Geordie- Hackler (KY) pre1957 Roberts
[From: In the Pine; Roberts, 1978.
Niles published the same, nearly identical, version as Roberts version from Marion, Virginia. Niles first published it as "Geordie" in Shirmer's Songs of the Hill-Folk in 1934 then again in his Ballad Book under the title "The Death of Geordie." It was reported from the Pine Mountain Settlement School in KY by Roberts, who says ballad dates back to circa 1913 where it was sung similarly in a songbook titled "Ballads" there. How Niles found it in Virginia is unknown- it's possible he got it at Pine Mountain Settlement School or from someone who learned it there. We may never know! Here's some info from and article by Kathy Warnes:
Katherine Pettit Records Kentucky Mountain Songs
by Kathy Warnes
John Jacob Niles Hears Katherine Sing
John Jacob Niles American composer, singer, and collector of traditional ballads, listened with delight to Katherine Pettit’s singing. He liked her smile and laughing eyes and found her modest voice easy on his ears as she sang one of the ballads that she had learned from her students at the Pine Mountain School.
It was late summer of 1933, and Miss Pettit had traveled to Harrogate, Tennessee, to consult with him and give him some of the ballads that she and her colleague, May Stone had transcribed. One of the ballads she sang to him is known as “James Harris, “The Daemon Lover”, “or The House Carpenter”. Early Scots-Irish settlers in the hills of Appalachia brought the ballad with them from England and passed it down from generation to generation.
Clearly there is a chance Niles got Pine Mountain version of Geordie from Pettit. Compare also to As I Walked Out on London Bridge, sung by S. F. Russell also in Marion, Va., and recorded Sidney Robertson Cowell, 1936, which is quite similar, perhaps corroborating Niles version. Although Niles verse 6 seems suspicious and perhaps amended by the editor.
This is one of the few versions that uses, Geordie. I have an autographed copy of Shirmer's Songs of the Hill-Folk, 1934 from my grandfather's collection.
Following are some of Roberts notes.
R. Matteson 2013]
In America the ballad is fairly consistent and has been eroded down to an average of eight stanzas, many leaving off the climactic last stanza. In many that do have it the lady is wishing for pistols to fight for Georgy even though he is supposed to be dead. In a few, such as the present text and the one in BB, the calling for a dagger or blade to die with her lover is more "appropriate."
Coffin has about thirty references to ballad collections in America, arranged in four story types. The present text is nearest to story Type A, except for the unusual ending, possibly calling for another story type. It has been collected in the Maritime Provinces and in Vermont. In Appalachia it has appeared in Pennsylvania, West Virginia (FSS, no.23, wvcs, no. 65); in Virginia (TBV, no. 3, 2 and 2 fragments; SharpK , no. 34,2 texts; MTBV, no. 34; BB, no. 53); in North Carolina (SharpK, no. 34, 4 texts; NCF, II, IV, no. 3g, I text, 4 tunes; SCSM, pp. 213-215): in the Midwest it has been found in Missouri (BSM ,76-79, 1 and 2 fragments); the Ozarks, and in Oklahoma. Lawless lists 24 in print.
This version may not have originated in Kentucky. It was turned in without music in 1957 by Betty Hackler of Harlan County, who said that she learned it at Pine Mountain Settlement School, same county. An almost identical variant is in a PMSS mimeographed booklet of 40 pieces titled simply Ballads. The text is quite close to the one in BB. Since Niles says that he collected his in Virginia thirty-seven years earlier and had been singing it ever since, I suspect that he sang it at the boarding school or in the hearing of teachers who were active in collecting in the region after the founding of PMSS in 1913.
Geordie- Sent in by Betty Hackler (Harlan Co., KY) pre1957 Roberts; From a handwritten manuscript received by Roberts in 1957, learned from The Pine Mountain Settlement School, no date given.
1. As I walked over London Bridge
One morning that was foggy,
I overheard a fair one say,
*Pray, save the life of Geordie!"
I overheard a fair one say,
*Pray, save the life of Geordie!"
2. "Go saddle up my milk white steed,
For I must ride mile forty,
Far over and away to Lonecastle fair
To plead for the life of Geordie."
(Repeat the last two lines throughout.)
3. She rode all day and she rode all night,
Till she come wet and weary,
A-combing out her golden locks,
And a-pleading for her deary.
4. Then out of her pocket came a purse,
The likes I ne'er saw any,
Sayin': "Lawyers come and fee for yourselves,
For I'll spend every penny."
5. Then Geordie in dock was standin' by,
Said: "I ne'er did kill nobody,
But I stole sixteen of the King's white steeds,
And sold 'em to Gohoody."
6. The oldest lawyer at the bar
Said, "Geordie, it is a pity,
By your own words you're condemned to die,
You ought to've been more witty."
7. Now Geordie walked through the lined streets
And bid farewell to many,
He bid farewell to his own true love
And it grieved him more than any.
8. Geordie was hanged by a mighty chain
Of gold that was so weighty
'Cause he was from a noble line
And he courted a noble lady.
9. "I wish I was on yonder hill
Where kisses I had often,
I'd stab myself with a pointed blade
Beside my lover's coffin."