Strawberry Lane: from Ballads and Songs
by G. L. Kittredge
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 30, No. 117 (Jul. - Sep., 1917), pp. 283-369
THE ELFIN KNIGHT (Child, No. 2)
[Strawberry Lane]
Communicated in 1914 by Mr. E. Russell Davis, as remembered by his mother and himself from the singing of his grandfather, Mr. William Henry Banks (born 1834), a vessel-owner of Maine.
1. As I was a-walking up Strawberry Lane, -
Every rose grows merry and fine, -
I chanced'for to meet a pretty, fair maid,
Who wanted to be [1] a true-lover of mine.
2. "You'll have for to make me a cambric shirt, -
Every rose grows merry and fine, -
And every stitch must be finicle work,
Before you can be a true-lover of mine.
3. "You'll have for to wash it in a deep well, -
Every rose grows merry and fine, -
Where water never was nor rain ever fell,
Before you can be a true-lover of mine."
[The man goes on to make several more conditions. Finally the girl turns on him thus: -]
4. "Now, since you have been so hard with me, -
Every rose grows merry and fine, -
Perhaps I can be as hard with thee,
Before you can be a true-lover of mine.
5. "You'll have for to buy me an acre of ground, -
Every rose grows merry and fine, -
Before you can be a true-lover of mine.
6. "You'll have for to plough it with a deer's horn, -
Every rose grows merry and fine, -
And plant it all over with one grain of corn,
Before you can be a true-lover of mine.
7. "You'll have for to thrash it in an eggshell, -
Every rose grows merry and fine, -
And bring it to market in a thimble,[2]
Before you can be a true-lover of mine."
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Footnotes:
1 Or "said she would be."
2 Or, "And take it to market where man never dwelled."