Five Thousand Pound in Gold- O'Mar(NB) 1927 Barry
[My title. Fragment from British Ballads from Maine, Barry Eckstrom and Smyth, 1929. It was Barry who in a 1909 JAFL article attached this ballad to Child 8, Erlinton. This is one of the earliest dates for collected versions in the US. Barry dates this back to the Revolutionary War but provides no evidence that it existed then.
R. Matteson 2014]
THE SOLDIER'S WOOING
The tragic old ballad of "Erlinton" seems to have left a successor in this humorous song of "The Soldier's Wooing," or "The Valiant Soldier," which is often found in New England. The elopement, the pursuit, the warlike skill of the soldier, or the knightly lover, whose lady stands by and holds the horses, characterize both songs, although the temper of them is entirely different.
In addition to the texts cited, we found a fragment most like the old shoemaker's version, which was taken down from the recitation of Mr. George P. O'Mar of Oak Hill, St. Stephen, New Brunswick, in 1927:
The first one that he came to, he ran him through amain,
The next one that he came to, he served him the same.
"O stay your hand," the old man cried,
"And you shall have my daughter and five thousand pound in gold."
"Fight on, fight on!" the lady cries, "the portion is too small!"
"O stay your hand," the old man cries, "and you shall have it all!"