Six King's Daughters- Davis (MO) 1909 Belden C
[My title, another possible title is Pretty Caroline. From Ballads and Songs; Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society; Belden 1940.
R. Matteson 2014]
C. [Six King's Daughters.] No title given. Secured by Miss Hamilton from another of her West Plains pupils, Mabel Davis, 1909.
'Go steal your father's weight in gold,
Likewise your mother's fee,
And two of the best horses that there are,
For there stands thirty-three.'
She stole her father's weight in gold,
And likewise her mother's fee,
And two of the best horses that there were,
For there stood thirty-three.
She mounted on a milk-white steed,
And he upon a bay;
They rode, they rode through the merry green wood's
Till they came to the side of the sea.
'Dismount, dismount, my pretty fair maid,
Dismount, dismount, I say.
There are six king's daughters I've drowned here
And you the seventh shall be.'
'You must take off those costly robes
And lay them down by me.
They are too costly, ah! by far
To rot in the bottom of the sea.'
'If I take off these costly robes
And lay them down by thee,
You must turn yourself all round and round,
All for to face that tree.'
He turned himself all round and, round
All for to face the tree;
And manfully she picked him up
And flung him into the sea.
'Lie there, lie there, you false villain,
Lie there instead of me.
If there are six king's daughters you've drowned here,
Go, keep them company.'
'O, give me hold your lily-white finger,
Or give me your whole hand,
And you shall be the lady of my house
And own one half of my land.'
'I will not give you my lily-white finger,
I won't give you my whole hand;
I will not be the lady of your house
Or own one half of your land.''
She mounted on the milk-white steed,
But now she led the bay,
She rode, she rode through the merry green woods
Till she came to the parrot's tree.
'O Polly, Polly, pretty Polly,
Don't tell any tales on me;
And your cage shall be lined with the yellow beaded gold
And locked with a silver key.'
The old man heard the Parrot's cry
And unto her did say,
'O Polly, Polly, pretty Polly,
'What makes you cry so long today?'
'The old cat came to my cage door,
And that's what worried me.
I called upon your Pretty Caroline [1]
For to drive the old cat way.'
1. The name was originally a generic slang word for the Irish word, cailin, meaning "girl" "girlfriend" or "lover." (Barry 1909)