Charlie and Sallie- Elliott (PA) 1919 Shoemaker
[From: North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy as sung in the backwood settlements, hunting. . . by Shoemaker- 1919.
R. Matteson 2013, 2016]
88—CHARLIE AND SALLIE-- This song was sung by Dan Elliott, who learned it from his grandmother, who lived in Potter County.
As I walked out one Monday morn,
One Monday morning early,
It was there I spied a pretty fair maid,
Lamenting for her Charlie.
"Charlie he's done famous deeds,
The deeds that's crime to many,
For he stole sixteen of the king's fair steeds
And sold them in Bohemia.
"Go saddle me the milk-white steed,
For the brown he's not so speedy,
That I may go to the king's high court,
And there plead for the life of Charlie."
The king looks over his right shoulder,
And thus he says to Sally:
"My pretty fair maiden, you've come too late,
For he's condemned already."
The king looks over his left shoulder,[1]
And thus he says to Charlie:
"By your own confession you must die,
May the Lord have mercy on ye."
As Charlie he marched down the hall,
Where he took leave of many,
But when he took leave of his own true love,
It grieved him the worst of any.
Now, Charles is to be hung with a golden cord,
A cord that ne'er hung any,
For his father was a noble lord,
And he was loved by a royal lady.
1. This illustrates the saying, "Over the left shoulder."
I heard also the following added verse:
Charlie was wed in silken robes-
Such robes there are not many—
Because he was of a high degree,
And loved by a royal lady.
Which clearly emphasizes the king's joke.—John C. French.