Bailiff's Daughter- Clayton (MA) 1955 REC
[Paul Clayton does not name a source for this Massachusetts ballad. See also Flanders text for a similar New England version.
R. Matteson 2012]
From Bay State Ballads; Paul Clayton FW02106
Singer and avid folksong collector Paul Clayton presents a selection of Massachusetts ballads from land and sea. From songs discovered in whaling journals to broadside ballads from the late 18th century, the material on this album addresses a wide range of topics. Kenny Goldstein's excellent liner notes augment this collection.
SIDE II, Band 2: THE BAILIFF'S DAUGHTER OF ISLINGTON (Child #105)
The story of this ballad, as summarized by F. J. Child in his great collection, is as follows: "A youth and a coy maid, a bailiff's daughter, having been parted seven years, the maid disguises herself to go in quest of her lover, and meets him on her way. He asks her whether she knows the bailiff's daughter. The bailiff's daughter is dead long ago she replies. Then he will go into a far country. The maid, assured of his faith, reveals herself, and is ready to be his bride."
From the number of broadsides of this ballad which were printed in England, we can suppose it to have been extremely popular there at one time. In recent years, however, it is found to have hardly survived there in popular tradition. At the same time it has been collected rather widely in this country and in the mar-itime provinces of Canada. The various texts collected show an unusual lack of variation. This is no doubt attributable to the frequency with which it appeared in print in broadsides from the 17th century on.
This ballad is one of several on the returning disguised lover theme which Child included in his collection. It is a counterpart to those ballads found frequently in Southern Europe in which a man tells a woman that her lover is dead and then reveals himself
to be the lover after the woman shows despair. In English, the ballad in this form is found in Bishop Percy's The Friar of Orders Gray. It is highly likely that the ballad story of A Pretty Fair Miss and The Love Token, in which long separated lovers meet in
a somewhat similar situation, has been strongly influenced by The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington.
There was a youth a well beloved youth
And he was the squire's son;
He loved the bailiff's daughter dear
That lived in Islington.
Yet she was coy and would not believe
That he did love her so,
Nor at any time would she to him
Any countenance show.
But when his friends did understand
His fond and his foolish mind
They sent him up to fair London town
An apprentice for to bind.
And when he had been for seven long years
And never his love did see,
"Oh, many a tear have I shed for her sake
While she little thought of me. "
Then all the maids in Islington
Went forth to sport and play,
All but the bailiff's daughter dear
Who silently stole a way.
Then she took off her silken gown
And she put on a ragged attire,
And she rode away to fair London town,
Her sweetheart to enquire.
And as she went along the high road,
The weather being hot and dry
She sat upon a little green bank
And her true love came riding by.
She started up with a color so red,
Catching hold of his bridle and rein,
"Oh, one penny, one penny, kind sir," she said,
"Would ease me of much pain."
"Before I give you a penny, sweetheart,
Pray tell me where were you born?"
"At Islington, kind sir, " she said,
"Where I have had many a scorn. "
"Oh, they do maiden tell to me,
Oh, tell me whether you know,
The bailiff's daughter of Islington."
"She is dead, sir, long ago."
"If she be dead, then take my horse,
My saddle and bridle also,
For I will go to some far country
Where no man shall there me knew."
"Oh, stay, oh, stay, thou goodly youth,
She standeth by thy side,
She is here alive, she is not dead,
And ready to be thy bride."
"Oh, farewell grief and welcome joy,
Ten thousand times therefore,
For now I have found mine own true love,
Whom I thought I should never see more. "
For additional texts, information and bibliographical data, see:
Child, Francis J., The English and Scottish Popular Ballad, 1882-98, (Reprinted in 1956 by The Folklore Press, New York City)
Coffin, T. P., The British Traditional Ballad in North America, American Folklore Society, 1950
Leach, MacEd ward, The Ballad Book, Harper & Bros., 1955