The King's Three Questions- MacNelly (Maine) 1940
[From Flanders' Ancient Ballads, pp. 281-298, version D; also printed in Ballads Migrant in New England. Notes by Coffin follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
King John and the Bishop
(Child 45)
"King John and the Bishop" is a ballad version of a well-known folk tale (Aarne-Thompson, Mt. 922) that is probably oriental in origin. At least a ninth-century Arabic work contains a story about a wicked king, his viziers, and a potter that is basically similar. This is about as far back as the tale can be safely traced. It became quite popular in the Middle Ages, both in the East and west, and has been the subject of a good bit of study. Walter Anderson's monograph, "Kaiser und Abt" (FFC, No. 42 [Helsinki, 1923]); the citations in the Aarne-Thompson Types of the Folktale; and the notes in Child, I, 405 f., make a good start on a bibliography of the tale's variations and history.
The American ballad versions, almost all from the North, follow the child's Brooksby broadside pretty closely, usually even to the "derry down" refrain. The Flanders texts are of interest more because of the way they interrelate to each other than because of anything unusual in their make-up. After all, the story, with its set situation, questions, and answers, is about as variation-proof as folklore can ever be. A1 and A2, below, were learned by two men from a mutual grandmother, and, except for the fact that most of is is forgotten, they are much alike. However, it should be noted that the singer of A1 did not recall a good portion of his text until later. B1, B2, and BB make an interesting series. B1, sung word for word the same in 1933 by a brother and sister, was re-collected from the brother in 1939 and again in 1951. The 1939 B2 and 1951 B2 texts have two stanzas (8 and 9) not found in the 1933 version and add two new stanzas to the material covered in B1 from stanza 3 to stanza B. Otherwise the three texts do not differ greatly. The fact that neither Mr" George nor his sister recalled the additional stanzas in 1933 makes one wonder why the material should crop up six and eighteen years later. C, it will be noted, is also from the Slayton family that Mrs. Daniels, Elmer George's sister, gave as the source of her text. D is interesting in the singer's comment that the Bishop "was arrested for having too much money"--a compact statement of the Child B motivation. For a start on a bibliography of the song, see Coffin, 58-59.
All three of the tunes given here are related, corresponding to BC1 group A. The two George tunes are almost identical.
D. The King's Three Questions. Jack McNally of Siberia, near Stacyville, Maine, recalled, some of "The King's Three Questions." printed, in Ballads Migrant in New England, III. H. H. F., Collector; July 13, 1940.
Come, all you folks and I'll make you merry,
I'll tell you the story of the bishop of Canterbury."
(He was arrested for having too much money, more than the king)
"First, you must tell me without any doubt,
How long I'll be traveling this world about."
"And get up with the sun and go 'round the same
And four and twenty hours will bring you back again."
"Second you must tell me what I'm worth."
"The Lord was sold for thirty piece of silver,
You must be worth thirty-three,
For probably you are worth three pennies more than he."
"Third, you must tell me what I think."
"You think I'm the bishop of Canterbury,
But I'm nawthin but his hired hand."