Fair Sally- (MA) c.1840s Boston Broadside Barry E
[From British Ballads from Maine by Barry, Eckstrom and Smyth; 1929. Phillips Barry places the five versions under "Secondary Ballads" and makes no comment about Child's two ballads other than cf. Child 295. This version is a Boston broadside which was not cataloged by Ford and is probably c. 1840s. See Barry's notes below.
This ballad is not to be confused with the popular ballad, Child No. 73 Lord Thomas and Fair Annet, which is commonly known in the US, and Canada as "The Brown Girl."
US and Canada versions are based on the hundreds of late 18th century English broadsides sometimes titled "The Sailor from Dover" or "Sally and her Truelove Billy."
Child's B version of 295, "The Brown, Brown Girl" collected by Rev. S. Baring-Gould, introduced stanzas from the "Sally and her Truelove Billy" songs. In his article "Folk Song Tradition, Revival and Re-Creation" Steve Gardham has shown that Baring-Gould's ballad is a re-creation of two ballads and not traditional.
To put it simply, the versions are not closely related to "The Brown Girl" but are part of the "The Sailor from Dover" and "Sally and her Truelove Billy" song group. In the US and Canada some common titles are "Pretty Sally," "Sally," and "A Rich Irish Lady." They have been put here following Bronson and others who have attached them to Child 295, not because they belong here.
R. Matteson 2014]
Barry: The two broadsides, C and E, are important as showing that the happy and the unhappy endings of the ballad, represented respectively in Maine A and Maine B, did not originate in Maine. A western text (printed by P.8., JAFL, XXVII, 74) makes Willie relent and die of grief after Sally's death. In recent Scottish tradition, "Glenlogie," or "Bonnie Jean of Bethernie" (Child 238), has been crossed with the present ballad. Two of Gavin Greig's texts of "Glenlogie" (Folk-songs of the North-East, pp. 190-191) have the stanza corresponding to E, 7. The melodies to A and B (cf. also Campbell and Sharp, "The Brown Girl," A-8, but especially D), are variants of the "Lord Randall- Vilikins" air.
E. "Fair Sally." Broadside in Brown University Library, Providence: on same sheet with "Jack Munroe." Not listed by Ford, Imprint "E. Mills, 6 Market Sq., Boston."
1 An English fair lady to Old England came,
A beautiful creature, sweet Sally by name;
Her riches were more than a king could possess,
Her wit and her beauty exceeded the rest.
2 A noble young squire that lived in the place,
Would have courted this young girl of beauty and grace,
But she, being so gay, so lofty and high
That on this young squire she would scarce cast an eye.
3 O Sally, O Sally, O Sally, said he,
I'm sorry that your love and mine can't agree;
Unless that your hatred is turned into love,
I'm sure that your beauty my ruin will prove.
4 I have no hatred for you nor for any other man,
But as for to love you is more than I can;
Therefore I would have you now end your discourse,
For I never will have you unless I am forced.
5 when six weeks were gone and a little more was past,
This beautiful damsel was taken sick at last,
she was crossed. for love and she knew not for why,
so she sent for the squire whom she had denied.
6 O Sally, O Sally, O Sally, said he,
Am I a doctor that You sent for me;
Yes, you are the doctor that can either kill or cure,
And without your assistance I'm ruined I am sure.
1 O where is your pain, is it in your head;
O where is your pain, is it in your side?
O no, answered Sally, the right you haven't guessed,
For the pain it is love, it lies in my heart.
8 O Sally, O Sally, O Sally, said he,
O don't you remember how you treated me?
When I came to court joy, you treated me with scorn,
'Tis now I'll reward you for things past and gone.
9 For things past and gone, love, forget and forgive,
O spare me a little time longer to live,
O no, I won't Sally, so long as I have breath,
But I'll dance on your grave when you're laid in the earth.
10 She took from her fingers, it was diamond rings three,
Saying, take them and view them when dancing on me;
I'll freely forgive you, I know you won't me,
So farewell to this earth for it's all vanity.
11 Farewell to my friends, farewell to my foes,
Farewell to this young man with sorrow and woes,
I'll freely forgive you, I know he won't me,
So farewell to this world for 'tis all vanity.
12 He took from his fingers, 'twas diamond rings three,
Saying, take them and keep them and be wedded to me;
come cheer up your spirits, and married we will be,
And none shall live happier than Sally and me.