Two Little Sisters- McCullough (IN) 1936 Brewster
[Fragment. From Brewster: Ballads and Songs of Indiana, 1940, Indiana University Publications, Folklore Series. Brewster was already preparing (see extensive notes below) for his study of this ballad, which was published in 1953.
R. Matteson 2014]
THE TWO SISTERS (Child, No. 10)
Three good texts and two fragments of this ballad have been recovered in this state. All of them belong with Child R.
For American texts, see Campbell and Sharp, No. 4; Cox, No. 3 (fragment); Gray, p. 75; Hudson, No. 3; Hudson, Folksongs, p. 68; Journal, XVIII, 130; XIX, 233; XXX, 286; XLIV, 295; Pound, Ballads, No. 4; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 164; Shearin, p. 4; Shearin and Combs, p. 7 (fragment); Thomas, p. 70; Smith and Rufty, p. 2; Greig, Last Leaves, pp. 9-13; BFSSNE, III, 21; VI, 5; VII, 14; IX, 4-6; X, 10; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 38; Cox, Traditional Ballads, Mainly from West Virginia, pp. 6, 8; JFSS, I, 253; II, 283; Gordon, Folk-Songs of America, p. 65; PTFLS, X, 141; Stout, Folklore from Iowa (MAFLS, XXIX), p. 1; Botkin, The American Play-Party Song, pp. 338, 339; Neal, Brown County Songs and Ballads, No. 37; Randolph, Ozark Mountain Folks, p. 211.
The ballad is widespread in the Scandinavian countries, where it is known as "Systrarna," "Den talende Strsengeleg," "Dei tvo systar," "Den talende Harpe," "Den underbara harpan," "Systermordet," "Horpu-rima," etc. For Scandinavian versions, see Grundtvig, Danmarks gamle Folkeviser, II, 512-17; III, 875-78; Jyske Folkeminder, X (1889), 69-71, 375-78; Geijer and Afzelius, Svenska Folkvisor (ed. Bergstrom and Hoijer), I, 72; III, 16; Arwidsson, Svenska Fomsdnger, II, 139 f.; Skattegraveren, IV (1885), 161; Sandvik, 0. M., Folke-Musik i Gudbrandsdalen, pp. 102-3; Rancken, J. O., Ndgra prof af folksdng och saga i det svenska Osterbotten, pp. 10-12; Wigstrom, Skdnska Visor, Sagor och Sagner, p. 4; Andersson, Den Aldre Folkvisan (Finlands Svenska Folkdiktning, V1), pp. 75-86; Lindeman, Norske Fjeldmelodier, I, 9; II, 103.
The motif of a murder's being revealed through an inanimate object made from the corpse or associated with it, present in only three or four American texts of the ballad, appears frequently in the oral literature of many peoples. See, e.g., RTP, II, 125, 365 f.; IV, 463; V, 178; VI, 500; VII, 223; Archivio per lo studio delle trad, pop., Ill, 71; Romania, VI, 565; Gonzenbach, Sicilianische Marchen, No. 51; de Gubernatis, Le tradizioni popolari di S. Stefano, p. 154 f.; de Vasconcellos, Tradicoes populares de Portugal, p. 125 f.; Coelho, Contos populares de Brasil, p. 57 f.; Nigra, Canti del Piemonte, No. 19; Journal, IV, 267 ("La Stregha Chitarra"); (his Volksleven, II, 67; VII, 83; Monseur, Bulletin de Folklore Walien, I, 39 f.; Dykstra, Uit Frieslands Volksleven van vroegeren alter, II, 99; de Mont and de Cock, Vlaamsche Wondersprookjes, p. 195 f.; Melusine, I, 423; Doncieux, Romancero frangais, p. 36; Meyrac, Traditions, coutwmes, legendes et contes des Ardennes, p. 486 f.; Sebillot, Litterature orale de la Haute-Bretagne, pp. 220-26; Camoy, Litterature de la Picwdie, p. 236 f.; Grimm, No. 28; Zeitschrift fur deutsches Altertum, III, 35; Erk-B6hme, IAederhort, I, 26; Jahn, Volkssagen aus Pommern u. Rilgen, pp. 399-401; Schneller, Mdrchen zu Sagen aus Walschtirol, No. 51; Afanasjew (Afanasiev), Russische Volksmdrchen, II, No. 137d; Sklarek, Ungarische Volksmdrchen, p. 195 f.; Woycicki, Polnische Volkslieder, p. 105; Naake, Slavonic Fairy Tales, p. 170 f.; Waldau, Bomische Granaten, II, 97; Rud-chenko, South Russian Popular Tales, I, Nos. 55, 56; II, No. 14; Nesselmann, Littauische Volkslieder, p. 320 (=Rhesa, Dainos, p. 231); Ulmann, Lettische Volksliede\r, p. 199; Lewestam, Polnische Volkslied, p. 105; Lagus, Nyldndska Folkvisor, I, 27; Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, I, 253; X, 68, 375; Land-stad, Norske Folkeviser, No. 53; Hammershaimb, Fssrtfsk Anthologi, No. 7; Studach, Schwedische Volksharfe, p. 78; Revue Celtique, II, 199.
For discussion of "The Two Sisters" and its ballad and prose analogues, see Taylor, "The English, Scottish, and American Versions of 'The Two Sisters/" in Journal, XLII (1929), 238-46; Mackensen, Der singende Knochen (FFC, 49); Ploix, "L'os qui chante," in RTP, VIII, 129-41; Kohler, Kleinere Schriften, I, 49, 54, and Aufsdtze ilber Mdrchen und Volkslieder, p. 79 f.; Bolte-Polfvka, Anmerkungen zu den Kinder- u. Hausmdrchen der Brilder Grimm, I, 260-76; Norlind, Studier i Svensk Folklore (Lunds Uni-versitet Arsskrift, NF Afd. 1, Bd. 7, Nr. 5), p. 139 f.; Hartland, The Legend of Perseus, I, 192 f.; Barry, "The Two Sisters: Prolegomena to a Critical Study," in BFSSNE, III, 11-14; and the study of Liestol in Maal og Minne (1909).
E. "Two Little Sisters." Contributed by Mrs. Will McCullough and Miss Doris McCullough, of Oakland City, Indiana. Gibson County. November 8, 1936.
1. Two little sisters, fresh and gay,
Sing right down, sing right down,
Two little sisters, fresh and gay,
The boys are bent on me;
Two little sisters, fresh and gay,
. . .
I'll be true to my love
Because he's kind to me.