Rich Lady from Scotland- Hill (MO) 1940 Randolph E
[From Randolph's Ozark Folksongs; Volume 1: British Ballads and Songs. Randolph takes no position on the debate about the classification of "Pretty Sally" but he places the ballads in his Child ballads section and seems to accept the ballads as versions of Child 295. Randolph's notes follow.
This version is has "colors" in the last line as found in Sharp A, B and other versions. Sharp A and B have "colour(s)," which should mean "to abandon or go away from your general's ensign (flag)," i.e., to fly from your colours; [from] Latin a, away from, bandum, the general's banner. [Reference: E. Cobham Brewer, 1887); Altered English: Surprising Meanings of Familiar Words - Page 11 by Jeffrey Kacirk.]
However "colors" in this case, does not seem to represent a flag. After an examination of several versions, it seems that the word is "color" usually "colors" and that it means the reddish hue or the color of a living body- when one loses their color, they are dead. When they "fly from their (normal) colors," they are dead and can "no longer be seen."
Barry (JAFL 1914) from a Kansas MS circa 1908:
While dancing o'er Sally, o'er Sally your queen,
And her colors are there, now no more to be seen!
R. Matteson Jr. 2014]
40. PRETTY SALLY OF LONDON
Similar to several pieces reported from Virginia by Davis (Traditional Ballads of Virginia, pp. 537-543), who publishes them as variants of "The Brown Girl" (Child, English and the Popular Ballads, 1882-1898, No. 295). In this he follows the authority of Campbell and Sharp (English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, 1917, No. 36) who recovered similar items in Virginia and in North Carolina. Barry, Eckstorm and Smyth (British Ballads from Maine, 1929, pp.418-425) print five texts from Maine, and consider it as a secondary form derived from Child 295. For other American references see Barry (JAFL 18, 1905, p. 295, Tolman (JAFL 29,1916, p. 17S), Cox (Folk-Songs of the South, 1925, pp. 366-370), Kirkland (Southern Folklore Quarterly 2, 1938, p. 79), who reports a "Rich Irish Lady" version, "Sally Dover" in Chappell (Folk-Songs of Roanoke and the Albermarle, 1939, pp. 75), Gardner (Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan, 1939, pp. 150-151), Treat (JAFL 52, 1939, pp. Belden (Ballads and, Songs, 1940, pp. 111-118), Brewster (Ballads and Songs of Indiana 1940, pp. 164-165), and "A Brave Irish Lady" in the Brown (North Carolina Folk-Lore collection.
E. [Rich Lady from Scotland] From Mrs. Sylvia Hill, Thayer, Mo., Aug. 16, 1940.
There was a rich lady, from Scotland she came
With great honor and riches and Sally by name,
Her riches were more than a king could possess,
And her beauty was more than her riches at best.
There was a poor boy who came to court her,
Whose wages were only one thousand a year,
Her being so wealthy, so lofty, so high,
upon this poor boy she could scarce cast an eye.
Six weeks had scarce come, six weeks had scarce passed,
Till Sally had fallen in love with alas!
She asked for the doctor she once did despise
And sent for the poor boy she once did deny.
Am I the doctor, you sent for me here?
Am I the young man that loved you so dear?
Oh yes, you're the doctor, that can kill or can cure,
Without your assistance I'm ruined I'm sure.
Oh Sally, oh Sally, oh Sally, said he,
Don't you remember when you slighted me?
I couried with pleasure, you slighted with scorn,
And now I'll remind you of days past and gone.
Oh Willie, oh Willie, forget and forgive,
And grant me some longer on this wide world to live,
Oh no, I'll not, Sally, not while I have breath,
And I'll dance on your grave when you're laid in the earth.
Then off of her fingers she pulled diamond rings three,
Saying take them and wear them while dancing o'er me,
Wirite dancing o'er Sally, o'er Sally the queen
Whose colors no more on earth will be seen.