[Seven Ladies Gay] Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight- Miss Frances Payette; 1912; published in JOAFL by Emelyn E. Gardner
[My title, which could be "Six Ladies Gay" depending if you want to add our heroine- haha! Taken from: Ballads by Emelyn E. Gardner in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 27, No. 103 (Jan.- Mar., 1914), pp. 90-93. Below I've added the the section on Child 4 from Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan by Elizabeth Gardner and also Geraldine Jencks Chickering where it is version A.
R. Matteson 2011, 2014]
BALLADS
CONTRIBUTED BY EMELYN E. GARDNER
THE following version of "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (Child, II, 14 a) I obtained in November, 1912, from Miss Frances Payette, a student of mine in the State Normal College, Ypsilanti, Mich. Miss Payette learned it from her mother, who had heard it sung by an English uncle of hers, John Knowles by name, some time before 1862. Mr. Knowles lived near Bay City, Mich.
I. LADY ISABEL AND THE ELF-KNIGHT
[Seven Ladies Gay]
1. There lived a false knight in London did dwell,
Who courted a lady fair;
And all that he wanted of this pretty maid
Was to take her life away.
2. "Go get part of your father's gold
And part of your mother's fee,
And we will go to some strange country,
Where married we shall be."
3. She went and got part of her father's gold
And part of her mother's fee;
Oh she went, oh she went, to her father's stable-door,
Where the horses stood fifty by three!
4. She mounted on a milk-white steed,
And he on an iron gray;
Oh they rode, oh they rode, to some deep water's side,
Four hours before it was day!
5. "Light off, light off! my pretty fair maid,
Light off, light off!" said he;
"For here I've drowned six ladies gay,
And the seventh one you shall be."
6. "Oh, stoop and bend these briers down
That grow so near the brim,
So they won't entangle my curly locks,
Or tear my milk-white skin."
7. He stooped to bend those briers down
That grew so near the brim;
This maiden, she ran with all her might,
And plunged the false knight in.
8. "Swim on, swim on, ye cruel false knight,
Swim on, swim on!" said she;
"For here you drowned six ladies gay,
But the seventh has drowned thee."
9. She mounted on the milk-white steed,
And she led the iron gray;
Oh she rode, oh she rode, to her father's stable-door,
Two hours before it was day!
10. The old man, he being sick in bed
And hearing what the parrot did say,
"Oh, what are you prattling, my pretty parrot,
So long before it is day?"
11. "Oh, hold your tongue, my pretty parrot!
And tell no tales on me;
Your cage shall be made of the best iron and gold,
And hung in the old oak-tree."
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Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan
Elizabeth Gardner and Geraldine Jencks Chickering,
Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press : 1939
LADY ISABEL AND THE ELF KNIGHT
(Child, No. 4)
Michigan A, except that it has an introductory stanza and that the elf knight has degenerated into a false knight, is very similar, as are many other versions, to Child F, which is reprinted from The Roxburghe Ballads, III, 449, dated by Ebsworth, the editor, about 1765. Michigan B is most like stanza 6 of Child E; Michigan C, like Child C and D Davis, pp. 62-85, gives many references and twenty-eight variants under sixteen titles collected in Virginia For further discussion, versions, and references see Marms Barbeau and Edward Sapir, Folk. Songs of Ftench Canada (New Haven, 1925), pp 22-29, Barbour, JAFL, XLIX, 213-214, Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth, pp 14-34, Cox, pp 3-17, Eddy, No. 1; Fauset, p 109, Flanders and Brown, pp. 190-192; Greenleaf and Mansfield, pp. 3-6, Mackenzie, pp. 3-8, Sandburg, pp. 60-61; Scarborough, pp. 126-128; and Sharp, I, 5-13.
Version A was obtained in 1912 from Miss Frances Payette, a student in Michigan State Normal College, Ypsilanti. She learned the song from her mother; Mrs. Payette had heard it sung before 1862 by an English uncle, Mr. John Knowles, who lived near Bay City, Michigan. Reprinted from Gardner, JAFL, XXVII, 90-91.
A.
1. There lived a false knight in London did dwell, Who courted a lady fair;
And all that he wanted of this pretty maid Was to take her life away.
2. "Go get part of your father's gold And part of your mother's fee,
And we will go to some strange country, Where married we shall be."
3. She went and got part of her father's gold And part of her mother's fee;
O she went, O she went to her father's stable-door, Where the horses stood fifty by three.
4. She mounted a milk-white steed, And he on an iron gray;
O they rode, O they rode to some deep water's side, Four hours before it was day.
5. "Light oil, light off, my pretty fair maid, Light off, light off!" said he.
"For here I've drowned six ladies gay, And the seventh one you shall be."
6. "O stoop and bend these briars down That grow so near the brim,
So they won't entangle my curly locks, Or tear my milk-white skin."
7 He stooped to bend those briars down That grew so near the brim;
This maiden she ran with all her might And plunged the false knight in.
8 "Swim on, swim on, ye cruel false knight, Swim on, swim on!" said she,
"For here you drowned six ladies gay, But the seventh has drowned thee."
9. She mounted on the milk-white steed, And she led the iron gray;
O she rode, O she rode to her father's stable-door Two hours before it was day.
10. The old man he being sick in bed And hearing what the parrot did say,
"O what are you prattling, my pretty parrot, So long before it is day?"
11. "O hold your tongue, my pretty parrot, And tell no tales on me;
Your cage shall be made of the best iron and gold And hung in the old oak tree."
B.
Sung in 1935 by Mrs Clara Sheldon, Alger, who was born near Paw Paw, Michigan. She learned the song from her mother, who came to Michigan in 1860 from near Port Dover, Canada Mrs. Sheldon related the story, but could sing only one stanza. With music:
Take off, take off, those royal robes,
And deliver them unto me.
For me-thinks they are too beautiful,
To lie in the deep, deep sea,
To lie in the deep, deep sea.
C.
Sung by Mr. Charles Atwood, Greenville, in 1937. Mr. Atwood was born near Munith, Michigan, 1869, of English, Scotch, and German ancestry He remembered hearing this song in his childhood, but could sing only a fragment.