Six Kings' Daughters- Bryant 1935; Brewster A
[From Brewster: Ballads and Songs of Indiana; 1936; Footnotes re-numbered. This version was published in the JAFL in 1935. Brewster's notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
LADY ISABEL AND THE ELF-KNIGHT (Child, No. 4)
The widespread currency of this ballad not only in the British Isles and America but also in Continental Europe led Child to write of it: "Of all ballads this has perhaps obtained the widest circulation." Only three variants have been recovered in this state, however. They are closest perhaps to Child E, although the name Polly does not occur in that text and is found only in F. In other texts the heroine is May Colvin (Colven) or May Collin. Her reminding the false lover of his promise of marriage occurs in none of the Child versions. The name William does not appear in the texts of Child; there the lover is Sir John. It is possible, however, that the William of our Indiana variant is a corruption of villain. The turning three times around is not found in any of the Child versions.
For American texts, see Belden, No. 1 (fragment); Brown, p. 9; Campbell and Sharp, No. 2; Cox, No. 1 (fragment); Hudson, No. 1; Mackenzie, Ballads, No. 1; Scarborough, p. 43; Shearin, p. 3; Shearin and Combs, p. 1; Smith, Ballads, No. 1; Wyman and Brockway, p. 82; Sandburg, p. 60; Journal, XVIII, 132; XIX, 232; XXII, 65, 76, 374, 344; XXIV, 333; XXVII, 90; XXVIII, 148; XXX, 286; XXXV, 338; XLII, 254; XLIX, 213 (Missouri); Fauset, Folk-Lore from Nova Scotia, p. 109; PTFLS, X, 138; Gordon, Folk-Songs of America, p. 8; Cox, Traditional Ballads, Mainly from West Virginia, pp. 1-5; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 32; BFSSNE, I, 3 (New Hampshire); Randolph, Ozark Mountain Folks, p. 216.
English and Scottish texts will be found in Broadwood and Maitland, English County Songs, p. 164 (with air); Roxburghe Ballads, VII, 383; Dixon, Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England (London, 1846), p. 74; Greig, Last Leaves, p. 2 (with air); Burne, Shropshire Folk-Lore, p. 548; JFSS, I, 246; II, 282; IV, 116, 374.
For a Hungarian version, "Molnar Anna," see Buday, George, and Giles Ortutay, Szekely Nepballad&k No. 25. Manx analogues, "Illiam Bogt" and "Cur uss Jeed," appear in JFSS, VII, 300-301.
Local titles for this ballad are "Six Kings' Daughters" and "Pretty Polly." It is sometimes known also as "The False Lover."
A. "Six Kings' Daughters." Contributed by Mrs. Thomas M. Bryant, of Evansville, Indiana. Vanderburg County. November 22, 1935.
1. He followed me up and he followed me around,
And he followed me around all day;
I had not the power to speak a word
Or a tongue to answer, "Nay, O Nay,"
Or a tongue to answer, "Nay."
2. "Go bring me some of your father's gold
And some of your mother's fee;
And I'll take you to the bonny sea sands,
And then we'll marry at Dee, O Dee,
And then we'll marry at Dee."
3. She mounted upon a milk-white steed
And he the iron-gray,
And they rode till they came to the salt sea sands,
Three long hours before day, O day,
Three long hours before day.
4. "Alight, alight, my Pretty Polly Anne;
Alight, alight," says he;
"For six kings' daughters have I drowned here,
And the seventh one you shall be, O be,
And the seventh one you shall be.
5. "Take off, take off those fine, fine clothes
And lay them on this rock,
For they are too fine and costly-ee
To lay in the sea and rot, O rot,
To lay in the sea and rot."
6. "It's turn your face three times around,
Your back to the leaves on the tree";
Then she picked him up most manfully
And plunged him into the sea, O sea,
And plunged him into the sea.
7. "Help me out, help me out, my pretty maiden;
Help me out, help me out," says he;
"And we will go to the next sea sands,
And there we'll marry at Dee, O Dee,
And there we'll marry at Dee."
8. "Lie there, lie there, you false-hearted one;
Lie there instead of me;
If six kings' daughters you have drowned here,
The seventh one you shall be, O be,
The seventh one you shall be."
9. She mounted upon her milk-white steed
And led the iron-gray;
She rode till she came to her own father's door,
Two long hours before day, O day,
Two long hours before day.
10. "Hush up, hush up, my pretty parrot!
Don't tell no tales on me!
Your cage shall be lined with beads of gold
And hung on a willow tree, O tree,
And hung on a willow tree."