Lady Margaret- Lasher (IN) 1935 Brewster D
[From Brewster: Ballads and Songs of Indiana; 1940. His notes follow.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
Brewster: Ballads and Songs of Indiana
11. FAIR MARGARET AND SWEET WILLIAM (Child, No. 74)
Five variants of "Fair Margaret and Sweet William" have been contributed to the Indiana collection. They resemble Child B in the conversation between William and the ghost of Margaret and in the rose-and-briar ending, but are like A in that the dream is William's instead of his bride's. The story, briefly, is this: Sweet William arises early one morning and dresses in blue. He says that there is no strong bond between Lady Margaret and himself, and adds that on the morrow she will see his bride. As he and his bride pass by, Lady Margaret is standing in her bower window (or door) combing her hair. In her emotion she drops the ivory comb, dashes out, and is never seen again. That night her ghost appears at Sweet William's bedside and asks how he likes his bride. His reply is that he likes best the lady who stands at the foot of the bed. He wakes, tells his bride of a fearful dream, and asks her permission to visit Lady Margaret. He is admitted by the latter's brothers, who inform him that she is dead and in her coffin. He kisses her farewell, and dies of sorrow. They are buried side by side, and plants entwine above their graves.
For American texts, see Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth, p. 134 (two variants and one air); Belden, No. 5; Brown, p. 9; Campbell and Sharp, No. 17; Cox, p. 65 (seven variants); Davis, p. 221 and p. 570 (melodies); Hudson, Folksongs, p. 87; McGill, p. 69; Mackenzie, Ballads, p. 25; Mackenzie, p. 124; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 103; Shearin, p. 3; Shearin and Combs, p. 8; Wyman and Brockway, p. 94; Journal, XIX, 281; XXIII, 381; XXVII, 154; XXVIII, 200; XXX, 303; XXXI, 74; XXXV, 340; JFSS, II, 289; III, 64; Randolph, The Ozarks: An American Survival of Primitive Society, 182-83 (text and air); Neely, Tales and Songs of Southern Illinois, pp. 141-42.
D. "Lady Margaret." Contributed by Mr. M. L. Lasher, of Chicago, Illinois. Learned in Perry County, Indiana. November 16, 1935.
1. Lady Margaret was standing in her cottage door,
A-combing back her hair,
When she saw Sweet Willie with his newly-wedded bride
Go taking of the air.
2. Lady Margaret threw down her ivory comb
And started out of the door;
She was gone all day and all that night,
And was seen or heard no more.
3. "Is she in the old kitchen,
Or is she in the hall?
Or is she in her dressing-room,
Among the ladies all?"
4. "She is neither in the old kitchen,
Nor is she in the hall;
But she lies in her long coffin,
A cold corpse against the wall."