In Jessie's City- from maid (Essex) 1905 Williams
[From Journal of the Folk-Song Society-Volume 2- p.160 by Folk-Song Society (Great Britain), 1905. Their notes follow.
Belden says (Songs and Ballads 1940) "the 'in Jessie's city' of the Essex text in JFSS II 159 looks as if this text had traveled back from America to England." Steve Gardham has also expressed similar sentiments. I reserve judgement for now. What I do know is they had no idea how to differentiate between "Love Has Left me to Despair" which is based on Oxfordshire and "Died for Love."
"In Jessie City" seems to be an obvious corruption of "In Jersey City" which is the opening of the US print versions of Butcher Boy.
R. Matteson 2017]
There is a close resemblance between both words and tune of this song, and those of the previous one.-"Died for Love."- R. V. W.
Cf. "A bold young Farmer" and "Died for Love" in this collection, and interesting variants, words and tunes, under the title "My true Love once he courted Me" in Kidson's Traditional Tunes. All versions of the words have parts of the songs "Deep in Love" and "There is an Ale-house" (or "Tavern") strangely mixed.- L. E. B.
14.- IN JESSIE'S CITY-
SUNG BY A MAID (Emma Turner) AT INGRAVE RECTORY, (FORMERLY OF HIGWELL).
Tune noted by R. Vaughan Williams.
In Jessie's city, oh there did dwell,
A post-man boy I loved so well,
'Twas he that stole my heart away,
And now with me he will not stay.
There is an inn in this same town,
Which my love goes and sits himself down,
And takes a strange girl on his knee,
He tells her what he doesn't tell me.
It's grief to me I'll tell you for why,
Because she has more gold than I,
But needed time her gold shall fly,
And she shall be as poor as I.
I went upstairs to make my bed,
And nothing to my mother said,
"O daughter, O daughter, what is the matter
O daughter what is the matter with thee?"
"O mother, mother, you do not know
What grief and sorrow comes from joy,
Go get a chair and set me down,
And pen and ink to write it down,"
Her father he came home at night,
Saying "I Where has my daughter gone?
He went upstairs, the door he broke,
And found her hanging on a rope.
He took his knife and cut her down,
Within her breast these lines were found;
"O what a foolish maid was I
To hang myself for a postman boy."
"Go dig my grave both long, wide and deep,
Place a marble stone at my head and feet,
And on my breast a turtle dove
To show the wide world I died for love."