Sheet Music: 264. The White Fisher
[The only traditional version of 'The White Fisher' with the tune was recorded and transcribed by James M. Carpenter as sung by Bell Duncan in the 1920s. See Carpenter's transcription below from The Tunes of the English and Scottish Ballads in the James Madison Carpenter Collection by Julia C. Bishop. Here's more:
Bell Duncan learnt her version of 'The White Fisher' from her mother. As Carpenter comments elsewhere, Bell Duncan's 'texts are long and full, many of the songs learned from her mother and others sixty-five, seventy years earlier', so this would date it back to 1860 or 1865. There are only a few other extant versions of the ballad, all of them consisting of the words alone: that in Peter Buchan's Ancient Ballads and Songs of the North of Scotland, and two versions collected by Gavin Greig in Aberdeenshire, from Miss Bell Robertson and Mrs Annie Robb. Bell Duncan's is closest to Annie Robb's version in its verbal details but is six stanzas longer and, as in the Buchan and Robertson versions, stresses t he mother's disapproval of the unvirtuous wife.
There are no known US or Canadian traditional versions of this ballad.
R. Matteson]
CONTENTS:
1) The White Fisher- Bell Duncan, Aberdeenshire c.1865- Carpenter
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From: The Tunes of the English and Scottish Ballads in the James Madison Carpenter Collection
by Julia C. Bishop
Folk Music Journal, Vol. 7, No. 4, Special Issue on the James Madison Carpenter Collection (1998), pp. 450-470
'The White Fisher', as sung by Bell Duncan, and recorded and transcribed by James M. Carpenter c. 1926
THE WHITE FISHER- Bell Duncan (Two recordings of the melody)
"Tis a month an' 'tis nae mair,
My dear, since I married thee,
An' there is a baby atween thy sides,
An' I'm sure an' it's nae tee me, dear love,
An' I'm sure an' it's nae tee me.'
"Tis a month an' 'tis nae mair,
My dear, since you married me,
An' there is a baby atween my sides,
An' I'm sure an' it's nae tee thee, dear love,
An' I'm sure an' it's nae tee thee.'
'O is't till a laird? or is't till a lord?
Or ane o high degree?
Or is't tee ane o your father's merry men?
I'm sure ye may tell me, dear love,
I'm sure an' ye may tell me.'
'It's nae till a laird, it's nae till a lord,
Nor ane o high degree,
Bet it's tee my father's kitchie boy;
I'm sure I willna lee.
'It wis my father's kitchie boy
Atween the kitchie an' the ha';
He laid his han' on my shoulder,
An' he caused me bak to fa'.'
'Gang tee your booer, my lily flooer,
Till a' your months are gane,
An' sometimes you'll read upon a book,
An' sometimes sew your seam, dear love,
An' sometimes sew your seam.
'An I'll rank oot a bonnie boat
An' sail upon the main,
An' be it weet or be it dry,
That nicht I will be hame, dear love.'
It fell ance upon a day
In travailins he fell by,
An' her ain gweed lord in anither room
He heard her thus ti cry:
'Had my young son been tee my ain gweed lord,
He wid hae eased my moan;
Had my young son been tee my ain gweed lord,
He wid hae come an' gone.'
It's up he rase an' in he gaes,
It wis ti ease her moan;
Up he rase an' in he gaes,
An' he saa his bonnie young son.
'Ye'll tak my young son in your airms
An' hae him far fae me;
Ye'll tak my young son in your airms
An' droon him i' the sea.'
He's taen up his bonnie young son
An' clasped him tee his breist,
An' he's awa tee his mither's booer,
Faar she his laid tee rest.
'Ye'll open your door tee me, mither;
Ye'll rise an' lat me in,
For the dew fa's on my yellow hair,
An' it's weetin my bonnie young son.
'I taul ye afore, my son, Willie,
Fan ye gaed there ti woo,
That yon wisna a leal maiden,
An' I taul it unto you.'
'But mither, ye ken I had anither sweetheart
Fan I wis ayont the sea,
An' this is ane o her love tokens
That she's sent hame tee me.'
'If that be true, my son Willie,
As I trust weel it be,
There's be nae mair ill deen tee your young son
Than ever wis deen tee thee.'
'Fan my lady comes here,' he says,
As aft she comes ti dine,
Ye'll aye be merry wi my bonnie young son,
But be sure ye dinna ca' him mine.'
Up he rase an' awa he gaes,
As fast as he could gang,
An' fan he cam till his lady's booer,
He heard her makin her mane.
'My bonnie young son's tee the white fishin,
An' he's ower young for the sea,
An' lang, lang will I think for fish
Ere he fesh hame tee me.
'My bonnie young son's tee the white fishin,
An' he's ower young for the main,
An' lang, lang will I think for fish
Ere he fesh ony hame.'
'Gang tee your bed, my dear,' he says,
'Gang tee yer bed,' says he.
'Gang tee yer bed, my dear,' he says,
'An' a drink I'll mak tee thee.'
'I winna gang tee my bed,' she says,
'An' a drink I winna tak fae thee,
For them that wid a droont my bonnie young son,
Wid surely poison me.'
'O haud your tongue, my dear,' he said;
'Say nae mair ill tee me;
There'll be nae mair ill deen tee your young son
Than ever wis deen tee me.
'An' fan ye gang tee my mother's booer
As aft ye gang ti dine,
Ye'll aye be merry wi your bonnie young son,
But be sure ye dinna ca' him thine.'
A comparison of the full text of the song as transcribed by Carpenter and the corresponding stanza in the tune transcription shows that they are not exactly the same. This is probably because the latter was transcribed from the cylinder recording of the singer's performance whilst the full text was taken down at the singer's dictation. It is not clear why Carpenter has chosen to transcribe the words and music of the fourth stanza of the song; perhaps Bell Duncan only recollected other parts of the text later, after some prompting from Carpenter. Although he does not note it on the music transcription, the tune is hexatonic, lacking the sixth degree, and, according to his method of modal classification, would be designated Dorian/Aeolian.