 2003 6:04 Yes
010 Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick The Bows of London 100 Not Out - a Video Album Recorded Live in Concert 1991 5:40 Yes
010 Martin Carthy & Friends Bows of London BBC4 Folk Night: Concert at Union Chapel, Islington, London 2002 6:28 Yes
010 Martin Simpson The Wind and the Rain True Stories 2009 5:24 Yes
010 Martyn Bates The Twa Sisters - Minorie - Pt. 1 Leitmotif 2005 5:28 Yes
010 Martyn Bates The Twa Sisters - Minorie - Pt. 2 Leitmotif 2005 3:44 Yes
010 Martyn Bates The Twa Sisters - Minorie - Pt. 3 Leitmotif 2005 3:48 Yes
010 Martyn Hill The Two Sisters Grainger - Vol 14 Music for Chamber Ensemble 2 2000
No
010 Mary Stewart Robertson The Twa Sisters The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 Mary Thain Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 Mathews' Wilson Doonan Binnorie Mathews' Wilson Doonan 1981 4:45 Yes
010 Méav The Wicked Sister Silver Sea 2002 3:07 Yes
010 Mediaeval Baebes Binnorie O Binnorie Salva Nos (Save Us) 1998 2:05 Yes
010 Meldis Cruel Sister Arfografiya 2007 4:03 Yes
010 Michael Bannett Hey, Ho, the Wind and the Rain Journey Through the British Isles 2004
No
010 Mick Ryan & Pete Harris The Two Sisters The Long Road 2003
No
010 Mike (Ichingiching) Cruel Sister <website> 2007 7:18 Yes
010 Mike Seeger Wind and Rain Solo - Oldtime Country Music 1991 3:59 Yes
010 Mock Turtle Soup Wind and Rain/Yellow Barber Of Both Worlds 2004
No
010 Molly Andrews The Two Sisters Blue Morning Glory 2003
No
010 Molly Shannon Two Sisters Come Ye Back 2006 4:09 Yes
010 More Maids The Cruel Sister Live 2002
No
010 Mountain Hoodoo Two Sisters All Natural Ingredients 2008
No
010 Mrs Cameron Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 Mrs. Edwin White Two Sisters The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection
No
010 Mrs. Florence Underhill Two Sisters The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection
No
010 Mrs Goodall Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 Mrs J.H. Goodall Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 Mrs. Jesse Sheilor The Old Woman Fire in the Mountain - An Appalachian Trail with Peter Kennedy 1976
No
010 Mrs. Lizzie Maguire Two Sisters The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection
3:18 Yes
010 Mrs Lyall The Twa Sisters The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 Mrs. Pearl Brewer The Old Woman Lived on a Seashore The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection
7:47 Yes
010 Mrs William Duncan Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 Muckram Wakes The Two Sisters Muckram Wakes 1976 3:14 Yes
010 Nancy Kerr & James Fagan The Berkshire Tragedy Starry Gazy Pie 1998 5:28 Yes
010 Natterjack The Cruel Sister On the Fly 2000 6:22 Yes
010 Niamh Parsons Two Sisters In My Prime 2000 3:18 Yes
010 Norman Kennedy Binnorie I Little Thocht My Love Wid Leave Me 2005
No
010 Norman Kennedy Binnorie For Friendship and for Harmony - Fife Traditional Singing Weekend 2005 2006
No
010 Old Blind Dogs The Cruel Sister Close to the Bone 1997 5:45 Yes
010 Old Blind Dogs The Cruel Sister Live 1999 6:58 Yes
010 Old Blind Dogs The Cruel Sister The Collection [Old Blind Dogs] 2009 5:42 Yes
010 Oliver Bootle Two Sisters Oliver Bootle 1997
No
010 Ollie Gilbert Two Sisters The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection
2:18 Yes
010 Pamela Goddard Lord By the Northern Sea As Time Draws Near - Traditional American Songs from the North and the South 2006
No
010 Patrick Ward Gainer The Sister's Murder Child Ballads of West Virginia
5:17 Yes
010 Paul & Liz Davenport The Wind and the Rain Songbooks 2008
No
010 Paul Clayton The Twa Sisters Folk Ballads of the English-Speaking World 1956 6:55 Yes
010 Paul Clayton The Twa Sisters (The Two Sisters) Out-Takes from the Early Dylan Sessions 2011
No
010 Peggy Seeger O the Wind and Rain Bring Me Home 2008 4:36 Yes
010 Peggy Seeger Peter and I [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 1 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 1:37 Yes
010 Peggy Seeger The Two Sisters Blood and Roses - Vol. 5 1986 4:18 Yes
010 Peggy Seeger The Two Sisters American Folk-Blues Train: Alan Lomax Field and Studio Recordings 2003 5:40 Yes
010 Peggy Seeger The Was an Old Lord [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 1 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 5:04 Yes
010 Peggy Seeger Two Sisters American Folksongs for Banjo 196?
No
010 Pentangle Cruel Sister Light Flight 1997 7:03 Yes
010 Pentangle Cruel Sister Cruel Sister 1970 7:03 Yes
010 Pentangle Cruel Sister Anthems in Eden - an Anthology of British and Irish Folk 1955-1978 2005 7:01 Yes
010 Pentangle Cruel Sister A Maid That's Deep in Love 1987 7:02 Yes
010 Pentangle Cruel Sister The Time Has Come - 1967-1973 2007 7:03 Yes
010 Pentangle Cruel Sister One More Road & Live 1994 2007
No
010 Pentangle Cruel Sister Live at Quebec 1990 6:36 Yes
010 Pentangle Cruel Sister Pentangling - The Collection 2004 7:01 Yes
010 Pentangle The Cruel Sister Light Flight: The Anthology 2002 7:03 Yes
010 Pentangle Cruel Sister Teatro Orfeo Milan - December 9th 1982 1982 5:24 Yes
010 Pentangle Cruel Sister Live 1994 1995 5:50 Yes
010 Pete & Chris Coe The Two Sisters Out of Season Out of Rhyme 1976 5:12 Yes
010 Pete Castle The Swan Swims So Bonny O Rambling Robin 1982 5:20 Yes
010 Pete Coe Down By the Waters Rolling It's a Mean Old Scene 1985 5:41 Yes
010 Peter Christie Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 Peter Gott Barkshire Tragedy Digital Library of Appalachia: Warren Wilson College Collection 197?-198? 3:36 Yes
010 Peter Johnson & Friends Wind and Rain Newport's Fair Town - Traditional Songs and Ballads from North America 2007
No
010 Phillis Marks The Two Sisters The Gwilym Davies Collection
No
010 Phyllis Marks Bow and Balance (to Me) Folksongs and Ballads, Vol 2 1991
No
010 Pyewackett Two Sisters Pyewackett 1981 5:29 Yes
010 Rachel Unthank & The Winterset Cruel Sister Cruel Sister 2005 8:41 Yes
010 Rattle on the Stovepipe The Two Sisters So Far, So Good - The Best of Return Journey and Eight More Miles 2010
No
010 Raymond Crooke The Two Sisters <website> 2007 4:01 Yes
010 Richard Dyer-Bennet Bow Down With Young People in Mind 2000 4:53 Yes
010 Richard Dyer-Bennet The Two Sisters of Binnorie Richard Dyer-Bennet Vol. 9 1960
No
010 Richard Dyer-Bennet Two Sisters of Binnorie Folk Songs 1953
No
010 Rick Fielding The Wind and Rain This One's the Dreamer 1999 3:35 Yes
010 Robin Greenstein The Wind and Rain Images of Women - Vol. 1: Anglo and Afro-American Folk Songs 2002 4:39 Yes
010 Robin Greenstein The Two Sisters Images of Women - Vol. 2: More Folk and Blues Songs About Women 2010
No
010 Roger Wilson Two Sisters Unknown 2001 7:15 Yes
010 Rory & Alex McEwen Binnorie Great Scottish Ballads 1956 2:16 Yes
010 Round Town Girls Wind and Rain Round One 198?
No
010 Ruth Notman The Cruel Sister The Life of Lilly 2009 6:55 Yes
010 Ruth Shannon The Two Sisters The Robert Winslow Gordon Collection
No
010 Sam Hinton The Two Sisters The Library of Congress Recordings, March 25, 1947 1999
No
010 Sara Grey The Two Sisters Sara Grey 1970 2:51 Yes
010 Sea Raven Cruel Sister The Harper's Dream 2006 5:32 Yes
010 Sedayne Binnorie Zither Songs Volume 2 - the Chapters Session 2005
No
010 Sheila Noonan Two Sisters I Just Want to Dance with You 1995
No
010 Silver Thread Trio Two Sisters Silver Thread Trio 2008
No
010 Sorten Muld 2 Sisters Mark II 1997 4:30 Yes
010 Sorten Muld 2 Sisters Nordic Roots, Vol. 2: Northside Sampler 2000 4:24 Yes
010 Sorten Muld 2 Søstre Scandinavia - Music Rough Guide 2000 4:30 Yes
010 Spinnaker Two Sisters One Fine Day 2002
No
010 Steeleye Span The 3 Sisters Bloody Men 2006 4:18 Yes
010 Steeleye Span The Three Sisters Live at a Distance 2009 4:10 Yes
010 Steeleye Span The Three Sisters [DVD] Live at a Distance 2009
No
010 Steve Turner The Cruel Sister Out Stack 1979 7:39 Yes
010 Summerhaze Cruel Sister Summerhaze 1987 5:49 Yes
010 Susan Hamlin O the Wind and the Rain Younger Than the Sun 2002 5:37 Yes
010 Susan Montague Two Sisters (1) The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection
No
010 Susan Montague Two Sisters (2) The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection
No
010 Tania Opland & Mike Freeman Cruel Sister Choice Fare 2000 4:13 Yes
010 Tempest Two Sisters Balance 2001 5:25 Yes
010 Tempest Two Sisters 15th Anniversary Collection 2004 5:23 Yes
010 The Armstrong Family Wind and Rain The Wheel of the Year: Thirty Years with The Armstrong Family 1992 1:46 Yes
010 The Askew Sisters The Bonny Bows of London Town Through Lonesome Woods 2010 7:50 Yes
010 The Clinton String Quartet The Three Sisters American Masters for the 21st Century 2004 4:48 Yes
010 The Clutha Binnorie-o The Bonnie Mill Dams 1977 3:26 Yes
010 The Gaugers Binnorie Reg Hall Archive 1953-1977 7:18 Yes
010 The Highwater String Band Cruel Sister 1977 Northwest Folklife Festival 1977
No
010 The Holohan Sisters Minorie <website> 1996 3:40 Yes
010 The Minstrels of Mayhem Two Sisters Then - an Anthology 92-93 2000 5:50 Yes
010 The Pratie Heads Two Sisters We Did It! Songs About People Behaving Badly 2010
No
010 The Red Clay Ramblers Wind and Rain Hard Times 1981
No
010 The Red Clay Ramblers Wind and Rain Stolen Love 1975
No
010 The Singing Milkmaids Cruel Sister On the Wash 2005 7:46 Yes
010 The Spectral Light and Moonshine Firefly Snakeoil Jamboree O the Dreadful Wind and Rain Burning Mills 2004 10:38 Yes
010 The Williams Family Wind and Rain All in the Family 1986
No
010 The Windlasses Two Little Girls Kindred Spirits 1999 2:59 Yes
010 The Witches of Elswick Two Sisters Out of Bed 2001 3:18 Yes
010 Tim Eriksen Two Sisters Every Sound Below 2004
No
010 Tom Gilfellon The Two Sisters In the Middle of the Tune 1976 6:06 Yes
010 Tom Paley Lord By the Northern Sea Old Tom Moore and More 1991
No
010 Tom Paley The Lord by the Northern Sea Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians 1953
No
010 Tom Spiers Binnorie Allan Water - Scots Songs & Ballads 2002
No
010 Tom Waits Two Sisters Orphans - Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards 2006 4:56 Yes
010 Tramps & Hawkers Twa Sisters Sailor's Alphabet 1995 3:34 Yes
010 Ula Kapała The Two Sisters Live Minstrels 2000
No
010 Ulrike Lindholm De Två Systrarna Den Medeltida Balladen (The Medieval Ballad) - Folk Songs in Sweden 1995 2:29 Yes
010 Unidentified Singer Bow Down The Robert Winslow Gordon Collection
No
010 Unknown Female Singer Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 Veslemøy Solberg De Tva Systrarna The Strength of the Runes 1996 6:11 Yes
010 Visor, Lekar, Rim & Ramsor De Två Systrarna Visor, Lekar, Rim & Ramsor 1981
No
010 Vooks Two Sisters When the Fish They Fly .. 2007
No
010 Wallace House Barkshire Tragedy English Folk Songs 1952 3:47 Yes
010 Waterbound Oh the Wind and Rain High and Dry: Traditional Folk Music of the British Isles and America 2004
No
010 Weddings Parties Anything The Wind and the Rain The Big Don't Argue 1989
No
010 Weddings Parties Anything The Wind and the Rain Hootenanny - Cooking Vinyl Sampled 1990
No
010 Wendy Stewart & Gary West The Twa Sisters Hinterlands 2009 5:20 Yes
010 William Mathieson Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 William McKenzie Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 William Walker Binorie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955
No
010 Willy & Brian Claflin The Wind and the Rain In Yonder's Wood 2009
No
010 Willy Duggan Baile Leo (Two Sisters) Old British Ballads of Donegal and Derry - Traditional Singers Collected By Hugh Shields 1972
No
010 Wood, Wilson, Carthy Two Sisters Wood, Wilson, Carthy 1998 4:13 Yes
010 Ygdrassil Cruel Sister Easy Sunrise 2005 2:45 Yes
010 Ygdrassil Cruel Sister Live at the Folkwoods Festival 2006 2008
No
010 Zoe Mulford The Wind and Rain Bonfires 2009
No
Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America
by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
10. THE TWA SISTERS
Texts; Adventure, 9 10 '23, 191 / Barry, Brit Bids Me., 40 / Belden, Mo F-S, 1 6 / Botkin, Am Play-Party Sg, 59, 337 / Brewster, Bids Sgs Ind, 42 / Brown Coll / BFSSNJE, VI, 5 ; IX, 4; X, 105 XI, 16; XII, 10 / Butt Tenn FLS, IV, #3, 74; VIII, #3, 71 / Chappell, F-S Rnke Alb) 13 / Child, 1, 137; II, 508 / Child Mss., XXI, 10 / Christian Science Monitor, 12 2 '37 / Cox, F-S South, 20 / Cox, Trd Bid WFa,6t Cox, W. Va. School Journal and Educator, XLIV, 428, 441 / Davis, Trd Bid Pa, 93 / Eddy, Bids Sgs Ohio, 17 / Flanders, New Gn Mt Sgstr, 3 / Garrison, Searcy Cnty, 19 / Gray, Sgs Bids Me L'jks, 75 / Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, 32 / Greenleaf and Mansfield, Bids Sea Sgs Newfdld, 9 / Haun, Cocke Cnty, 106 / Henry, F-S So Hghlds, 39 / Hudson, F-S Miss, 68 / Hudson, F-T Miss, 25 / Hudson, Spec Miss F-L,#i I Hummel, Oz F-S / JAFL, XVIII, 130; XIX, 233; XXX, 286; XLII, 238; XLIV, 295 ; XLV, i ; XLVIII, 306 / Kincaid, Fav Mt Bids, 22 / Morris, F-S Fla, 375 / Neal, Brown Cnty, 60 / N.T. Times Mgz, 109 '27 / Niles, More Sgs Hill-Flk, 8 / Niles, Anglo-Am Bid Stdy Bk,$6/ Perry, Carter Cnty, 98 / Pouncl, Am Bids Sgs, 1 1 / Pound, Nebr Syllabus, I r / PTFLS, X, 141 / Raine, Land Sddle Bags, 118 / Randolph, OzF-S, I, 50 / Randolph, Oz Mt Flk, 2ii / Richardson, Am Mt Sgs, 27 / Scarborough, Sgctchr So Mts, 164 / SharpC, EngF-S So Aplchns,/ SharpK, EngF-S So Aplchns, I, 26 / Smith and Rufty, Am Anth Old Wrld Bids, 2 / SFLQ, VIII, 138 / Stout, F-L la, i / Thomas, Blue Ridge Cntry, 152 / Thomas, Devil's Ditties, 70 / Thomas, Sngin Gathrn, 76 / Thompson, Bdy Bts Brtchs, 393 / Va FLS Bull,#S2%, 12.
Local Titles: All Bow Down, Bow Ye Down, I'll Be True to My Love, Lord of the Old Country, Sister Kate, The Miller and the Mayor's Daughter, The Miller's Two Daughters, The Old Farmer in the Countree, The Old Lord by the Northern Sea, The Old Man of (in) the North (Old) Countree, There Was an Old Farmer, There Was an Old Jaynor, (There Was an) The Old Woman (Who) Lived on the Seashore, There Was an Old Woman Lived in the West, The Swim Sworn Bonny, The Two (Three) (Little) Sisters, The Two Young Daughters, West Countree.
Story Types
A: A girl, jealous that a gentleman has courted her younger sister, invites the latter on a walk and pushes her in the water to drown. A miller robs the struggling girl, rather than rescuing her, and is punished by death for his crime. Capital punishment for the elder girl may or may not be mentioned.
Examples: Barry (A), Belden (C), Davis (A), SharpK (B).
B: Two princesses are playing by the water. The elder pushes the younger in. A miller finds the dead girl and makes a musical instrument from her body. The instrument reveals the murderer.
Examples: Barry (E), Davis (K), SharpK (K).
C: The usual story is started, but the musical instrument is made from the younger sister's body by the elder sister, and the instrument then names the murderer. This version has three-quarters of each stanza as refrain.
Examples: JAFL, XLV, 7.
D: A combination of Types A and B is sometimes found in which the instrument is made from the body, and both the miller and the elder girl are executed.
Examples : SharpK (A).
E: The usual story is started, but the drowned girl appears to make a harp of herself and reveal her murderer.
Examples: Henry, F-S So Hgblds (C).
F: The usual story is told, but the miller is left out. The girl in the water may plead with her sister to pull her from the "sea-sand" (quicksand ?) and be refused. Examples: Brewster (B, C), Neal.
G: An amazing version found in Newfoundland tells of the younger sister's shoving the elder sister in the water, although the younger has received more attention from the suitor. The body is fished out with a fishing pan, the face covered with lace and the hair full of golden lumps. A ghost tells the lover how his sweetheart was killed.
Examples: Greenleaf-Mansfield.
H: The usual story is told, except the elder sister bribes the miller to push the girl back into the water. Only the miller's hanging is mentioned.
Examples: Randolph, OzF-S (D).
I: The story is like that of Type A, except the miller is the father of the two girls and pushes his own daughter into the water.
Examples: Cox, F-S South (A).
J: The usual story is told, but the miller is the lover of the girls and seems to rescue the younger one after she has been pushed in.
Examples: JAFL, XVIII, 131.
K: A story similar to Type J is told, but after the rescue all go to church and "now they're (which two is not clear) married I suppose".
Examples: Thompson.
L: The story is like that of Type J, except that a prince courts the girls. The miller rescues the elder sister. She falls in love with him, and they marry.
Examples: Haun.
M: The usual story is told. However, the "fisherman", who has no previous connection with the girls, seems to rescue the drowning maid.
Examples: Cox, Trd Bids W 7 a (B); Perry.
N: Two little girls float down a stream in a boat. Charles Miller comes out with his hook and pulls one out by the hair and makes a fiddle of her body.
Examples: FSSN, XII, 10.
Discussion: This song still has a current tradition in Britain (Child, I, 118) and has more American story variations than any other ballad. In this respect it is an excellent subject for study. A monograph is reportedly being prepared on the American texts and their European affiliations, and Taylor (J4FL, XLII, 238 ff.) discusses the American, English, and Scottish versions
of the ballad. The latter article concludes that the American texts follow the English tradition (see p. 243) exclusively. The beaver hat, the failure to call the hair yellow, and the introductory stanza are all English traits. For the Scottish traits (not common to America) see pp. 238 40.
The extremely wide variation of story types in America can probably be traced to forgetting of details combined with attempts to rationalize either the presence or absence of the "harp" motif with the rest of the narrative. Certainly there has been no printed text that has frozen the story, as is the case in other songs. Note should be made, in connection with this point, of
the Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, B version ("Peter and Paul went down the lane") which is scarcely recognizable as the same song.
Perversions of the original such as my Types C, E, and G (cf . Child B and my Type C in connection with G) are the results of small changes in some detail of the narrative. However, they reveal the sort of change that might easily create a new story if enough momentum were gained. Type I has been melodramatized through similar small alterations of detail, probably with
the aid of forgetting. Types F and M are undoubtedly the results of omission of the ending in one of the other classes, though check the Cox, Trd Bids W Va, B text in which the miller is hung for pulling the girl to shore. Types J, K, and L have all been sentimentalized. J and K are certainly related to Child M, while K and L may echo the marriage feast that is present in the
Norse forms of the story. Types D and H refer to texts that are well-known, D combining Types A and B, while H is paralleled by Child S. (Under Type J, see Garrison, Searcy Cnty, 20 who quotes his informant as saying "that they (some forgotten lines) told how the miller and the cruel sister, who had together plotted the younger girl's drowning in an attempt to get possession
of property that had been left to her by her sweetheart, were hanged".) Type N resembles Type B in the use of the instrument motif, but seems quite corrupt at the start. Barry BFSSNE, XII, 10 theorizes on this text.
In general, the miller is present in American versions, although the gruesome musical instrument portion is lacking. (See Child Y and the whole Rff. group.) The elimination of such a supernatural motif is in keeping with the usual American practice, and the New World mood is on the whole lighter than the Old. Flanders, New Gn Mt Sgstr, 4 points out that texts where the girl gets capital punishment are less likely to degenerate into comedy than those where the miller is hung.
The refrains of the ballad have been given a great deal of attention. For discussions of them see Barry, BFSSNE> III, ii; Belden, Mo F-S, 16; Henry, F-S So Hg ds, 38; JAFL, XLV, 2 ("bow down" refrain); and Taylor, JAFL, XLII, 238. The usual American refrains are the "juniper, gentian, and rosemary" corruption, or a "bow down, etc. I'll be true to my love, if
my love'll be true to me" variation. Nonsense lines ("sing i dum", "hey ho, my Nannie") are also found, and Randolph prints a refrain "bonnery-0" which seems to come from "Binnorie, 0, Binnorie" (Child C). See also BFSSNE, IX, 4 and X, 10 and the Morris, F-S Fla, texts. The latter songs feature the word "rolling" in various combinations.
Botkin in his Am Play Party Sg, 59ff. discusses the refrain of the song and its use in the dance-game versions, and Thomas, Sngin Gatbrn, 79 describes the ballad as a Kentucky dance.
The song is often found utilizing the "bowed her head and swam" cliche so common to Child 286.
For a detailed discussion of a number of American texts, see Zielonko, Some American Variants of Child Ballads, p. 30. Refer also to Barry* HFSSNE, III, 2 and XII, 10 for detailed treatments of the tradition of the song, especially in connection with Type N.
The ballad has been discussed in relation to the folk-motif of "the singing bones 5 '. See Brewster, Bids Sgs Ind, 4243 for a complete bibliography along this line. He also includes many Scandanavian references.
FolkTrax Listing
TWO SISTERS, THE - "There lived twa sisters in ane bower" - "a- walking the shore" - elder pushes younger in - Ch: "I'll be true to my love, if my love'll be true to me" - CHILD #10 (20 var) - ROUD#8 - BRONSON Addenda - First broadside publ 1656 - BELL EB 1856 pp206-10 Scott MSB (w/o) "The Cruel Sister" - BUCHAN AB&S 2 pp122-5 "The Bonny Bows of London" - CHRISTIE TBA 1 pp42-3 (from Christie) - BRUCE-STOKOE 1882 - STOKOE-REAY SBNE 1899 pp8-9 "Binnorie" - BROADWOOD ECS 1893 pp118-9 Tune: G K Fortescue/ text: Hughes: "Scouring of the White Horse" "The Barkshire Tragedy" - BARING GOULD GCS 1895 pp42-3 "The 3 Sisters" - FORD VSB 1899 2 p189-194 Coldstream, Berwicksh c1830 "Binnorie O Binnorie" - RYMOUR Club 1 1906 p200 1v/m "Binnorie" - GREIG-DUNCAN 2 p76 22var - KEITH-GREIG LLTB 1925 pp9-13 8var Bell Robertson, New Pitsligo (w/o)/ Greig 1v/m/ Alex Robb, New Deer (m/o)/ Mrs Gillespie (m/o)/ Robert Alexander, Bourtie 1v/m/ Jessie McDonald, Alford (m/o)/ G Corbett, New Deer, Aberdeensh 1910 (m/o) "Binorie" - JFSS 1:5 1904 Miss Carr Moseley (c) 1v/m "There was a squire of high degree" - JFSS 9 1906 p283 Charles Lolley: Driffield, Yorksh & Kidson: Ireland incl harper verses "The Swan swims so bonny-O" - JFSS 16 1911 pp205-7 Francis Tolmie Cf Scots Gaelic "A Bhean Iadach" (Jealous Woman) - JFSS 34 1930 p247 Gilchrist tune var & note on herb refrains - Frank Crummit rec burlesque "Two Brothers" version in 1930's: "There was a farmer had two sons - Botumkus & Josephus" in which one pushed the other in & both died - KIDSON GEF 1926 pp24-5 Charles Lolley: Driffield, Yorksh "The old man in the North Country"/ pp26- 7 "The Cruel Sister" - ORD BB 1930 p430 "The Bonny Mill Dams o Binnorie" 23v incl harper verses - SEEGER-McCOLL SI 1960 p85 Wm Miller (McColl's father), Stirling "Minorie" - McCOLL-SEEGER 1977 p52 Christina McAllister "The Swan it swims sae bonny-O"("Minorie") - PALMER EBBB 1980 #36 pp91-2 Kidson Liverpool --- SHARP #5 Mrs Jane Gentry, Hot Springs, NC 1916/ Wesleuy Batten, Mount Fair, Albemarle Co, Va 1916/ Miss Louisa Chisholm, Woodridge, Va 1916/ Noel Walton, Mt Fair., Va 1916/ Mrs Clercy Deeton, Mine Fork, Burnsville, NC 1918/ Mrs Delie Knuckles, Barbourville, Knox Co., Ky 1917/ Miss Violet Henry, Berea, Madison Co., Ky 1917/ Mrs Effie Mitchell, Burnsville, NC 1918/ Miss Elsie Combs, Hindman School, Knott Co., Ky 1917/ Florence Fitzgerald, Royal Orchard, Afton, Va 1928/ Joe Blackett, Meadows of Dan, Patrick Co., Va 1918/ Mr Franklin, Barbourville; Knox Co., Ky 1917/ Mrs Delie Hughes, Cane River, Burnsville, NC 1918/ Mrs Jenny L. Combs, Bderea, Madison Co., Ky 1917 - RICHARDSON AMS 1927 p27 Appal - HUDSON FSM 1936 p68 Oxford, Mississippi (w/o) - HENRY FSSH 1938 pp34-44 NC & Tenn - RANDOLPH OFS 1946 1 pp50-63 7var Ark & Missouri "The Two Young Daughters"/ "The Miller's Daughters"/ There was an old Jaymor"/ "Three Old Maids on a Saucer Brim" - LOMAX FSNA 1960 p184 Horton Barker, Va - HUBBARD BSFU 1961 p5 Utah (w/o) - RANDOLPH OFS 1946 1 pp50- 63 Ark & Missouri 7var - WARNER TAFS 1984 #98 p243 Lee Monroe Presnell "The TS who loved one man" -- David EDWARDS #192, Mrs GOODALL #196-7/ 334, Bell DUNCAN #196/ 279/ 280/ 296, Mary Stewart ROBERTSON #151-2/ 305, Alex ROBB #317 rec on Dictaphone by James M.Carpenter N.E.Scotland 1929-35 - Willie MATHIESON rec Alan Lomax, Turriff, Aberdeensh, 17/7/51: 7"RTR 0682/ DAT 2v only "Binorie-O" - John STRACHAN (of Fyvie, Aberdeensh) rec by Alan Lomax & Hamish Henderson, Edinburgh Ceili 1951: RPL 21530/ CAEDMON TC-1145/ TOPIC 12- T-160/ ROUNDER 82161-1835-2 2002/ FTX-FTX-065 & FTX-501 "Binnorie" - John & Ethel FINDLATER rec by PK, Dounby, Orkney 1955: RPL 22643/ FTX-063 & FTX-501 "The Bonny Miller Laddie o Binnorie-O" talk bef & aft - Dorothy FOURBISTER rec by PK, Kirkwall, Orkney 1954: FTX-255 "As I roved out" radio prog 1956/ FTX-501 - Lucy STEWART rec by PK, Fetterangus, Aberdeensh 1955: FTX-365/ rec Kenneth Goldstein: FOLKWAYS FG-3519 1961 - Dance in The Faroes rec by Norwegian Radio: tape dub - Betsy WHYTE: TANGENT TNGM-119/D 1975 - Ewan McCOLL: RIVERSIDE RLP-12-921 1956 "Minnorie" from father/ / with Peggy SEEGER: TOPIC 12-T-16 1959/ "Long Harvest" ARGO ZDA- 66 1967/ rec Ciderpress Dartington - Shirley COLLINS: COLLECTOR JEB-3 1959 (45 EP) "Berkshire Tragedy" - Cyril TAWNEY: POLYDOR Special 236-577 1969 from BG Ms "Three Sisters" - Willie DUGGAN rec by Hugh Shields, Tory Island: LEADER LEA-4055 1972 "Baile Leo" in Irish Gaelic with story - Frankie ARMSTRONG (& 2 dulc): TOPIC 12-TS-216 1972 from Kidson - Helen WATSON & Suzie ADAMS (unacc) LEADER LER-2093 1976 Derysh - Pete COE (voc + ham dulc/ conc/ unacc parts & ch): LEADER LER-2098 1976 "London Town" ch - Tom GILFELLON (unacc): TOPIC 12-TS-282 1976 - Jock DUNCAN (unacc singer) rec Aberdeensh: SLEEPYTOON SLPYMC001 1999(?) (Cass) "Bonnie Mill Dams o B" - Clare CLAYTON, rec by Geoff Biggs, Hassocks, Sussex April 1961: FTX-147 --- Horton BARKER Chilhowie Va 1939 AAFS L-7 & FOLKWAYS FA-2362 1960/ 7"RTR #0309/ rec at a Concert in Virginia nd RTR #0322 - Jean RITCHIE Ky 1946: AAFS L-57 - Lee Monroe PRESNELL rec by Frank & Anne Warner, Beech Mountain, NC 1951: FTX-923/ APPLESEED APR-CD-036 2000 "Two Sisters that loved One Man" - Jean JENKINS (voc/banjo) rec by PK, London 2/4/57: FTX-915 "The Man in the North Countrie" - Bascom Lamar LUNSFORD (75) (voc/ banjo) rec by Paul Clayton: RIVERSIDE RLP 12-645 1956 "Old man in the North Country" - Peggy SEEGER (voc/banjo): PYE Nixa NPL-18013 1958/ FTX-942 (from Horton Barker) - Sandy PATON (with gtr) rec London COLLECTOR JEA-nn 1958 (45 EP) from Fletcher Collins Va - Jessie SHEILOR rec by PK, Meadows of Dan, Va 1976: FTX-903 - Dan TATE, Fancy Gap, Carroll Co Va 6/8/79 "Wind and Rain" & Eunice Yeats McALEXANDER, rec by Mike Yates, Meadows of Dan, Patrick Co 7/8/79 (first part of story with tune reminiscent of "When Johnny comes marching home") VWML-007 d/CASS#1026 1992 "Wind and Rain" (includes "fiddle strings & screws") - Various Versions: CASS-0529-C30 & Faroes CASS-0536-C30 --- Swedish RELP-5004 (3var) C90 - Anita BEST & Pamela MORGAN with accomp: AMBER MUSIC (Newfoundland) ACD 9008 (from Peacock coll.)
The Twa Sisters: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Twa Sisters" is a murder ballad that recounts the tale of a girl drowned by her sister. It is first known to have appeared on a broadside in 1656 as "The Miller and the King's Daughter." At least 21 English variants exist under several names, including "Minnorie" or "Binnorie", "The Cruel Sister", "The Wind and Rain", "Dreadful Wind and Rain", "Two Sisters", and the "Bonnie Bows of London". The ballad was collected by Francis J. Child (Child 10) and is also listed in the Roud Folk Song Index.[1]
Synopsis
Two sisters go down by a body of water, sometimes a river and sometimes the sea. The older one pushes the younger in and refuses to pull her out again; generally the lyrics explicitly state her intent to drown her younger sister. Her motive, when included in the lyrics, is sexual jealousy — in some variants, the sisters are being two-timed by a suitor; in others, the elder sister's affections are not encouraged by the young man. In a few versions, a third sister is mentioned, but plays no significant role in events. In most versions, the older sister is described as dark, while the younger sister is fair.
When the murdered girl's body floats ashore, someone makes a musical instrument out of it, generally a harp or a fiddle, with a frame of bone and the girl's "long yellow hair" (or "golden hair") for strings. The instrument then plays itself and sings about the murder. In some versions, this occurs after the musician has taken it to the family's household, so that the elder sister is publicly revealed (sometimes at her wedding to the murdered girl's suitor) as the murderess.
It should be noted that the variant titled The Two Sisters typically omits the haunted instrument entirely, ending instead with an unrelated person (often a miller) executed for robbing the murdered girl's corpse and the elder sister presumably going unpunished.
Parallels in other languages
The theme of this ballad was common in many northern European languages.[2] There are 125 different variants known in Swedish alone. Its general Scandinavian classification is TSB A 38; and it is (among others) known as Den talende strængelek or De to søstre (DgF 95) in Danish, Hørpu ríma (CCF 136) in Faroese, Hörpu kvæði (IFkv 13) in Icelandic, Dei tvo systar in Norwegian, and De två systrarna (SMB 13) in Swedish. It has also spread further south; for example, as Gosli iz človeškega telesa izdajo umor (A Fiddle Made from a Human Body Reveals a Murder) in Slovenian.
In the Norse variants, the older sister is depicted as dark and the younger as fair, often with great contrast, comparing the one to soot or the other to the sun or milk. This can inspire taunts from the younger about the older's looks.[3]
In most of the Norwegian and some of the Swedish variants, the story ends by the instrument being broken and the younger sister coming alive again.[4] In a few, she was not actually drowned, but saved and nursed back to health; she tells the story herself.[5]
This tale is also found in prose form, in fairy tales such as The Singing Bone, where the siblings are brothers instead of sisters.[6] This is widespread throughout Europe; often the motive is not jealousy because of a lover, but the younger child's success in winning the object that will cure the king, or that will win the father's inheritance.[5]
In Polish literature from the romanticism period, a similar theme is found in Balladyna (1838) by Juliusz Słowacki. Two sisters engage in a raspberry-gathering contest to decide which of them gets to marry Prince Kirkor. When the younger Alina wins, the older Balladyna kills her. Finally, she is killed by a bolt of lightning in an act of divine retribution.
A Hungarian version exists, where a king has three daughters. Both of the eldest are bad and ugly, and envy the younger child sister due to her beauty. One day, they murder her in the forest, and place her corpse inside a fiddle. The fiddle plays music on its own and eventually is given to the royal family. The fiddle does not play for the evil sisters, but the princess is restored to life once her father tries to play it. The sisters are imprisoned, but the good princess fully pardons them once she becomes queen.
Versions with a happy ending, in which a bone is transformed into a woman, may have been influenced by the biblical Eve, who was believed to have been made from a bone.
Connections to other ballads
As is frequently found with traditional folksongs, versions of The Twa Sisters are associated with tunes that are used in common with several other ballads. For example, at least one variant of this ballad ("Cruel Sister") uses the tune and refrain from "Lay the bent to the bonny broom", a widely-used song (whose original lyrics are lost) which is also used, for example, by some versions of "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (Child 1).
Canadian singer and harpist Loreena McKennitt's song "The Bonny Swans" is a pastiche of several traditional variants of the ballad. The first stanza mentions the third sister, but she subsequently disappears from the narrative. The song recounts a tale in which a young woman is drowned by her jealous older sister in an effort to gain the younger sister's beloved. The girl's body washes up near a mill, where the miller's daughter mistakes her corpse for that of a swan. Later, after she is pulled from the water, a passing harper fashions a harp from the bones and hair of the dead girl; the harp plays alone, powered by the girl's soul. The harp is brought to her father's hall and plays before the entire court, telling of her sister's crime. The song also mentions her brother named Hugh, and her beloved William, and gives a name to the older sister, Anne.
It also bears a resemblance to an early Alfred Lord Tennyson poem, "The Sisters", which follows a sister scorned in love who murders the lover of her sister, and possibly the sister too, out of jealousy.
Versions
This article may contain excessive, poor or irrelevant examples. You can improve the article by adding more descriptive text. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for further suggestions. (July 2010)
""Binnorie" in Joseph Jacobs' English Fairy Tales (1890)[7]
Czech folk band Asonance recorded a version of the song called "Harfa" (Harp) with Czech lyrics. Czech folk-punk band Původní Bureš did a cover of this version.
Anita Best recorded it as "The Two Sisters" on her album "The Color of Amber"
Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick recorded a version titled "The Bows of London".
Aoife Clancy recorded a version titled "Two Sisters" on her album Soldiers and Dreams.
Clandestine (The Haunting), Ceoltoiri, Ekova (Space Lullabies and Other Fantasmagore) and Old Blind Dogs (Close to the Bone) have all released versions under the title "Cruel Sister".
The Irish group Clannad has a version titled "Two Sisters" on their album Dúlamán. In this version the two sisters love the same man but he prefers the younger. To her he gives gifts while ignoring the elder of the two. In anger the elder sister pushed her sister into the river,mocking her drowning sister's offer to relinquish the young man if the elder saves her, by saying she will have him anyway. The girl's corpse floats to a mill where the miller takes her gold ring and pushes the body back into the river. It ends with the punishment of the two evildoers: the miller is hanged "on a mountain head" while the eldest sister is "boiled in lead". Niamh Parsons recorded this version with her sister Anne on 'In My Prime' (2000).
Amps for Christ released a noisy version called "The Cruel Sister" on the album Circuits (album).
Canadian folk trio Crowfoot recorded a version of this ballad called "Bonny Bows" in their album "As The Crow Flies".
Bob Dylan performed "Two Sisters" in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and a recording of an impromptu version in the apartment of his friend Karen Wallace from May 1960 appears on The Genuine Bootleg Series, Take 2.[8][9] He also based "Percy's Song" on the variant "The Wind and the Rain".
Andrew Bird recorded a version of this song titled "Two Sisters" as the fifth track on the album Music of Hair.
The Swedish group Folk & Rackare recorded a Swedish version, "De två systrarna", on their 1976 album Folk och rackare.
Norwegian folk-rock band Folque recorded a version of this song called "Harpa" (Norwegian for "The Harp"), on their debut-album Folque from 1974.
Julie Fowlis recorded "Wind and Rain" on her album Uam (2009) as a duet with Eddi Reader.
Jerry Garcia and David Grisman recorded "Dreadful Wind and Rain" on the Shady Grove album.
Tom Gilfellon recorded it on his album, "In The Middle Of The Tune", as The Two Sisters.
Finnish folk music group Gjallarhorn has a Swedish version titled "Systrarna" ("The Sisters") on their most recent album, Rimfaxe.
The Canadian Celtic band The Glengarry Bhoys recorded a version of the song on their album Juice entitled "Bonnie Broom".
Folk metal band In Extremo recorded an Old Norwegian version of the song ("Two søstra") for the last track of their debut album Weckt Die Toten!.
Phil Lee included a version titled "Miller's Mill Pond" on his 2009 release, So Long, It's Been Good To Know You
Ewan MacColl recorded a version in Scottish called "Minorie" which can be found on several of his recordings.
Jim Moray included a rendition of this song on his album Sweet England under the title "Two Sisters".
Okkervil River released the song under the title "The Dreadful Wind and Rain".
[[Alasdair Roberts (musician)|Alasdair Roberts] released "The Two Sisters" on his album ""Too Long In This Condition".
The Celtic group Rù-Rà, consisting of Gaelic singer Maggie Carchrie and keyboardist/percussionist Thomas Leigh, recorded a version of the song on their album Rù-Rà entitled "Two Sisters"
Folk singer Peggy Seeger recorded a version entitled "O The Wind and Rain" on her album Bring Me Home.
The Danish band Sorten Muld's song "2 Søstre" ("Two Sisters" in English), the English translation of which recounts this folktale.
Pentangle released their album Cruel Sister in 1970, the title track being a rendition of this ballad.
The Armstrong Family, Altan, June Tabor, Crooked Still and Gillian Welch with David Rawlings and David Steele have all recorded versions of the song under the title "The Wind and Rain".
The movie Songcatcher includes a rendition of this song as "The Wind and Rain" sung by Gillian Welch.
Méav Ní Mhaolchatha recorded the song entitled "The Wicked Sister" for her album Silver Sea based on the ballad.
Regina Spektor and Levon Vincent recorded a song called "Film Score Project" and often retitled "Two Sisters" for a college project during their studies at SUNY Purchase. The song features a pair of sisters who both drown: it appears to be only loosely inspired by Twa Sisters.[citation needed]
Nico Muhly, in collaboration with singer and banjo player Sam Amidon, created a version called "The Only Tune".
Julie Murphy recorded "Two Sisters" on her album Black Mountains Revisited (1999)
Scottish folk group The Clutha recorded a version of the song called "Binnourie", which is sung by Erlend Voy. It was released in 1977 on their album The Bonnie Mill Dams. The name of the album comes from the song lyrics of "Binnourie".
Tom Waits includes his own version of "Two Sisters" on the Bastards disc of his Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards trilogy.
Chris Wood, Roger Wilson and Martin Carthy recorded "Two Sisters" on Wood - Wilson - Carthy
Scottish folk group Old Blind Dogs recorded "Cruel Sister" for their album Close to the Bone; in the liner notes, they mention learning their version of the song from the Pentangle recording.
Dutch folk duo Ygdrassil recorded an a-capella harmony singing version on their album Easy Sunrise and on the DVD Ygdrassil live at the Folkwoods Festival. Group members Linde Nijland and Annemarieke Coenders sing a shortened version, ending where the younger sister drowns, leaving the man out of the story.
Norwegian folk metal band Myrkgrav recorded a version of the song entitled "De to spellemenn" on the album Trollskau, Skrømt og Kølabrenning.
Jody Stecher recorded "Wind and Rain" on Going Up On The Mountain (1977) and on Oh The Wind And Rain: Eleven Ballads (1999).
Folk rock group Stormsterk recorded "De Wrede Zuster" on their debut album "Wild En Bijster Land" (2010).
Celtic rock group Tempest recorded "Two Sisters" on their album "Balance" (2001).
Lucy Ward sings her arrangement of "The Two Sisters" on her 2011 album Adelphi Has to Fly.
Patricia C. Wrede retold it as "Cruel Sisters" in her Book of Enchantments (1996), telling it from the point of view of the third sister, and giving it a revisionist twist.
The Swedish trio Triakel included a version called "Kallt väder" in their 2011 album Ulrikas minne — Visor från Frostviken
References
1.^ http://library.efdss.org/cgi-bin/query.cgi?cross=off&index_roud=on&query=8&field=20
2.^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 119, Dover Publications, New York 1965
3.^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 120, Dover Publications, New York 1965
4.^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 121, Dover Publications, New York 1965
5.^ a b Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 123, Dover Publications, New York 1965
6.^ Stith Thompson, The Folktale, p 136, University of California Press, Berkeley Los Angeles London, 1977
7.^ Joseph Jacobs, English Fairy Tales, transcript
8.^ The Genuine Bootleg Series: Volume 2 with "The Two Sisters" (Disc 1, Track 1), performed at Karen Wallace's Apartment, May 1960
9.^ The Genuine Bootleg Series, Take 2 at Answers.com, with "The Two Sisters" (Disc 1, Track 1), performed in St. Paul, May 1960
Child Ballads, The Twa Sisters Numerous variants
The Singing Bone and other tales of Aarne-Thompson type 780 — includes The Twa Sisters and other variants
Kate Fletcher Kate Fletcher's website, with version of Cruel Sister, lyrics and sound sample.
________________________
Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music
The Two Sisters / The Bows of London / The Wind and Rain
[Roud 8; Child 10; Ballad Index C010 ; trad.]
Francis Child lists 26 versions of this ballad as #10 in The English and Scottish Popular Ballads.
Frankie Armstrong sang The Two Sisters on her 1972 Topic LP Lovely on the Water. A.L. Lloyd commented in the album's liner notes:
On the continent this ballad was a straightforward realistic lyrical tragedy, but as often happened when it spread to the North it picked up supernatural bits, including the savage notion of the singing bones that reveal a crime. Realistic English versions sometimes called The Berkshire Tragedy, exist side by side with Scots-Scandinavian magical ones. Sundry sets of the ballad carry various refrains, including “Bow down, bow down” (a dance instruction?) and “Binnorie o Binnorie” (said to be the invention of Sir Walter Scott). The present refrain, about swans swimming bonny, probably got attached to the song in Ireland, where they're great on swans. Frankie's version derives mainly from a set noted by Frank Kidson from an Irish singer in Liverpool.
Muckram Wakes sang The Two Sisters in 1976 on their eponymous Trailer LP Muckram Wakes. Helen Hockenhull (the former Helen Watson in Muckram Wakes) recorded this spon again in 2001 with Grace Notes for their Fellside CD Anchored to the Time. Pete and Chris Coe, who played as session musicians on Muckram Wakes album, but not on The Two Sisters, recorded this song in the same year for their Trailer album Out of Season, Out of Rhyme.
Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick recorded this song with the title The Bows of London live on February 23, 1990 at Focal Point, St. Louis, MO, USA for their album Life and Limb; this recording was also included in the Martin Carthy anthology The Definitive Collection. Another live version, also from St. Louis, was recorded by Peter Bellamy on August 16, 1991 in the Botanical Gardens and released on The Carthy Chronicles.
Martin Carthy commented in the Life and Limb sleeve notes:
Ever since I head Jody Stecher sing a luminous song called The Wind and the Rain—a version of The Two Sisters— I have wanted to sing it. Its overwhelming feature is its concentration on that aspect of the story dealing with the building from the murder victim's remains of a fiddle which then takes on a life of its own and ultimately unmasks the murderer. Having found my own efforts at singing this to be as unconvincing as my efforts at American songs usually are, I cast around for a tune from this side of the water, came upon The Bows of London and then tried to stay close to Jody's words. A “bow” is the bend in a river.
Roger Wilson sang an Appalachian version of The Two Sisters on on the album Wood—Wilson—Carthy. Both he and Chris Wood played violin; Martin Carthy does not appear on this track.
June Tabor sang The Wind and Rain live in Dorsten, Germany in April 1991. She was accompanied by Mark Emerson, viola, and Giles Lewin, violin. This recording was included in 2005 on her anthology Always. She commented in the album's booklet:
There were lots of versions of this song (The Two Sisters) about but Jody Stecher's on Going up on the Mountain had a kind of immediacy on it. I like the refrain—probably it's the English in me; talking about the weather—but it was particularly the verse about making a little fiddle out of her breastbone and how the sound would melt a heart of stone. I thought that was a really nice way of putting it. It told the story very strongly. It's a good one to do with voice and fiddles. Mark put a tune called The Falls of Richmond in the middle.
The Witches of Elswick sang The Two Sisters in 2003 on their first album, Out of Bed. They commented in their liner notes:
We first heard this song by John McCormick at Bacca Pipes Folk Club in Keighley. However due to the cheap pints only the tune and story stuck in our heads, so we created this version from the many Child(ish) ones.
Jim Moray sang Two Sisters in 2003 too on his CD Sweet England.
Kerfuffle learned another version of Two Sisters as sung by George Fradley of Derbyshire. They recorded it in 2008 for their fourth CD, To the Ground.
Emily Portman and Rachel Newton sang Two Sisters in 2010 on Emily's CD The Glamoury.
Lyrics
Martin Carthy sings The Bows of London
There were two little sisters a-walking alone
Hey the gay and the grinding
Two little sisters a-walking alone
By the bonny bonny bows of London
And the eldest pushed her sister in
Pushed her sister into the stream
Oh she pushed her in and she watched her drown
Watched her body floating down
Oh she floated up and she floated down
Floats till she come to the miller's dam
And out and come the miller's son
Father dear here swims a swan
Oh they laid her out on the bank to die
Fool with a fiddle come a-riding by
And he took some strands of her long yellow hair
Took some strands of her long yellow hair
And he made some strings from this yellow hair
Made some strings from this yellow hair
And he made fiddle pegs from her long fingerbone
Made fiddle pegs from her long fingerbone
And he made a fiddle out of her breastbone
Sound would pierce the heart of a stone
But the only tune that the fiddle would play
Was oh the bows of London
The only tune the fiddle would play
Was the bonny bonny bows of London
So the fool's gone away to the king's high hall
There was music dancing and all
And he laid this fiddle all down on a stone
Played so loud it played all alone
It sang yonder sits my father the king
Yonder sits my father the king
And yonder sits my mother the queen
How she'll grieve at my burying
And yonder she sits my sister Anne
She who drownded me in the stream
Roger Wilson sings The Two Sisters
There lived an old lord by the Northern Sea
Bow wee down
There lived an old lord by the Northern Sea
Bow and balance to me
There lived an old lord by the Northern Sea
And he had daughters one, two, three
I'll be true to my love, if my love'll be true to me
A young man came a courting there
And he made a choice of the youngest fair
He brought the youngest a beaver hat
The oldest sister didn't like that
As they walked down to the waters brim
The oldest pushed the youngest in
Oh sister, oh sister, lend me your hand
And you may have my house and land
She floated down to the miller's dam
The miller drew her safe to land
And off of her fingers took five gold rings
And into the water he plunged her again
The Witches of Elswick sing The Two Sisters
There were two sisters lived in a bower,
Oh the wind and rain,
There were two sisters lived in a bower,
Oh the dreadful wind and rain.
Johnny courted the eldest with a gay gold ring,
But he loved the youngest above all things.
Johnny courted the eldest with a brooche and knife,
But he loved the youngest with all his life.
Oh the eldest envied the sister fair
For her pretty little face and her long flowing hair.
“Now sister, sister, come to yon sea strand,
And see our father's ships a-coming home to land.”
And the eldest pushed the youngest in
For she knew, her sister, she could not swim.
Some times she sank, and some times she swam,
Until she came to the miller's dam.
Oh the miller standing at his door
And he saw her drowning by the shore.
“Oh miller, I'll give you this gay gold chain
If you bring me back to my father again.”
And the miller took that gay gold chain
And he pushed her back in the water again.
Her father's knight he came riding by
And this fair maid's body chanced to spy.
Oh he took three locks of her long yellow hair
And with them strung a bow so fair.
And what did he do with her breast bone?
He made it a fiddle to play upon.
And what did he do with her veins so blue?
He made fiddle strings to play a tune.
And what did he do with her fingers slight?
He made little pegs to hold them tight.
And the only tune that the fiddle would play
Was oh the wind and rain,
And the only tune that the fiddle would play
Was oh the dreadful wind and rain.
(repeat last verse)
Emily Portman and Rachel Newton sing Two Sisters
Two little sisters living in a bower
Oleanda yolling
The youngest was the fairest flower
Down by the waters rolling
A noble knight came riding by,
The two little sisters caught his eye
He courted the eldest with diamonds and rings
But the youngest he loved above all things.
“Sister oh sister, come down to the broom
And we’ll hear the black birds changing their tune.”
She’s taken her sister gently by the hand
And led her down to the river strand.
And when they came to the rivers brim
The eldest pushed her sister in.
“Sister oh sister, lend to me your hand
And you’ll be the heir to my riches and land.”
”Sister oh sister, that will never be
Till salt and oatmeal grow both of a tree.”
”Sister oh sister, reach me but your glove
And you shall have my own true love.”
“I will lend you neither hand nor glove
But I will have your own true love.
“For your cherry cheeks and your long yellow hair
Made me a maiden for evermore.”
Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam,
Until she came to the millers dam.
Miller and his daughter stood at the door
And watched her floating down by the shore.
“Father oh father, draw your dam,
For there’s either a mermaid or a milk-white swan.”
The miller he dragged her out on to the shore
And he stripped her of all she wore.
He laid her body on the bank to dry,
A minstrel he came riding by.
He made a harp out of her breast-bone
Whose sound could melt a heart of stone.
He took three looks from her long yellow hair
And with them strung the harp so rare.
He took the harp to the kings high hall
And there was the court assembled all.
He laid the harp upon a stone
And it began to play alone.
The only tune the harp would play was,
The only tune that the harp would play was
It sang, “yonder sits my love the king
How he’ll weep at my burying.
”Yonder sits my sister the queen
She drowned me in the cold cold stream.”
Acknowledgements
The Bows of London transcribed by Garry Gillard. Roger Wilson's Two Sisters lyrics from the record's sleeve notes. Garry Gillard thanks Wolfgang Hell.
______________________
Jerry Garcia recordings/Other recordings
--------------Jerry Garcia recordings
Almost Acoustic, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, 1988
Shady Grove, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, 1996
Transcriptions of the guitar and mandolin solos for the Garcia/Grisman recording of the song are included in two songbooks:
Shady Grove Acoustic Guitar Solos, Jerry Garcia, 2002
Shady Grove Mandolin Solos, David Grisman, 2002
-----------------Other recordings
As Wind and Rain, Oh, The Wind and Rain, Dreadful Wind and Rain or similar
Simple Gifts, George and Gerry Armstrong, 1961
Country Songs and Tunes with Autoharp, Kilby Snow, 1969
Gentle Art, Evelyne Beers, 196?
Stolen Love, Red Clay Ramblers, 1975
1st Annual Brandywine Mountain Music Convention, Various Artists (Kilby Snow), 1975
Going Up the Mountain, Jody Stecher, 1977
Days of Forty Nine, Jeff Warner and Jeff Davis, 1977
Hard Times, The Red Clay Ramblers, 1981
All in the Family, Williams Family, 1986
Round One, Round Town Girls, 198?
Solo: Oldtime Country Music, Mike Seeger, 1991
Songcatcher, Various Artists (Gillian Welch), 2001
The Wheel of the Year: Thirty Years with The Armstrong Family, The Armstrong Family, 1992
Stage By Stage, Iain MacKintosh and Brian McNeill, 1995
Sing It Yourself!, Laura Boosinger, 1996
Virginia Traditions: Ballads from British Tradition, Various Artists (Dan Tate), 1997
Going Up the Mountain: The Classic First Recordings, Jody Stecher, 1999
Oh, The Wind and Rain, Jody Stecher, 1999
Live and Kicking, Brian McNeill & Iain MacKintosh, 2000
Divine River, X-Angels, 2000
Acoustic Disc 100% Handmade Music, Vol. 5, Various Artists (Jody Stecher), 2000
Freak Mountain Ramblers, Freak Mountain Ramblers, 2001
3/13/98 Cedar Cultural Centre, The Big Wu, 2002
Images of Women, Robin Greenstein, 2002
Younger Than the Sun, Susan Hamlin, 2002
Cowslinger Deluxe, Cowslingers, 2004
Always, June Tabor, 2005
Local Ground, Altan, 2005
Come Dance & Sing, Celtibillies, 2005
Buds Of The Brier, Un-Reconstructed, 2006
Shaken by a Low Sound, Crooked Still, 2006
As Two Sisters, Twa Sisters, Twin Sisters or similar
Bradley Kincaid, 1928 (Supertone 9212)
Folk Songs, Richard Dyer-Bennet, 1953
The Faulse Lady, Andrew Rowan Summers, 1954
North Carolina Ballads, Artus Moser, 1955
Folk Ballads of the English-Speaking World, Paul Clayton, 1956
Songs of a New York Lumberjack, Ellen Stekert, 1958
Missouri Folk Songs, Loman Cansler, 1959
Anglo-American Ballads, Various Artists (Horton Barker), 195?
Richard Dyer-Bennet, Vol. 9, Richard Dyer-Bennet, 1960
A Treasure Chest of American Folk Song, Ed McCurdy, 1961
Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 4. The Child Ballads 1, Various Artists (John Strachan), 1961
Rosalie's Songbag, Rosalie Sorrels, 1963
Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, NC, Vol I, Various Artists (Lee Monroe Presnell), 1964
The Mountain Dulcimer: How to Make It and Play It, Howie Mitchell, 1965
American Folksongs For Banjo, Peggy Seeger, 196?
Sara Grey, Sara Grey, 1970
Lovely in the Water, Frankie Armstrong, 1972
The Waters of Sweet Sorrow, Midwinter, 1973
The Muckle Sangs: Classic Scottish Ballads, Various Artists (Betsy Whyte), 1975
Muckram Wakes, Muckram Wakes, 1976
In the Middle of the Tune, Tom Gilfellon, 1976
Out of Season, Out of Rhyme, Pete & Chris Coe, 1976
Dulaman, Clannad, 1976
Blood & Roses Vol. 5, Peggy Seeger, 1979
Pyewackett, Pyewackett, 1981
Down South, Doc Watson, 1984
O Love Is Teasin' (Anglo-American Mountain Balladry), Various Artists (Ed McCurdy), 1985
The Colour of Amber, Anita Best & Pamela Morgan, 1991
High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina, Various Artists (Sidney Myers), 1995
Trad, Bad and Dangerous, ,Betsy McGovern, 1996
Hearth and Fire, Anne Price, 1997
In a Lifetime: The Ultimate Collection, Clannad, 1997
The Ultimate Collection, Clannad, 1997
The Celtic Voice, Clannad, 1997
An Diolaim: Folk Roots of One of Ireland's Groups, Clannad, 1998
Wood-Wilson-Carthy, Wood, Wilson & Carthy, 1999
Would You Like Kilts with That?, Lalla Rookh, 1999
Anglo-American Ballads, Vol. 2, Various Artists (Horton Baker), 1999
Live from Vermont, Gypsy Reel, 2000
In My Prime, Niamh Parsons, 2000
Cloudberry Day: Scots Songs And Ballads, Alison McMorland, 2000
Naked Voice, Elspeth Cowie, 2000
Classic Ballads of Britain and Ireland, Vol. 1, Various Artists (John Strachan and Dorothy Fourbister), 2000
Nothing Seems Better to Me: The Music of Frank Proffitt and North Carolina, Various Artists (Lee Monroe Presnell), 2000
The Essential, Clannad, 2001
Soldiers and Dreams, Aiofe Clancy, 2001
And Then I'm Going Home, Atwater-Donnelly, 2001
Drawn from the Well, Kate MacLeod & Kat Eggleston, 2002
Sailors Alphabet, Tramps & Hawkers, 2003
Sweet England, Jim Moray, 2003
Blue Morning Glory, Molly Andrews, 2003
Different Tongues, Brian Peters, 2003
Out of Bed, Witches of Elswick, 2003
Beginner's Guide to Folk Music, Various Artists (Clannad), 2003
American Folk-Blues Train: Alan Lomax Field and Studio Recordings, Various Artists (Alan Lomax, Peggy Seeger and Guy Carawan), 2003
Every Sound Below, Tim Eriksen, 2004
Telfer's Cows: Folk Ballads from Scotland, Andrew Calhoun, 2004
Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards, Tom Waits, 2006
As Two Brothers, Twa Brothers or similar
The Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 4. The Child Ballads, Various Artists (Lucy Stewart), 1961
Ballads and Songs of Tradition from the Folk Legacy Archives, Various Artists (Jeannie Robertson), 2000
As Binnorie, Minorie or similar
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: The Child Ballads, Volume I, Ewan MacColl & A.L. Lloyd, 1956
Great Scottish Ballads, Rory and Alex McEwen, 1956
Ballads Reliques: Early English Ballads, Hermes Nye, 1957
Chorus from the Gallows, Ewan MacColl, 1959?
A Prospect of Scotland: Topic Sampler No 5, Various Artists (Ewan McColl), 1966
The Long Harvest: Record One, Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger, 1967
The Bonnie Mill Dams, The Clutha, 1977
Custer LaRue Sings The Daemon Lover, Custer LaRue with the Baltimore Consort, 1993
The Real MacColl, Ewan MacColl, 1993
Salva Nos (Save Us), The Mediaeval Baebes, 1998
Mysterious Heart, Moonstone Minstrel, 2001
Allan Water, Tom Spiers, 2001
Songs from Aberdeenshire: The Alan Lomax Portait Series, John Strachan, 2002
I Little Thocht My Love Wid Leave Me, Norman Kennedy, 2004
Binnorrie, Elizabeth Stewart, 2005?
As The Cruel Sister
Cruel Sister, Pentangle, 1970
History Book, Pentangle, 1972
Northwest Folklife Festival, Various Artists (Highwater String Band), 1977
Outstack, Steve Turner, 1979
Essential, Vol. 1, Pentangle, 1986
A Maid That's Deep in Love, Pentangle, 1987
Renaissance Fare, Tania Opland, 1987
Banjo Pickin' Girl, Lesley Schatz, 1994
Live 1994, Pentangle, 1995
Close to the Bone, Old Blind Dogs, 1997
The Haunting, Clandestine, 1997
Light Flight, Pentangle, 1997
Women of Ireland, Ceoltoiri Celtic Ensemble, 1998
Mud Water Dance, Tears for Beers, 1999
Live, Old Blind Dogs, 1999
Choice Fare, Tania Opland with Mike Freeman, 2000
On the Fly, Natterjack, 2000
Space Lullabies and Other Fantasmagore, Ekova, 2001
Light Flight: The Anthology, Pentangle, 2002
Far in the Mountains, Vols 1 & 2 Various Artists (Eunice Yeatts MacAlexander), 2002
At the Little Theatre, Jacqui McShee's Pentangle, 2003
Pentangling: The Collection, Pentangle, 2004
Passe Avant / At the Little Theatre, Jacqui McShee's Pentangle, 2005
Easy Sunrise, Ygdrassil, 2006
The Harper's Dream, Sea Raven, 2006
Cruel Sister, Rachel Unthank & the Winterset, 2006
The Time Has Come, Pentangle, 2007
One More Road & Live 1994, Pentangle, 2007
Celtic Tapestry: Contemporary & Traditional, Various Artists (Ceoltoiri Celtic Ensemble), 2007
Valivann, Kerstin Blodig, 2009
As The Wicked Sister
Silver Sea, Méav, 2003
As There Was An Old Lord or similar
British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains, Volume 2, Jean Ritchie, 1960
Ballads from Her Appalachian Family Tradition, Jean Ritchie, 1961
The Long Harvest: Record One, Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger, 1967
As The Bows of London
Life and Limb, Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick, 1991
The Carthy Chronicles: A Journey Through the Folk Revival, Martin Carthy, 2001
Definitive Collection, Martin Carthy, 2002
As Rollin' A-Rollin'
High on a Mountain, Kevin Roth, 1983
Golden Ring: A Gathering of Friends For Making Music, 1996
As The Swan Swims So Bonnie O
Lucy Stewart: Traditional Singer from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Vol. 1: Child Ballads, Lucy Stewart, 1961
The Long Harvest: Record One, Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger, 1967
Belt Wi' Colours Three, Alison McMorland, 1977
Rambling Robin, Pete Castle, 1982
As Old Man in the Old Country
Ozark Folksongs, Various Artists (Charles Ingenthron), 2001
As Peter And I
The Long Harvest: Record One, Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger, 1967
______________________________
Andrew Crawfurd's collection of ballads and songs, Volume 2
The Bows o London is Child 10 The Twa Sisters; it occurs in the list of songs sent to Motherwell on 17 March 1827.
Andrew Crawfurd, Scottish Text Society
Scottish Text Society, 1996
The Twa Sisters
1 Thare war twa sisters livit in a bouir
Hey with a key and a grundon
The yungest o thaim was her father's flouir
In the bonnie bows o London
2 Said the auldest to the young ane, haste ye and cum
To see our father's ships cumand to land
3 She loutit doun to syne her hands
The auld one drave the yung ane in
4 Sister sister tak my hand
And I'll make ye air o aw my land
5 Sister I'll na take your hand
And I'll be the ladie of aw your land
6 Sister sister tak me be the gluve
And I'll mak ye ladie o my trew luve
7 Sister I'll na tak you be the gluve
And I'll be mistress o your trew luve
8 The miller's dochter ran wi speid
To get some water to bake her breid
9 O father farther haste ye and cum
Thare's a ladie or a swan into your dam
10 Thay coudna get her grippit be the waist
Her silken stays war sae ticht lacit
11 Thay coudna get her grippit be the hair
For gowden tassils hang here and thare
12 Thay gat her grippit be the hause
And thay hae puit her to dry land
13 They laid her on a dyke to dry
Her father's fiddler he cam by
14 Tak thrie plaits o my yellow hair
'Twill be fiddle strings for evermair
15 The first tune ye'll play on thaim
'Twill be the helth to my father king
16 The secont tune ye'll play on thaim
'Twill be the helth to my mither quein
17 The thrid ane tune ye'll play on thaim
Gae hame and hang my sister Allison
Kilmarnock, where he found a major contributor in Mrs MacConechie, a tailor's wife, who gave him thirteen songs.
This trip took place in March- April 1 827 .
All that is known to have been recorded from Ann Baillie, Newton Ayr, is the following stanza of a version of Child 10 The Twa Sisters which is headed 'No 108 A stanza of the Bonnie Bows of London' (2.62):
They made a harp of her breast bane
Hey ho my Nanie O
And it began and harpit its lane
And the swan swims bonnie O.
137 The Bows of London (Child 10 The Twa Sisters) was from Mrs Robert Fyfe, Kilbirnie. She may possibly be the same person as the Margaret Fyfe, Kilbirnie, who is named as the source of a text of Lord Thomas Wyndsburry (Child 100 Willie o Winsbury) which is only mentioned in the Crawfurd manuscripts (3.312) as noted above in the account of the collecting done by Macqueen.
-----------
Thomas Macqueen himself, although a Scot from Kilbirnie at this time, had been born in Ireland, but we have no indication of whether or not he expressed an affinity
--------------
Transactions and Journal of Proceedings - Page 77
https://books.google.com/books?id=xnBk3-_r6sAC
Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society - 1936 - Snippet view - More editions
THE TWA SISTERS.
MS., pp. 171-176
probably by Elizabeth St. Clair of Edinburgh about 1770
The second and fourth lines of the first verse are given in a contracted form in verses 2-21.
1 There lived three sisters in a Bower
Heigh & a gay & a grounding
There came a knight to court them there
At the bonny bowes of London
2 He eourted the Eldest with a knife
But he loved the youngest as his life
3 The Eldest to the Youngest said
Will Ye go our fathers ships to see
4. But when they came to the seaside
The Eldest she the youngest betray'd
5. O set your foot upon yon stone
And reach me up my gay gold ring
6. She's set her foot upon yon stone
And she gave her a shoot & she's faen in
7. O sister tak me by the hand
And ye's get a my fathers land
8. O sister tak me by the glove
And ye'se get William to be your love.
9. I will not tak ye by the hand
For I ken Ill be heir of my fathers land
10 I will not tak ye by the glove
For I ken Ill get William to be my love
11. O aye she sank & aye she swam
Untill she came to yon Mill Dam
12 The millar came out wi' his lang Cleek
He thought to gripe her by the feet
13. He could nae gripe her by the feet
Her silken shoes they were sae, weet
14. He gat her griped by & by
And he laid her on a Dyke to dry
15. Her fathers fidler coming by
She spake unto him & did say
16. Gie my service to my father King
And likewise to my mother Queen
17. Gie mv service to my Brother John
And likewise to my true love William
18. Gie my service to my sister Ann
And gar burn my sister Alison
19. When he to the gates did come
The fiddle began to play its lane
20. Gie my service to my father King
And likewise to my mother Queen
21. Gie my service to my brother John
And likewise to, my true love William
22 Gie my service to my sister Ann
Heigh & a gay & a grounding
But gar burn my sister Alison
At the bonny bowes of London
Two Sisters- Frankie Armstrong 1972
James Madison Carpenter Collection, JMC/1/8/1/B, p. 11501
Performer
Peter Christie
1 There twa sisters lived in a booer,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
There was a knicht to be their wooer,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
2 He courted the eldest wi' glove an' ring,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
But the youngest he loved abeen a' thing,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
3 The eldest's heart was vexed saer,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
An' she envied her sister dear
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
4 The eldest said to the yongest een,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
Will ye gang an' see oor father's ships coming in,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O?
5. She's ta'en her sister by the hand,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
And led her by the river strand,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
6. Her sister stood upom a steen,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
And the eldest can and shoved her in,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
6. O sister, sister, reach your hand,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
And ye shall be heir o' all your land,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
7. "O sister, I'll not reach my hand,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
And I shall be heir o all your land,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
8. O sister, sister, reach your glove,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
And Sweet William shall be your love,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
9. O sister, I'll not reach my glove,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
And Sweet William shall better be my love,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
10 Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
Until she cam to the millet's dam,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
11. The millet's dochter was bakin breid,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
And gaed for water as she need,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
11. O father father, draw your dam
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
There's a mermaid or a milk-white swan,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
12. Her father hastened and drew the dam,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
And there he found a drowned woman,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
13. He couldna see her yellow hair,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
For gowd and pearls hung to her ear,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
14. He couldna see her lily feet,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
Her golden girdle hung so deep,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
15. "Sair will they be,whae'er they be,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
The heart that lives to weep for thee,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O."
16. When by there cam a harper fine,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
He harped the nobles when they dine,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
17. He made a harp o her breistbone,
Bilnorie O Bilnorie
Wha's tune would melt the heart o steen,
By the bonnie milldams o Bilnorie O.
Excerpt from: Popular Tales of the West Highlands by John Francis Campbell - 1862 Volume 4; p. 125-126:
In the minstrelsy of the Scottish Border is a ballad whose chorus is—
"Binnorie, O Binnorie,
By the bonny mill dams O' Binnorie."
The story told in dialogue is that of two sisters, the eldest of whom, in a fit of jealousy, pushes the youngest into a river, where she is drowned. All versions agree so far, and their metre has a general resemblance, but the details, the language, the tune, and the metre, vary according to the district where the ballad is found. A version is given in " The scouring of the White Horse," and is essentially English; there are many border versions, and a Tweedside antiquary might fairly claim the ballad, but another old version has the chorus of—
"Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Stirling for aye,
Bonny St. Johnstone stands upon Tay."
Another version which I have has this chorus—
"Oh ochone, ochone a rie,
On the banks of the Banna, ochone a rie."
Of which one line is Gaelic. Another has—
"Bo down, bo down,
And I'll be true unto my love,
If he'll be true unto me."
Miss Brookes transcribed a version which S. C. Walker, historian of the Irish bards, sent to Sir Walter Scott; the chorus is—
"Hey ho my Nanny o,
While the swan swims bonny o."
And the lady got it from an old woman who sang it from memory. Drawing-room versions now current are generally traced to some old nurse, who sang them to the young ladies, and these vary more than some Gaelic ballads which are separated from each other by centuries, and about which Scotch and Irish Gael quarrel heartily.
Some verses are highly poetical, and savour of antiquity, others of modern times; some are almost absurd.
"He courted the eldest wi' brooch and wi' knife,
But he loved the youngest as his life,"
is pretty, but another is quaint—
"I did not put you in with the design,
Just for to pull you out again." "
One verse is picturesque, and another is almost ridiculous.
"They could na see her yellow hair,
For the pearls and jewels that were there."
"Then up and spake her ghaist sae green,
Do ye no ken the king's daughter Jean
In another version it was no ghost, but the lady herself who spoke.
"Oh, miller, I'll give you guineas ten,
If you'll send me back to my father again."
"The miller he took her guineas ten,
And then he popped her in again."
In one version, a harper made a harp of the drowned lady's "breast bane," and yellow hair; and it played magic tunes; another tells us that
"The sister she sailed over the sea,
And died an old maid of a hundred and three.
The lover became a beggar man,
And he drank out of a rusty tin can."
A ballad then bears the stamp of originality, and the traces of many minds; it may be of generations of singers of all classes of society, and of many districts; it may even be found in several different dialects, or even languages, and yet be the same ballad nevertheless. To strike out any bit of a genuine ballad is to mutilate it; to add anything to it is to disfigure it; but it is quite legitimate to fuse as many versions as can be got, so as to complete the story, and to select the best of several lines, if the fact be stated. The hanging of the miller, for instance, is a new incident, and should be added; and so should the verse—
"The miller's daughter was at the door,
As sweet as any gilly flower."
To sift out all the pretty bits of these ballads, strike out all that is quaint, compose a lot of similar poetry, and then attribute the whole to Thomas the Ehymour, would not be fair treatment of popular ballads; and yet something of the kind was done even by Percy in his Eeliques, for he added verses of his own.
An event or incident must first be remembered as a tradition; therefore a popular tale is the oldest form. A popular ballad which can easily be sung, and remembered, is the next growth; and a romance or play, such as "Morte Arthur," "King Lear," "FingaL" or the " Idyls of the King," is the next and last.
Besides these old world ballads there are several other classes; sentimental songs which have no story; political ballads which are forgotten almost as soon as made; and ballads which never take hold of the popular mind, because their interest is local or temporary. Of these there is a crop every year, which springs up, and dies, like the undergrowth of flowers and grass, which springs up and decays under the branches of an old forest or a young plantation, and is mingled with its withered leaves.
-------------------------------------
Ballads & Songs of Lancashire: Ancient and Modern
edited by John Harland
THE THREE SISTERS.
The following Lancashire ballad was contributed to Notes and Queries (vi. 102)—whose Editor permits us to reprint it—by a correspondent signing "Seleucus," who suspects it to be the oldest of several versions. It is supposed to be sung by the second sister:—
THERE was a king of the north countree,
Bow down, bow down, bow down! There was a king of the north countree, And he had daughters, one, two, three.
I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true to me.1
To the eldest he gave a beaver hat,
Bow down, bow down, bow down!
To the eldest he gave a beaver hat,
And the youngest she thought much of that.
I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true
to me.
To the youngest he gave a gay gold chain,
Bow down, bow down, bow down! To the youngest he gave a gay gold chain, And the eldest she thought much of the same. I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true to me.
These sisters were walking on the bryn,8
Bow down, bow down, bow down! These sisters were walking on the bryn, And the eldest pushed the younger in.
I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true
to me.
Oh, sister! oh, sister! oh, lend me your hand!
Bow down, bow down, bow down I
1 Probably the original form of (his line was, "An [ifj my love'll be true to me."
2 Brink of a river, a craggy slope.
Oh, sister! oh, sister! oh, lend me your hand! And I will give you both houses and land.
I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true
to me.
I'll neither give you my hand nor glove,
Bow down, bow down, bow down!
I'll neither give you my hand nor glove
Unless you give me your [own] true love.
I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true
to me.
Away she sank, away she swam,
Bow down, bow down, bow down!
Away she sank, away she swam,
Until she came to a miller's dam.
I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true to me.
The miller and daughter stood at the door,
Bow down, bow down, bow down!
The miller and daughter stood at the door,
And watched her floating down the shore.
I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true
to me.
Oh, father! oh, father! I see a white swan,
Bow down, bow down, bow down!
Oh, father! oh, father! I see a white swan,
Or else it is a fair wo-man.
I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true to me.
The miller he took up his long crook,
Bow down, bow down, bow down!
The miller he took up his long crook,
And the maiden up from the stream he took.
I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true
to me.
I'll give to thee this gay gold chain,
Bow down, bow down, bow down!
I'll give to thee this gay gold chain,
If you'll take me back to my father again.
I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true
to me.
The miller he took the gay gold chain,
Bow down, bow down, bow down!
The miller he took the gay gold chain,
And he pushed her into the water again.
I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true
to me.
The miller was hang'd on his high gate,
Bow down, bow down, bow down!
The miller was hang'd on his high gate,
For drowning our poor sister Kate.
I'll be true to my love, and my love'll be true to me.
The cat's behind the buttery shelf,
Bow down, bow down, bow down!
The cat's behind the buttery shelf;
If you want any more you may sing it yourself. I'll be true to my love, and [an] my love'll be true to me.
One of Mr. Halliwell's "Nursery Rhymes," beginning—
"John Cook had a little gray mare," etc.,
ends thus—
"The bridle and saddle were laid on the shelf,
He, haw, hum;
If you want any more, you may sing it yourself,
He, haw, hum!"
Another version of this ballad is given by " G. A. C." in Notes and Queries, where the action seems to commence with "the body of a fair ladye," which "came floating down the stream ;" stopping "hard by a miller's mill," when the miller took it out of the water, "to make a melodye." This form of the ballad thus describes how the lady's body was changed into a viol:—
And what did he do with her fair bodye?
Fal the lal, the lal, laral loddy,
He made it a case for his melodye,
Fal, etc.
And what did he do with her legs so strong?
Fal, etc.
He made them a stand for his violon,
Fal, etc.
And what did he do with her hair so fine?
Fal, etc.
He made of it strings for his violine,
Fal, etc.
G
And what did he do with her arms so long?
Fal, etc.
He made of them bows for his violon,
Fal, etc.
And what did he do with her nose so thin?
Fal, etc.
He made it a bridge for his violin,
Fal, etc.
And what did he do with her eyes so bright?
Fal, etc.
He made them spectacles to help his sight,
Fal, etc.
And what did he do with her pretty toes?
Fal, etc.
He made them a nosegay to put to his nose,
Fal, etc.
Again, Dr. Rimbault gives another version of the ballad, evidently earlier than that last cited, and which he states to be the production of James Smith, D.D. (Oxford), born 1604, and died 1667; respecting whom Wood says," he was much in esteem with the poetical wits of the time, particularly with Philip Massinger, who called him his son." We append this ballad as printed from an old broadside copy of 1656, omitting the burden after the first verse :—
THE MILLER AND THE KING'S
DAUGHTER.
By Dr. James Smith.
THERE were two sisters, they went playing, With a hie downe, downe, a downe-a,
To see their father's ships come sailing in,
With a hy downe, downe, a downe-a.
And when they came unto the sea-brym,
The elder did push the younger in.
0 sister, O sister, take me by the gownd, And draw me upon the dry ground.
0 sister, O sister, that may not be,
Till salt and oatmeal grow both on a tree.
Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam,
Until she came unto the mill-dam.
The miller ran hastily down the cliff,
And up he betook her withouten her life.
What did he do with her breast-bone?
He made him a violl to play thereupon.
What did he do with her fingers so small?
He made him pegs to his violl withall.
What did he do with her nose-ridge?
Unto his violl he made him a bridge.
What did he do with her veins so blue?
He made him strings to his violl thereto.
What did he do with her eyes so bright?
Upon his violl he played at first sight .
What did he do with her tongue so rough?
Unto the violl it spake enough.
What did he do with her two shins?
Unto the violl they danced Moll Syms.
Then bespake the treble string,
O yonder is my father the king.
Then bespake the second string,
O yonder sits my mother the queen.
And then bespake the strings all three,
O yonder is my sister that drowned me.
Now pay the miller for his pain,
And let him be gone in the devil's name.
Dr. Rimbault adds that the viol was the precursor of the violin; but while the viol was the instrument of the higher classes of society, the "fiddle" served only for the amusement of the lower. The viol was entirely out of use at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Moll or Mall Symms, mentioned in the i3th stanza, was a celebrated dance tune of the sixteenth century. The three versions of this ballad curiously illustrate each other. That said by "Seleucus" to belong to South Lancashire has the merit of telling consistently a tragedy of sisterly envy and jealousy; but it lacks the quaint conceit of the transformation into a musical instrument. No apology is needed for giving all three versions.
--------------------
Notes and Queries, 1852 (Child Aa)
“The Miller's Melody," An old Ballad. (Vol. v., p. 316.)
The original ballad of “The Miller's Melody" is the production of no less a person than a “Doctor in Divinity,” of whom the following are a few brief particulars.
James Smith was born about 1604, educated at Christ Church and Lincoln Colleges, in Oxford; afterwards naval and military chaplain to the Earl of Holland, and domestic chaplain to Thomas Earl of Cleveland. On the Restoration of Charles II. he held several Church preferments, and ultimately became canon and “chauntor” in Exeter Cathedral. He was created D.D. in 1661, and quitted this life in 1667. Wood informs us he was much in esteem “with the poetical wits of that time.
[text]
As this old ditty turns upon the making “a viol,” it may be as well to add that this instrument was the precursor of the violin: but while the viol was the instrument of the higher classes of society, the “fiddle" served only for the amusement of the lower. . The viol was entirely out of use at the beginning of the last century.
Moll (or Mall) Symms (mentioned in the thirteenth stanza) was a celebrated dance tune of the sixteenth century. The musical notes may be found in Queen Elizabeth's Virginal Book, in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; and in the curious Dutch collection, Neder Lantsche Gedenck clank, Haerlem, 1626.
Edward F. Rimbault.
-------------
“The Miller And The King's Daughter.” —Jamieson, in his Popular Ballads and Songs, 18.06, i. 315, prints: 1. copy of “The Miller and the King's Daughter,” as from the second edition of Musarum Deliciae, 1656. This copy presents two or three slight variations from Dr. Rimbault’s broadside of the same date, which is printed in "N&Q.,” 1st S. v. 591, and also from the copy in the 1817 reprint of Wit Restored (1658). The reprint of Musarum Deliciae: in the latter volume has not the ballad of “The Miller and the King’s Daughter,” and yet it was made with care by a person who had both the edition of 1655 and that of 1656 in his hands, which differ not in the least as to contents, according to that editor. Is there, nevertheless, a copy of Musarum Deliciae, 1656, which contains the ballad in question?
F. J. C.
Cambridge, Mass.
--------------------------
Atkinson- Kidson's text https://books.google.com/books?id=UD8rDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA213&dq=%22Printed+for+Francis+Grove%22+Miller%27s+Melody&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj44ejcqLPbAhWIAXwKHUxrC_sQ6AEITTAH#v=onepage&q=%22Printed%20for%20Francis%20Grove%22%20Miller%27s%20Melody&f=false
And there does sit my false sister Anne
Text: Collections: WR, p. 51; WD1682, p. 87; Dryden, The Third Part of Miscellany Poems (London, 1716), p. 316. There was a broadside printed for Francis Grove in 1656, but I have failed to locate it; "The Miller's Melody,' An Old Ballad," N&Q
------------------------
The Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend, Volume 3, Stokoe, 1889
THE popularity of this ballad extends over
if a period of nearly 250 years, the earliest copy known being a broadside in the -- possession of Mr. Rimbault, entitled “ The Miller’s Melody,” “printed for Francis Grove. 1656." It afterwards appeared in “Wit Restored," 1658, as “The Miller and the King‘s Daughter."
Mr. Jameson and Sir Walter Scott both designated this a parody. Prof. Child, of Boston, U.S., howeVer, contends that it is not, although he admits that “two or three stanzas are ludicrous." He also states that the same story is to be found in the Icelandic, Norse, as well as in the Swedish and Danish languages, and a nearly related one in many other ballads or tales of Germany, Poland, Lithuania, &c. The professor‘s evidence is weighty in the inatter, as his edition of English and Scotch Ballads, published in eight volumes in 1861, is the best collection yet published, and is specially valuable on account of containing nearly every British ballad or ballad version worthy of preservation.
There are two melodies to which the ballad has been sung, and the one we give is that which is used in the Reedsdale and Liddesdale districts. It was sent by James Teller, of Saughtree, in 1857, to Mr. Robert \Vhite, of NeWcastle. The other melody is also beautiful, and was sung by Mr. Sinclair in giving his Scottish ballad entertainments about fifty years ago. It
[graphic]
[graphic]
[merged small][merged small][graphic][graphic][graphic][graphic][graphic][graphic][merged small][merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small]
He courted the eldest wi' broach and knife.
Binnorie, &,c., _ _
But he lo'ed the youngest aboon his life,
By the bonnie, &c.
The eldest she was vexed sair,
And sore envied her sister fair.
The eldest said to the youngest ane :
“Will you go and see our father's ships come in T"
She’s taen her by the lily hand,
And led her down to the river strand.
The youngest stude upon a stane ;
The eldest cam’ and pushed her in.
She took her by the middle sma'
And dashed her bonny back to the jaw.
“ O sister, sister, reach our hand.
And you shall be heir 0 half my land."
“ O sister, I'll not reach my hand,
And I’ll be heir of all your land.
“Shame fa’ the hand that I should take,
It's twined me and my world’s make.”
“0 sister, reach me but our glove,
And my sweet William s all be your love."
“Sink on, nor hope for hand or love,
And sweet William shall better my love.
" Your cherry cheeks and your yellow hair
Garr'd me gang maiden evermair.”
Sometimes she sank, and sometimes she swam,
Until she cam to the miller's dam.
The miller’s daughter was baking bread,
And good for water as she had need.
“ O father, father, draw your dam,
There’s either a mermaid or a milk-white swan.”
The miller hosted and drew his dam,
And there he found a drown'd womhn.
Ye couldna see her yellow hair
For gowd and pearls that were so rare.
Ye couldna. see her middle sma’,
Her gowden girdle was sac braw.
Ye couldna see her lily feet,
Her gowden fringes were sac deep.
A famous harper passing by,
The sweet pale face he chanced to spy.
And when he looked that ladye on, He sighed and made a heavy moan.
bon - nie mill dams
“ Sair will they be whate’er they be, The hearts that live to weep for thee."
[missing]
-------------------
she learned her repertory as a child from the singing of three persons: an aunt, her mother, and an old nurse of the family. The aunt, her mother's sister, was her chief source, and had herself learned these ballads from the singing of countrywomen in the district of Braemar
"The Bonnie Milldams o Balgonie" 1823 is given as the melody for another ballad -- no text given.
______________________
"The Singing Bone" ("Der singende Knochen") is a German fairy tale, collected by the Brothers Grimm,
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Der singende Knochen, Kinder- und Hausmärchen, 1st ed., vol. 1 (Berlin: Realschulbuchhandlung, 1812), no. 28, pp. 119-22.
In 1819, with the second edition of their Kinder- und Hausmärchen, the Grimms introduced numerous stylistic changes to "The Singing Bone" and reduced the number of brothers in the tale to two.
________________
-------------
Binnorie, Betsy Whyte
http://tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/82953/23
Traveller Betsy Whyte's recording on 'The Muckle Sangs Visions and Identities: Proceedings from the 24th International ..
https://books.google.com/books?id=ZGTYAAAAMAAJ
Eyðun Andreassen - 1996 - Snippet view - More editions
This effect may be read into John White's version:
Sayin, 'It's thonder sits my false sister, Jean',
A hee oh nans a bonnie— oh,
'It's as lightly she pushed me agen the stream',
An the swan it sweems so bonnie— oh.
----------
To quote Paul G. Brewster, who has written an extended monograph (BIB 4 on this ballad: 'All available evidence points to the Norwegian as the tradition from which the other [versions] have been derived. It is not suggested that a Norwegian or any other Scandinavian text is the ultimate source of the story. What does appear certain, however, is that Scandinavian, and particularly Norwegian, tradition, has preserved more of the primitive traits than have any of the others ... it seems likely that the source of the story may have been Slavic, probably Polish'.
------------------
Hughes father was from Ruthin, the county town of Denbighshire in north Wales.
--------------
Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Volume 2
By Folk-Song Society (Great Britain), 1905
43.—THERE WAS AN OLD MAN IN THE NORTH COUNTRIE.
(ThE BERKShIRE TRAGEDY).
Noted by Mr Charles Lolley. Sung By A Native Of Driffield, Yorkshire.
There was'a young man to the North Country came,
Low down, derry down dee,
There was a young man to the North Country came.
Valid we ought to be.
There was a young man to the North Country came.
He came to court the youngest dame,
Then I'll be true to my love, if my love will be true to me.
He bought the youngest a beaver hat;
Low down, derry down dee,
The eldest was not pleased at that,
Valid we ought to be.
Oh sister, let's go to the water's brim,
Low down, derry down dee,
Oh sister, let's go to the water's brim,
Valid we ought to be,
Away they went to the water's brim,
The eldest pushed the youngest in,
And I'll be true to my love, if my love will be true to me
Away she floated and away she swam,
Low down, derry down dee,
Until she came to the merry mill-dam,
Valid we ought to be.
The miler's daughter stood at the mill-door,
Low down, derry down dee,
When she saw this pretty maid come to shore,
Valid she ought to be.
"Oh father, oh father, what's in the mill-dam,
Low down, derry down dee,
A fish, a fish, and a new britan!"
Valid we ought to be.
"Go fetch me out my fishing-hook.
Low down, derry down dee,
And I'll draw this pretty maid out of the brook,
Valid we ought to be.
This version of " Binnorie," is often called "The Berkshire Tragedy," but this title is a rather misleading one, seeing that it was first given to it, and with no scientific authority, by Thomas Hughes, who introduced the ballad into his delightful book " The Scouring of the White Horse" in 1859. Professor Child elicited the fact that Thomas Hughes got his song from his father, who had learnt it when a boy at Ruthyn. It is well known in different forms throughout the British Isles, and the story is known throughout Europe.
The title of " The Berkshire (or Barkshire) Tragedy," properly belongs to a ballad frequently found on old broadsides, and on later broadsides by Pitts also, the scene of which is laid at Wytham Mill, above Oxford. This totally distinct ballad has usually the explanatory title "The Berkshire Tragedy, or the Witham Miller, being an account of his murdering his sweetheart."
The words here given under the title of "There was an old Man in the North Countrie," differ from any yet printed, and contain the curious word "britan," which is probably some obsolete part of a woman's dress (perhaps a cap, named a "Breton.") Could this be satisfactorily explained it might give a clue to the date of the version.—F.
According to Littre's French Dictionary, bretagnc is—or was—a name given to a kind of linen clotli made in Brittany, and so called in consequence (' Holland' is a similar instance). It is possible that there was a corresponding English name for the fabric, subsequently attached to some article of attire made from it. But if so, it is curious that it should not be traceable outside the ballad. Cf. the tune with "Widdicombe Fair" in Songs of the West.—A. G. G.
The word "brat" means any over-garment of coarse cloth, a pinafore or apron, (Anglo-Saxon bratt, but of Celtic origin). The ancient and mediaeval upper cloak of the Irish, and the Gaelic apron or plaid were also so-called. Possibly the original ran "and a new brat on." It is worth noticing that the other version of the story printed in this Journal (see "The Swan swims so bonny, O ") was noted from Irish singers.—L. E. B.
44.—THE SWAN SWIMS SO BONNY, O.
(BINNORIE.)
Noted by F. Kidson. Sung by an Irishman in Liverpool.
The farmer's[1] daughter being dress'd in red
Hey ho, my Nanny, O,
She went for some water to make her bread,
Where the swan swims so bonny, O.
* * * *
And there does sit my false sister Anne,
Hey ho, my Nanny, O,
Who drowned me for the sake of a man,
Where the swan swims so bonny, O.
The farmer's daughter being dressed in red,
Hey ho, my Nanny, O,
She went for some water to make her bread,
Where the swan swims so bonny, O.
They laid her on the bank to dry,
Hey ho, my Nanny, O,
There came a harper passing by,
Where the swan swims so bonny, O.
He made a harp of her breast-bone,
Hey ho, my Nanny, O,
And the harp began to play alone,
Where the swan swims so bonny, O.
He made harp-pins of her fingers so fair,
Hey ho, my Nanny, O,
He made his harp-strings of her golden hair.
Where the swan swims so bonny, O.
The lines and the beautiful old tune were noted down in Liverpool from the singing of an Irishman, who got it from an old Irish woman when he was young. He only knew the fragment as it stands. The verses are, of course, out of the ballad "Binnorie "—which also is known as "The Two Sisters," " The Cruel Sister," and "The Berkshire Tragedy" (for this latter see the present Journal).
It is not necessary to enter into the bewildering maze of variants duly catalogued and reproduced by the late Professor Child in English and Scottish Ballads (pp. 118 to 140, vol. i), but it may be stated that traditional forms of the ballad, closely allied, are scattered not only through the British Isles but over the Continent.
The story almost invariably is to the effect that a woman, jealous of her sister, pushes her into a stream near a mill-dam. The half-drowned sister is discovered by . the miller's daughter, who calls to her father that there is either a swan or a lady in the water. The miller rescues the lady, but is bribed by the jealous one to put her back in the water, which he does. Afterwards a harper, passing along, finds the lady's body and from her anatomy makes a harp (sometimes it is a viol), stringing it with her long yellow hair, making the wrest-pins from her finger bones, etc. The harp being placed on a stone begins to play of its own accord, and denounces the sister and the miller. The form of the ballad is always in couplets, with an irrelevant and repeating burden between the lines. The particular one here printed:
Hey ho, my Nanny, O
The swan swims bonny, O
occurs in several copies, notably in one transmitted to Sir Walter Scott from Ireland. In Motherwell's Minstrelsy, 1827 (Appendix xx), where an air is given, the refrain is the same, with " Annie" substituted for " Nanny."
The earliest known printed copy is on a broadside, dated 1656. Tunes to the ballad are printed in Motherwell; in R. A. Smith's Scotish Minstrel (Vol. vi, p. 72), as " The Bonnie Mill-dams of Balgonie; Christie's Traditional Ballad Airs (Vol. i, p. 4o); Sorthumbrian Minstrelsy ; Child's English and Scotish Ballads (three versions); Ford's Vagabond Songs of Scotland, and probably in some other works. The old Scottish air, "Lord Aboyne," appears also to have been used for versions of the ballad.—F. K.
The most elaborate version is that embodied in Dr. Arthur Somervell's arrangement as " The Two Sisters," with the refrain: "Edinbro'," " Stirling for aye," and " Bonny St. Johnston's stands on Tay."—J. A. F. M
-------
The Swan Swims Bonny O- sung by Irishman W.H. Lunt of Liverpool in 1892, who got it from an old Irish woman when he was young. Text and melody Frank Kidson Manuscript Collection (FK/2/3).
And there does sit my false sister Anne,
Hey ho, my Nanny, O,
Who drowned me for the sake of a man,
Where the swan swims so bonny, O.
The farmer's daughter being dressed in red,
Hey ho, my Nanny, O,
She went for some water to make her bread,
Where the swan swims so bonny, O.
They laid her on the bank to dry,
Hey ho, my Nanny, O,
There came a harper passing by,
Where the swan swims so bonny, O.
He made a harp of her breast-bone,
Hey ho, my Nanny, O,
And the harp began to play alone,
Where the swan swims so bonny, O.
He made harp-pins of her fingers so fair,
Hey ho, my Nanny, O,
He made his harp-strings of her golden hair.
Where the swan swims so bonny, O.
---------------------
Jock Whyte (1891-1973)
Title - The Swans Swim So Bonnie
Alternate Title - The Twa Sisters; Binnorie
Contributors - Lucy Stewart
Reporters - Prof. Kenneth Goldstein
Summary - In these opening fragments of the ballad 'Binnorie' (or 'The Twa Sisters'), a woman invites her sister to walk with her by the river:
There were twa sisters lived in this place,
Hey, ho, ma nannie o,
One was fair and the ither was deen [sic: din, dun],
And the swan swims sae bonnie o.
Dear sister, dear sister, would ye take a walk?
Hey, ho, ma nannie o,
Would ye take a walk doon by the miller's dam?
And the swan swims sae bonnie o.
Track Duration (h:m:s) - 00:00:43
Date Recorded - 1959.12
Language - Scots
Genre - Song
Collection - School of Scottish Studies
Track ID - 56068
Original Tape ID - SA1960.143
------------------
Bronson 13.2
13.2. ["The Two Sisters"]
Sung by Mrs. Kelby, Aberdeen, 1962. Collected and sent
to the Editor [Bronson] by Ewan Maccoll and Peggy Seeger
1. I says to my dear sister, are ye comin for to walkl
Aee, a-O, and sae bonny'O
Aad it's I,'ll show you *o.rj..ib.fore we go back
And the swan'it swims so bonny
z. Put.your foot on iike a marble stone
. 4..!, _1O,- and so bonny O
And iCs I'll show vou *.ni1.r, before we go home
Aod the swan it swims so bonny O.
3. But miller, 0 miller, come dry up your dam
A-ee, -O, and so bonny O,
For.I see.a maid all whiie L[.e swan
And the swan it swims ,o fon.oy b.
4. But the miller, hc quickly, hc dried the dam
A-ee, -O, and so bonny O,
And hc took out thc maid all white m'likc swan
And the swan its swims so bonny O.
5. He took out thc maid and he hung her up to dry,
A-ee, O, and sa' bonny O.
And there was three fiddlcrs passing by
And the swan it swims sae bonny O.
6. There was one of th'lm'at took three lengths of her hair
A+e, O, and sae bonny O
Therc was another of th'lm took her breast bone
And thc swan it swims so bonny O.
Therc to make a fiddle-head to play a tune upon
And the swan its swims so bonny O.
7. But those three fiddlers was play'n goin'along
A-ee, O, and so bonny O,
Until they come to the casde so high
And thc swan its swims so bonny O.
8. But fiddlers sweet fiddlers and let them be goin
Out then it spcaks her father the king
A-ee, O, and sa bonny O.
An' out then it speaks her father says to fean
And the swan it swims so bonny O.
-----------------------
Scots Traveller Christina Kelby's version (I think it's on Tangent's, The Muckle Sangs). For me, it captures perfectly both the mystery and the tragedy of the subject.
MacColl's composite version based on this does it justice on The Long Harvest IMO.
The Two Sisters
Clive Carey Manuscript Collection (CC/1/386)
Title
The Two Sisters
First Line
The miller's daughter stood at the door
Altan and Clannad versions of this song, and both these bands are from Ireland. Where did Altan and Clannad (practically next door neighbours in Donegal) get their versions?
From: MartinRyan - PM
From Brian Mullen of Derry,
This thread, J. Moulden or Philippa: Two sisters, from 1999 (and also linked at the top of this thread), has answers previously sorted, to wit:
- John Moulden said: "Brian tells me he got the song from Clive Collins, English Fiddler, whose source he believes was Andy Irvine who learned it in America."
- I pointed out that the Clannad version is basically "version E in Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. It was collected from Mrs. Clercy Deeton at Mine Fork, Burnsville, North Carolina, September 19, 1918."
~ Becky in Long Beach
----------
Aberdeen (Scotland), US based singer Norman Kennedy included "Binnorie" on his album "I Little Thocht My Love Wid Leave Me".
This wonderful ancient ballad (Child#10) is known far and wide - usually as Binnorie in Scotland but as The Two Sisiers in North America. The old singers I knew had different ways of singing the ballad - some with more verses than others. I frequently sing it at waulkings among weavers in America to shrink newly woven blanketing, so many people know it and happily join in the chorus lines'.
---------
-------------
Up Yon Wide and Lonely Glen: Travellers' Songs, Stories and Tunes . . . by Elizabeth Stewart
Binnorrie
Elizabeth Stewart, title: Binnorrie, Songs, ballads and tunes; Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen EICD002.
I'm sorry that I haven't seen this thread before; I've not been a long term peruser of Mudcat.....
Could I suggest that Elizabeth's words that she sings of Binnorie are as follows? Having lived, as a boy, in the house of my grandmother (who was a singer and born in rural north Aberdeenshire in the 1880s) has obviously been a considerable help in the matter.
There was twa sisters lived in this place
Oh heigh ho and binnorrie-O
Oh one was fair and the ither was deen
And the swan it swims sae bonnie-O
Dear sister, dear sister, will you tak' a walk
Wid ye tak' a walk doon by the miller's dam?
Dear sister, dear sister, put you your fit on yon marble stane
An' so slyly, so slyly she gently pushed her in.
Dear sister, dear sister, will ye gie to me your hand
An' it's I'll gie to you a' my hooses an' my land
Dear sister, dear sister, I winna gie tae you my hand
For I've come here for to mak' sure that ye droon
Noo, the miller he'd a daughter an' her bein' a maid
She went doon for some water for to bake
Dear father, dear father, there swims in your dam
It's either a maid or a white milk swan
Noo the miller took a click(cleek) and he clicked her oot*
And he put her on the dyke for to drip and to dry
Noo the king's three archers, they cam' ridin' by
And they took three strands o' her bonnie yellow hair
One day when their arrows, they were aiming high
"My sister Jane murdered me." they seemit tae cry
"She drooned me doon in the miller's dam.
It was a' because she wanted my ain true love John"
Her father, her father, him being the King
Had her hung fae a tree and left her there for tae hing.
* The Scots Dialect Dictionary compiled by Alexander Warrack (Waverley Press) defines click as to seize, catch up hastily, grab. My granny used to say to me, "Click ma tigs fae the press, laddie, I'm goin' tae hing oot the washin'." - Grab my pegs from the cupboard....
Elizabeth's version is certainly a glorious one. I would suggest that the three best versions of this ballad collected from Scots travellers all come from women who at one time all lived in the same street, Gaval Street, Fetterangus - Jane Turriff (born Jane Stewart), Lucy Stewart and her neice Elizabeth - all related and all quite remarkable singers, though Lucy's "other-worldly" singing and tune would be my favourite.
The most interesting thing about Elizabeth's version is that third from last verse about the archers. Many old versions suggest that the king's musicians (harpers, fiddlers or pipers) come upon the corpse and mutilate it, usually taking the breast-bone, to make an instrument and cut the hair to make strings. They then return to the king's court where the instrument "sings its lain" - plays on its own - and tells the king and queen its sororicidal story followed by the hanging/burning/stabbing of the murderer. In his album notes to the Folkways Lucy Stewart Goldstein says, "Child considered the heart of the ballad to be the making of a musical instrument from the drowned sister's body, the instrument in turn revealing the identity of her murderer. Most recently collected texts have eliminated this supernatural motif." This is certainly the case with both Lucy's and Jane's versions, which makes the whistling arrows tell the story in Elizabeth's version all the more interesting.
--------------
The Swan Swims So Bonnie O
Roud Folksong Index (S162437)
6 of approx 24 results
First Line
Oh, there were twa sisters lived in this place
Roud No
8 [Search for 8 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 10
Source
Folkways FG 3519 / Greentrax CTRAX 031 (`Lucy Stewart')
Performer
Stewart, Lucy
Place
Scotland : Aberdeenshire : Fetterangus
Collector
Goldstein, Kenneth S.
Date collected
1959-1961
---------------
The Swan It Swims Sae Bonnie O
Roud Folksong Index (S384920)
23 of approx 24 results
First Line
I says to my dear sister, Are ye comin' for to walk
Roud No
8 [Search for 8 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 10
Source
MacColl & Seeger, Travellers' Songs from England and Scotland (CDRom version 2015) pp.51-53 / Track 3
Performer
MacAllister, Christina
Place
Scotland : Aberdeenshire
Collector
MacColl, Ewan / Peggy Seeger
Date collected
1962
Format
CD Book / Sound recording
Src Contents
Text; Music; Audio
-------------
Binnorrie
Roud Folksong Index (S345566)
1 of approx 11 results
First Line
There wis twa sisters lived in this place
Roud No
8 [Search for 8 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 10
Source
Stewart, Up Yon Wide and Lonely Glen (2012) pp.265-266
Performer
Stewart, Elizabeth
Place
Scotland : Aberdeenshire : Fetterangus
Collector
Date collected
2004
--------------
has false sister Jean then repeats early verses
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/99162/8
Binnorie by Jessie MacDonald
Wi the swan swims bonny, O
------------------The two sisters - Volumes 62-63 - Page 85
https://books.google.com/books?id=maY3AAAAIAAJ
Paul G. Brewster - 1953 - Snippet view - More editions
82 See also GE J, an Irish text of 1870, in which the swan in the refrain (»The swan she does swim bonnie O») may be a transference. Cf. GE D2, also Irish (»Where the swan swims so bonny O»). This swan refrain appears in two Scottish texts
------------------
Shatzel, Thelma. Thompson, Harold W.(ed.) / Body, Boots & Britches, Dover, Bk (1962/1939), p393 [1930s] (Twa Sisters)
It was collected from oral tradition in Newfoundland. The first verse runs thusly:
There were two sisters, Jane and Mary Ann
I went a-gay and a-gandy
They were both in love with the same young man
Down by the bonny busk of London.
--------------
A well respected figure on the Scottish traditional music scene, Brian has been playing music since he was a young boy and his instrument of choice was the guitar. In the early 70s, while at Glasgow University, he joined the 'Laggan', played professionally with 'Swan Arcade' and even before that used to play regularly with the great Fife Road Show which featured many other fine singers and musicians.
After that he returned to Edinburgh and played with fiddler Charlie Sloane. He has also been known to appear with those legends of good taste and anarchy, 'The Vindscreen Vipers'. He became a member of the dance band 'The Occasionals', and has always been in great demand as a session musician - once standing in for Battlefield Band at the Cropredy Festival in the late 80's when Alistair Russell had injured his hand.
In recent years Brian has started to present 'Diamond Folk', an excellent folk radio program, which airs on Sunday evenings on Midlothian's Black Diamond FM
Carrying on the family musical tradition, Brian's daughter Siobhan Miller has emerged onto the Scottish music scene as a superb singer and has twice been awarded 'Scots Singer of the Year' at the prestigious Scots Trad Music
The Bonny Bonny Bows of London sung by Brian Miller probably when he was at Glasgow University in 1970.
There was twa sisters in their booer
Hey wi' the gay and the grinding
A knicht had come an' courted them both
By the bonny bonny bows of London
He's courted the eldest wi' brooch and ring
Hey wi' the gay and the grinding
But he's courted the youngest wi' many better1: Binnorie O
As sung by Archie Webster, Strathkinness, Fife
As sung by Archie Webster of Strathkinness near St Andrews recorded on several occasions in February 1968 [Spr 69.2.12, 14, 15]
There lived twa sisters in yon bonnie bower,
[or: twa maidens in yonder bower
Binnorie O binnorie,
They had but a lad atween them twa,
By the bonnie mill dams o Binnorie.
[or: bonnie mill lade o Binnorie
He coorted the eldest wi glove an' ring,
Binnorie O binnorie,
He loved the young girl above onything,
By the bonnie mill dams o Binnorie.
He courted the elder wi his penknife,
Binnorie O binnorie,
He loved the young girl as dear as his life,
By the bonnie mill dams o Binnorie.
etc.
Oh yonder sits my father the King,
An' yonder sits my mother the Queen.
Note: Check tapes to see if it has all been transcribed. things
By the bonny bonny bows of London
-----------------------------
THE BONNY SWANS
(Music by Loreena McKennitt. Lyrics traditional, arr. and adapted by Loreena McKennitt.)
A farmer there lived in the north country,
With a hey ho and a bonny o,
And he had daughters one, two, three,
The swans swim so bonny o.
These daughters they walked by the river's brim.
The eldest pushed the youngest in.
Oh sister, oh sister, pray lend me your hand,
And I will give you house and land.
I'll give you neither hand nor glove
Unless you give me your own true love.
Sometimes she sank. Sometimes she swam,
Until she came to a miller's dam.
The miller's daughter, dressed in red,
She went for some water to make some bread.
Oh father, oh daddy, here swims a swan.
It's very like a gentlewoman.
They placed her on the bank to dry.
There came a harper passing by.
He made harp pins of her fingers fair.
He made harp strings of her golden hair.
He made a harp of her breastbone.
And straight it began to play alone.
He brought it to her father's hall.
And there was the court, assembled all.
He laid the harp upon a stone.
And straight it began to play alone.
And there does sit my father the King.
And yonder sits my mother the Queen.
And there does sit my brother Hugh.
And by him William, sweet and true.
And there does sit my false sister, Anne,
Who drowned me for the sake of a man.
[From "The Mask And Mirror" (1994). Also on "Live in San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts" (1995).]
--------------------
The Two Sisters
Clive Carey Manuscript Collection (CC/1/386)
36 of approx 714 results
First Line
The miller's daughter stood at the door
Performer
Date collected
Place
Collector
Carey, Clive