Georgie- Dunaway (AR) c 1897 Randolph D
[From Randolph; Ozark Folksongs, 1946 Volume I. Randolph's notes follow.
R. Matteson 2013, 2016]
The old ballad of "Georgie" or "Geordie" is well known on both sides of the Atlantic. Belden (1907), 319, points out its derivation from an eighteenth century broadside, "The life and Death of George of Oxford" (Child 209), and Cox (1925), 135 gives numerous references to English texts. There is a comment on the use of a silken rope in Pepys's Diary, Feb 27, 1663. American versions have been reported by Campbell and Sharp, Shoemaker (1919), 140; Pound(1915),11; A. Richardson, 504; A. K. Davis (1929), 435-38, Randolph, OMF, pp 223-25; Greenleaf and Mansfield, 40; L. Chappell, 37; Gardner and Chickering, 317; Belden (1940), 76-78; Brewster (1941), 170; and the Brown Collection.
D. "GEORGIE."- Collected by Vance Randolph (28D) from Georgia Dunaway, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Jan 30, 1942; learned ca. 1897 from her father
As I went over London's bridge,
'Twas early in the morning,
There I spied a pretty fair maid
pleading for the life of Georgie.
"Go saddle up my milkwhite steeds,
And bridle them so gaily,
That I may ride to the king's castle town
And plead for the life of Georgie."
She rode all day and she rode all night
'Till she was weak and weary;
While throwing back her fine yellow hair
She pleads for the life of Georgie.
She pulled from her pocket a purse of gold,
Saying, "Here is money a-plenty;
Lawyers, lawyers, fee yourselves,
And spare me the life of Georgie."
Up stepped George then unto the lawyer,
Saying, "I have not murdered any,
But I stole sixteen of the king's white steeds
And sold them in Boheeny."
Up stepped the lawyer then to George,
Saying, "George, I'm sorry for you,
But your own confession has condemmed you to die,
May the Lord have mercy on you."
George walking up and down the street
A-bidding adieu to many,
A-bidding adieu to his own dear girl,
Which grieved him the most of any.
George shall be hung with a golden cord,
For of such there is not many,
Because he came from a royal race,
And he courted a handsome lady.
I wish I were over on yon hillside
Where kisses are a-plenty;
With a sword and a pistol by my side
I would fight for the life of Georgie.