Bessy Bell and Mary Gray- Ball (VA) pre 1936 Scarborough
[Fragment from Scarborough's A Song Catcher; 1937. Most of the ballads and songs were collected by 1932 (see Bronson) however the book was nearly finished when Scarborough died in 1936 so I've set the date at pre-1936.
R. Matteson 2013, 2016]
Bessy Bell and Mary Gray- Recited by Grandma Ball of Buchanan Co., VA before 1936; collected by Scarborough. Ball said that this "was a way back yonder song, very old."
It was Bessy Bell and Mary Gray,
They were two bonny lasses;
They built 'em a house on yonders bay,
And covered it with rashes.
They thatched it over with rashes green,
. . . .
But death, sweet death, come from the town,
And kilt them both together.