The Lady Gay- Allison (VA) 1921 Stone/ Davis B
[From Traditional Ballads of Virginia; Kyle Davis Jr., 1929. Davis' notes follow.
R. Matteson 2015]
TRADITIONAL BALLADS OF VIRGINIA
THE WIFE OF USHER'S WELL
(Child, No. 79)
The Child title is unknown in Virginia, where the ballad is called "The Lady Gay," "The Three Little Babes," "The Beautiful Bride," or (once) "Lady Gains." The Virginia variants all belong to the same version, which is neither Child A, B, nor C. The religious cast of the Virginia version seems to relate it to Child C, but in other respects it is nearer to Child A. It is practically identical with the American text printed in Child, V, 294, except that the mother's prayer for the return of the children is not usual in the Virginia texts; indeed, appears only once. The motive for the children's return - to forbid the mother's obstinate grief - is found in most of the Virginia variants, as in other American texts, but not in Child A. In practically all Virginia texts the ghosts disappear for two reasons: the crowing of the cock and the summons of the Saviour. In this respect they are like West Virginia B. The Virginia texts do not add much except minor variations to the texts already published from America.
The story of the composite Virginia text runs as follows: - A lady gay sends her three children to school in the north country, where, after a time, they die. (The mother grieves for her children and prays for their return.) About Christmas time they appear to her. She prepares a feast for them, but they refuse to eat, because the Saviour forbids. She spreads a bed with rich covering for them, but they bid her take it off, as it represents mere worldly pride. With the approach of dawn and by appointment with their Saviour, they depart, warning the mother that her tears but wet their winding sheet. The Virginia and other American texts are more sternly puritanical and have less human warmth than Child A. Another interesting feature of the Virginia texts concerns the sex of the babies. In old-country texts the children are always sons. In Virginia the sex is normally unspecified; they are simply "children" or " babes." But occasionally they actually become girls. See F 6, line 2, and G 5, line 4. Perhaps the same change of sex is indicated by the " normal school " variant of C 1, line 3.
For American texts, see Belden, No. 77; Brown, p. 9 (North Carolina); Bulletin, Nos. 3-5, 9; Campbell and Sharp, No. 19 (North Carolina, Tennessee); Child, X, 194 (North Carolina); Cox, No. 14; Hudson, No. 12 (and Journal, XXXIX, 96; Mississippi); Journal, XIII, 119 (Newell, North Carolina); XXIII, 429 (Belden, Missouri); XXX, 305 (Kittredge; California, Nebraska, Kentucky, Tennessee); XXXII, 503 (Richardson, West Virginia); McGill, p. 5; Pound, Syllabus, p. 10 (fragment); Pound, Ballads, No. 7; Shearin and Combs, p. 9. For additional references, see Journal, xxx, 305.
B. "The Lady Gay." Collected by Mr. John Stone. Recited by Mr. Jennie Allison of Saltville, Va. Smyth County. November 8, 1921. " She learned it from her cousin, Mrs. Mandy Rogers" (Mr. Stone).
1 There was a lady, a lady gay,
And children she had three;
She sent them away to the north country
To learn their grammaree.
2 They hadn't been gone but a very short time,
A month, six weeks or so;
Till their sweet death came hasting along
And swept those babes away.
3 She on the table spread a table cover,
And on it set bread and wine:
"Come eat and drink my three little babes,
Come eat and drink of mine."
4 "No, mother, we do not want your bread,
Neither do we want your wine;
For yonder stands our Saviour dear,
And to him we'll resign."
5 She went into a low back room,
And on the bed spread a sheet,
And over this sheet spread a golden cover,
For those three babes to sleep.
6 "Wake up, wake up," said the oldest one,
"The chickens will soon crow for day,
And yonder stands our Saviour dear,
We must go without delay."
7 "Wake up, wake up," said the next oldest one,
"The chickens has done crowed for day;
And to the Saviour we must go
Without further delay."
8 "Place a marble stone at our head, dear mother,
For cold clay lies at our feet;
And to our Saviour we must got
For his love is complete."