Sweet William- Ayers (WV) pre1918 Cox G
[From Folk-Songs of the South- 1925 by John Harrington Cox. Footnotes moved to the end. His notes follow. Carey Woofter was one of Josiah Combs' main West Virginia collectors. Woofter and Patrick Gainer were both students at the University of West Virginia in the early to mid-1920s. Both Woofer and Gainer have been involved in ballad re-creation from print sources. Caveat emptor!
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
11. FAIR MARGARET AND SWEET WILLIAM (Child, No. 74)
Seven variants have been recovered in West Virginia under the titles: "Sweet William," "Lady Margaret," and "Lady Margaret's Ghost." A glance at these ballads shows that they are largely identical; a comparison with the Child versions indicates that they are to be classed with group A, B, as witnessed by the blue suit, the dream of white swine, and the seven brethren.
For American texts see Child, v, 293 (Massachusetts); Journal, xix, 281 (Belden; Missouri); XXIII, 381 (Combs; Kentucky); xxvni, 154 (Perrow; North Carolina) ; xxx, 303 (Kittredge; Missouri); xxxi, 74 (Waugh; Ontario); xxxv, 340 (Tolman and Eddy; Ohio); Wyman and Brockway, p. 94 (Kentucky); McGill, p. 69 (Kentucky; reprinted by Pound, No. 16); Campbell and
Sharp, No. 17 (Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia); Focus, iv, 426 (Virginia); Ralph, Harper's Monthly Magazine, July, 1903, cvn, 272 (Kentucky); Mackenzie, p. 124 (Nova Scotia); Smith, p. 18 (two tunes); Minish MS. (North Carolina). Cf. Shearin and Combs, p. 8; Belden, No. 5; F. C. Brown, p. 9; Bulletin, Nos. 2-6, 8-10; Cox, xlv, 159; Reed Smith, Journal,
xxvni, 200.
G. "Sweet William." Communicated by Mr. C. Woofter, Glenville, Gilmer County, December 1923; obtained from Mr. Charles L. Ayers, Revere, who was killed in France, 1918. He got it on Standing Stone, Wirt County.
1 Sweet William rode one morning bright,
And dressed himself in blue:
"Come tell me the long lost love
Between Lady Margaret and you."
2 "I know no harm of Lady Margaret," said he,
"And I hope she knows none of me,
But to-morrow morning before eight o'clock
Lady Margaret my bride shall be."
3 As Lady Margaret was in her chamber high,
A-combing up her hair,
She spied Sweet William and his bride,
As they to the church drew near.
4 She threw down her ivory comb
And tossed back her hair;
And from the room a fair lady came,
That was seen in there no more.
5 The day being gone and the night being come,
When most men are asleep,
Sweet William spied Lady Margaret's ghost,
A-standing at his bed feet.
6 "How do you like your bed?" said she,
"And how do you like your sheet?
And how do you like the fair lady
That lies in your arms asleep?"
7 "Very well I like my bed," said he,
"Very well I like my sheet,
But better do I like the fair lady
That is standing at my bed feet."
8 The night being gone and the day being come,
When most men are awake,
Sweet William said he was troubled in his head
From a dream he had last night.
9 He called his weary waiting maids,
By one, by two, by three;
And the last of all, with his bride's consent,
Lady Margaret he went to see.
10 He went unto the parlor door,
He knocked till he made things ring:
But none was so ready as his own dear brother
To rise and let him in.
11 "Is Lady Margaret in the parlor?" said he,
"Or is she in the hall?
Or is she in her chamber high
Among the gay ladies all?"
12 "Lady Margaret is not in the parlor," said he,
"She is neither in the hall;
But she is in her coffin,
A-lying by the wall."
13 "Tear down, tear down those milk-white sheets,
They are made of silk so fine,
That I may kiss Lady Margaret's cheek,
For ofttimes she has kissed mine."
14 The first that he kissed was her rosy cheek,
The next was her dimpled chin;
The last of all was her clay-cold lips:
That pierced his heart within.
15 "Tear down, tear down those milk-white sheets,
They are made of silk so fine;
To-day they hang around Lady Margaret's corpse,
And to-morrow they will hang around mine."
16 Lady Margaret died of pure, pure love,
Sweet William died of sorrow;
They are buried in one burying ground,
Both side and side together.
17 Out of her grave grew a red, red rose,
And out of his a green briar;
They grew and they grew to the church-steeple top,
And they could not grow any higher.
18 They grew into a twining true-lover's knot,
The rose and the green briar;
They grew into a twining true-lover's knot,
For all true lovers to admire.