Three Versions from Indiana- Brewster; 1936
From Brewster: Ballads and Songs of Indiana
Footnotes placed at the end of each song. Version B was published in the JOAFL in 1935.
LADY ISABEL AND THE ELF-KNIGHT (Child, No. 4)
The widespread currency of this ballad not only in the British Isles and America but also in Continental Europe led Child to write of it: "Of all ballads this has perhaps obtained the widest circulation." Only three variants have been recovered in this state, however. They are closest perhaps to Child E, although the name Polly does not occur in that text and is found only in F. In other texts the heroine is May Colvin (Colven) or May Collin. Her reminding the false lover of his promise of marriage occurs in none of the Child versions. The name William does not appear in the texts of Child; there the lover is Sir John. It is possible, however, that the William of our Indiana variant is a corruption of villain. The turning three times around is not found in any of the Child versions.
For American texts, see Belden, No. 1 (fragment); Brown, p. 9; Campbell and Sharp, No. 2; Cox, No. 1 (fragment); Hudson, No. 1; Mackenzie, Ballads, No. 1; Scarborough, p. 43; Shearin, p. 3; Shearin and Combs, p. 1; Smith, Ballads, No. 1; Wyman and Brockway, p. 82; Sandburg, p. 60; Journal, XVIII, 132; XIX, 232; XXII, 65, 76, 374, 344; XXIV, 333; XXVII, 90; XXVIII, 148; XXX, 286; XXXV, 338; XLII, 254; XLIX, 213 (Missouri); Fauset, Folk-Lore from Nova Scotia, p. 109; PTFLS, X, 138; Gordon, Folk-Songs of America, p. 8; Cox, Traditional Ballads, Mainly from West Virginia, pp. 1-5; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 32; BFSSNE, I, 3 (New Hampshire); Randolph, Ozark Mountain Folks, p. 216.
English and Scottish texts will be found in Broadwood and Maitland, English County Songs, p. 164 (with air); Roxburghe Ballads, VII, 383; Dixon, Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England (London, 1846), p. 74; Greig, Last Leaves, p. 2 (with air); Burne, Shropshire Folk-Lore, p. 548; JFSS, I, 246; II, 282; IV, 116, 374.
For a Hungarian version, "Molnar Anna," see Buday, George, and Giles Ortutay, Szekely Nepballad&k No. 25. Manx analogues, "Illiam Bogt" and "Cur uss Jeed," appear in JFSS, VII, 300-301.
Local titles for this ballad are "Six Kings' Daughters" and "Pretty Polly." It is sometimes known also as "The False Lover."
A. "Six Kings' Daughters." Contributed by Mrs. Thomas M. Bryant, of Evansville, Indiana. Vanderburg County. November 22, 1935.
1. He followed me up and he followed me around,
And he followed me around all day;
I had not the power to speak a word
Or a tongue to answer, "Nay, O Nay,"
Or a tongue to answer, "Nay."
2. "Go bring me some of your father's gold
And some of your mother's fee;
And I'll take you to the bonny sea sands,
And then we'll marry at Dee, O Dee,
And then we'll marry at Dee."
3. She mounted upon a milk-white steed
And he the iron-gray,
And they rode till they came to the salt sea sands,
Three long hours before day, O day,
Three long hours before day.
4. "Alight, alight, my Pretty Polly Anne;
Alight, alight," says he;
"For six kings' daughters have I drowned here,
And the seventh one you shall be, O be,
And the seventh one you shall be.
5. "Take off, take off those fine, fine clothes
And lay them on this rock,
For they are too fine and costly-ee
To lay in the sea and rot, O rot,
To lay in the sea and rot."
6. "It's turn your face three times around,
Your back to the leaves on the tree";
Then she picked him up most manfully
And plunged him into the sea, O sea,
And plunged him into the sea.
7. "Help me out, help me out, my pretty maiden;
Help me out, help me out," says he;
"And we will go to the next sea sands,
And there we'll marry at Dee, O Dee,
And there we'll marry at Dee."
8. "Lie there, lie there, you false-hearted one;
Lie there instead of me;
If six kings' daughters you have drowned here,
The seventh one you shall be, O be,
The seventh one you shall be."
9. She mounted upon her milk-white steed
And led the iron-gray;
She rode till she came to her own father's door,
Two long hours before day, O day,
Two long hours before day.
10. "Hush up, hush up, my pretty parrot!
Don't tell no tales on me!
Your cage shall be lined with beads of gold
And hung on a willow tree, O tree,
And hung on a willow tree."
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B. "Pretty Polly." Sung by "Uncle Reuben" Hurt, eighty-four, of Oakland City, Indiana. Gibson County. March 10, 1935. Mr. [Hurt says that he learned it from his mother when he was a small boy. The ballad is known to him as "Pretty Polly."]
1. "Go bring me some of your father's gold
And some of your mother's fee,
And two good horses from your father's stable,
Where stand thirty and three."
2. She mounted upon the milk-white steed,
And he upon the gray;
They rode till they came to the wide water seas,
Three long hours before day.
3. "Light you down, my pretty Polly;
I've something to say to thee.
I have drowned six of the kings' daughters here,
And the seventh you shall be.
4. "Pull off those fine clothing
And lay them on a rock;
They are too costly clothing
To lay in the water and rot."
5. "Hush, hush, false-hearted William;[1]
That's not what you promised me;
And married I should be.
6. "Turn yourself three times around
And face the limb on the tree";
She picked him up most manfully
And plunged him in the sea.
7. "Lie there, false-hearted William;
Lie there in place of me;
You would have freely stripped me,
But I'll take nothing from thee."
8. She mounted on the milk-white steed,
And behind she led the gray;
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9. "Pretty Polly, what are you doing,
Up at this early hour?"
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10. "Hold your tongue, pretty parrot,
And tell no tales of me;
Your cage shall be of better[2] gold,
And hung on a willow tree."
11. "The cats came to my cage door
And were about to murder me,
And I called to my pretty Polly
To drive the cats away."
1 Possibly a mistake for villain.
2. beaten
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C. "Six Kings' Daughters." Contributed by Mrs. B. C. Raley, of Greencastle, Indiana. Putnam County. Learned from the singing of her mother. November 21, 1935. With music.
SIX KING'S DAUGHTERS
1. He followed me up; he followed me down;
He followed me wherever I'd go.
I had not the heart to turn him back,
Nor the tongue to tell him, "No, no, no,"
Nor the tongue to tell him, "No."
2. She got up on her pony[1] white horse,
And he on a dappled gray;
And they rode till they came to the broad waterside,
Six long hours before day, day, day,
Six long hours before day.
3. "Take off your silks and satins so gay
And lay them down by me;
For here I've drowned six kings' daughters,
And the seventh you shall be, be, be,
And the seventh you shall be."
4. "Then turn your face to yon willow tree,
And turn your back on me";
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5. She caught him round the small of the back;
She hooved [2] him in the sea,
Saying, "Here you've drowned six kings' daughters,
But the seventh never shall be, be, be,
But the seventh never shall be."
6. She got up on her pony white horse
And led the dappled gray,
And she rode till she came to her own father's house,
Three long hours before day, day, day,
Three long hours before day.
7. "Now, hush you up, you pretty poll-parrot,
And tell no tales on me;
Your nest shall be lined with the yellow beaten gold,
And hung in the willow tree, tree, tree,
And hung in the willow tree."
1. For bonny.
2. For heaved or hove