The Ocean Wave- Ferguson (OH) c.1868 Eddy C
[From Ballads and Songs from Ohio, 1939 Eddy, version C. This version is taken from a notebook compiled before the informant was 14 years old circa 1868. The song, according to Eddy, came from her mother, taking it back possibly another thirty years or so.
The title is local but has no relationship to the text, indicating that perhaps a stanza is missing from an ancient version such as "Willie (Billie) came over the ocean wide (wave)." The text is the Outlandish Knight using Lord Lovel form (5 lines, repeated last line)
Cf Child E.
R. Matteson 2014]
The text is taken from a manuscript belonging to Mrs. S. T. Topper, Ashland, Ohio. The manuscript is of foolscap paper sewed together to form a book, a type of souvenir not uncommon in country schools of early days. The songs are mostly written in the neat, clear handwriting of Mrs. Topper's mother, Mrs. Ida Kessler Ferguson, and were written before she was fourteen years old, while she was attending the district school, known as Centennial Hall, Wayne, Co., Ohio, east of the village of West Salem. Mrs. Ferguson was born July 25, 1854, and died May 10, 1934.
Mrs. Ferguson's mother was of Dutch extraction, as her name, Van Cleve, would indiclte, her family having reached Ohio from Maryland. Her father's family were Pennsylvania Germans. Mrs. Ferguson was not the singer her mother was, and this fact leads one to conclude that the oldest songs copied in the book were those her mother sang. Out of this collection I have taken thirty-one which are recognized by collectors as being of folk origin. It is regrettable that Mrs. Topper does not remember the tunes her mother sang.
C. THE OCEAN WAVE- From Mrs. S. T. Topper, Ashland, Ohio as copied by her mother.
1. There was a young man came from the north lands,
And a-wooing he came unto me;
He said he would take me to the north lands,
And there he would marry me, me,
And there he would marry me.
2. "If you will get some of your father's gold,
And some of your mother's fee,
And two of the best horses out of the stable
Where stands thirty and three."
3. "I have got some of my father's gold,
And some of my mother's fee,
And two of the best horses out of the stable
Where stand thirty and three."
4. She mounted on her milk-white steed,
And he on the dapple gray;
They rode until they came unto the sea side
Two hours before it was day.
5. "Mount off, mount off your milk-white steed,
Mount off mount off," said he,
"For it's six pretty maids I have drownded here,
And you the seventh shall be.
6. "Take off, take off those silken clothes,
And deliver them unto me,
For I think they look too rich and gay
To rot all in the salt sea."
7. "If I must take off those silken clothes,
Pray turn thy back unto me,
For I don't think it's fit for such a ruffian as thee
A naked woman to see."
8. He turned his back unto her then
And viewed the green caves around;
She catched him around the middle so small
And tumbled him into the deep.
9. He druped[1] high and he druped low,
Until he came to the seaside;
"It's give me your hand, my pretty polly,
And I will make you my bride."
10. "Lie there, lie there, you false-hearted man,
Lie there in the stead of me;
For 'tis six pretty maids you have drownded here,
And the seventh has drownded thee."
11. She mounted on her milk-white steed,
And led the dapple gray;
She rode until she came to her father's house
A little before it was day.
12 "Don't prittle nor prattle, my pretty parrot, [2]
Nor tell no tales on me;
Your cage shall be made of glittering gold,
And the door of the best ivory.
13. "Don't prittle nor prattle, my pretty parrot,
Nor tell no tales on me,
Your cage shall be made of the glittering gold,
And hang in a willow tree."
Footnotes:
1. dropped, pronounced "druped"; see Child E:
11 He dropped high and he dropped low,
Until he came to the side;
'Catch hold of my hand, my pretty maiden,
And I will make you my bride.'
2. See Child E again;
15 'Don't prittle nor prattle, my pretty parrot,
Nor tell no tales of me;
Thy cage shall be made of the glittering gold,
Although it is made of a tree.'