The Old Man in the North Countree- From an old African-American woman, Virginia 1915 Davis Version I
[From Davis, Traditional Ballads From Virginia, 1929, version I. Davis' note follow.
R. Matteson 2011, 2014]
THE TWA SISTERS
(Child, No. 10)
One might expect to find this ballad rather abundantly in Virginia, as Child reports it as one of the very few old ballads which are not extinct as tradition in the British Isles. The thirteen Virginia items are known variously as "The Two Sisters," "The Old Man of the North Countree," "Sister Kate," "The Miller and the Mayor's Daughter," ("I'll Be True to My Love," "The Three Sisters," and by other like titles.
All the Virginia variants, except the final fragment (K), belong with Child R and Y, and perhaps with the kindred fragments S and U between, as is shown by the refrain and the details of the story. The final fragment (K) is a different version: it has a refrain similar to Child G and J, but the drowned girl is a king's daughter, as in Child A. All of the Virginia texts are without that striking but rather gruesome detail found in more complete and uncorrupted form of the ballad - the use of some part of the body of the drowned girl to furnish a musical instrument which then makes known the murderer. The ballads that follow do not tell how the miller's guilt was discovered, but they state satisfyingly that he was hung at his mill gate. No punishment is mentioned for the elder sister. The miller is always the villain, never the innocent rescuer of the body as in Child A and R, etc.
For American texts, see Barry, No. J; Belden, No. 2 (fragment); Bulletin, Nos. 2-8, ; Campbell and Sharp, No. 4 (North Carolina, Virginia; cf. Sharp, Songs, II, No. a); Child, I, 137 (New York); II, 508 (New York); Cox, No. 3. p.521 (fragment and melody); Gray, P.75; Hudson, No. 3 (Mississippi);- Journal XVIII, 130(Barry, Rhode Island, text and melody, Maine); XIX, p. 233 (Belden, Kentucky, Missouri, fragment, reprinted from James Ashby's Missouri ballad-book); XXX, 286 (Kittredge- Missouri, Nebraska); Pound, Syllabus,p. 11 (fragment); Pound, Ballads, No. 4; Shearin, p. 11 Shearin and Combs, p. 7 (fragment). For additional references, see Journal, XXX, 286 and Cox, p. 20. It will be noted that Campbell and Sharp give three texts and three melodies from Virginia.
The Old Man in the North Countree- From an old African-American woman, Virginia 1915 Davis Version I
1. There was an old man of the North Countree,
And daughters he had, two or three.
CHORUS: Bow down , bow down,
For the bows bent to me;
And I'll be true to my love, my love,
If my love will be true to me.
2. There was a young man who came to see
And he chose the youngest to be had.
The oldest she thought hard of that.
3. As they walked down the salt sea brim
The oldest threw the youngest in.
4. "O sister, sister, give me your hand
And I'll give you my houses and land."
5. "I'll give you neither my hand or glove;
All I want is your own true love."
6. She bent her breast and away she swum;
She swum way down to the miller's mill dam.
7. "O miller, O miller, here swims a swan
And never did you see a fairer one."
8. The miller he took his grab hook
And brought her out from under the brook.
9. "O miller, O miller, here are my gold rings;
Take me to my home again."
10. The miller he took her gold rings
And threw her in the brook again.
11. Now the miller's to be hung on his own mill gate
For drowning that fair maid.