US & Canada Versions 76. The Lass of Roch Royal
Beginning perhaps with Come Along, Come Along My Pretty Little Miss, a Virginia song that appeared in 1898 in The Folk-lore Journal (Great Britain) article The London Ballads by W. H. Babcock, versions of songs that include the "Who will shoe your pretty little feet?" verses have been categorized as Child No. 76. These songs do not tell the story of Lord Gregory and the Lass of Roch Royal and are not properly versions of Child No. 76. Since The Lass of Roch Royal has these verses (the questions are two verses and the responses are two verses), many ballad scholars have included unrelated songs when these two verses are present.
Come Along, Come Along My Pretty Little Miss also appeared in the "Additions and Corrections" volume of Child's "English and Scottish Popular Ballads" which was published after his death by Kittredge in 1898. It is one of many US songs associated with The Lass of Roch Royal. Actual versions that tell the story of the ballad are rare.
The Lass of Aughrim is a version of the broadside "The Lass of Ocram" c. 1740, one of the earliest versions of the ballad. It was collected from Mr. G.C. Mahon, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, as sung by a laborer, at Tyrrelspass, West Meath, Ireland, about 1830. Certainly this version can be considered both a US version and an English (Irish) version.
Some songs that have the "Who will shoe your pretty little feet?" verses:
My Lady's Slipper
A-Roving On A Winter's Night
Roving On Last Winter's Night
Who's Goin' to Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot
Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot
Who Will Shoe My Pretty Little Feet?
Fare You Well, My Own True Love
The Storms Are on the Ocean,
The False True Lover,
The True Lover's Farewell,
Red Rosy Bush,
Turtle Dove
Kitty Kline,
John Henry,
John Hardy,
Old True Love (Dan Tate- 1980)
Wild Bill Jones,
The Gamblin' Man,
Lord Randal,
James Harris,
I Truly Understand,
Careless Love,
The Foolish Girl,
My Dearest Dear,
The Rejected Lover,
Cold Winter's Night,
The False Young Man,
The Irish Girl,
Turtle Dove,
Mother's Girl,
He's Gone Away,
Bright Day,
Hush o Hush You'll Break My Heart,
Carolina Mountains
A Negro Dancing Song
Sweet Wine
The real question is how to categorize these different songs that have the "Who will shoe your pretty little feet?" verses and also songs that have "Who will shoe" attached to them. Bronson lumps them all together. Clearly these songs should be an appendix. For now I am following Bronson and listing them under the same heading-- labeling them "Different Songs with the 'Who Will Shoe' Verses."
Four of the rare US versions (Woofter, Ritchie, Niles and Gainer) of the old ballad I consider arrangements of print versions or ballad recreations. Even the Cox version collected from oral transmission, he attributes to print. Brown B is really "The Storms are on the Ocean" and vaguely related.
Davis prints the "Who will shoe" stanzas as versions A-U as versions but when the same stanzas are attached to another song (for example "As I Walked Out on a Winter Night") he gives them in his Appendix (A-I).
Bronson gives 22 versions of the "Who will shoe" non-ballad melodies in his group D-F. Quite possibly there are over 100 non-ballad "Who will shoe" versions many of them titled incorrectly in my opinion, "Love Gregory" "Lord Gregory" and "Lass of Roch Royal."
For now I will be giving the extant "ballad" versions, adding the "who will shoe" versions at a later date.
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
CONTENTS (To access versions of the ballad immediately below click on highlighted title):
1) The Lass of Aughrim- From: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis J. Child; version H, Volume 3: Ballads 54-82; Published June 1885. Taken from Mr. G. C. Mahon, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, as sung by a laborer, at Tyrrelspass, West Meath, Ireland, about 1830.
2) Georgie Jeems- Carlisle (Ark.) c.1912 Randolph G -- Fragment of the older ballad from: Randolph; Ozark Folksongs, Illinois Press, Urbana; 1946 Vol. 1. Sung by Irene Carlisle, Fayetteville, Ark., Dec 9, 1941. She calls it "Georgie Jeems" and learned it from her grandmother about 1912.
3) Fair Annie and Gregory- Haines (WV) 1916 Cox A -- From Folk Songs from the South, John H. Cox; 1925. Contributed by Mrs. J. J. Haines, Parkersburg, Wood County, January 15, 1916, who writes: "I have heard these old ballads sung from my earliest recollection by my grandparents and others.
4) Storms Are on the Ocean- (NC) 1917 Brown A -- From The Brown Collection of NC Folklore, Vol. 2, 1953. Taken down on Buck Hill in Avery county in 1917 from the singing of "an old lady who lived up there and who varied her household duties with work in the mica mill at Plumtree.
5) An Old Love Song- Harris (NC) c.1920 Brown B -- From The Brown Collection of NC Folklore, Vol. 2, 1953. Mrs. Sutton got it from Jim Harris of Caldwell county. This is a version of "The Storms are on the Ocean," which has enough elements of "The Lass of Roch Royal" to be distantly related to the ballad.
6) Sweet Annie of Roch Royal- (WV) 1924 Woofter -- No informant named - Dora, WV. From: Folk Songs of the Southern United States by Josiah Combs 1925, edited Wilgus 1967. Carey Woofter's contributions have come under suspicion from several sources including Wilgus. Probably a ballad recreation based on Cox A (Child D).
7) Who's Goin' to Shoe- Wilcox (VA) 1933 Niles B -- From: The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, 1961 version B. Sung by Prez Wilcox; August, 1933, near Marion, Virginia. With Niles, it's impossible to determine if the version is traditional or a ballad recreation.
8) Lass of Roch Royal- Edwards (VT) 1934 Flanders A -- Fragment from Flanders Ancient Ballads, 1966; version A- as recalled by George Edwards as sung by his grandfather of Seaton, East Riding, Yorkshire, England; October 16, 1934.
9) Fair Annie of Lochroyan- Ritchie (KY) 1961 Recording -- 1961 Folkways recording attributed to her Uncle Jason, this appears to be arranged from print.
10) The Lass of Roch Royal- Clark (Ont.) 1962 Fowke -- British Ballads in Ontario by Edith Fowke; Midwest Folklore, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Autumn, 1963), pp. 133-162. Sung by Mrs. Gordon Clark, Richmond, Ontario, 1962.
11) Sweet Annie of Rock Royal- Gardner (WV) 1975 Gainer -- From Folk-Songs from the Virginia Hills, Patrick Gainer, 1975. This is a rewrite (ballad recreation) of his friend Woofter's version which is likely from Cox A (similar to Child D).
CONTENTS- RELATED SONGS, BALLADS, FRAGMENTS (with the "Who Will Shoe?" verses)
1) My Lady's Slipper- Sharpes (WV) c.1850 Cox B
Come Along My Pretty Little Miss- (VA) 1898 Child
[upcoming; many texts are found below]
___________________
THE LASS OF ROCH ROYAL (No. 76)- Kittredge 1917 JOAFL
Professor J. H. Cox prints a complete copy from West Virginia which closely resembles that in Jamieson's "Popular Ballads" (1806, I : 37-44), [1] and undoubtedly goes back to print, though learned by Cox's informant from an oral source ("West Virginia School Journal and Educator," 45: 347-349, cf. 159). Stray stanzas from the ballad (cf. Child's J, 2: 225) turn up now and then in this country, sometimes alone, and sometimes in unexpected contexts: see Child, 3: 512 (two stanzas from "the Carolina mountains"); "Focus," 4 : 49 (the same two, from Virginia); Babcock, "Folk-Lore Journal," 7:31, reprinted by Child (3 : 511-512; the same two stanzas in song of parting lovers, from Virginia); "Focus," 3 : 275 (in a song of parting lovers, from Virginia); [2] Belden, No. 91 (in a parting song, from Missouri); Bascom, JAFL 22: 240 (in "Kitty Kline," from North Carolina); Shearin, "Modern Language Review," 6 : 514-515 (in "Cold Winter's Night," Kentucky); 3 Lomax, " North Carolina Booklet," 11 :29-30 (in a comic song); Perrow, JAFL 28: 147-148 (1 "Careless Love," from Mississippi); Cox, JAFL 26: 181, and "West Virginia School Journal," 44: 216-217 (in " John Hardy ").' Compare F. C. Brown, p. 9; C. Alphonso Smith, Bulletin, No. 2, p 5; No. 3, p. 4; No. 4, p. 6; No. 5, P. 7; Reed Smith, JAFL 28 : 201, 202. For "The Lass of Ocram" (or "Aughrim"), of which Child prints an Irish version from Michigan (2:213) and also (3: 5I-5II) a Roxburghe copy (Roxburghe, 3:488; Ebsworth, 6 : 609-615), see the Pitts broadside (Harvard College, 25242.28), and a garland printed by E. Sergent, Preston (25276.43.58, No. 53).
Footnotes:
1 Jamieson's text was reprinted by Child in 1857 in his earlier collection, English and Scottish Ballads, 2 : 99-105. Cox's text is nearer to Jamieson than to Scott (Minstrelsy, 1802, 3 : 51-59). Both Jamieson and Scott go back to Mrs. Brown (see Child, 2 : 213).
2 This little song consists of the same stanzas, with a chorus and one concluding stanza. This last appears, oddly but effectively, as stanza 4 in an interesting version of "The Hangman's Song" (" The Maid Freed from the Gallows," Child, No. 95) recently
obtained by Miss Loraine Wyman in Kentucky and published in Lonesome Tunes, I: 48.
3 Compare Coombs and Shearin, Syllabus, p. 8; Shearin, Sewanee Review, July, 1911.
______________
Folk-Songs of the Southern United States
The Lass of Roch Royal t 211
(Child No. 76)
Known by the title "Sweet Annie of Roch Royal." Lines 2 and 3 of stanza twenty have been supplied. [From Dora, West Virginia.] Contributed by Carey Woofter, Gilmer Co., West Virginia 1924.
"O who will shoe my little feet,
And who will glove mY hands?
And who will tie my waist so neat,
With the new made London bands?
"O who will comb my Yellow hair
With the bright new silver comb?
O who will be daddy to mY boY
Till my lover George comes home?"
Her father shoed her little feet,
Her mother gloved her hand-s;
Her sister tied on her waist so neat
The new made London bands.
r [But line 2 only is enclosed in parenthesis-D.K.W.]
---------------------
In the Pines; Roberts notes , 1978.
18. WHO WILL SHOE YOUR FEET?
(cf. child 76)
The main motivation in this pathetic love story is that of a lass looking for
the father of her child. She arrives at her lover's door and someone within
(presumably his mother) hears her pleas and love tokens, only to turn her away.
She sets sail again' when her lover hears of her visit he hastens to the shore only
to find her drowned' He kills himself. Two or more of the stanzas aregiven over
to her questions: "who will shoe my foot?'etc. child had eleven versions (A-K)
for his headnote, mostly from Scotland, but as a whole the ballad has not
appeared very often in Britain or in America since his time. For canada see
Fowke, Tsso, no.42. For American references, see FsS, no. r3, and NCF, II,
rY, no. 22. vv) '^v' LJ' s
America has the "shoe-my-foot" stanzaso either alone, or as part of various
love lyrics. These make up most of the bibliography by coffin (BTBNA) under
his Types B and c' He questions whether these rrunru, in other lyrics should be
used to identify child 76. Davis (TBV, no. 2l) prints twenty-one texts under the
number and an additional nine in an upp.niir qf rove iyrics containing the
"shoe-my-foot" stanzas. Belden (BSM, p. isl puts none under the number, but
discusses the problem under other songs, especially under ..Blue-Eyed Boy,, (A,
pp' 478-479) and under "The False True-Lover,, (pp. 4g0-4g2). SharpK and
Karpeles have none under the number but recognize the floating stanzas in some
of the variants of their no.94,..The False Voung Man,,, and no. I14, ..The True
Lover's Farewell". They feer that this latte, ,ong is derived from ..young
Hunting"' child no' 68. For all mixtures of no. 76 Lawless lists 64 inprint.
-----------------------
Texas Folk Songs - Owens
Oh, who will shoe your pretty little foot,
And who will glove your hand,
And who will kiss your sweet rosy lips,
When you come from that far off land?
Don't you see that turtle dove?
I see it in yonders pine,
A-mourning for its own true love,
Just like I mourn for mine.
Oh, who will glove your hands, my love,
And who will shoe your feet,
And who will kiss your rosy lips
\While I'm in a foreign land?
My father will shoe my pretty little foot,
My mother will glove my hand,
My sweetheart will kiss my sweer rosy lips,
N7hen you're in some far-off land.
b. Sung by Rod Drake, Silsbee, Texas, I9r2.
Rhythmic organization is based on rhe srrucrure of the poetic line.
A-mourn-ing for- its own true_ Iove,
Just like _ I mourn for mine.
My father will shoe my feet, my love,
My mother wili glove my hand,
And you can kiss my rosy lips
$Zhen you return again.
Ten thousand miles will be my love
Doing Scotland's pain,
And if I go ten thousand more
I'm coming back again.
-------------------
Randolph; Ozark Folksongs; notes 1946
OH WHO WILL SHOE MY FOOT?
The old ballad "The Lass of Roch Royal" (No. 76 in Child's collection) has been reported
somewhat rarely from the United States, although twice it was found in West Virginia, by Cox
(Folk-Songs of the South,1925, pp. 83-87) and Combs (Folk-Songs du Midi des Eta,ts-Unis,1925,
pp. 134-138). Even here, according to Cox's headnote, it seems to derive from print. But the
"who will shoe my foot" line, evidently derived from this ballad, is common in many songs of
lovers' parting. Davis (Traditional Ballads of Virginia, 1929, p. 260) found several of these
pieces in the Virginia collection, but does not admit them to the full status of variants of Child
76. The same is true of Belden (Ballads and, Songs, 1940, pp. 55, 480-482) who gives a very full
discussion of this question. Brewster (Ballads and Songs of Indiana, 1940, pp. 92-96) discusses
American texts and gives nine variants and fragments. The forthcorning Brown (North
Carolina Folk-Lore Society) collection has two real and full texts of "The Lass of Roch Royal,"
besides the customary fragments of desultory love lyrics. Most of the items which follow are
similar to those reported by Davis and Belden, but the "Georgie Jeems" song which I obtained
from Mrs. Irene Carlisle has more points in common with Child 76 than most of them.
--------------
Verse 3 and 4 of 'Cold Winter's Night' are part of 76. The Lass of Roch Royal
From: Kentucky Folk-Songs
by Hubert G. Shearin
The Modern Language Review, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Oct., 1911), pp. 513-517
In 'Cold Winter's Night' are two stanzas which lie closely parallel to the love-song of the Scottish poet. Below appears the Kentucky ballad in full, with the lines in point italicized:
As I walked out one cold winter night,
And drinking good old wine,
A-thinking of that pretty little girl,
That stole this heart of mine-
And she looks like some pink rose
That blooms in the month of June,
And now she's like some instrument
Been newly put in tune.
I asked your mamma for you, my love;
She said you were too young.
I wish I'd never seen your face,
Or had died when I was young.
Oh, who will shoe your little feet,
And who will glove your hand,
Oh, who will kiss your ruby lips,
While I'm in a foreign land?
Your papa, my dear, will shoe your feet,
And your mamma will glove your hand;
And I will kiss your ruby lips,
When I return again.
Fare you well, my own true love,
Fare you well, for awhile;
If I go away, I'll come again,
If I go ten thousand mile.
If ever I prove false to you,
The elements shall mourn;
If ever I false prove to you,
The sea would rage and burn.
________________
Ballads & Songs of Western North Carolina- Louise Rand Bascom 1909
A. KITTY KLINE
1. Take me home, take me home, take me home,
Take me home, take me home, take me home,
When the moon shines bright, and the stars give light,
Take me home, take me home, take me home.
2. "Oh, who will shoe your little feet.
Oh, who will glove your little hand,
Oh, who will kiss your sweet rosy cheek,
When I'm gone to that far-distant land?"
3. "Oh, Popper'll shoe my little feet,
And Mommer'll glove my little hand.
And you shall kiss my sweet, rosy cheek,
When you come from that far-distant land.*
4. " Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself,
Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself,
I'll weep like a wilier, an' I'll mourn like a dove,
Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself.
5. "If I was a little fish,
I would swim to the bottom of the sea.
And thar I'd sing my sad little song,
Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself.
" Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself, etc.
6. "If I was a sparrer bird,
I would fly to the top of a tree.
And thar I 'd sing my sad little song,
Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself.
" Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself, etc. |
7. "Yonder sets a turtle-dove,
A-hoppin' from vine to vine,
He's a mournin' fur his own true love,
An' why not me fur mine?"
8. "I'm a goin' ter the top of that nigh pine,
I'm a goin' ter the top of that nigh pine.
An' ef I fall 'thout breakin' my neck,
You'll know who I love the best."
* This stanza and the preceding will be recognized as belonging to " The Lass of Roch Royal " (Child, No. 76).
______________
Some Ballads of North Carolina-
by John A. Lomax
From The North Carolina Booklet; Published NC Society Daughters of The Revolution; July 1911
The two traditional songs quoted hereafter were perhaps chiefly serviceable for the entertainment of children. The first one, so far as I know, has no title. The second, as I happen to know, was as popular in Massachusetts as it was in early days in North Carolina.
Oh who will wear my castor boots, castor boots,
Oh who will wear my castor boots?
Oh who will wear my castor boots, castor boots,
When I am far away?
Oh who will ride the old black mule, old black mule?
Oh who will ride the old black mule, old black mule,
When I am far away?
Oh who will smoke my rusty pipe, rusty pipe,
Oh who will smoke my rusty pipe, rusty pipe?
Oh who will smoke my rusty pipe,
When I am far away?
Oh who will shoe my pretty feet, my pretty little feet,
Oh who will shoe my pretty little feet, my pretty little feet?
Oh who will shoe my pretty little feet,
When I'm in a far away land?
Oh who will glove my pretty little hand? etc.
Oh I will shoe your pretty little feet, etc.,
When you're in a far distant land.
Oh I will glove your pretty little hand, etc.,
When you're in a far distant land.
_______________
From Songs and Rhymes from the South by E.C. Perrow Part 3; 1916 JOAFL
CARELESS LOVE (From Mississippi; country whites; MS. of R. J. Slay; 1909.)
I'm going to leave you now;
I'm going ten thousand miles.
If I go ten million more,
I'll come back to my sweetheart again.
Love, oh, love! 'tis careless love {twice)
You have broken the heart of many a poor boy,
But you will never break this heart of mine.*
I cried last night when I come home {twice)
I cried last night and night before;
I'll cry to-night; then I'll cry no more.
Who will shoe your pretty feet?
And who will glove your hand?
Who will kiss your red rosy cheeks?
When I am in that far-oflf land? **
"Pa will shoe my pretty little feet;
Ma will glove my hand;
You may kiss my red rosy cheeks,
When you come from that far-off land."
[* For the same sentiment cf. this Journal, vol. xxii, p. 249. ]
[** With this stanza compare Child. No. 6. It occurs also popularly in Kentucky. Compare also this Journal, vol. xxii, p. 240. ]
______________
Sandburg A.-C. 1927
A. WHO WILL SHOE YOUR PRETTY LITTLE FOOT?
One night after I had given my song and guitar recital at Indiana University, I went with Prof. Frank C. Senour to his room and we sang and talked till three o'clock in the morning. He had in his heart and memory a little piece that he called "exquisite"; that is the word. As a boy growing up in Brown County, Indiana, he heard his mother sing it at dish washing and sewing and mending, and sometimes for company. He remembered only the verse given below in text A. R. W. Gordon gave me text B and I went to Alexander Whitelaw's "Book of Scottish Ballads" for text C, where it is titled, "Fair Annie of Lochyran." In another old version, it is known as "The Lass of Loch Royal." A little book could be written around this song and all its ramifications in the past.
O, who will shoe your pretty little foot,
And who will glove your hand,
And who will kiss your ruby lips
When I've gone to the foreign land?
B. THE TRUE LOVER'S FAREWELL
1. "Farewell, farewell, my pretty maid,
Fare-thee-well for a while;
For I'm going away ten thousand miles,
Ten thousand miles from here.
2 "Who will shoe your bonny feet,
And who will glove your hand?
Who will kiss your red, rosy lips,
While I'm in some foreign land?"
3 "My father will shoe my bonny little feet,
My mother will glove my hand;
But my red, rosy lips shall go wanting,
Till you return again."
4 "You know a crow is a coal, coal black,
And turns to a purple blue;
And if ever I prove false to you,
I hope my body may melt like dew.
5. "I'll love you till the seas run dry,
And rocks dissolve by the sun;
I'll love you till the day I die,
And then you know I'm done."
C. FAIR ANNIE OF LOCHYRAN
1 "O who will shoe my fair foot,
And who will glove my han'?
And who will lace my middle jimp
Wi' a new-made London ban'?
2. "Or who will kemb my yellow hair
Wi' a new-made silver kemb?
Or who'll be father to my young bairn,
Till love Gregor come hame?"
3. "Your father'll shoe your fair foot,
Your mother'll glove your hand;
Your sister'll lace your middle jimp
Wi' a new-made London ban';
4 "Your brethern will kemb your yellow hair
Wi' a new-made silver kemb;
And the King of Heaven will father your bairn
Till love Gregor come hame."
_________________
I’m On My Journey Home: New World Records 80549
Track 10
Sweet Wine
Mrs. Goldie Hamilton, vocal.
Recorded 1939 in Hamiltontown (Wise County), Virginia, by Herbert Halpert. Library of Congress Archive of American Folk
Song 2827 A1-2.
When British folk-song collector Cecil Sharp entered the southern Appalachians in 1916 in quest of old
British songs surviving in the American South, he found that about half his informants were women, and of
the half-dozen singers he singled out as having especially large repertoires, four were women. In later folksong
collections from the mid-South, well over half the informants have been women. Recent research
suggests that in many rural Southern communities in the nineteenth century, traditional music-making was
related to sex role. In some communities fiddling was seen as a masculine skill, like shooting; vocal music was
more of an art and often passed down through the women. Doubtless more men sang than women fiddled,
but there does seem to have been some correlation between women and certain vocal styles. More research
needs to be done in this area to further explore whether there is a distinct feminine folk vocal style. Goldie
Hamiltons high-pitched, almost keening style heard here makes an interesting contrast with other traditional
women singers such as Almeda Riddle (New World Records 80294-2, The Gospel Ship), Sara Cleveland (New
World Records 80239-2, Brave Boys), Sarah Ogan (NW 245, Oh My Little Darling), and Texas Gladden (New
World Records 80294-2, The Gospel Ship).
One of the characteristics of southern-Appalachian singing style that Sharp commented on in his 1917
collection, and one that distinguished Appalachian singers from English ones, was
the habit of dwelling arbitrarily upon certain notes of the melody, generally the weaker
accents. This practice, which is almost universal, by disguising the rhythm and breaking up
the monotonous regularity of the phrases, produces an effect of improvisation and freedom
from rule which is very pleasing.
Mrs. Hamiltons very free meter and her spare ornamentation of the melody with slurs and glides reflect this
practice.
Sweet Wine is a lyric song, not a ballad: a subjective response to an emotional situation as opposed to an
objective narrative with a clean sense of progression and chronology. The extreme stylistic freedom of the
ultimate form of folk lyric expression, the blues, suggests a relationship between style and song type: perhaps
a tighter, more formal style for ballads, a looser, freer style for lyric songs. Yet the performance of Barbara
Allen (Track 11) is just as loose and expressive as that of Sweet Wine. As a lyric song, and as one
performed by a woman, Sweet Wine is also noteworthy in that its persona in at least two stanzas is clearly
male; songs reflecting a womans point of view are quite rare in tradition, despite the number of female
traditional performers.
As I rode out one cold winter night,
A-drinking of sweet wine,
A-thinking of that pretty little miss,
That miss I left behind.
Oh, who will shoe your feet, my love,
And who will glove your hand?
And who will kiss your red ruby lips
While I roam the foreign land?
My father will shoe my feet, my love,
My mother will glove my hand,
And you may kiss my red rosy cheeks
When you return from a foreign land.
Do you see yonder little dove,
A-flying from pine to pine,
A-mourning for his own lost love,
Just as I am mourning for mine?
----------------------
Brewster: Ballads and Songs of Indiana
13. THE LASS OF ROCH ROYAL (Child, No. 76)
Nothing even approaching a complete text of this ballad has been recovered. The two "shoe my foot" stanzas have occasionally appeared, either as fragments contributed or in combination with other songs. In one Indiana variant of "Lord Lovel" (B 5) occurs the following stanza from "The Lass of Roch Royal":
"Go catch me up my milk-white horse;
Go saddle me the brown;
Go saddle me up the swiftest horse
That ever set foot on ground."
These three stanzas are all that can be said to belong definitely to this ballad.
For American texts, see Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth, p. 149 (fragments); Belden, No. 91 (fragment); Brown, p. 9; Combs, p. 134; Cox, No. 13; Davis, p. 260; Journal, XXII, 240 (fragment) ; XXX, 305 (references); Hudson, Folksongs, p. 41; Sandburg, p. 98; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 123 (fragments); Shearin, p. 4; Shearin and Combs, p. 8; Henry, Folk-Songs front the Southern Highlands, p. 66; Henry, Songs Sung in the Southern Appalachians, p. 175; Cambiaire, East Tennessee and Western Virginia Mountain Ballads, pp. 72-73.
The usual titles of this ballad in Indiana are "My Lady's Slipper" and "Who Will Shoe My Pretty Little Foot?"
A. No title given. Contributed by Dr. Claude Lomax, of Dale, Indiana. Spencer County. From a MS in his possession. June 19, 1935.
1. "So fare you well, my own true-love,
So fare you well for a while;
For if I go, I'll come again
If I go ten thousand mile."
2. "O who will shoe my feet, my dear?
O who will glove my hand?
And who will kiss my red rosy cheeks
Whilst you in the foreign land?"
3. "Hush up, hush up, my pretty fair miss,
And do not mourn for me;
For the best of friends will have to part,
And so will you and me."
4. "Your father he will shoe your feet,
Your mother glove your hands,
And I will kiss your red rosy cheeks
When I return again."
5. "I wish to God I'd never been borned,
Or died while I was young,
Than to weep and wet my red rosy cheek,
And mourn for another woman's son."
6. "I wish the sea would go dry, my love,
And the rocks would melt and run;
Fire would freeze and no more burn,
And the raging sea would burn.
7. "O don't you hear that lonesome turtle dove
A-flying from vine to vine,
A-mourning for his own true love
Just as I mourn for mine?
8. "You had better stay in your own room,
All on a bed of down,
Than to be in your wild wilderness
While the wild beasts howl and mourn."
B. No title given. Contributed by Mrs. Mary J. Shriver, of East St, Louis, Illinois. Learned in Indiana. January 24, 1936.
1. "Who will shoe your pretty little feet?
Who will glove your hand?
Who will kiss your red rosy cheek
When I am in a foreign land?"
2. "My father will shoe my pretty little feet;
My mother will glove my hand.
And she will kiss my red rosy cheeks
When you are in a foreign land."
3. "My love is like the turtle dove
That flies from vine to vine;
She mourns the loss of her own true love
As I do mourn for mine."
C. "My Lady's Slipper." Contributed by Mr. Charles Kelsey, of Evansville, Indiana. Vanderburg County. September 6, 1935.
1. "Who will shoe my pretty little feet?
Who will glove my lily-white hand?
Who will kiss my red rosy lips
When you are in a distant land?"
2. "Then adieu, adieu, kind friends, adieu;
I can no longer stay with you.
I'll hang my harp on a weeping willow tree
And bid this world go well with thee."
D. No title given. Contributed by Mrs. Hettie Lomax, of Evansville, Indiana. Vanderburg County. November 22, 1935.
1. "O who will shoe your feet, my dear,
And who will glove your hand?
And who will kiss your pretty rosy lips
When I'm in a foreign land?"
2. "My father he will shoe my feet;
My mother will glove my hand;
But you will kiss my rosy red lips
When you return again."
E. No title given. Contributed by Miss Edith Baynes, of Salem, Indiana. Washington County. April 15, 1936.
1. "O who will shoe my pretty little foot?
O who will glove my hand?
O who will kiss my red ruby lips
When you are in a foreign land?"
2. "Your father will shoe your pretty little foot;
Your mother will glove your hand;
And I will kiss your red ruby lips
When I return again."
F. No title given. Contributed by Miss Florence Eva Dillan, of Indianapolis, Indiana. Marion County. January 15, 1936.
1. "O who will shoe your little foot?
O who will glove your lily-white hand?
O who will kiss your rosy lips
When I am in a foreign land?"
2. "Fare thee well, I must leave thee;
Do not let the parting grieve thee.
Fare thee well, I must leave thee;
Fare thee well."
3. ".......................................
......................................
I'll hang my harp on a willow tree
And go for the man who goes for me."
H. "Who Will Shoe My Pretty Little Foot?" Contributed by Mrs. Thomas Downs, of Princeton, Indiana. Gibson County. August 7, 1935.
1. "Who will shoe my pretty little foot?
Who will glove my hand ?
Who will kiss my pretty lips
When you're in a distant land?"
I. No title given. Contributed by Mrs. James Williams, of Oakland City, Indiana. Gibson County. August 26, 1935.
1. "Pa will shoe my pretty little feet;
Ma will glove my hand;
And you will kiss my red rosy lips
When you return from the foreign land."
---------------------------
Hudson Mississippi notes:
THE LASS OF ROCH ROYAL
(Child, No. 76)
Complete or even approximately complete texts of this fine ballad are rare in American collections. Two fragments have been recovered in Mississippi, one the main constituent of a song called "Careless Love," the other inconspicuously tucked away in a ballad of low life called "Wild Bill Jones'" The complete story of "The Lass of Roch Royal" has been excellently summarized
by Professor Davis in his head-note to the Virginia variants (No. 76) as follows:
"The story of 'The Lass of Roch Royal,' not to be gleaned {:om the Virginia fragments, is a most touching and tragic one. The Lass of Roch Royal,
in great distress, and far gone in pregnancy, goes in quest of her lover, Love
GrJgory, or Love Gregory When shi comes to his castle' his mother, who is
.uid".ntiy hostile to hei, answers for the son and asks for the love tokens that
have parred between the two. These the girl gives, only to be told that Love
Gregory is not at home but away upon the-sea. It is here that, according to Child A, she inquires who will iake care of her and who will be the bairn's
father till Love Gregory comes home, and the mother answers that she will do
__________________
Lomax; Our Singing Country
MY OLD TRUE LOVE
No. 1341. Mrs. Gladys Helen Davis and Mrs. Flossie Ellen Evans, Galax, Va., 1937. See Sh, 2:113 if. Cox, p. 413.
"Sometimes people do kill themselves for love, of course. I remember one time Big John told the girl he was engaged to that he was a-goin' over to---------to get whisky. Now she knew he had a child by another woman over there, and she thought that he was a-goiny to see her. So before he started out, she sat down in his lap and grabbed his pistol and throwed it in her breast. When it shot, she jumped so her head nearly touched the ceiling. Big John never got over it." —Aunt Molly Jackson.
1. As 1 walked out one evening late, a-drinking of sweet wine,
I thought my heart would almost break for the girl I left behind.
2 Farewell, farewell, my old true love, farewell, farewell for a while;
I go away, I come again, if it be ten thousand miles.
3 Ten thousand miles, my old true love, I hope that never will be;
For the parting with you, my old true love, will be the death of me.
4 Weep not for me, my old true love, though far from home I be;
I flatter myself I never shall need for friends to comfort me.
5 I would to God I never been born, or died when I was young,
Or never had seen your rosy red cheeks, or heard your flattering tongue.
6 When I forsake you, my old true love, the rocks shall meet the sun;
The fire shall freeze like ice, my dear, the raging sea shall burn.
7 Oh, who will shoe your feet, my dear, or who will glove your hand,
Or who will kiss your rosy red lips when I am in a foreign land?
8 My father will shoe my feet, my dear, my mother will glove my hand,
My rosy red lips will never be kissed till you return again.
________________
The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection
LASS OF LOCH ROYAL
(TRUE LOVE'S FAREWELL; THE FALSE TRUE-LOVER)
Sung by: Neal Morris
Recorded in Timbo, AR 7/18/59
"Oh, I'm going away to foreign lands--
I'm going away for a while--
But I'll return to you, my love,
Though I go ten thousand miles.
The sun may dry up the ocean,
Heaven may cease to be,
This earth may lose its motion, love,
Should I prove false to thee.
"Oh, who will shoe your pretty little feet?
Who will glove your hand?
And who will kiss your sweet little lips,
While I'm in a foreign land?"
"Father will shoe my pretty little feet,
Mother will glove my hand,
And you may kiss my sweet ruby lips
When you return again."
"Who will comb your long yellow hair,
Who will pay your fee?
And who will father your sweet little babes,
While I'm on the raging sea?"
"Mother will comb my long yellow hair,
Father will pay my fee,
And there will be no sweet little babes
While you're away from me.
"Night wind, go tell my sailor boy
That I still wait in the dell.
I'd love to feel his fond embrace;
I'm the lass of Loch Royal."
All Songs Recorded by John Quincy Wolf, Jr., unless otherwise noted
_________________
I TRULY UNDERSTAND by the Roark Family
I wish to the Lord I never been born,
Nor died when I was young,
I never would've seen them two brown eyes,
Nor heard that flattering tongue, my love,
Or heard that flattering tongue.
CHORUS: I truly understand that you love another man,
And your heart shall no longer be mine.
I truly understand that you love another man,
And your heart shall no longer be mine.
Who will shoe your little feet,
Who will glove your hand,
Who will kiss your red rosy cheeks,
When I'm in the foreign land, my love,
When I'm in the foreign land? CHORUS:
Remember what you told me, dear,
As we stood side by side,
You promised that you'd marry me,
And be no other man's bride, my love,
And be no other man's bride. CHORUS:
I never will listen what another woman says,
Let her hair be black or brown,
For I'd rather be on the top of some hill,
And the rain a-pouring down, down,
The rain a-pouring down. CHORUS:
My father will shoe my little feet,
My mother will glove my hand,
And you will kiss my red rosy cheeks,
When I'm in the foreign land, O love,
When I'm in the foreign land. CHORUS
_________________
RED ROSY BUSH- from Frank Warner, Collected from Lee Presnell, TN in 1951. It is yet another turtle dove song with some Annie of Loch Royal added in.
Go dig up that red rosy bush
Stands by the willow tree.
And it will show to the wide world around
That she's forsaken me.
Go show me the crow that is so black
It surely will turn white.
If I forsake the darling girl I love
The day will turn to night.
Oh, it's hard to love and can't be loved,
It's hard to change your mind.
You broken up the heart of many a poor boy,
But you never will break up mine.
I'll take my knapsack on my back,
And a parasol (parcel) in my hand.
I will travel this wide world over,
Until I find some better a land.
Till I find some better a land, my little love,
Till I find some better a land.
I will travel this wide world, my love,
Till I find some better a land.
Oh, it's who will shoe your pretty little foot,
And who will glove your hand?
Or who will kiss those red rosy cheeks
When I'm in a foreign land?
When I'm in a foreign land, my little love,
When I'm in a foreign land,
Oh, who will kiss those red rosy cheeks
When I'm in a foreign land?
My papa will shoe my little foot,
My mama will glove my hand,
And you may kiss my red rosy cheeks
When you return from the foreign land.
When you return from the foreign land, my little love,
When you return from the foreign land.
And you may kiss my red rosy cheeks
When you return from the foreign land.
Oh I wish I'd died when I were young,
Or never had been born,
Before I seen those red rosy cheeks,
And heard that flattering tongue.
______________
"John Hardy."
by John Harrington Cox
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 32, No. 126 (Oct. - Dec., 1919), pp. 505-520Published
(Version E.)
(Communicated by Mr. E. C. Smith, Weston, L ewis County. It was written o ut from memory by Walter Mick, Ireland, W. Va., who learned it from hearing it sung by people of his community.)
I. John Hardy was a little farmer boy,
Sitting on his father's knee;
Says he, "I fear the C. & O. Road
Will be the ruination of me, poor boy!
Will be the ruination of me."
2. John Hardy got to be a desperate man,
Carried a pistol and a razor every day;
Shot a *man through the heel in a Chinese camp,
And you ought of seen *John Hardy get away, poor boy!
And you ought of seen *John Hardy get away.
3. John Hardy's mother ran up to him,
Saying, "Son, what have you done?"
"I murdered a man in a Chinese camp,
And now I'm sentenced to be hung, poor boy!
And now I'm sentenced to be hung."
4. John Hardy's father went to the judge,
Saying, "What do you think will be done?"
The judge he answer with a quick reply,
"I'm afraid John Hardy will be hung, poor boy!
I'm afraid John Hardy will be hung."
5. John Hardy was standing in a dice-room door,
He didn't have a nickel to his name;
Along came a yaller gal, threw a dollar on the board,
Saying, " Deal John Hardy in the game, poor boy!"
Saying, " Deal John Hardy in the game."
6. John Hardy was standing in a railroad-station,
As drunk as he could be:
A policeman came up and took him by the arm,
"John Hardy, come along with me, poor boy!
John Hardy, come along with me."
7. "Oh, who will shoe your pretty little feet,
And who will glove your hands,
And who will kiss your sweet rosy lips,
When I'm in a foreign land, poor boy!
When I'm in a foreign land?"
8. "My father will shoe my pretty little feet,
My mother will glove my hands;
John Hardy will kiss my sweet rosy lips,
When he comes from a foreign land, poor boy!
When he comes from a foreign land."
9. John Hardy married a loving wife,
And children he had three:
He called to him his oldest son,
Saying, "Son, make a man like me, poor boy!"
Saying, "Son, make a man like me."
10. John Hardy married a loving wife,
And children he had three:
He cared no more for his wife and child
Than the rocks in the bottom of the sea, poor boy!
Than the rocks in the bottom of the sea."
___________
Don't Let Your Deal Go Down
I’ve been all around this whole wide world
I’ve been to sunny Tennessee
And any old place I hang my hat
It seems like home to me
Don’t let your deal go down, little girl
Don’t let your deal go down
Don’t let your deal go down, little girl
‘Til your last gold dollar is gone
Yea, who’s gonna shoe your pretty little feet
Yea, who’s gonna glove your hand
Who’s gonna kiss your red ruby lips
When I’m in a foreign land
Don’t let your deal go down, little girl
Don’t let your deal go down
Don’t let your deal go down, little girl
‘Til your last gold dollar is gone
Well, Poppa’s gonna shoe my pretty little feet
And Momma’s glove my hand
And sister’s gonna kiss my red ruby lips
When you’re in a foreign land
Don’t let your deal go down, little girl
Don’t let your deal go down
Don’t let your deal go down, little girl
‘Til your last gold dollar is gone
Don’t let your deal go down, little girl
Don’t let your deal go down
Don’t let your deal go down, little girl
‘Til your last gold dollar is gone
________________
The Lonesome Turtle-Dove, from Mr Lowery Davis, Gainesville, who learned it from the singing of his mother in Alabama. Collected by Morris- Florida
As I was riding out one cold winter night,
A-drinking of sweet wine,
I went a-courting of that pretty little girl
That stole this heasrt of mine.
She's like one pink, one pink or rose,
That blooms in the month of June;
She's like one bright new instrument
That's never out of tune. (Wow! Love it!)
'I'm going away my own true love;
I'm going away for a while;
I'm going away but I'm coming back again,
Though it be ten thousand-mile.'
'Oh stay with me, my own true love,
Oh stay with me for a while;
Oh stay with me till the rocks all melt,
And the rolling sea runs dry.'
'And if I should prove false to you,
And I should never return;
The fire will freeze in a cold cake of ice,
And the rolling sea will burn.'
'Oh who will shoe my feet, my love,
And who will glove my hand,
And who will kiss my sweet ruby lips,
While you're in a foreign land?'
'Your father will shoe your feet, my love,
Your mother will glove your hand;
Your friends will kiss your sweet ruby lips,
While I'm in a foreign land.'
Her mother saw me in the door;
She rung her hands and cried,
'Oh oh you've come too late,
For now she's dead and gone.'
'Oh is she not in the dining room,
Or is she not in the hall,
Or is she not in the parlor room
Among those ladies all?'
'She's neither in the dining room,
And neither in the hall,
But yonder she lies in her cold cloudy coffin,
With her pale face to the wall.'
'Unfold, unfold those winding sheets;
Unfold those sheets so fine,
And let me kiss those sweet ruby lips,
As oft as she's kissed mine.'
'Oh don't you hear that lonesome turtledove,
That flies from pine to pine;
It's mourning the loss of its own true love,
And why not me for mine?'
___________
OLD TRUE LOVE
Daniel Wyatt Tate: Singer from Fancy Gap
by Michael Yates
Folk Music Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1 (1980), pp. 3-23
1 I went a -roving on one cold winter's night,
A-drinking of sweet wine;
When I fell in love with this pretty little miss
She stole this heart of mine.
2 Now she looked like some pink or some rose
That blossomed in the month of June.
Or some sweet musical instrument
That's newly put in tune.
3 Oh I wish to the Lord I had never been born,
Or died when I was young;
So I never could have kissed your sweet ruby lips
Nor heard your lying tongue.
4 Now I'll put my foot in the bottom of a ship,
I'll sail it on the sea.
I would not have treated you my love
Like you have treated me.
5 Now who will shoe your pretty little feet?
And who will glove your hand?
And who will kiss your sweet ruby lips
When I'm in some far-off land?
6 Papa will shoe my pretty little feet,
And Mama will glove my hand;
And you will kiss my sweet ruby lips
When returned from a far-off land.
7 And the blackest crow that ever flew
It surely will turn white.
Whenever I prove false to you
Bright day will turn to night.
8 And the time rolls on when the seas shall run dry,
And the rocks melt down by the sun.
I never will prove false to you
Till all this work is done.
This is clearly one of Dan's finest songs; and one that contains elements from several other pieces. As 'The True Lover's Farewell' see Arnold p.14, Brewster p.348, Brown vol. 3 pp.299-304 and Sharp vol. 2 pp.113-18.
---------------------
Classification Title Lass of Roch Royal, Variant 1
Document Title Must I Go to Mississippi?
Alternative Titles Don't You See that Little Bird; Annie of Lochryan; The Lass of Lochroyan; Love Gregory; Blue-Eyed Boy; Oh Who Will Shoe My Foot; Careless Love; I'll Hang My Harp; Should I Prove False to Thee; Cold Winter's Night; Lord Gregory; Winter's Night; Little Betty Ann; The Storms are on the Ocean; An Old Love Song; Lass of Rock Royal
Informant(s) Mrs. Nathan Hicks [Rena Hicks], 1899-1975
Geographic Location Rominger, Watauga County, North Carolina
W. Amos Abrams
Must I Go to Mississippi?
(Obtained from Mrs. Nathan Hicks, Rominger, North Carolina.)
-1-
Must I go to Mississippi?
Must I go or must I stay?
Must I go all broken hearted?
Oh, my heart should break in two.
-2-
Who will shoe your feet?
Who will glove your hand?
Who will kiss your red rosy lips
When I am in that far away land?
-3-
My father will shoe my feet;
Mother will glove my hand;
You may kiss my red rosy lips
When you return from that far away land.
-----------------------
American Songbag- Carl Sandburg 1927
WHO WILL SHOE YOUR PRETTY LITTLE FOOT?
One night after I had given my song and guitar recital at Indiana University, I went with Prof. Frank C. Senour to his room and we sang and talked till three o'clock in the morning. He had in his heart and memory a little piece that he called "exquisite"; that is the word. As a boy growing up in Brown County, Indiana, he heard his mother sing it at dish washing and sewing and mending, and sometimes for company. He remembered only the verse given below in text A. R. W. Gordon gave me text B and I went to Alexander Whitelaw's "Book of Scottish Ballads" for text C, where it is titled, "Fair Annie of Lochyran." In another old version, it is known as "The Lass of Loch Royal." A little book could be written around this song and all its ramifications in the past.
A. O, who will shoe your pretty little foot,
And who will glove your hand,
And who will kiss your ruby lips
When I've gone to the foreign land?
B. THE TRUE LOVER'S FAREWELL
1. "Farewell, farewell, my pretty maid,
Fare-thee-well for a while;
For I'm going away ten thousand miles,
Ten thousand miles from here.
2 "Who will shoe your bonny feet,
And who will glove your hand?
Who will kiss your red, rosy lips,
While I'm in some foreign land?"
3 "My father will shoe my bonny little feet,
My mother will glove my hand;
But my red, rosy lips shall go wanting,
Till you return again."
4 "You know a crow is a coal, coal black,
And turns to a purple blue;
And if ever I prove false to you,
I hope my body may melt like dew.
5. "I'll love you till the seas run dry,
And rocks dissolve by the sun;
I'll love you till the day I die,
And then you know I'm done."
C. FAIR ANNIE OF LOCHYRAN
1 "O who will shoe my fair foot,
And who will glove my han'?
And who will lace my middle jimp
Wi' a new-made London ban'?
2. "Or who will kemb my yellow hair
Wi' a new-made silver kemb?
Or who'll be father to my young bairn,
Till love Gregor come hame?"
3. "Your father'll shoe your fair foot,
Your mother'll glove your hand;
Your sister'll lace your middle jimp
Wi' a new-made London ban';
4 "Your brethern will kemb your yellow hair
Wi' a new-made silver kemb;
And the King of Heaven will father your bairn
Till love Gregor come hame."
----------------
Brown 4; A
A. 'The Storms Are on the Ocean.' Sung by Mrs. L. H. Palmer. Recorded at Senia, Powder Mill Creek, Avery county, August 26, 1939. The singer gave the title as 'Lass of Rock Royal.' The melodic variations are taken from a second recording (XIV AI-4), the textual variations will be found below. For others cf. BB 44-5.
Scale: Mode III. Tonal Center: b-flat. Structure: aa1a1bc (2,2,2,2,2) = ab (6,4). The second phrase is internally incremented.
3 My father will shoe my pretty little feet,
My mother will glove my hands,
And he will kiss my sweet little lips
When he comes from the foreign lands,
When he comes from the foreign lands.
-------------------
Flanders - Ancient Ballads 1966.
B. As sung by Mrs. Mabel white Lansing, born in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. She learned, this ballad from her
mother, Mary Jane Montgomery. Mrs. Lansing is a direct descendant of the Bradfords, the Whites, and the Curtises of
Bristol and Plymouth Counties, Massachusetts;, C ollector Olney August 27, 1944
"Oh, who will kiss her rosy red lips,
Oh, who will kiss her rosy red lips,
Oh, who will kiss her rosy red lips,
When I am far away?"