Two Brothers- R. Shiflettt (VA) c1959 Foss
[From George Foss' songs, online at http://www.klein-shiflett.com/shifletfamily/HHI/GeorgeFoss/SONGS/song3.html
This is ostensibly Davis A collected in 1919 by John Stone from Raz Shifflet's daughter, Etta who is Robert's sister. George's notes at the bottom of this page explain it all.
R. Matteson 2014]
Two Brothers- Robert Shifflett circa 1959, collected by George Foss.
There was two brothers in one school room
One evening coming home
The oldest said to the youngest one
Let's have a rassle and fall
The oldest threw the youngest one
He threw him to the ground
And out of his pocket he drew a pen knife
He gave him a deathly wound
Pull off, pull off your woolen shirt
And tear it from gore to gore
And wrap it around my bleeding wound
And it will bleed no more
So he pulled off his woolen shirt
He tore it from gore to gore
He wrapped it around his bleeding wound
And it did bleed no more
Take me up, take me up upon your back
And carry me yonder church yard
And dig my grave both wide and deep
And gently lay me down
What must I tell your loving father
When he calls for his son John?
Tell him I'm in some lonely green woods
A' learning young hounds to run.
What must I tell your loving mother
When she calls for her son John?
Tell her I'm in some graded school
Good scholar to never return.
What must I tell your loving Susie
When she calls for her dear John?
Tell her I'm in some lonely graveyard
My books to carry back home.
When loving Susie heard of this
She got her horn and blew.
She charmed the birdies from the nest
The fishes out of the sea.
She charmed little Johnny out of his grave
Said Susie what do you want?
Oh one sweet kiss from your sweet lips
Is all my heart does crave
Go home, go home my loving Susie
And weep no more for me,
For one sweet kiss from my sweet lips
Will cause your days short on
Mary Wood Shiflett sings this strange version of an old ballad with its awkwardly disjointed melody recalling, "I learnt it from my father-in-law, Raz Shifflett (Robert Shifflett's father) settin' up to the fireplace playin' his fiddle and singin'. That's where I learnt it from."
Many times Robert Shifflett and Mary have told me of singing this song as children to "Professor" Stone, a local school teacher who had the love of old ballads. Indeed it appears in Traditional Ballads of Virginia by A.K. Davis as collected by Mr. John Stone in 1919. "Professor" Stone notes, "I got this song and its tune from Etta Shiflett, the little daughter of Raz Shiflett, of Blackwell's Hollow. She and her brothers can sing it." The brothers would be Mary's future husband [Dewey] and her brother-in-law, Robert Shifflett. It is amazing that from the version collected in 1919 to Mary's current recollection there is scarcely a word changed.
The ballad story given here is itself a strange mixture of old ballad tales. Onto the trunk of "The Two Brothers" has been grafted limbs from other old ballads, "Edward" and "The Unquiet Grave." Despite its hybrid nature, Miss Mary has frozen its form in her mind and it is unchanged for the last half century.