There Were Two Ladies Playing Ball- 1870 Child Version J (The Miller's Melody?)
[Child J appears in Notes and Queries, 4th S., v, 23. I'm not sure why the title assigned by Child is The Miller's Melody, but I found the lyrics in Notes and Queries - 1870 edition (see below) but no "Miller's Melody." These lyrics given by "Vix."were a response to an earlier query from Philadelphia (United States) about a song titled "Three Ladies Playing At Ball" (See below at the bottom of the page) posted in an 1852 edition. The opening stanza is usually associated with Child No. 11, The Cruel Brother.
A jpeg of the document may be viewed below:
R. Matteson 2014, 2018]
There Were Two Ladies Playing Ball- 1870 Child J
[J. 'The Miller's Melody,'[?] Notes and Queries, 4th S., v, 23. Version J]
Notes and Queries, 4th S., V, 23, from the north of Ireland.
1 There were two ladies playing ball,
Hey, ho, my Nannie O
A great lord came to court them all.
The swan she does swim bonnie O
2 He gave to the first a golden ring,
Hey, ho, my Nannie O
He gave to the second a far better thing.
The swan she does swim bonnie O
* * * * *
3 He made a harp of her breast-bone
Hey, ho, my Nannie O
. . . . . .
The swan she does swim bonnie O
4 He set it down upon a stone,
Hey, ho, my Nannie O
And it began to play its lone.
The swan she does swim bonnie O
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[According to Notes and Queries - Volume 41 Page 105, 1870- "Three Ladies Playing At Ball" (4th S. iv. 517; v. 23.) —Mr. C. W. Barkley's verse from recitation is the first of the common version of "The Cruel Brother."
We may assign the source of this version to Mr. C. W. Barkley. Here is the query as it appeared in Notes and Queries:]
Notes and Queries - 4th Series Vol. V, 1870, p. 23- [View document: Click here, bottom right panel]
"Three Ladies Playing At Ball" (4lh S. iv. 517.)—I was familiar in childhood in the north of Ireland with this ballad: now, alas! quite forgotten, except a line or two and its refrain, which diners from those recorded in "N. & Q.": —
"There were two ladies playing ball,
Hey, ho, my Nannie O!
A great lord came to court them all:
The swan she does swim bonnie O!
"He gave to the first a golden ring,
Hey, ho, my Nannie O!
He gave to the second a far better thing,
The swan she does swim bonnie, O!"
The drowning of the sister occurs in the millstream; and the finding of the body by—whom I know not—a harper or the true knight: —
"He made a harp of her breast bone,
Hey, ho, my Nannie O!"
The harper takes it to court, and —
"He set it down upon a stone,
Hey, ho, my Nannie O!
And it began to play its lone [alone],
The swan she does swim bonnie, O!"
Cietera daunt.
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[Child assigns this fragment to No. 11; The Cruel Brother; Version D; although it certainly could be part of Child 10. There aren't enough verses to make this distinction. The reponse to this request (for additional verses) was a version of Child 10. Because the knight courted the eldest with a gift, and mentions the eldest, I'm inclined- without further evidence- to consider it a version of Child 10- Twa Sisters.]
Notes and Queries: Volume 6 - Page 53; 1852
" There were three ladies," §-c. — My paternal grandmother, who was a native of county Kerry in Ireland, was in the habit of singing a song set to a sweet and plaintive air, which thus commenced:
"There were three ladies playing at ball,
Farin-dan-dan and farin-dan-dee;
There came a white knight, and he wooed them all,
With adieu, sweet honey, wherever you be.
He courted the eldest with golden rings,
Farin, &c. &c.
And the others with many fine things,
And adieu," &c. &c.
The rest has been forgotten. Can any of your readers furnish the remaining words?
Uneda. Philadelphia.