Black Jack David- Irvin (IL) 1939 Neely
[From: Four British Ballads in Southern Illinois by Charles Neely; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 52, No. 203 (Jan. - Mar., 1939), pp. 75-81. His notes follow.
The third and fourth stanzas are not from Weevily Wheat as Neely claims but instead from "Pretty Little Miss" a common fiddle tune and song in Appalachia that is derived from or similar to the British "Seventeen Come Sunday."
R. Matteson 2015]
FOUR BRITISH BALLADS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
BY CHARLES NEELY
English and Scottish ballads of the Child collection are rather uncommon in Southern Illinois, and those that are current have suffered deterioration at the hands of the transmitters. The ballads have lost many of the details which belonged to them in earlier versions. There is a tendency on the part of the singers to omit the introductory stanzas and to plunge headlong into the climax. And such details as are given sometimes have become sadly disarranged; for instance, in the local variant of "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet", Fair Elender, and not the brown girl, has "house and land". When the singer fails to remember stanzas, he often borrows from some other song or ballad; "The Gypsy Laddie" contains an example of such confusion.
Among Southern Illinoisans English and Scottish ballads do not enjoy the popularity that they appear to have in the Southern Mountains. Perhaps that is to be expected; Southern Illinois has been less protected from outside influences than the mountain regions of Kentucky and Tennessee, less protected than the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri. Consequently, British ballads have had to compete, in Southern Illinois, with those that concern the American scene, and the native pieces seem to drive out the more exotic foreign ones. Such competition is perhaps less pronounced in the Appalachian and Ozark Mountains than it is in Southern Illinois.
3. BLACK JACK DAVID[1]
"The Gypsy Laddie" is known in Southern Illinois by the title, "Black Jack David" or "Gypsy Davy." This particular variant has deteriorated sadly. Only three stanzas, changed considerably from the Child versions, remain. It has, moreover, been confused with "Weevily Wheat"; stanzas 3 and 4 are perhaps taken from a variant of this song current in the neighborhood from which "Black Jack David" came.[2]
Black Jack David came riding down the lane,
Singing so loud and gaily,
Making all the woods round him ring
To charm the heart of a lady,
To charm the heart of a lady.
"How old are you, my pretty little miss?
How old are you, my honey?"
She answered me with a smile and kiss,
"I'll be seventeen next Sunday.
I'll be seventeen next Sunday."
"Will you go with me, my pretty little miss?
Will you go with me, my honey?"
She answered me with a smile and kiss,
"I'll go with you next Sunday,
I'll go with you next Sunday."
She pulled off her low heel shoes,
All made of Spanish leather.
She put on her high heel shoes,
And they rode off together,
And they rode off together.
Last night she slept on a warm feather bed
Beside her husband and baby.
Tonight she sleeps on the cold, cold ground
By the side of Black Jack David,
By the side of Black Jack David.
Footnotes:
1 Obtained from Mr. Frank Irvin, Mascoutah, Ill. This variant of "The Gypsy Laddie" was one of the songs that the youth used to sing in the evening at Broughton, Ill. Child, No. 200; Barry, Eckstorm, Smyth, Variant B, pp. 27-272. Child's B Variant is a little like "Black Jack David," and Barry, Eckstorm, Smyth's Variant B has two stanzas that are very much like two in the Southern Illinois variant-stanzas 1 and 8, which go thus:
"The Gypsy Davy came over the hills,
Came over the eastern valley,
He sang till he made the green woods ring,
And charmed the heart of a lady.
Last night I slept in a warm, soft bed,
And in my arms my baby,
To-night I'll lie on the cold, cold ground,
Beside of Gypsy Davy."
2 "Weevily Wheat" is current in a number of variants in Southern Illinois. Lomax has a variant of the song (American Ballads and Folk Songs, pp. 292-293) with a stanza somewhat like the third stanza of "Black Jack David."
"How old are you, my pretty little Miss?
How old are you, my honey?"
She answered me with a 'Ha, ha' laugh,
"'I'll be sixteen next Sunday.' "
One can see how the confusion might have happened when he remembers that Child's B Variant contains a stanza (Number 4) which begins
"'Will you go with me, my hinny and my heart?