Katharine Jaffray- Henneberry (NS) 1932 Creighton
[From Creighton's Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia, 1932. Her notes follow. Compare this to Creighton/Senior's A and B, all from Nova Scotia, all based on the broadside, Squire of Edinburgh. Clearly this is not a local title; the local title being something like: A Farmer Lived in the East.
R. Matteson 2013, 2016]
No. 11. Katharine Jaffray. Child 221
It is doubtful whether this ballad should be included in the first group, for it is undoubtedly a much rater variant of that old ballad of Katharine Jaffray which Scott used in the first edition of his Minstrelsy and also used as the basis for his poem, Young Lochinvar.
The Nova Scotia text bears close resemblance to one which child mentions as being "a copy from the recitation of a young Irishwoman riving in Taunton, Massachusetts (learned from print, I suppose, and in parts imperfectly remembered), [which] puts the scene of the story at Edenborough town." This is much similarity between this Nova Scotia variant and that of A in
Barry's collection from Maine, PP. 400-406, where it is listed among the secondary ballads. In Barry as in the Nova Scotia text the message is sealed with a ring and the bride is requested to wear green, which may point to an Irish rather than to a Scottish source, for, according to child, no Scots girl would wear green for fear of ill-luck.
Katharine Jaffray- Sung by Ben Henneberry, Devil's Island (NS) 1932 Creighton
1. It's of a farmer lived in the east,
He had only one son.
He courted a counteree girl,
Till he thought he had her won,
Till he thought he had her won.
He courted a counteree girl,
Till he thought he had her won.
2. He got consent from her father and mother
And the two young men likewise,
And then she cried, "I am undone."
And the tears rolled from her eyes, etc.
3. She sent her love a love-letter,
Gave him to understand
This very night I am going to be wed
To a rich gentleman, etc.
4. He sent her back an answer
And sealed it with a ring,
"The suit that you wear at your wedding,
Be sure and put on green, etc.
5. "A suit of the same I will put on,
To your wedding I'll prepare,
Arri I'll wed you, my dearest, dear,
In spite of all that's there," etc.
6. Then he looked to the east and he looked to the west,
He espied far over the land,
He espied fourscore of his best young men
A11 under his command, etc.
7. Then he mounted them double on a milk.white steed,
And a single man rode he;
He rode till he came to the wedding house
Where the wedding was to be, etc.
8. She invited them all, both great and small,
"Have You been out all day?
Or have you seen those foreign troops
That have passed along this way?" etc.
9. He laughed at her, and he scoffed at her,
And then he seemed to say,
"There might have been some gentlemen
That have passed along this way," etc.
10. And he filled up a glass of the best port wine,
He drank to the company round,
Saying, " Here's a health to thee, young man,
The man they call the groom."
11. "But ten times happier is the man
That will enjoy the bride,
For another might love her as well as he
And take her from his side."
12. Then up spoke the intended groom,
And a rough spoken man was he;
"If it is for to fight that you came here
I am just the man for thee."
13. "Oh, it is not to fight that I came here,
But kind friendship for to show,
Grant me one kiss from your bonny, bonny bride,
And away from you I'll go."
14. He took her round the middle so small,
And a hold of her grass-green sleeve,
And he led her out of the wedding house,
Of the company asked no leave.
15. Where the drums did beat and the fife did play
And they did so merrily sing,
Now she's conveyed to fair Edinborough Castle
With her company dressed in green.
16. Now come all young fellows that are going to be wed,
A warning take by me,
Never be served as I've been served
All on my wedding day,
All on my wedding day,
At catching fish instead of flesh
I always had foul play.