Black-Eyed Davy- Byers (NC) c1915 Greer/Brown D1
[First stanza from Brown Collection; Vol. 4 with music (below). The same exact first stanza was given by Thomas Smith and appears as Brown D. This stanza is not a normal stanza and could not be accidentally sung by two different people. Since it is attributed to two different singers- unless the melody was attached to the text of D, something fishy (see notes on Thomas Smith) is going on.
R. Matteson 2015]
D(1) 'Black-Eyed Davy.' Sung by Mrs. N. T. Byers. No date or place given. This and the following two versions by Dr. I. G. Greer, all of which are basically the same melody, serve as fine examples of the intuitive and spontaneous artistry of
the folksinger in varying tonal material to suit the occasion.
For melodic relationship cf. *SharpK i 239, No. 33J, measures 1-2. Scale: Hexachordal, plagal. Tonal Center: f. Structure: abacc1 (2,2,2,2,2)= ab (4,6); the second phrase is internally incremented.