A True Lover of Mine- Mrs. Cis Jones; Kentucky, 1917; Collected by Sharp & Karpeles; Sharp A
[My title, from EFSSA, No. 1; Sharp A. The title, Elfin Knight, is the standard title used by Sharp. He used, "Lover's Tasks," as a secondary title.
Karpeles notes: This ballad is one of the many examples of folk stories in which two people vie with one another in asking riddles or imposing impossible tasks on each other. The one who fails to find an answer or make an equivalently difficult counter-demand usually has to submit to the will of the other.
R. Matteson Jr. 2011]
----------------------------------
[A True Love of Mine] The Lover's Tasks- Mrs Cis Jones at Manchester, Clay County, Kentucky 1917; Sharp A
Go tell him to clear me one acre of ground
Setherwood, sale, rosemary, and thyme
Betwixt the sea and the sealand side
And then he'll be a true lover of mine
Go tell him to plough it with a plough of old leather
Setherwood, sale, rosemary, and thyme
And hoe it all over with a pea-fowl's feather
And then he'll be a true lover of mine
Go tell him to plant it with one grain of corn
Setherwood, sale, rosemary, and thyme
And reap it all down with an old ram's horn
And then he'll be a true lover of mine
Go tell her to make me a cambric shirt
Setherwood, sale, rosemary, and thyme
Without any needle or needle's work
And then she'll be a true lover of mine
Go tell her to wash it in yonders well
Setherwood, sale, rosemary, and thyme
Where never was water nor rain never fell
And then she'll be a true lover of mine
Go tell her to hang it on yonders thorn
Setherwood, sale, rosemary, and thyme
Which never bore flower since Adam was born
And then she'll be a true lover of mine
----------------------------
Bronson No. 30; ABC notation
T:The Elfin Knight
B:Bronson
C:Trad
O:Sharp MSS., 3908/2847. Also in Sharp and Karpeles, 1932
O:I, p.1. Sung by Mrs Cis Jones, Manchester, Ky., August 24, 1917.
N:Child 2
M:6/8
L:1/8
K:Gmix %Pentatonic ( -4 -7) Lydian/Ionian/Mixolydian [Pi 1]
D | BdB AGE | GGE D3 |
w:Go tell him to clear me one ac-re of ground,
B,DD D2 D | EGG A2 G | BdB AGG |
w:Seth-er wood, sale, rose-ma-ry and thyme, Be-twixt the sea and the sea-
AGE D2 D | E2 G ABA | GGE D2 |]
w:--land side, And then he'll be a true lov-er of mine.
W:
W:Go tell him to clear me one acre of ground,
W:Sether wood, sale, rosemary and thyme,
W:Betwixt the sea and the sea-land side,
W:And then he'll be a true lover of mine.
W:
W:Tell him to plough it all up with an old leather plough,
W:And hoe it all over with a pea-fowl's feather,
W:
W:Go tell him to plant it all over with one grain of co
W:And reap it all down with an old ram's horn,
W:
W:Go tell him to shock it in yonder sea,
W:(Betwixt the sea and the sea-land side)
W:And return it back to me all dry,
W:
W:Go tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
W:Without any needle or needle's work,
W:
W:Go tell her to wash it in yonders well,
W:Where rain nor water never fell,
W:
W:Go tell her to hang it on yonders thorn,
W:Where man nor thorn was never seen born,