Sister, Dear Sister- Allingham 1865; Child T
[Child Version T is a single stanza from Allingham's The Ballad Book, p. xxxiii. published in 1865. The ballad was "sung (among other ballads) by a nurse in the family of a relative of ours in Ireland." Unfortunately no more text is provided. This version has a similar refrain the "Oh the wind and the rain" refrains which recently became popular in the US and then in England. Below Child's text is the excerpt from Allingham's Ballad Book. Child/Kittredge say only "Sung to a peculiar and beautiful air." Allingham, p. xxxiii. ]
SISTER, DEAR SISTER Allingham's Ballad Book, p. xxxiii. From Ireland. Child Version T; 1865
1. Sister, dear sister, where shall we go play?'
Cold blows the wind, and the wind blows low
'We shall go to the salt sea's brim.'
And the wind blows cheerily around us, high ho
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Excerpt from: The Ballad Book: a selection of the choicest British ballads; edited by William Allingham 1865
Hibernian versions, we may mention as specimens those of "Binnorie" and "Lamkin," sung (among other ballads) by a nurse in the family of a relative of ours in Ireland. They are chiefly remarkable for corruption of language and neglect of rhyme. "Lamkin " begins thus : —
As my lord and my lady were out walking one day,
Says my lord to my lady, "Beware of Lamkin I"
"O why should I fear him, or any such man,
When my doors are well barr'd and my windows well pinn'd?
When my doors," &c.
But there are some good points : —
O keep your gold and silver, it will do you some good,
It will buy you a coffin when you are dead.
There's blood in the kitchen, and blood in the hall,
And the young Mayor of England lies dead by the wall.
The version of "Binnorie," called "Sister, dear Sister," and sung to a peculiar and beautiful air, begins: —
Sister, dear sister, where shall we go play?
Cold blows the wind, and the wind blows lowy
We shall go to the salt sea's brim,
And the wind blows cheerily around us, High ho .'