Three Cups of Cold Poison- Dillan (IN) 1936 , Brewster
[From Ballads and Songs of Indiana; Brewster, 1940. Mistitled? Perhaps "Lord Ronald" would be more conventional. Perhaps this is titled similarly to the Michigan version. Brewster's extensive notes follow.
R. Mattson 2014]
LORD RANDAL (Child, No. 12)
Only one short text of this fine old ballad appears in the Indiana collection. It is closest to Child A, though agreeing with B in omitting the death of the dogs.
For American texts, see Barry, No. 10; Brown, p. 9; Campbell and Sharp, No. 6; Cox, p. 23; Hudson, No. 4; Hudson, Folksongs, p. 69; Journal, XIII, 115; XVI, 258; XXIX, 157; XXX, 289; XXXV, 339; McGill, p. 19; Pound, Ballads, No. 1; Shearin, p. 4; Shearin and Combs, p. 7; Shoemaker, p. 139; Smith, Ballads, No. 2; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 179; BFSSNE, I, 4 (New Jersey); Cox, Traditional Ballads, Mainly from West Virginia, p. 9; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 45.
English versions appear in Broadwood, English Traditional Songs and Carols, p. 96; Halliwell, Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Tales of England, p. 95; Greig, Last Leaves, p. 13; JFSS, II, 29; III, 43; V, 117, 122, 245.
For German versions, see Erk u. Bohme, Deutscher Liederhort, I, 581, No. 190 ("Stiefmutter," "Die Muhrne als Schlangenkochin," "Die Iiebste als Schlangenkochin"); von Arnim u. Brentano, Des Knaben Wunderhom, I, 61-63 ("Grossmutter Schlangenkochin" and "Die Stiefmutter") ; Uhland, Alte hoch- und niederdeutsche Volkslieder, I, 176-77 ("Stiefmutter"). For Scandinavian texts, see Arwidsson, Svenska Fomsanger, n, 90, No. SB ("Den Lillas Testamente"); Geijer and Afzelius, Svenska Folkvisor (ed. Bergstrom and Hoijer), 1,291, No. 55 ("Den Lillas Testamente"); Grundtvig, Damnarks gamle Folkeviser, VI, 148-49, No. 341 = 100 gamle Jyske Folkeviser, p. 358 ("Den forgivne Datter"); Skattegraveren, V, 84 ("Den onde svigermoder"). Romance versions appear in D'Ancona, La poesia popolare italiana (Livorao, 1878), pp. 106 fi\; Jewett, Folk-Ballads of Southern Europe, pp. 113-23; and Martinengo-Cesaresco, Essays in the Study of Folksongs, pp. 174-76. See also an Italian text in JFSS, V, 247-48 ("Dove Andasti Ieri Sera"). An interesting Hungarian version, "A megettet Janos," appears in Buday and Ortutay, SzSkely NepbaUaddk, No. 18.
See Journal, XVIII, 195 f.; XXII, 376; XXIV, 345; XXXDC, 81; XLII, 257; Modern Language Review, XIII, 325; XIV, 213; Gutch and Peacock, County Folklore V (Lincolnshire), p. 372; Randolph, Ozark Mountain Folks, p. 215.
"Three Cups of Cold Poison." Contributed by Miss Florence Eva Dillan, Indianapolis, Indiana. Marion County. Learned from the singing of a sister-in-law in western Pennsylvania. March 10, 1936.
1. "Where have you been dining, Lord Ronald, my son?
Where have you been dining, my handsome young man?"
"I've been dining with my true love, mother; make my bed soon;
There's a pain in my heart, and I fain would lie down."
2. "And what did she give you, Lord Ronald, my son?
And what did she give you, my handsome young man?"
"Three cups of cold poison, mother; make my bed soon;
There's a pain in my heart, and I fain would lie down."
3. "What'll you will to your mother, Lord Ronald, my son?
What'll you will to your mother, my handsome young man ?"
"My gold and my silver, mother; make my bed soon;
There's a pain in my heart, and I fain would lie down."
4. "What'll you will to your brother, Lord Ronald, my son?
What'll you will to your brother, my handsome young man?"
"My coach and six horses, mother; make my bed soon;
There's a pain in my heart, and I fain would lie down."
5. "What'll you will to your truelove, Lord Ronald, my son?
What'll you will to your truelove, my handsome young man?"
"A rope for to hang her, mother; make my bed soon;
There's a pain in my heart, and I fain would lie down."