The Two Fair Sisters- Unknown singer (based on Scott's Child C) Allan Cunningham 1825
[From: The Songs of Scotland, Ancient and Modern: with an introduction, Volume 2 edited by Allan Cunningham. His notes follow the song text. If this is legitimate it would have been heard in Nithsdale or Gallaway before 1810 when Cunningham moved to London. The text is so close to Cruel Sister, Child C, a manufacture by Walter Scott that would not be found in tradition until later, that it seems unlikely to be from tradition and more likely to be a recreation of Child C, a composite of Mrs. Brown's version and an Irish version sent to Scott.
R. Matteson 2014, 2018]
THE TWO FAIR SISTERS
Two fair sisters lived in a bower,
There came a knight to be their wooer;
He wooed the eldest with glove and ring,
He loved the youngest aboon a' thing;
He courted the eldest with brooch and knife,
He loved the youngest aboon his life;
The eldest she was angered sair,
And envied her sister young and fair.
The eldest said to the youngest ane,
Come and see our father's ships come in;
She took her by the lily-white hand,
And led her down to the river strand.
The youngest ane stood on a stane,
The eldest took and pushed her in—
She took her by the middle sae sma,
And dashed her bonnie back to the ja'.
O sister, sister! reach me your hand,
And ye shall be heir of half my land.
O sister, sister, I'll reach not my hand,
And I'll be heir of all your land;
Shame fa' the hand that I should take,
It twin'd me and my world's maik.
O sister, sister! reach but your glove,
And sweet William shall be your love.
Ye'se have nae help frae hand or glove,
Sweet William shall better be my love;
Your cherry cheeks and yellow hair
Garred me gang maiden evermair.
Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam,
Until she came to Binnorie dam—
O father, O father, now draw your dam,
Here's a mermaid or a milk-white swan!
The miller came and he drew his dam,
And there he found a drowned woman;
You could na see her yellow hair
For gold and pearls so rich and rare;
You could na see her middle sae sma',
Her gowden girdle it was so bra';
And when that he looked in her sweet pale face,
His tears ran down like Binnorie race.
An elfin harper was passing by,
That sweet pale face he chanced to spy;
He made a harp of her breast-bone,
Whose sounds would melt a heart of stone:
The strings he formed of her tresses lang,
And heavy and doleful was their sang.
With his harp he went to Binnorie hall,
Where her father sat with his nobles all.
He laid his harp upon a stone,
And the harp began to play alone:—
O yonder sits my father the king,
And yonder weeps my mother the queen;
Behind her stands my brother Hugh,
With my love William so sweet and true;
But the curse of God and thy sister Jean
Be thine for ever, thou false Helen!
I was once deeply touched with the singing of this romantic and mournful song. The singer, for the sake of keeping it within the reach of his voice, omitted the monotonous repetition of "Binnorie;" and with music, different but as tender as that of the printed copies, gave the continued sense of the story without interruption; I have ventured to print it in the manner I heard it sung. To those curious in old choruses it may be as well to present some of the verses of the various copies, that they may choose the most agreeable or melodious.
Two fair sisters lived in a bower,
Hey ho my nonnie O!
There came a knight to be their wooer
While the swan swims bonnie O!
This verse balances the claims of England and Scotland to this pathetic song; and by using words common to the north of the one and the south of the other, leaves it undecided. Nor is this weighty matter settled by another burthen, equally unmeaning and much more common—
He courted the eldest with glove and ring—
Binnorie, O Binnorie!
He loved the youngest aboon a' thing,
By the bonnie milldams of Binnorie.
Mrs. Brown's Manuscript, from which the excellent copy in the Border Minstrelsy was compiled, has a different burthen, and a very different arrangement of the verses:—
There were two sisters sat in a bower,
Edinborough, Edinborough!
There were two sisters sat in a bower,
Stirling for aye!
There were two sisters sat in a bower,
There came a knight to be their wooer—
Bonnie St. Johnstown stands upon Tay.
These lines are curious, and confirm the claim of the north to the song, of which I never had much doubt.