Bluegrass Messengers

US & Canada Versions: 73. Lord Thomas & Fair Annet

US & Canada Versions: 73. Lord Thomas & Fair Annet (Lord Thomas and Fair Elleanor/The Brown Girl)

[According to Bronson, this is the second most popular ballad found in North America, surpassed by only Barbara Allen. In my collection there are over 280 traditional versions and there are more that are not currently accessible (LOC and WPA versions etc.) which if added would put the number well over 300. In many of the larger collections, many versions were not published, either because they were fragmented or they duplicated other versions. Davis in Traditional Ballads of Virginia, 1929 listed 17 such versions which were collected by the Virginia Folklore Society but not published. A note from the Brown Collection says, "Taken down by Mrs. Sutton from the singing of Mrs. Brown of Beech Mountain, Watauga county, 'one of the twenty-odd singers in the Blue Ridge from whom I collected this ballad,' Mrs. Sutton notes."

Beech Mountain, NC was where my grandfather, Maurice Matteson, collected many of his ballads in the early 1930s (see his version- Contents). His book, written with Mellinger Henry and titled "Beech Mountains Songs and Ballads," was published in 1936. Lord Thomas roamed that mountain; and he was brought to life around the hearths as the families gathered during he cold winter nights; and he was alive in the woods and when they harvested their meager crops. But now, Lord Thomas is almost forgotten, a distant memory among some of the older folks of days gone by.

It's hard to image that this ballad was once so popular since the hero, Lord Thomas, cuts of the head of his new bride and kicks it against the wall. I think that would give it an "R rating" today. Murder and blood are becoming passe today in our culture- we are bombarded by serial killers on TV and the violence on the news is real. This shows that we have a fascination with death and murder:

He had his sword all by his side,
He walked across the hall;
And cut off his own bride's head,
And threw it against the wall. (Davis J)

Whoa! The censors are going to be busy. That stanza definitely has to go- let's leave it out completely-- on the cutting room floor. It'll be shorter, better, maybe we can sing it for the kids now. That's not the way it was back in the early 1900s-- for the kids did sing this ballad, in fact in some schools in Kentucky (Pine Mountain; Hindman) the ballad was sung in schools, and printed in school songbooks (Song Ballads and other Songs of the Pine Mountain Settlement School- 1923).

Stanza from Pine Mountain Settlement School Songbook- 1923

There's too much cutting-- by knives and swords-- to be left out. Besides cutting, there are some other great moments in this ballad. We find biting criticism, jealousy, rage, murder and suicide, and yes-- deep love. One classic love stanza, unsurpassed in any ballad is:

"Despise her not," Lord Thomas he says,
"Despise her not to me;
For I do love your little finger
Better than her whole body." (Davis J, stanza 11)

That's Lord Thomas talking to the oh-so-fair Ellender, his true love. It's too bad his mom talked him into marrying the Brown girl- and why? The root of all evil-- money! Usually his mother is somehow blameless but not in this version:

"O mother, dear mother, you are the cause of this,
You are the cause of ail these deaths,
Bury Fair Ellender in my arms,
The bonny Brown Girl at my feet." (Davis I, stanza 15)

Yes, fair Ellender there's a problem with the woman you considered your future mother-in-law. Most versions of this ballad don't point this out as succinctly. When something goes wrong-- it's always the mother-in-law-- nothing's too good for her Lord Thomas, or does she want the Brown Girl's money? Hmmmm-- In Davis B his mother is shown clearly shown as the catalyst of this tragedy:

" 'T is time you were wed," his mother she said,
" 'T is time you were wed," said she,
"So, son, I charge you upon my blessing
To bring home a bride to me."

His mother happens to decide for the Brown Girl, after all:

"The brown girl she has house and land,
Fair Ellen she has none;
I therefore charge you with all my blessing,
Go bring the brown girl home." (Davis J)

So Lord Thomas goes and tells Ellender, his true love he's getting married (what was he thinking!!!). Certainly nothing good could come of this. In the Lord Lovel form of this ballad we find him making the ill-advised journey:

3. He rode, he rode, till he came to the hall,
He rattled the bell and it rang;
None was more ready than fair Ellender herself
To arise and let him in, in,
To arise and let him in.

4. "What news, what news, Lord Thomas," she cried,
"What news do You bring to me?"
"I've come to invite you to my wedding day;
And is that good news to thee, thee,
And is that good news to thee?"

5. "Sad news, sad news, Lord Thomas," she cried,
"Sad news you bring to me.
I thought that I was to be the bride
And you the bridegroom for me, me,
And you the bridegroom for me." (Davis E)

Not only is it crazy for Lord Thomas to ask his true love to his wedding but it's just as foolish for her to come. Against her mother's wishes, Fair Ellender goes to the wedding. And don't you know it's a little slip of the lip that get's a girl in trouble:

"Is this your bride, Lord Thomas?" she cried.,
"She is most wonderful brown;
You once could have married as fair-skinned a girl
As ever the sun shined on, on,
As ever the sun shined on." (Davis E)

Oops!! Don't think that was quite the compliment the bride wanted to hear. The Brown Girl pulls Fair Ellender aside and rather than comment on this criticism, the Brown Girl lets her knife do the talking:

The brown girl had a small pen-knife,
It being sharp and keen;
Betwixt the long ribs and the short
She pierced fair Ellinor's heart. (Brown A)

Ouch!!! That had to hurt! The most unkind cut of all. I guess the Brown Girl showed her. Except that her new husband Lord Thomas notices somethings wrong with Fair Ellender:

'Oh, what's the matter, fair Ellen?' he said.
'I think you look wonderful pale.
You used to be the fairest young woman
That ever trod English groun'.'

14 'Why, are you blind, Lord Thomas,' she said,
'Or can you not very well see?
For don't you see my own heart's bleed
Come trickling down my knee?' (Brown A)

The Brown Girl got a little bit too carried all with herself. She had Lord Thomas, all she had to do was keep it cool but her jealous action was now in the open. And now Lord Thomas knew that his true love was dying, stabbed by his wife, The Brown Girl. Don't think I'd want to be the Brown Girl:

He had his sword all by his side,
He walked across the hall;
And cut off his own bride's head,
And threw it against the wall. (Davis J)

Now we've come back to the first quoted stanza. Lord Thomas's two women are dead- what's a guy to do? Just fall on your sword- there's no reason to live:

He put the helve unto the floor,
The point unto his heart.
Was there ever three lovers so simple together
That were so soon to part? (Brown A)

Well, that takes care of Lord Thomas. Can we blame him? He was a bit impulsive, inviting his true love to his wedding. Maybe their mothers can tell riddles to each other.
* * * *

North American versions of this ballad, similar to the texts examined above, are closely related to Child D, a printed broadside. The full title is, "A Tragical Story Of Lord Thomas And Fair Ellinor, Together with the downfall of the Brown Girl," and it was printed by F. Coles (London); T. Vere (London); J. Wright (London); J. Clarke (London) 1677. A number of these broadsides are archived at the Bodleian Library- Broadside Ballads. They are all identical or very similar with only minor textual changes.

In ESPB Child says, "The English version of this ballad, 'Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor' (D), given, with alterations, in Percy's Reliques, III, 82, 1765, is a broadside of Charles the Second's time and licensed by L'Estrange, who was censor from 1663 to 1685. This copy has become traditional in Scotland and Ireland."

The key words are: "This copy had become traditional." I believe, and the evidence will prove, that this ballad was already traditional in England by the time the broadsides were first printed (c. 1670) and that the broadside captures most of the traditional ballad, adding one stanza and leaving out a stanza of the traditional ur-ballad, similar to Child D, from which the broadside was composed. This ur-ballad is the ballad found in North America and also in the British Isles.

Child gives four Irish versions of Child D (f, g, h i,) collected from tradition in the North America. Three are from the Boston area and one is from Canada. About these additional versions Child says: The stanza which describes Lord Thomas's dress and the effect he produced occurs in e, g, h; that in which Lord Thomas leads Ellinor through the hall and conducts her to her place is found in d, f, g, h, i; the colloquy about the water which washes Ellinor so white in e, g, h; Lord Thomas's directions about the burial in d, f, h; the plants growing from the grave in g, h. None of these are in the English broadside.

These differences mentioned by Child are found in the ur-ballad. Two of them are rare in US versions; the rose/briar ending; the water that washes Ellender (Ellinor) so white. They are found in only a handful of the 260 versions. So important is the nineteen stanza Child D to the study of North American versions that it is given here in it's entirety:

'Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor'- Version D a; The full title: "A Tragical Story of Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor. Together with the downfall of the Brown Girl."
a. Pepys Ballads, III, 316, No 312.
b. A Collection of Old Ballads, I, 249, 1723.
c. Ritson, Select Collection of English Songs, II, 187, 1783.
d. Buchan's Gleanings, p. 86.
e. Recited copy. (Motherwell)
f. Recited copy. (From Miss Clara Mackay, Woodstock, New Brunswick, 1881)
g. Recited copy. (Recited to me by Ellen Healy, 1881, as learned by her of a young girl living near Killarney, Ireland, about 1867.)
h. Recited copy. (An Irish version, recited by Ellen Daily, Taunton, Massachusetts before 1884)
i. Recited copy. (Recited by an Irish maid-servant in Cambridge, Massachusetts before 1884)

Another version of D supplied by Newell is given later in Additions & Corrections.

1    Lord Thomas he was a bold forrester,
And a chaser of the king's deer;
Fair Ellinor was a fair woman,
And Lord Thomas he loved her dear.

2    'Come riddle my riddle, dear mother,' he said,
'And riddle us both as one,
Whether I shall marry Fair Ellinor,
And let the brown girl alone.'

3    'The brown girl she has got houses and lands,
And Fair Ellinor she has got none;
Therefore I charge you on my blessing
To bring me the brown girl home.'

4    And as it befell on a high holidaye,
As many did more beside,
Lord Thomas he went to Fair Ellinor,
That should have been his bride.

5    But when he came to Fair Ellinor's bower,
He knocked there at the ring;
But who was so ready as Fair Ellinor
For to let Lord Thomas in.

6    'What news, what news, Lord Thomas,' she said,
'What news hast thou brought unto me?'
'I am come to bid thee to my wedding,
And that is bad news to thee.'

7    'Oh God forbid, Lord Thomas,' she said,
'That such a thing should be done;
I thought to have been thy bride my own self,
And you to have been the bride's-groom.

8    'Come riddle my riddle, dear mother,' she sayd,
'And riddle it all in one;
Whether I shall go to Lord Thomas's wedding,
Or whether I shall tarry at home.'

9    'There's many that are your friends, daughter,
And many that are your foe;
Therefore I charge you on my blessing,
To Lord Thomas's wedding don't go.'

10    'There's many that are my friends, mother,
If a thousand more were my foe,
Betide my life, betide my death,
To Lord Thomas's wedding I'le go.'

11    She cloathed herself in gallant attyre,
And her merry men all in green,
And as they rid thorough everye towne,
They took her to have been a queene.

12    But when she came to Lord Thomas's gate,
She knocked there at the ring;
But who was so ready as Lord Thomas
To lett Fair Ellinor in.

13    'Is this your bride?' Fair Ellin she sayd,
'Methinks she looks wondrous browne;
Thou mightest have had as fair a woman
As ever trod on the ground.'

14    'Despise her not, Fair Ellin,' he sayd,
'Despise her not now unto mee;
For better I love thy little finger
Than all her whole body.'

15    This browne bride had a little penknife,
That was both long and sharp,
And betwixt the short ribs and the long
Prickd Fair Ellinor to the heart.

16    'Oh Christ now save thee,' Lord Thomas he said,
'Methinks thou lookst wondrous wan;
Thou wast usd for to look with as fresh a colour
As ever the sun shin'd on.'

17    'Oh art thou blind, Lord Thomas?' she sayd,
'Or canst thou not very well see?
Oh dost thou not see my own heart's blood
Runs trickling down my knee?'

18    Lord Thomas he had a sword by his side,
As he walked about the hall;
He cut off his bride's head from her shoulders,
And he threw it against the wall.

19    He set the hilte against the ground,
And the point against his heart;
There was never three lovers that ever met
More sooner they did depart.

The same text with minor changes appeared in the Forget-Me-Not Songster (New York, Nafis & Cornish), p. 236, circa 1844. The Songster version also has 19 stanzas. Here's an example of one of the changes, which is found in stanza 19, 1st line: He set the sword against the ground (instead of "hilte"). This change is also found in the some of the English broadsides and may not be an American adaptation. The Forget-Me-Not Songster version is clearly a reprint of the English broadsides and was done by a New York copyist, changing and Americanizing but a few words.

The opening stanza of the broadside has a particularly weak rhyme: "dear" with "dear." This has been improved in some traditional copies. The first stanza is frequently lacking in North America.

There are at least ten nearly identical broadsides of Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor (Child D) in the Santa Barbara and Bodleian collections. Are these broadsides traditional? Sometimes it's like trying to decide which came first; the chicken or the egg. In my opinion, a version of the ballad was traditional in England by the 1600s and a broadside printer wrote it down, published it and sold copies- therefore promoting the ballad. How do we know? Stanza 4 of the broadside is not found in tradition.

4 And as it befell on a high holidaye,
As many did more beside,
Lord Thomas he went to Fair Ellinor,
That should have been his bride. [Stanza 4 of the broadside]

This stanza is not found in tradition- out of the 260 North American version in my collection there is only one instance that it is found and that was likely taken from the Forget-Me-Not Songster. The broadside was not sung and did not enter tradition. Even in the British Isle the broadside is only rarely found in tradition-- I've only found two versions. The ur-ballad is very consistent and has a stanza that replaces stanza 4 which describes the garb worn by Lord Thomas as he goes to invite Fair Ellender to his wedding. this same stanza appears later as Fair Ellender's garb is described as she goes to the wedding.

Child gives four North American versions in his ESPB, all were collected before 1885 when Volume 3 was published, and all were from Irish sources. So we can see some important differences found in tradition that are not found in the broadside versions. Stanza 4 "As it befell a high holiday" was added by a printer and is not found in tradition so versions that have stanza 4 are likely based on print (Flanders C). We can conclude that the popular traditional ballad which is the English form, Child D, is almost the same as the broadside version. The element of symmetry is very important in traditional versions of this ballad. Lord Thomas decides to 1) go invite Fair Eleanor to his wedding 2) dresses in rich attire- is mistaken fora a king (knight) 3) reaches her gate, tingles at the ring she invites him in. The parallel is-- Fair Eleanor decides to: 1) go the Lord Thomas' wedding; 2) dresses in rich attire- is mistaken for a queen 3) reaches his hall, tingles at the ring, he invites her in. This exact symmetry is not found in the broadside and is usually present in the full traditional versions in England and North America. The other important part that is mirrored is the "Come riddle" stanza (1st or 2nd stanza) for Lord Thomas is repeated for Fair Eleanor when she asks her mother if she should go the the wedding.

Child gives eight Scottish versions A-I except D (the English broadside)-- none of theses variants are found in North America- not one!! The names Willie and Annie in the Scot versions are not found; the other family members are not present. What does this tell us? Child D is a different but closely related ballad and that the Scottish versions are a variant, I believe, of the older ballad common in North America. Neither Percy or Jamieson, who both pointed out that the Scottish versions (Sweet Willie and Fair Annie) were a different ballad, could conclude which is older, but I believe that the ur-ballad, represented by Child D is older and that the Scotch variants were based on the ur-ballad which found in tradition in North America and the British Isles. Furthermore, I believe, the title of the Scotch variant should be "Sweet Willie and Fair Annie" which is that way it should appear in six of the eight Scotch versions given by Child (as given by Jamieson in 1806).

Child say about his A version: "The Scottish traditional copy, 'Lord Thomas and Fair Annet,' given by Percy in the Reliques (unfortunately with some corrections, but these cannot have been many), is far superior, and one of the most beautiful of our ballads, and indeed of all ballads." This Scottish version is not similar

Naturally there with be similarities between the two ballads. The Scottish versions are characterized by several key words that appear occasionally in the ur-ballad versions in North America. One word is "rede" for "riddle"; another is "gowd and gear" for "house and land." So "rede me (riddle me)" could be construed as "read me." "Rede" appears in nearly as dozen US versions as exemplified by the following:

"O mother, O mother, come rede me,
Come rede me as your own,
Whether I must marry fair Ellendar dear
Or bring the Brown girl home." [Fuson, Kentucky 1931]

The other feature characterizing most of the Scottish versions is the Brown girl asks Eleanor (Annie): 'O whare gets thou that water-cherry, That washes thee so white?'

"You were washed in Dunny's Well,
And dried on Dunny's Dyke.
All the waters in the sea
Could never wash you white." [Cutting, NY 1944 compare to Child E]

This rare stanza, from a fragment collected in NY, compares to Child E. The stanza(s) about the water that washes fair Ellender's face white is the found in Virginia (Davis MTBVa, 1960), Morris (FL, version B) as well as two of the American-Irish versions given by Child in his ESPB.

In some of the Scot versions the 'rose/briar" ending, so common in Barbara Allen, is found. In the North America a handful of these versions may be found:

Out of Lord Thomas' foot grew a briar,
And out of fair Ellar's breast grew a rose,
They grew as high as the old church top,
And there they fairly tied in a truly love knot. [Abrams, NC, from Alice Hicks, c.1940]

We can see that some of these Scottish elements have been incorporated into Irish and American versions -- but the elements are only a line or a stanza long. For some unknown reason, complete Scottish versions (A-I except for D) given by Child where Thomas's love is Fair Annie, have not been found in North America. What conclusion can we make regarding these versions not crossing over? It's a mystery that's difficult to fathom. I can only conclude that Child D was supremely popular and that the Scottish versions sprang like variants from the primal seed in a small area but never caught on. The traditional as well as print version of Child D represent an older, deeper, consistent and more popular tradition of the ballad. According to "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor" a Preliminary Study of the Ballad by Richard Harris:

"One may conjecture that, if 'Lord Thomas' originated in Scotland, the early singers of the ballad did not recognize the nascent supremacy of the original author or authors. They felt themselves free to take liberties with the text, and several of them did to a great extent. The resulting redaction probably took place a long time after the original version had gained currency-and after the departure of those people who settled in America, for there is not one remnant of the redaction in the American variants which the present author has studied."

* * * *
One of the earliest printed reports in the US with ballad text appears in The Knickerbocker: Or, New-York Monthly Magazine, Volume 14; Page 394; dated 1839, which may be the earliest published in the US (see below- at the bottom of this page.) Several years later the broadside (based on Child D) was reprinted in the c. 1844 Forget-Me- Not Songster.

How long has this ballad been traditional in North America? Certainly it's clearly back in the 1700s with documented versions in the early 1800s. Several family versions likely date back to the 1600s. Let's consider two family versions, the Soper family version from New England as taken from Susie Carr Young (b. 1862- 1933) and the Hicks/Harmon versions from Virginia to North Carolina/Tennessee by Sam Harmon/Jane Hicks Gentry.

The Soper version: The Soper family (BBM; BFSSNE 7 In Memoriam) was known as a singing family. Susie Carr Young (1862-1933) documented her grandmother Mary Soper's versions by compiling nearly 68 ballads around 1900. Her Grandmother Mary Soper (b. 1791) of Orland, Hancock, Maine, married Hugh Hill Carr of Bucksport, Hancock, Maine (b.1790) in 1813. The ballad of Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor (according to Barry, BBM) came from Mary Soper, no date given. Mary died when Susie was only 7 and the ballad may have come from her mother and other family members. Mary's father was Justus Soper (b.1760 in MA and married Elizabeth Viles) and her grandparents were Samuel Soper Jr. and Katherine Ruggles (ref. Ancestry.com). Justus Soper's grand father was Samuel Soper Sr. (ref. Ancestry.com) and his great-grandfather was Joseph Soper (1656, ref. BFSSNE) who was 1st generation in American his parents believed to be from London.

It's impossible to tell when this ballad came over and when it was learned. Since it was known in England as a broadside in the mid-1600 it clearly could have come over then-- and it would be similar to Child D, the English broadside which was published by Percy, who also published Child A.

The Hicks/Harmon version: The history of this ballad family has been given before (Smith: Jane Gentry) however some curious references have been made to the lineage. Here's what Mellinger Henry wrote (1938):

"Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender." Sung by "Uncle" Sam Harmon, Cade's Cove, Blount County, Tennessee, August, 1928. He learned it from his grandfather in Watauga County, North Carolina, who had learned it in England before emigrating to North Carolina.

Before examining Henry's statement (which clearly he got from Sam Harmon in 1928), let's look at the family line. Sam's grandfather was Council Harmon, the main purveyor of ballads, in his family line. Council Harmon (1807-1898) married Nancy Tester (1809-1850) around 1830. Sabra Hicks (1785- ) was his mother and Andrew Harmon (1789-1814) was his father. When Counce was five, his father Andrew was killed by a falling tree and his mother Sabra went to live with her father, Big Sammy Hicks. The eight-year-old Council, his younger brothers Goulder and Mathias and his sister Rachel. Big Sammy's son, Little Sammy was fourteen and he learned ballads and tales from his grandfather, Big Sammy Hicks, his uncle Little Sammy and also his aunt Fanny Hicks. When Elizabeth Harmon died, her husband Duke Ward, married Sabra. When Ward moved to Illinois with his four sons, his new wife Sabra took Rachel her youngest and left Council, Goulder, and Mathias with Andrew's sister, Susan Harmon and her Susan's husband, John Mast.

Now let's go back to Sam Harmon. The ballad was passed from his grandfather Council to Sam before the family moved to Tennessee. Council did not immigrate from England to North Carolina- Sam just didn't know much about his grandfather and his family heritage. It was most assuredly through his great grandmother's family (Sabra Hicks) that this ballad was learned-- that would be "Big Sammy" Hicks, Counce's grandfather. Sammy was named after his grandfather Samuel Hicks (b. 1695) who was from Tuckahoe Creek Virginia (along the James River) in Henrico County, in what is now Goochland County. No one knows who Samuel's father was but John Hicks, the Doorkeeper or his son are candidates. Samuel's grandfather would have immigrated to Virginia circa 1650 and Samuels' father would be born in Virginia around or by 1675. That seven generations from Council Harmon through his mother to England.

We have several Hicks/Harmon versions to study including Sam Harmon, Jane Hicks Genry (Maud Long her daughter), Nora Hicks (Mast's Gape Hicks) and Alice Hicks.

Did the ballad of "Lord Thomas" come to Virginia in the 1600s? There's a good chance the ballad came to Virginia in the mid to late 1600s-- it was a popular ballad and remained popular in the Appalachians where Cecil Sharp collected nearly 40 versions between 1916-1918. Although some some family lines came down from the north (New England/Pennsylvania/Maryland) to the Appalachain, the vast majority were from the early Virginia colony.
* * * *

The unusual opening phrase found in Sharp B and J is "roll a song" which is a verb meaning "advise (for me) in a song". It rivals "riddle my sport," which Belden, (and I believe mistakenly) says is a mishearing of "riddle my sword." I think sport is related to "old sport" or "jolly old sport" which is a slang for a term of endearment used to a friend or family member as in "old bean" or "old chap." "Riddle my sport" is found in North American versions only, although it may date back to the 1600s here.
* * * *

Cecil Sharp's EFSSA (1932 edition) has 31 versions, all with music. Sharp did not include many the texts (since they are long) and for most of the versions he collected there is usually just a single stanza. The text for Sharp E is known through Maud Long, Jane Gentry's daughter. The text for Sharp H is given by Davis. At least a dozen more versions were found in Sharp's MS and appear in Bronson's TTCB vol. 2, 1962.

The Brown Collection has versions A-Q (using both volumes) with many music examples (some new) and a few complete texts (see Recordings & Info- attached page for the complete Brown Collection texts and music). Along with the Brown Collection Vol. 2 and 4 you have the Abrams collection (with recordings) and the I.G. Greer Collection. In the Abrams collection there are several full texts of the Brown partial texts. Also there are at least 6 new texts and at least three recordings. These North Carolina collections rival Sharp's in the number of versions collected.

Cox's Folk-Songs of the South has A-K with texts for A-I. Davis' Traditional Ballads of Virginia has texts A-R with music only for S and music for nine of the texts. Davis also adds 6 versions and several new stanzas in his More Traditional Ballads, 1960. Reed Smith has texts A-F (F text is not given just referenced) in his 1928 South Carolina Ballads. Flanders give version A-L in her Ancient Ballads, 1966, which is more impressive because the ballad was not as popular in New England.

The Forget-Me-Not Songster (New York, Nafis & Cornish), p. 236 c. 1840s

CONTENTS: (To read individual texts listed below - click on the highlighted title or on the title attached to this page on the left-hand column) Note: many of the sharp MS version from 1917-1918 are at the end on the left hand column

    1) Lord Thomas- Blacknall (NC) c.1812 Brown M --From Brown Collection of NC Folklore; Volume 2; 1952 and 4; 1957. Reported by Mrs. R. D. Blacknall of Durham as "sung by an elderly seamstress in my great-grandfather's family between 1812 and 1820."

    2) Lord Thomas- Simons (SC) c1828 Smith B --From: South Carolina Ballads by Reed Smith; 1928. Communicated by Miss Katharine Drayton Mayrant Simons, of Summerville, S. C., who gives the following account of it: "This ballad has always been one of the nursery songs in our family and my earliest recollection of it is as sung by my grandmother, Harriet Hyrne Simons of Charleston. The ballad as I have written it off has been sung for at least a century in the Simons family of Charleston."

    3) Lord Thomas- Compton (SC) c1835 Smith A --From: South Carolina Ballads by Reed Smith; 1928. Communicated by Mr. W. B. Compton, from Aiken County, S. C., Nov. 5, 1913. He stated that it was transcribed by Mrs. Alice Day Compton "to whom it was sung by her mother Mrs. Martha O'Neall Day, who was born in 1829, and who learned it when a girl."

    4) The Brown Girl- Bonnett (MS) 1838 Hudson A --From Ballads and Songs from Mississippi by Arthur Palmer Hudson; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 39, No. 152 (Apr. - Jun., 1926), pp. 93-194. Also in Folksongs of Mississippi; 1936. This ballad is traced back to Elijah Ivey, (b. 1750) who was Martha Long Bonnett's English grandfather. Ivey came to the US around 1767 and fought in the Revolution.

    5) Lord Thomas and Fair Elendar- Stone (KS) 1840 JAFL -- Some Songs Traditional in the United States by Albert H. Tolman; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 29, No. 112 (Apr. - Jun., 1916), pp. 155-197. The fragment was obtained from Mrs. Deborah Stone, Winfield, Kan., in 1897. She learned it about 1840 from a schoolteacher from Pennsylvania.

    6) Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor: Forget-Me-Not Songster (NY) c1844 -- This broadside text was printed c.1844 in the The Forget Me Not Songster: Containing a choice collection of old ballad Songs, as sung by our Grandmothers. It's the same text, with minor changes, as found in the British broadsides dating back to 1600s.

    7) Lord Thomas- Andrus (NY) 1844 Allen -- Published in The Decennial Publications by Phillip Allen; University of Chicago in 1903. From the recitation of Mrs. Eliza Andrus, of Schenectady, N. Y., and were learned by her from an elderly serving-maid in the year 1844, when in Bloomingdale, at that time a suburb of New York City.

    8) Lord Thomas- Stanley(ME) 1854 Barry C -- From British Ballads from Maine; Barry, Eckstorm, Smyth, 1929. Taken down, August, 1924, from the recitation of Mrs. Nathan S. Stanley, Islesford, aged eighty-two years, who learned it when she was a child.

    9) The Brown Girl- Light (KY-TX) 1862 Dobie -- From Tone the Bell Easy- p. 145; by James Frank Dobie, ‎Mabel Major, 1932. The informant was Lowell T Bodiford (Born: August 29, 1909) and he learned the song from his grandmother on his mother's side, Nancy E. Light Bernard (1854– 1929). She learned it as a child in Kentucky.

    10) Lord Thomas- Wilson (NC) c1864 Smith/ Brown D -- From MS in the Abrams collection; partially given in The Brown Collection of NC Folklore; Vol. 2 1952. Thomas Smith wrote in 1914 that this ballad is "written as sung by Miss Ida Wilson, whose father sang it nearly sixty years ago."

    11) The Brown Girl- Urice (WV) 1866 Cox A
    Lord Thomas- Healy (MA-IR) 1867 Child Dg
    Fair Elinar- Fisher (IO-TN) 1866 Stout B
    Lord Thomas- Carr (ME) 1868 Barry B
    The Brown Girl- Fore (MO) c.1870 Belden D
    Lord Thomas & Fair Eleanor- Kennison (VT) 1876
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- Aveline(IN) 1877 Halpert
    Lord Thomas- Loughlin (MI) 1878 Gardner B
    Lord Thomas- Mackay (New Brunswick) 1881 Child Df.
    Lord Thomas- Daily (MA-IR) pre1884 Child Di
    Lord Thomas- (MA-IR) pre1884 Child Di Newell
    Lord Thomas- Sullivan (IN) pre1885 Brewster C
    The Brown Girl- (VA) 1889 Babcock- Child
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- Aveline (IN) 1889 Halpert
    Lord Thomas- Delorme (NY) c1890 Flanders D
    Lord Thomas- Coleman (IO) c.1895 Stout A
    Lord Thomas and Fair Ellen- (VA) 1898 Brown A
    Lord Thomas & Fa'r Elinor- Means SC 1899 Smith D
    The Brown Girl- McCord (Mo.) c.1900 Randolph I
    Lord Thomas- Vaughan (MO) pre1903 Belden A
    Lord Thomas- Williams (MO) pre1903 Belden B
    Lord Thomas- Doxey (AR) pre1903 Belden C
    Lord Thomas- Varner (MO) 1904 Belden E
    Little Eleanor- Percival (VT) 1905 Barry JAFL
    Sir Thomas - I. L. M. (NJ) 1905 Barry B
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellenter- (NC) c1906 Brown C
    The Brown Girl- Pettit (KY) pre1907 Kittredge
    The Brown Girl- Pettit (KY) 1907 Kittredge B
    Fair Ellener- Norville (MO) 1907 Belden F
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellender- Moore Ga 1909 Sharp B
    The Brown Girl- Cowden (MO) 1909 Belden G
    Fair Ellen- Moore (GA) 1909 Sharp J; Campbell-Rawn
    The Three True Lovers- Sedwick (MO) 1912 Beldin I
    Fair Ellender & Brown Girl- Fish (NC) 1913 Brown B
    Lord Thomas- Grimm (NE) 1913 Pound
    Fair Ellender- Caldwell (NC) 1913 Perrow
    Lord Thomas- Grainger (VA) 1913 Davis O
    The Brown Girl- Clement (SC) 1913 Smith E
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellinor- Cover VA 1913 Davis P
    Lord Thomas- Stone (VA) 1914 Davis M
    Lord Thomas- Holder (NC) 1914 Brown E
    Lord Thomas- Ramenes (Ark.) 1914 Cox I
    Lord Thomas- Eubank (VA) 1914 Davis H
    The Brown Girl- Yowell (VA) 1914 Davis E
    The Brown Girl- Maxie (VA) 1914 Davis L
    The Brown Girl- Seoane (VA) 1914 Davis Q
    Lord Thomas- (KY) c.1914 McGill
    Lord Thomas & Lady Helen- Dame(MA) 1914 Sharp K
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- Webb (MO) 1914 Belden J
    Lord Thomas- Holder (NC) 1914 Brown E
    The Brown Girl- Williamson (VA) 1915 Davis DD
    Lord Thomas & Fair Eleanor- (NC) 1915 Brown G
    The Three Lovers- Wiley (VA) Davis F 1915
    Fair Ellender & the Brown Girl- Bronley (WV) 1916
    Fair Elander & the Brown Girl- McCourt (WV) 1916
    The Brown Girl- Sands (NC) 1916 Sharp I
    Lord Thomas- Bennett (WV) 1916 Cox E
    Lord Thomas- Miller (WV) 1916 Cox F
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellendry- House NC 1916 Sharp A
    Fair Ellen- Sears (VA) 1916 Davis D
    The Brown Girl- Boyd (VA) 1916 Davis K
    The Brown Girl- Case (MO) 1916 Belden K
    Lord Thomas- Shelton (NC) 1916 Sharp D
    Lord Thomas- Gentry/Long (NC) 1916 Sharp E
    Lord Thomas- Crane (TN) 1916 Sharp F
    The Brown Girl- Campbell (VA) 1916 Sharp H
    The Brown Girl- Pine Mountain (KY) 1916 Wells
    Fair Ellender- Mrs. Boggs (WV) 1917 Cox D
    Fair Ellenger- McAtee (WV) 1917 Cox G
    The Brown Girl- Bosely (WV) 1917 Cox H
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- Rodes (VA) 1917 Davis J
    Lord Thomas- Parsons (TN) 1917 Sharp L
    The Brown Girl- Jones (KY) 1917 Sharp P
    Fair Ellender- Stamper (KY) 1917 Sharp N
    Lord Thomas- Campbell (TN) 1917 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Messer (KY) 1917 Sharp MS
    Fair Ellender- Moseley (KY) 1917 Sharp O
    Fair Ellender- Sloan (KY) 1917 Sharp Q
    Fair Ellender- Pope (KY) 1917 Sharp R
    Fair Ellender- Walker (KY) 1917 Sharp S
    Lord Thomas- Williams (TN) 1917 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Dunagan (KY) 1917 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Smith (KY) 1917 Sharp MS
    Fair Ellinor- Willams (NC) 1917 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Melton (KY) 1917 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Creech (KY) 1917 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- girls at Hindman (KY) 1917 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Roberts (VA) 1918 Sharp M
    The Brown Girl- Maddox (VA) 1918 Sharp T
    The Brown Girl- Dodd (VA) 1918 Sharp U
    The Brown Girl- Donald (VA) 1918 Sharp V
    The Brown Girl- Dooley (VA) 1918 Sharp X
    Fair Ellen- Grey (VA) 1918 Sharp Y
    Fair Ellender- Agee (VA) 1918 Sharp Aa
    Lord Thomas- Snipes (NC) 1918 Sharp B b
    Lord Thomas- Chrisom (NC) 1918 Sharp C c
    Fair Ellender- Bennett (NC) 1918 Sharp Dd
    Lord Thomas- Blankenship (NC) 1918 Sharp Ee
    Lord Thomas- Beckett (VA) 1918 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Boone (NC) 1918 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Bennett (NC) 1918 Sharp MS
    Fair Ellinor- Guillams (VA) 1918 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Wimmer (VA) 1918 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Mayo (VA) 1918 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Coffey (VA) 1918 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Cannady (VA) 1918 Sharp MS
    Fair Ellinor- Godfrey (NC) 1918 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- Smelts (VA) 1918 Sharp MS
    Lord Thomas- J. Boone (NC) 1918 Sharp MS
    The Brown Bride- Wyman (KY) pre1919
    Lord Thomas- Grogan (NC) 1919 Greer/ Brown H
    Lord Thomas- Elliot (PA) pre1919 Shoemaker
    Lord Thomas- Langille (NS) 1919 Mackenzie B
    Lord Thomas- Cruickshank (MO) 1920 Belden L
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellender- Via (VA) 1920 Davis G
    Lord Thomas- Mitchell (VA) 1920 Davis A
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellender- Doss VA 1921 Davis I
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- Mullens (VA) 1921 Davis
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellender- Hart VA 1921 Davis C
    The Brown Girl- Brown (NC) c1921 Sutton/Brown J
    Lord Thomas- Tillet (NC) 1922 Brown 4K
    Lord Thomas- Cooke (NC) 1922 Brown I
    Lord Thomas- (KY) 1923 Pine Mountain Songbook
    The Brown Girl- Long (MS) c. 1923 Hudson A
    The Brown Girl- Davis(CA) 1923 Sonkin/Charles REC
    Fair Ellender- Baber (Mo.) 1924 Randolph D
    Lord Thomas- Nelson (VA) 1924 Davis B
    Lord Thomas- Bateman (NC) 1924 Chappell
    Song Ballot of Lord Thomas- (NC) c1925 Greer LV1
    The Brown Girl- Pierce (SC-NC) pre1927 Smith C
    The Brown Girl- Pierce (SC-NC) pre1927 Sandburg
    Brown Girl- Bullard (Mo.) 1927 Randolph C
    Lord Thomas- Young (ME) 1927 Barry A
    Lord Thomas- Harrison (NS) 1928 Mackenzie A
    Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender- Harmon (TN) 1928
    Lord Thomas & the Brown Girl- (Mo.) 1928 Rand B
    Fair Ellen- Bradley Kincaid (KY) 1928 Kincaid
    Lord Thomas- Walters (NL) 1929 Greenleaf
    The Brown Girl- Bethel (Mo.) 1930 Randolph A
    Thomas and Ellen- Turner (NC) c.1930s Niles D
    Lord Thomas- Harrington (VT) 1930 Flanders H
    Lord Thomas- Hubbard (VT) 1930 Flanders I
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- Brown (KY) 1930s Niles C
    Lord Thomas- Ballard (VT) 1930 Flanders K
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellendar- Hayes (KY) 1931 Fuson
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- (KY) 1931 Thomas
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellinor- McNab (NS) pre1932
    The Brown Girl- Horton Barker (VA) 1932 Davis
    Lord Thomas- Bowman (VA) 1932 Davis AA
    Lord Thomas- Hodges (VA) 1932 Davis CC
    Lord Thomas- Osborne (VA) 1932 Davis FF
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- (GA) 1933 Niles B
    The Brown Girl- Alice Hicks (NC) c1933 Abrams
    Lord Thomas- Schell (NC) 1933 Matteson
    Lord Thomas- Edwards (VT) 1933 Flanders B
    Lord Thomas- (TN-VA) 1934 Cambiaire A
    The Brown Girl- (TN-VA) 1934 Cambiaire B
    Lord Thomas's Wedding- Lenington (IN) 1935 Brew D
    The Brown Girl- Davis (IN) 1935 Brewster F
    Lord Thomas- Johnson (IN) 1935 Brewster G
    The Brown Girl- McAllister (IN) 1935 Brewster H
    Fair Eleanor- McDonald (IN) 1935 Brewster E
    The Brown Girl- Morris (Mo.) 1935 Randolph E
    Lord Thomas- Morris (VA) 1935 Wilkinson A
    The Brown Girl- Crowder (NC) 1935 Sheppard
    Lord Thomas- Underhill (IN) 1936 Brewster A
    Lord Thomas- Beeman (MI) 1936 Gardner A
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellender- Smith NC 1936 Niles A
    The Brown Girl- Collier (VA) pre1936 Scarborough A
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- Gibson (VA) 1936 Scar B
    Lord Thomas- Morris (VA) pre1936 Scarborough C
    Lord Thomas- Owens (VA) pre1936 Scarborough D
    Fair Ellender- Lambert (VA) pre1936 Scarborough E
    Lord Thomas- Shiflett (VA) 1936 Wilkinson B
    Lord Thomas- (AL-SC-VA) c1936 Garwick/Seeger
    Fair Ellender- Kelly (MS) 1936 Hudson B
    The Brown Girl- Swetnam (MS) pre1936 Hudson C
    Lord Thomas- Flowers (MS) pre1936 Hudson D
    Fairrellater- Lewis (MS) pre1936 Hudson E
    The Brown Girl- Bryant (IN) 1937 Brewster B
    Lord Thomas- Hall (VA) 1937 Wilkinson C
    Lord Thomas- Ashford (VT) 1937 Flanders L
    Lord Thomas- Floyd (SC) 1937 Lomax Recording
    Lord Thomas- Schapp (OH-TN) 1937 Kirklands
    Lord Thomas- Spoon (NC) 1937 Abrams Collection
    The Brown Girl- Creed (IL) pre1938 Neely JAFL
    Lord Thomas- Underhill (VT) 1938 Flanders C
    Lord Thomas- Beverly (VA) pre1938 Henry B
    Lord Arnold's Daughter- Devlin (NY-PA) pre1938
    The Brown Girl- Miller (NC) 1939 Brown 4E(1) REC
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- Ports (OH) 1939 Eddy A
    Lord Thomas- Stork (OH) 1939 Eddy B
    Lord Thomas- Nora Hicks (NC) c1939 Walker/Brown
    Lord Thomas- Chapel (OH) 1939 Eddy C
    The Brown Girl- Mace (OH) 1939 Eddy D
    Fair Ellender- McCord (MO) 1939 Owens
    Lord Thomas- Spense (NC) 1939 Abrams- Brown L
    Lord Thomas- Gordon (NC) 1939 Brown 4P REC
    Lord Thomas- Graham (CA) 1939 Cowell REC
    Lord Thomas- J. Miller (NC) 1940 Brown 4 M(1) REC
    Lord Thomas- Stamey (NC) 1940 Brown 4-Q REC
    Lord Thomas- Freeman (Ark.) 1941 Randolph J
    The Brown Girl- Reba (Mo.) 1941 Randolph G
    Lord Thomas- Tilllett (NC) 1941 Warner
    The Brown Girl- Hastings (Ark.) 1941 Randolph F
    The Brown Girl- Short (Mo.) 1941 Randolph H
    Lord Thomas- Texas Gladden (VA) 1941 Lomax REC
    Lord Thomas- (NY) 1942 Frank Luther - Songbook
    Lord Thomas- Hayes (ME) 1942 Flanders E
    The Brown Girl- Williams (NC) 1943 Abrams
    Lord Thomas- Scarborough (NC) pre1943 Brown K
    The Brown Girl- Moses (NH) 1943 Flanders J
    Lord Thomas- Drake (NY) 1944 Cutting A
    The Brown Girl- Tucker (MD) pre1944 Carey
    Lord Thomas- Cutting (NY) pre1944 Cutting B
    The Brown Girl- Lambert (AL) 1945 Arnold
    Lord Thomas- Cargill (KY) pre1945 Cowan REC
    Lord Thomas & Fair Alander- Lowrimore (CA) 1946
    Lord Thomas- Maud Long (NC) 1946 Moser Rec.
    Lord Thomas- (VA) c.1947; Leach; 1950 JOAFL
    Lord Thomas- Bracey (ME) 1947 Flanders G
    Lord Thomas- Jensen (UT) 1947 Hubbard
    Lord Thomas- Lunsford (NC) 1949 Emrich REC
    Lord Thomas- Gregory (TN) pre1949 Boswell
    Lord Thomas- Wallace (NS) 1950 Creighton
    Lord Thomas- Stockton (FL) 1950 Morris A
    Lord Thomas- McClellan (FL) 1950 Morris B
    Lord Thomas- Davis (FL) 1950 Morris C
    Lord Thomas- Hammontree (AR) 1951 Carlisle
    The Brown Girl- Pennington (AR) 1952 Carlisle
    Fair Ellender- Phillips (AR) 1954 Parler
    Lord Thomas- Enzor (KY) 1957 Roberts
    The Brown Girl- Welch (WV) 1957 Musick A
    The Brown Girl- Keener (WV) 1957 Musick B
    The Brown Girl- Ammons (WV) 1957 Musick C
    The Brown Girl- Eddy (WV) 1957 Musick D
    The Brown Girl- McDonald (AR) 1958 Max Hunter
    The Brown Girl- McCord (Mo.) 1958 Hunter
    Lord Thomas- Brewer (Ark.) 1958 Hunter
    The Brown Girl- Daugherty (Ark.) 1958 Wolfe Coll.
    Three Lovers- Greynolds (WV) 1958 Bush II
    The Brown Girl- Johnson (AR) 1958 Majors/Parler
    Lord Thomas- Brewer (AR) 1958 Bethune/Parler
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellinor- Decker (NL) 1959
    Fair Ellender- Proffitt (NC) 1959 Warner
    The Brown Girl- Harriman (AR) 1959 Parler
    Lord Thomas & Brown Girl- Smith (AR) 1959 Parler
    The Brown Girl- Kisner (Ark.) 1960 Hunter
    The Brown Girl- Sargent (AR) 1960 Whittier/Parler
    Lord Thomas & Fair Ellender- Ritchie (KY) 1961 Rec
    Brown Girl- Martin (AR) 1962 Upton
    Three Lovers- Cole (VA) 1962 Foss/Abrahams
    Lord Thomas- Humphries (VT) 1962 McArthur B
    The Brown Girl- Hedy West (GA) 1963 REC
    Little Brown Girl- Greer (CO) 1963 Lumpkin A
    The Brown Girl- Martin (CO) 1963 Lumpkin B REC
    Lord Thomas- Huddleston (OK-AR-TN) 1964 Moores
    Lord Thomas- Atwood (VT) 1964 McArthur A
    Lord Thomas- Mance Lipscomb (TX) c.1964 REC
    Lord Thomas- Fairbanks (VT) c1965 McArthur C
    The Bonny Brown Girl- Scott (WV) 1969 Boette
    Fair Annalee- Driftwood (Ark.) 1969 Hunter Rec.
    Lord Thomas- Buna Hicks (NC) pre1969 Burton REC
    Brown Girl- Rena Hicks (NC) c.1970 Burton
    The Brown Girl- Shinn (WV) c1971 Bush II
    The Brown Girl- Baird (NC) 1971 Burton
    The Brown Girl- Lozier (KY) pre1973 Recording
    Lord Thomas- Wilson (WV) 1975 Gainer
    Fair Ellender- Cas Wallin (NC) 1980 Yates REC
    Lord Thomas- Thacker (AL) 1980 Rosenbaum
    Fair Eleanor- (TX) 1983 Abernethy
    Fair Eleanor and Lord Thomas- Wallin (NC) 1983
    Lord Thomas- McMillon (NC) 1985 Recording

___________

Notes from Reed Smith 1928; South Carolina Ballads:

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET
(Child, No. 73)

Child gives ten versions. His Version A is Scottish, and is entitled Lord Thomas and Fair Annet. It consists of thirty stanzas and is taken from Percy's Reliques. Child justly describes it as "one of the most beautiful of all ballads." Child's Version D, containing 19 stanzas, is of English origin, and is the version which has since become traditional both in Great Britain and America. It likewise is taken from Percy's Reliquas, where it bears the title "A Tragical Ballad on the Unfortunate Love of Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor, together with the Downfall of the Browne Girl." Percy took it from the Pepys collection made in the time of Charles II, when it was licensed as a broadside by L'Estrange, who was censor from 1663 to 1685. Child's version I, entitled "Fair Annie and Sweet Willie" and consisting of 41 stanzas, comes from the Scotch ballad material which Scott collected for Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.

"Lord Thomas and F'air Elinor" is still widely prevalent both in Great Britain and America. It occurs in many variants in all of the Southern states as well as in New England and various parts of the West. In fact, with the sole exception of Barbara Allen, it is the most widely distributed of all the ballads surviving in America.

Campbell and Sharp give eleven texts and eleven tunes, and Cox gives nine texts and mentions two others. Sharp gives one full text and tune, and refers to this as a very common ballad. He notes that the three lines between the twentieth and twenty-first stanzas of his variant are always spoken and never sung. The lines are:

Make me a grave both long and wide,
And lay fair Ellinor by my side
And the brown girl at my feet.

"This is the only instance of the kind," he adds, "that I have come across."

For additional English versions and references, see Sharp's note, p. xxviii; and for American versions and references, see Cox's head-notes pp. 45- 46. The role of villainess assigned to the brown girl in all versions of the ballad is but another instance of the marked preference shown for blondes rather than for brunettes in all forms of Germanic folk-lore, tale and song alike.
About the only exception to blonde unanimity in either artistic or popular early English poetry is the anonymous poem "The Nutbrowne Maide," dating from about 1500, in which the maid who is selected to prove the case of a woman's constancy is, as the title indicates, a thorough brunette. Like so many other ballads which recount love's tragedy, Lord Thomas and Fair Elinor closes with the intertwining rose and brier from the lovers' graves, a motif which serves as the tragic counterpart of "And they lived happily ever after."

--------------------
In 17th century England, where the ballad came from, "fair" meant noble or genteel, others were black (a black then was a blackamoor) or brown (they had to work, and their suntans spelled out their low birth. Cf. modern red-neck).

Douglas: a darker complexion simply meant more time spent out of doors, possibly working(!); therefore lower social status. Aristocratic women made a point of accentuating their pallor, to the extent that Elizabeth I, for example, wore heavy white makeup with a lead base that did her no good at all in the long term! Fair Ellender (Eleanor), who has no property, appears to conform to the then-current ideal of (aristocratic) beauty; the "Brown Girl" does not, but she does come with "houses and land". This looks, then, like a case of the nobility marrying into a nouveau-riche family in order to restore decayed fortunes -a common enough thing.

Reed Smith explains "The brown girl's role of villainess growing out of preference for blondes found in Germanic folklore".

In "English and Scottish Popular Ballads" [edited from Child's ballads] there is one [#295] called "The Brown Girl." There are two versions that are very similar except that version B is twice as long [16 verses]. It begins:

I am as brown as brown can be,
   And my eyes as black as sloe;
I am as brisk as brisk can be,
   And wild as forest doe.

My love he was so high and proud,
   His fortune too so high,
He for another fair pretty maid
   Me left and passed me by.

Me did he send a love-letter,
   He sent it from the town,
Saying no more he loved me,
For that I was so brown.
--------------------

[Notes from Davis; More Traditional Ballads of Virginia; 1960.]

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET
(Child, No. 73)

The TBVa headnote points out the kinship between this ballad and the two that immediately follow, "F-air Margaret and Sweet William" and "Lord Lovel," and attempts to distinguish the pure types of the three from the blended texts. A11 are love tragedies. But in "Lord Thomas" there is a triangle with three violent deaths; in "Fair Margaret" there is a triangle, with two lovers' deaths, neither violent; in "Lord Lovel" the triangle disappears, the lover is not unfaithful, only laggard, returns to find his lady dead of love too long deferred, then himself dies of grief. The "rose-and-brier" ending is often, but not always, attached to all three, more regularly to the two ballads that follow than to this ballad.

The ballad of Lord Thomas plus his variously named sweetheart (generally some form of Eleanor) and her brown-girl rival (sometimes Sally Brown) is one of the more popular ballads still found in tradition in America. Coffin's American bibliography is extensive. TBVa printed seventeen texts and omitted seventeen more. FSVa lists thirteen items subsequently collected in Virginia, four of them phonographic recordings. Of the thirteen, only six are here presented. Five of the six have tunes.

The new Virginia texts are most closely related to Child D and with one possible exception to be noted, follow the English rather than the Scottish form of the ballad. All, with variations, follow Coffin's Story Type A, not the extraordinary Type B (if the latter deserves the name of a distinct story type of this ballad). As usual, it is with a pang that many excellent texts with some distinctive readings have been omitted. One of the discarded texts has this distinctive stanza, somewhat reminiscent of the several Scottish texts in Child:

The brown girl she come stepping up,
Her heart was filled with hate.
“Where did you get your well water
That washed your skin so white?"

Another has and the singer insisted upon the readings "riddler's boat" for "riddle us both," "merriments" for "merry men's," and the following unique last stanza:

Lord Thomas he commenced cussin' and swearin'
An' walkin' across the hall.
Then he cut off the brown girl's head
And kicked it against the wall.

Another has this variant stanza:

Lord Thomas called his merry men round,
He dressed them all in white,
So that every city he passed through
They took him to be some knight.

Still another has Lord Thomas reply to Fair Ellen's taunts about the brown girl with, "Throw not your slurs at me, Fair Ellen." And so on. But in the main these discarded versions follow the same story line without too significant variation, except, perhaps, in the eyes of the connoisseur of such variants.

The six texts and five tunes that follow, plus the above notes, will adequately represent the ballad and its variants here.
Child prints nine versions of the ballad and finds room in his Additions and Corrections (III, 509-10) for a variant of his D version "from the singing of a Virginia nurse-maid (helped out by her mother)" communicated by W. H. Babcock to the Folk-Lore Journal (VII, 33, 1889). This, like most of the American texts, stems from any one of several seventeenth-century broadside collections (Pepys, Roxburghe, Bagford, and others). Most of the numerous survivals in recent British tradition stem from the same broadside sources. In America, the ballad rivals in popularity "Barbara Allan" and "The House Carpenter." Sharp-Karpeles print an astonishing thirty-one tunes with texts or part-texts ( I, 115-31). The Brown Collection prints or comments upon fourteen (II, 69-79), the first from Rockingham County, Virginia. Excellent as the ballad is, it has perhaps less critical and scholarly interest because of its close relationship to broadsides and songbooks (see Barry, p. 134).

------------------

Fair Elanor and the Brown Girl (Child 73)

[Memory Melodies- Middle Tennessee Folk-Songs- 1947 McDowells: Flora and Lucien: Memory Melodies- A Collection of Folk-Songs from Middle Tennessee Tennessee Folk Songs, published in 1947. It was written with her husband, Lucien McDowell. When he died in 1943 she hoped to add to it, but never did.

R. Matteson 2014]

FAIR ELEANOR AND THE BROWN GIRL

1. "Come, riddle me, Mother, O Mother," he said,
"Come riddle me two in one,
It's whether I must, marry fair Eleanor, dear,
Or bring the Brown girl home,
Or bring the Brown girl home.

2. "The Brown girl she has houses and lands,
Fair Eleanor she has none;
That's why I say, Lord Thomas my son,
Bring you the Brown girl home
Bring you the Brown girl home."

3. "Go saddle my horse, O mother!" he said
"And bring my clothing in;
For I must ride to fair Eleanor's house
And invite her to my wedding---
And invite her to my wedding."

4. He rode and he rode to fair Eleanor's house,
And rambled [1] at the ring,
There was no one but fair Eleanor herself
To rise and welcome him in ---
To rise and welcome him in.

5. "What news what news, Lord Thomas?" she said,
"What news do you bring to me ?"
"I've cone to invite you to my wedding."
"That's wonderful news to me ---
That's wonderful news to me."

6. She dressed herself in rich array,
Her maidens were all in green ;
And every town that she rode through,
She was taken to be some queen ---
She was taken to be some queen.

7. She rode on to Lord Thomas' house,
And rambled at the ring:
There was none so ready as Lord Thomas himself,
To rise and welcome her in ---,
To rise and welcome her in.

8. He took her by the lily-white hand,
And led her through the hall,
And seated her down at the head of the table
Among the ladies all ---
Among the ladies all.

9. "Lord Thomas," she said, "Is this your bride?
I think she is wonderful brown,
You once could have married as pretty a fair girl
As ever the gun shone on ---
As ever the sun shone on."

10. "Fair Eleanor, don't talk that way --
Don't talk that way to me;
Much better I love your little finger
Than I love her whole body ---
Than I love her whole body. "

11. The Brown girl had a little pen knife
With blade both keen and sharp;
She pressed it against fair Eleanor's side
Until it, reached her heart ---
Until it reached her heart.

12. "Don't, look that, way, fair Eleanor," he said,
"Why are you so pale and wan?
When once you had as red rosy cheeks
Ag ever the sun shone on ---
As ever the sun shone on."

13. "Are you blind, Lord Thomas?" she said
"Oh, can't you very well see --
Oh, don't you see my own heart's blood
Come trickling down by me ---
Come trickling down by me?"

14, He took the Brown girl by the hand,
And led her through the hall,
He drew his sword and cut off her head,
And kicked it, against the wall
And kicked it against the wall.

15. "Go dig my grave, O Mother!" he said,
"Go dig it wide and deep,
And bury fair Eleanor in my arms
And the Brown girl at my feet, --
And the Brown girl at my feet."

16. He placed the handle toward the wall,
And the point toward his breast;
Saying, "This is the last of three true lovers,
Lord send their souls to rest --
Lord send their souls to rest."

This ballad is remembered as above by Mrs. McDowell, who heard it, in her childhood. A version submitted by Miss Alta Smith of Cookevllle, Tennessee, and published in a newspaper about the year, 1900 bears some noticeable differences; carrying two verses not remembered by Mrs. McDowell though Cookevllle is only about forty miles from Smithville, where Mrs. McDowell has lived all her life. The tune given is common to three ballads in the valley of the Caney Fork, as can be seen. This tune, with
slight differences as noted in the three singers was used wlth the different ballads interchangeably; though each ballad above is fitted with the variant whlch it most, often carried ln the memory of those available to make the comparison.

1. usually "tinkled" or "twirled."

-------------------

[From English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians collected by Cecil J. Sharp and Olive Dame Campbell- Volume I; 1917 edition and 1932 edition edited by Maud Karpeles. The 1932 edition notes follow.

No. 19. Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor.

Texts without tunes:—Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads, No. 73. Broadside by Catnach. C. S. Burners Shropshire Folk-Lore, p. 545. A. Williams's Folk Songs of the Upper Thames, p. 135. Journal of American Folk-Lore, xix. 235; xx. 254; xxviii. 152; xxxix. 94. Cox's Folk Songs of the South, p. 45 (see also further references).

Texts with tunes:—Kidson's Traditional Tunes, p. 40. English County Songs, p. 42. E. M. Leather's Folk-Lore of Herefordshire, p. 200. Sandys's Christmas Carols, tune 18. Journal of the Folk-Song Society, ii. 105; v. 130. Rimbault's Musical Illustrations of Percy's Reliques, p. 94. C. Sharp's English Folk Songs
(Selected Edition), ii. 27 (also published in One Hundred English Folk Songs, No.28). Gavin Greig's Last Leaves, No. 28. Scots Musical Museum, vi, No. 535. Reed Smith's South Carolina Ballads, No. 6. Wyman and Brockway's Twenty Kentucky Songs, p. 14. Journal of American Folk-Lore, xviii. 128. British Ballads
from Maine, p. 128, Davis's Traditional Ballads of Virginia, pp. 191 and 568. McGill's Folk Songs of the Kentucky Mountains, p. 28. Sandburg's American Songbag, p. 156.

G. Sung by Mrs. NOAH SHELTON at Alleghany, N. C, July 29, 1916
Hexatonic. Mode 3, b. [music only]
W. Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor- Sung by Mrs. ELIZABETH M. BERRYat Hellysford, Va., May 20, 1918
Hexatonic (no 7th). [music only]
Z. Sung by Mrs. MOLLY E. BOWYER at Villamont, Va., June 10, 1918 [music only]

--------------

15. LORD THOMAS [In the Pines- Roberts Notes]
(Child 73)

This is the second most popular of all the English and Scottish ballads sung in England and America. The most popular is "Barbara Allen." In his notes to No. 73 Child calls it "The most beautiful of our ballads, and indeed of all ballads." Although a poignant love triangle in our version, it has some fierce and primitive conflicts in other lands. It has been collected in Scandinavia, in a version in which the jilted girl is the young man's wife in all but name. He abandons her for another. She attends the wedding feast and even bears the torch that lights the newlyweds to bed. Then in one variant she sets fire to the
house and laughs as the bride burns in the bridegroom's arms. This fierce revenge is an echo from the Norse sagas. The stories in the English (Lloyd in FSE cities broadside influence, p. 29) and American texts stay fairly close to one conflict. The man chooses between a poor but pretty woman and a rich ugly one. The brown girl in a fit of jealousy stabs Eleanor. The man, who has been of two minds all along, now destroys the brown girl and himself.
Of the nine versions (A-I) printed by Child, the version D (nine variants, three found in America by way of Ireland) seems to be the source of virtually all texts in America. It is found in abundance here and its details are catalogued in many headnotes. Coffin (BTBNA) lists about 100 bibliographical items, without, as he says (xiii), eliminating reprints or counting the number of texts included in each citation.
The ballad has been found in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, in all the states touching Appalachia, and down the Midwest: Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, the Ozarks, Oklahoma, and Texas. The number found in Appalachia is hard to count, but with eleven mentioned by Cox (FSS, no. l0), forty-seven by Davis (TBV, no. l8; MTBV, no. 18), thirty-one in SharpK, no. 19, fourteen in NCF, II, IV, no. 19, and about fourteen from Kentucky (BKH, FSKM, DD, TKMS), plus seventeen in my collection, we can see that it is second only to "Barbara Allen" in popularity. Lawless lists 140 in print.

The present text was recorded on a disk in 1957 by Ina Mae Enzor of Cumberland, Harlan County, from her grandmother, Cassie Scott.

-----------------------

[First published version]

The Knickerbocker: Or, New-York Monthly Magazine, Volume 14; Page 394; 1839

MY OWN PECULIAR: OR STRAY LEAVES FROM THE PORT-FOLIO OF A GEORGIA LAWYER
NUMBER FOUR

The burden of the song is a delightful old ballad, with a most agreeable air, and sung in a plaintive and tailor-like manner. It commences with:

'Lord Thomas he was a bold forest-er,
And keeper of the king's deer;
Lady Eleanor she was as fair a lady,
Lord Thomas he loved her dear.

And then it proceeds to give a history of their loves, and the interruption to it caused by an avaricious mother, and ' a girl that's brown.' The story becomes exciting. The lover wavers, whether

'He shall marry the fair Eleanor,
Or bring him the brown girl home.'

The brown girl, 'having both money and lands,' Van Burens (I mean carries) the day. Lord Thomas weds her. The rivals meet. The brown girl takes the small liberty of insinuating a pen-knife between the ribs of the fair Eleanor. Lord Thomas arrives at this juncture, and his old affection getting for a moment the advantage of 'the money and lands,' he asks the fair Eleanor the cause of her paleness, and receives this response:

'And hast thou no eyes, Lord Thomas, she cries,
And hast thou no eyes to see,
That this is my own, my heart's red blood,
That comes trick-i-ling down my knee!'

She faints. She falls. Lord Thomas, justly incensed at the conduct of his spouse,

'strode right thro' the hall,
He cut the bride's head from off her shoulders.
And he flung it against the wall!'

I am all over excitement, or, to express myself more technically, I have a feeling of all-overism. I have a longing desire to hear the finale. I want to know whether the course of true love ever did run smooth. I tremble lest the music should cease.

_____________
[Fragment with similar text found in Sharp L. Hudson collected a number of versions in Mississippi]
The Singing South: Folk-Song in Recent Fiction Describing Southern Life
by Arthur Palmer Hudson
The Sewanee Review, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1936), pp. 268-295

The Time of Man[1] is the story of a Kentucky tenant-farmer family living in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Ellen
Chesser, sitting on a stone in the middle of the creek bed, muses:

And a story about a horse could talk and one about Fair Ellender,

"O mother, O mother, come riddle my sport,
Come riddle it all as one.
Must I go marry fair Ellender?"

Ellender, that's me. And people a-dyin' for grief and people a dyin' for sorrow ... I know a right smart o' pieces. . .2

1. New York (The Viking Press), 1926.
2. P. 38.
----------------------
[Greer contributed at least two versions]

Isaac Garfield (I. G. or “Ike”) Greer (1881-1967) was born in the Zionville community of Watauga County, North Carolina. He served as a history and government professor at Appalachian State Teacher’s College (the precursor to Appalachian State University) from 1910 to 1932. Dr. Greer was one of the earliest collectors of northwestern North Carolina folk songs, with texts primarily acquired from the counties of Ashe, Wilkes, and his native Watauga. In addition to his avid collecting of regional folk songs, Dr. Greer frequently performed the very ballads he collected (resulting in both a commercial recording on the Paramount label and several recordings for the Archive of American Folk Song by the Library of Congress Division of Music). His vocal renditions were often accompanied by his dulcimer playing first wife, Willie Spainhour Greer. Through these persistent scholarly efforts, Dr. Greer emerged as one of the first nationally recognized authorities on mountain folk music.

The I. G. Greer Folksong Collection, presented here as part of the Documenting Appalachia digital initiative, consists of approximately 1,100 document pages that comprise more than 300 individual song titles, some with as many as ten distinct variants. The documents in this collection include manuscripts (some written as early as the mid-19th century), typescript transcriptions produced by Dr. Greer’s secretarial staff, and handwritten musical notations. Songs represented herein range from traditional Child Ballads to 19th century popular music to musical compositions of local origin.

--------------
Digital Library of Appalachia

    Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender-     Dellie Chandler Norton sings to a ballad singing class at Warren Wilson College. Dellie is from Madison County, North Carolina.    Warren Wilson College

    Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender-    Sheila Adams sings in her Madison County home for Wayne Erbsen.    Warren Wilson College

    Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender (The Brown Girl) Child #73-   Ballad sung by Mary Lozier of Greenup County, Kentucky and recorded by Barbara Kunkle 7-29-73 .

---------------

From Josiah Comb 1917;

roll a song, v. phr. To advise. "O mother, O mother, go roll a song." —Lord Thomas.
"Orede, O rede, mither,' he says."—Ibid.
Also: "Riddle my sport;" "riddle my riddle."—Child, No. 73.
-----------------

The Harvest and the Reapers: Oral Traditions of Kentucky - Page 61; Kenneth W. Clarke, ‎Mary Washington Clarke - 1974

"Mother O mother, go riddle my sport;
Go riddle it all as one:
Must I go marry fair Alender,
Or bring the brown girl home?"

2. "The brown girl she has house and land,
Fair Alender has none;
Therefore I warn you as a blessing,
Go bring the brown .

-----------------------

Excerpt from: The British Traditional Ballad in North America

by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America

73. LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET

Texts: Berea Quarterly, IX, #3, 10; XIV, #3, 27; XVIII, #4, 14 / Barry, Brit Bids Me, 126 / Belden, Mo F-S, 37 / Boletin Latino Americano de Musica, V, 279 / Brewster, Bids Sgs 2nd, 58 / Brown Coll / Bull U SC # 162, # 5 / CFLQ, V, 21 1 / Cambiaire, Ea Tenn Wstn Va Mt Bids, 34, 115 / Chappell, F-S Rnke Alb, 23 / Child, III, 509 / Child MSB., XIII, #73 / Cox, W. Va. School Journal and Educator, XLV, 186 / Creighton, Sgs Bids N Sc, 8 / Cutting, Adirondack Cnty, 65 / Davis, Trd Bid Va, 191 / Decennial Publication, Univ of Chicago, VII, 140 / Duncan, No Hamilton Cnty, 48 / Eddy, Bids Sgs Ohio, 29 / Flanders, Gad Gn Mt Sg,6i/ Flanders, VtF-S Bids, 209 / Focus, III, 204; IV, 162 1 Folk Lore Journal, VII, 33 / The Forget-me-not Songster (Nafis and Cornish, N.Y.), 236 / Fuson, Bids Ky Hgblds, 49 / Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, 37 / Garrison, Searcy Cnty, 7 / Greenleaf and Mansfield, Bids Sea Sgs Newfdld, 18 / Haufrecht (ed.), Wayfaring Stranger, 10/ Haun, Cocke Cnty, 74 / Henry, Beech Mt F-S, 16 / Henry, F-S So Hgblds, 60 / Henry, Sgs Sng So Aplcbns, 41 / HFLQ, III, = i, 10 / Hudson, F-S Miss, 78 / Hudson, F-T Miss, 13, 21 / Hudson, Spec Miss F-L, # 10 / Hummel, Oz F-S / JAFL, XVIII, 128; XIX, 235; XX, 254; XXVIII, 152; XXIX, 159; XXXIX, 94; XLII, 262; XLVIII, 314; LII, 75 / Ky Cnties Mss. / Kincaid, Fav Mt Bids, 36 / Leach-Beck Mss. / Luther, Amcns Their Sgs, 23 / MacKenzie, Bids Sea, Sgs N Sc, 20 / MacKenzie, Quest Bid, 97 / Mason, Cannon Cnty, 14 / C.H. Matschat, Suwannee River, 63 / McGill, F-S Ky Mts, 28 / Minish Mss. / Morris, F-SFla, 398 / Neely and Spargo, Tales Sgs So III, 136 / Niles, Bids Crls Tgc Lgds, 20 / Niles, 7 Ky Mt Tunes, 12 / North American Review, CCXXVIII, 221 / Outlook, LXIII, 120 / Owens, Studies Tex F-S, 20 / Perry, Carter Cnty, 177 / Pound, Am Bids Sgs, 27 I Pound, Nebr Syllabus, n / PTFLS, X, 144 / Raine, Land Sddle Bags, 112 / Randolph, Oz F~S, I, 93 / Sandburg, Am Sgbag, 157 / Scarborough, Sgctchr So Mts, 105 /
Sharp C, Eng F-S So Aplcbns, 4i6 / Sharp K, Eng F-S So Aplcbns, I, 115 / Shearin and Combs, Ky Syllabus, 8 / Sheppard, Cabins in the Laurel, 285 / Shoemaker, Mt Mnstly, 160 / Shoemaker, No Pa Mnstly, 155 / Reed Smith, SC Bids, 109 / Smith and Rufty, Am Anih Old Wrld Bids, 17 / SFLQ, II, 695 VIII, 147 / Stout, F-L la, 5 / The Survey, XXXIII, 374 / Thomas, Devil's Ditties, 88 / Va FLS Bull, pgs 2, 3, 5 10 / Wyman and Brockway, 20 Ky Mt Sgs, 14 / Wyman Mss. #9.

Local Titles: Fair Eleanor (Ellender, etc., eta), Fair Ellen, Fair Eleanor and the Brown Girl, Fy Ellinore, Lord Thomas, Lord Thomas and Fair Annet, Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor, Lord Thomas and Fair Ellen, Lord Thomas and the Brown Girl, Lord Thomas's
Wedding, The Legend of Fair Eleanor and the Brown Girl, The Brown Bride, The Brown Girl, The Three Lovers, The Three True Lovers.

Story Types: A: Lord Thomas, in love with, poor but fair Eleanor, is persuaded to marry the rich brown girl. Dressed in scarlet and green, Eleanor, who has been personally informed of her misfortune by Lord Thomas, attends the wedding. She outshines the bride, and the latter stabs her to death in a fit of jealous rage. Lord Thomas then lolls the bride, usually by chopping off her head, and commits suicide.

Examples: Davis (A), SharpK (L), Smith (B).

B: The story is identical to that of Type A, except the youth is advised to marry the brown girl because she is poor and Fair Eleanor rich. In an Iowa text Lord Thomas' name has become attached to Eleanor's father.

Examples: JJFL, LII, 75; Scarborough (E).

Discussion: Child 73, 74, and 75 are very closely related, and they are frequently found blended. See, for example, Stanza I in the otherwise pure version of 73 in Henry, Beech MtF-S, 16. Davis, Trd Bid Fa, 191 cites the distinguishing marks. (See also Child, II, 180.) In 73 there is a triangle with three violent deaths; in 74, a triangle and two remorseful deaths; in 75 there
is no triangle and two remorseful deaths. All three make use of the rose-briar motif, although 73 uses this theme far less than the other two.

The majority of the American versions of this ballad are related to Child D, an English text. The Scottish form, with the contamination from 74 and the remarks by the brown girl on how Annet got her fair complexion, are not common in any of the more modern versions. Belden, Mo F-S, 37 feels that those ballads in which Lord Thomas is a bold forester show a close relationship to print. Check the bibliography with respect to Barry, Davis, SharpK, Shoemaker and The Forget-me-not Songster. This "bold forester" beginning is the most common form in America and has generally replaced the scene
of the lovers on the hill which is common to both 73 and 74 in Child.

In America, Lord Thomas invariably goes to tell Eleanor of his decision himself and does not send a messenger as in Child C, E, F, H, and I. The lovers always consult their parents, never their sisters, as in Child A, B, F, G, and H. Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, 37 contains the added injury of Thomas' seating Annet at his right, while Hudson, F-S Miss, E
has a unique repetition of lines. The names of the heroine may vary all the way from Eleanor to Fairrellater and Fair Ellington, and the hero is called Jimmie Randolph in Virginia. Note that Cutting, Adirondack Cnty, 67 mentions "Dunny's Well" running black. See Child E.

For a very detailed discussion of the verbal variations in this song see SFLQ, I, #4, 25 ff. Reed Smith, SC Bids, no treats the history of the song, and Belden, MLN 9 XXII, 263, reviews the methods by which the counsel is asked. For a comparison of Percy's text and a South Atlantic States "poor buckra" version see C. E. Means in Outlook, September 1899, 12off. Tolman,
JAFL, XXIX, 154 publishes a parody (many of which exist), and Mabel Minor, PTFLS, X, 144 notes that the song is used as a play-party game in Texas.

Missing or need to enter versions:
[I do not ahve the WPA versions and most of the LOC versions (unless commercially reprinted)]

LADY ELEANOR
Source Gwilym Davies Collection
Performer Marks, Phillis
Place collected USA : W. Virginia : Glenville
Collector Davies, Gwilym

LORD THOMAS --(Hammons?)
Source West Virginia Folklore 2:2 (Jan 1952) pp.3-4
Performer Ammons, W.A.
Place collected USA : W. Virginia : Fairview
Collector Ammons, Estelle T.

BROWN GIRL, THE
Source Buford, Folk Songs of Florida and Texas (1941) pp.23-26
Performer Buford, Edwin
Place collected USA : Florida / Texas
Collector Buford, Mary Elizabeth

BROWN GIRL, THE (Collected by Wolf)
Source Rainey, Songs of the Ozark Folk (1976) p.41
Performer Daugherty, Mabel
Place collected USA : Arkansas : Cave City
Collector Rainey, Leo

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELLENDER
Source Mary Elizabeth Barnicle-Tillman Cadle Collection (Archives of Appalachia, E. Tenn. State Univ.) Disc BC-164
Performer Jackson, Aunt Molly
Place collected USA : Kentucky (New York)
Collector Barnicle, Mary Elizabeth

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELEANOR
Source Old Arm Chair Songster (1860) pp.9-11

BROWN GIRL, THE (version unavailable except First verse given- only)
Source Abrahams & Riddle, Singer and Her Songs (1970) p.181
Performer Riddle, Almeda
Place collected USA : Arkansas : Heber Springs
Collector Abrahams, Roger D.
-----------------

BROWN GIRL, THE
Source Library of Congress: Archive of American Folk Culture 5105 B1
Performer Pipkin, Mr. & Mrs. Frank
Place collected USA : California : Arvin
Collector Todd, Charles L. / Robert Sonkin

FAIR ELEANOR
Source List, Singing About it (1991) pp.272-281 (version a) (+ accompanying cassette)
Performer Frazier, Esther Bryant
Place collected USA : Indiana : Evansville
Collector Lomax, Alan

FAIR ELLENDER
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version i)
Performer Kilgore, Mrs. Esco
Place collected USA : Virginia : Wise
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELLENDER
Source Folk-Legacy FSA 2 (`Joseph Able Trivett')
Performer Trivett, Joseph Able
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Butler
Collector Paton, Sandy

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELLEN
Source Folktrax 926-90 ('Songs from the Outer Banks')
Performer Jones, Rebecca King
Place collected USA : N. Carolina : Crab Tree Creek
Collector Warner, Anne & Frank

BROWN GIRL, THE
Source Garrison: Arkansas Historical Quarterly (Aut 1946) pp.252-253
Performer
Place collected USA : Arkansas
Collector Garrison, Theodore

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELENDAR
Source Journal of American Folklore 29 (1916) p.159
Performer Stone, Mrs. Deborah
Place collected USA : Kansas : Winfield
Collector Tolman, Albert H.

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELLINOR
Source Creighton, Maritime Folk Songs (1961) pp.9-10
Performer Wilson, William
Place collected Canada : New Brunswick : Ratter's Corner
Collector Creighton, Helen

LORD THOMAS
Source Miller: Southern Folklore Quarterly (1937) pp.25-37

LORD THOMAS
Source Mason: Southern Folklore Quarterly 11 (1947) pp.122-124
Performer Bowen, Mrs. Dema
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Cannon County
Collector Mason, Robert Leslie

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELANDER
Source Morris: Southern Folklore Quarterly 8 (1944) pp.147-150
Performer Griffin, Mrs. Georgia Civilty
Place collected USA : Florida : Newberry
Collector Morris, Alton C.

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELLINOR
Source Peacock, Songs of the Newfoundland Outports 2 (1965) pp.617-619 (version b)
Performer Bennett, Everett
Place collected Canada : Newfoundland : St. Paul's
Collector Peacock, Kenneth

BROWN GIRL, THE
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version a)
Performer Hamilton, Mrs. Goldie
Place collected USA : Virginia : Esserville
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.

BROWN GIRL, THE
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version b)
Performer Fields, Mrs. Rhoda
Place collected USA : Virginia : Clinch
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.

BROWN GIRL, THE
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version c)
Performer Wagoner, Mrs. Alice
Place collected USA : Virginia : Endicott
Collector Sloan, Raymond H.

BROWN GIRL, THE
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version d)
Performer Ison, Mrs. Sarah
Place collected USA : Virginia : Norton
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELEANOR
Source Bobbing Around Songster (c1860?) pp.204-207

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELLEN
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version e)
Performer Cannaday, Miss Vera
Place collected USA : Virginia : Ferrum
Collector Sloan, Raymond H.

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELLENDER
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version f)
Performer Ferguson, Mrs. Augusta
Place collected USA : Virginia : Ferrum
Collector Sloan, Raymond H.

BROWN GIRL, THE
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version g)
Performer Wampler, Mrs. Thelma
Place collected USA : Virginia : Esserville
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.

BROWN GIRL, THE
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version h)
Performer Salyers, Mrs. Viola
Place collected USA : Virginia : Wise
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.

LORD THOMAS
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version j)
Performer Hays, Mrs. Minnie
Place collected USA : Virginia : Pound
Collector Adams, John Taylor

LORD THOMAS
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version k)
Performer Bolling, Boyd J.
Place collected USA : Virginia : Flat Gap
Collector Adams, John Taylor

LORD THOMAS
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version l)
Performer Tolliver, Mrs. William
Place collected USA : Virginia : Norton
Collector Hylton, James M.

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version m)
Performer Tolliver, Mrs. Vertie
Place collected USA : Virginia : Norton
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.

LORD THOMAS
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version n)
Performer Bentley, Mrs. Cordelia
Place collected USA : Virginia : Esserville
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELLEN
Source Hoosier Folklore Bulletin 3:1 (1944) pp.10-13
Performer Aveline, Mrs. Lena L.
Place collected USA : Indiana : Marion
Collector Halpert, Herbert

LORD THOMAS
Source Duncan, Ballads & Folk Songs Collected in Northern Hamilton County (1939) pp.46-50 (version a)
Performer Walker, Mrs. M.M.
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Soddy
Collector Duncan, Ruby

LORD THOMAS
Source Duncan, Ballads & Folk Songs Collected in Northern Hamilton County (1939) pp.46-50 (version b)
Performer Aslinger, Mrs. Ollie
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Sale Creek
Collector Duncan, Ruby

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET
Source Haun, Cocke County Ballads & Songs (1937) p.74
Performer Haun, Mrs. Maggie
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Cocke County

Roud number 4 | Roud number search
LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET
Source Perry, A Sampling of the Folklore of Carter County, Tennessee (1938) p.177
Performer Smith, Carl
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Carter County

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET
Source Perry, A Sampling of the Folklore of Carter County, Tennessee (1938) p.179
Performer Smith, Mrs. Pauline
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Carter County
Collector

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET
Source Mason, Folk Songs and Folk Tales of Cannon County, Tennessee (1939) p.14
Performer Bowen, Mrs. Dema
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Geedville

LORD THOMAS
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version o)
Performer Mefford, Mrs. Georgia
Place collected USA : Virginia : Esserville
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.

PARROT OF TWO LOVERS
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.836 (version p)
Performer
Place collected USA : Virginia
Collector Lewis, Roscoe

FAIR ELEANOR
Source Library of Congress recording 1299 B2
Performer Cullipher, Mrs. Ruth / Angie Clark
Place collected USA : S. Carolina : Mullins
Collector Lomax, John A.
Roud number 4 | Roud number search
FAIR ELLENDER
Source Library of Congress AAFS recording 2775 B2
Performer Kilgore, Mrs. Esco
Place collected USA : Virginia : Norton
Collector Halpert, Herbert

FAIR ELLENDER
Source Library of Congress AAFS recording 2801 A2 & B1
Performer Harmon, Samuel
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Maryville
Collector Halpert, Herbert
Roud number 4

LORD THOMAS
Source Library of Congress recording 1367 B
Performer Gallimore, Carlos / Mrs. Crockett Ward
Place collected USA : Virginia : Galax
Collector Lomax, John A.

LORD THOMAS
Source Library of Congress recording 2771 B1, 2772 A1
Performer Adams, Finley
Place collected USA : Kentucky : Dunham
Collector Halpert, Herbert

LORD THOMAS [This may be version in Devil's Ditties)
Source Library of Congress recording 307 B
Performer Caldwell, Lola
Place collected USA : Kentucky : Ashland
Collector Thomas, Jean

LORD THOMAS
Source Library of Congress recording 307 B
Performer Caldwell, Lola
Place collected USA : Kentucky : Ashland
Collector Thomas, Jean

LORD THOMAS
Source Library of Congress recording 961 A1 & B1
Performer Griffin, Mrs. C.A.
Place collected USA : Florida : Newberry
Collector Lomax, John A.
Roud number 4 | Roud number search
LORD THOMAS
Source Library of Congress recording 840 B3
Performer Grogan, Mrs. Julia
Place collected USA : N. Carolina : Silverstone
Collector Lomax, John A.
Roud number 4 | Roud number search
LORD THOMAS
Source Library of Congress recording 2820 A1
Performer Cain, Mrs. Mary Fuller
Place collected USA : Virginia : Clintwood
Collector Halpert, Herbert
Roud number 4 | Roud number search
LORD THOMAS
Source Library of Congress recording 2936 B3
Performer Clevenger, Mrs. Maude
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Luttrell
Collector Halpert, Herbert
Roud number 4 | Roud number search
LORD THOMAS
Source Library of Congress recording 1036 A1
Performer Floyd, Mrs. Minnie
Place collected USA : S. Carolina : Murrells Inlet
Collector Lomax, John A.
Roud number 4 | Roud number search
LORD THOMAS
Source Library of Congress recording 2759 B2, 2760 A1
Performer Johnson, Mrs. Polly
Place collected USA : Virginia : Wise
Collector Halpert, Herbert
Roud number 4 | Roud number search
LORD THOMAS
Source Library of Congress recording 2871 A3
Performer Hampton, Mrs. Sabra Bare
Place collected USA : N. Carolina : Morgantown
Collector Halpert, Herbert
Roud number 4 | Roud number search
LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELEANOR
Source Library of Congress recording 1737 A & B1
Performer Frazier, Mrs. Esther Bryant
Place collected USA : Indiana : Evansville
Collector Lomax, Alan & Elizabeth

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELLENDER
Source Robert W. Gordon Collection (American Folklife Center, LOC) Cylinder A164-165 item NC 249
Performer Littrell, Miss
Place collected USA : N. Carolina
Collector Gordon, Robert W.

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET
Source James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (American Folklife Center, Library of Congress / VWML, London) pp.04527-04533
Performer Moorman, Louise
Place collected USA : Virginia : Waynesboro
Collector Carpenter, James Madison

Lord Thomas Kada McNeil REC

Lord Thomas- Dick Tillet REC

Southern Folklore Quarterly - Volume 19 - Page 257 1955 -
by Anne Beard Edwin S. Miller, in an article, "Nonsense and New Sense in 'Lord Thomas' " published in the Southern Folklore