Sweet Annie of Roch Royal- (WV) 1924 Woofter
[No informant named. From: Folk Songs of the Southern United States by Josiah Combs 1925, edited Wilgus 1967. Carey Woofter's contributions have come under suspicion from several sources including Wilgus. For example, Roch Royal is not mentioned in the other authentic US and Canada versions. Compare to the opening stanzas of Child D at bottom of this page.
This is likely a ballad recreation based on Cox A, which is similar to Child D. Woofter supplied several texts to Cox which were published in Folks Songs of the South (Yew Piney Mountains, for example). Evidently he got a copy of Cox A
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
Sweet Annie of Roch Royal- From Dora, WV; 1924 Woofter; Folk Songs from the Southern United States (Combs)
1 'O who will shoe my little feet,
And who will glove my hands?
And who will tied my waist so neat
With the new made London bands?
2 'O who will comb my yellow hair,
With the bright new silver comb?
O who will be daddy to my boy,
Till my lover George comes home?'
3 Her father shoed her little feet,
Her mother gloved her hands;
Her sister tied her waist so neat
With the new made London bands.
4 Her cousin combed her yellow hair,
With the new made silver comb,
But heaven knew the daddy of her boy,
Till her lover George came home.
5 Her father gave her a new ship,
And led her to the sand;
She took her boy up in her arms
And sailed away from the land.
6. On the sea she sailed and sailed,
For over a month and more,
Till she landed her new ship
Near to her lover's door.
7. Long she stood at her lover's door,
And long pulled at the string,
Till up got his false mother,
Saying, "Who pulls at the string?"
8. "O it is Annie of Rock Royal,
Your own, come over the sea
With your own dear son in her arms;
So open the door to me."
9. "Be off! be off! you bold woman,
You come not here for good;
You're only a strumpet, or a bold witch,
Or else a mermaid from the sea."
10. "I'm not a witch nor a strumpet bold,
Nor a mermaid from the sea;
But I am Annie of Rock Royal;
So open the door to me.
11. "So open the door now, dear George,
And open it with speed,
Or your young son here in her arms
With the cold will soon be dead."
12. "If you be Annie of Rock Royal,
Though I know you may not be,
What pledge can you give that I
Have ever kept you company?"
13. "O don't you mind, dear George," she said,
When we were a-drinking wine,
How we gave the rings from our fingers,
And how the best was mine?
13 "Though yours was good enough for me,
It was not so good as mine;
Yours was made of bright red gold,
While mine had a diamond fine.
14 "So open the door, now? dear George,
And open it with speed,
Or your young son here in my arms
With the cold will soon be dead."
15 "Away, away, you bold woman,
Take from my door your shame;
For I have gotten another trrre-love,
And you may hasten home."
16 "And if you have gotten another true-love,
After all the oaths that you swore,
O here is farewell, false George,
For you will never see me more."
17. Slow-ly, slow-ly went she back
As the day began to dawn;
She set her foot on the new ship,
And bitterly did she mourn.
18. George started up all in his sleep,
And quick to his mother he said:
"O I dreamed a dream tonight, mother,
That made my heart so sad.
19 "I dreamed that Annie of Rock Royal,
(The flower of all her kin),
Was standing mourning 4t my door,
But none would let her in."
20 "O a bold woman stood there at the door
With a child all in her arms;
But I wouldn't let her come in the house,
For fear she would work you a charm."
21 Quick-ly, quick-ly got he up,
And fast he ran to the sand,
And there he saw his dear Annie
A-sailing from the land.
22 "And hey, Annie, and hee, Annie,
O Annie, listen to me!"
But the louder he cried, "Annie!"
The louder roared the sea.
23 The wind blew high, the sea grew rough,
The ship was broken in two,
And soon he saw his sweet Annie
Come floating over the waves.
24 He saw his young son in her arms,
Both tossed about by the tide;
He pulled his hair, and he ran fast,
And he plunged in the sea so wild.
25 He caught her by the yellow hair
And drew her out on the sand;
But cold and stiff were her snowy limbs
Before he reached the land.
26 O he has mourned over sweet Annie
Till the sun was going down;
Then with a sigh his heart did burst,
And his soul to heaven has flown.
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Fair Anny- Child Version D; The Lass of Roch Royal Child 76; Jamieson-Brown Manuscript, fol. 27; Jamieson's Popular Ballads, I, 36.
1 'O wha will shoe my fu fair foot?
An wha will glove my han?
An wha will lace my middle gimp
Wi the new made London ban?
2 'Or wha will kemb my yallow hair,
Wi the new made silver kemb?
Or wha'll be father to my young bairn,
Till Love Gregor come hame?'
3 Her father shoed her fu fair foot,
Her mother glovd her han;
Her sister lac'd her middle gimp
Wi the new made London ban.
4 Her brother kembd her yallow hair,
Wi the new made silver kemb,
But the king o heaven maun father her bairn,
Till Love Gregor come hame.