Lady Margaret's Ghost- Johnson (WV) 1916 Cox D
[From Folk-Songs of the South- 1925 by John Harrington Cox. Footnotes moved to the end. His notes follow.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
11. FAIR MARGARET AND SWEET WILLIAM (Child, No. 74)
Seven variants have been recovered in West Virginia under the titles: "Sweet William," "Lady Margaret," and "Lady Margaret's Ghost." A glance at these ballads shows that they are largely identical; a comparison with the Child versions indicates that they are to be classed with group A, B, as witnessed by the blue suit, the dream of white swine, and the seven brethren.
For American texts see Child, v, 293 (Massachusetts); Journal, xix, 281 (Belden; Missouri); xxin, 381 (Combs; Kentucky); xxvni, 154 (Perrow; North Carolina) ; xxx, 303 (Kittredge; Missouri); xxxi, 74 (Waugh; Ontario); xxxv, 340 (Tolman and Eddy; Ohio); Wyman and Brockway, p. 94 (Kentucky); McGill, p. 69 (Kentucky; reprinted by Pound, No. 16); Campbell and
Sharp, No. 17 (Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia); Focus, iv, 426 (Virginia); Ralph, Harper's Monthly Magazine, July, 1903, cvn, 272 (Kentucky); Mackenzie, p. 124 (Nova Scotia); Smith, p. 18 (two tunes); Minish MS. (North Carolina). Cf. Shearin and Combs, p. 8; Belden, No. 5; F. C. Brown, p. 9; Bulletin, Nos. 2-6, 8-10; Cox, xlv, 159; Reed Smith, Journal,
xxvni, 200.
D. "Lady Margaret's Ghost." Communicated by Mr. George Paugh, Thomas, Tucker County, April 15, 1916; obtained from Mrs. Martha Johnson, Hendricks, Tucker County, who learned it when a girl.
1 Sweet William arose one May morning,
And dressed himself in blue:
"Come tell unto me this long, long love
That's between Lady Margaret and you."
2 "I know nothing of Lady Margaret,
And Lady Margaret knows nothing of me;
But to-morrow morning at eight o'clock
Lady Margaret my bride shall be."[1]
3 Lady Margaret was sitting in her bow[2] door
Combing her yellow hair,
And who should she spy but Sweet William and his bride,
In the church yard they passed by.
4 Down she threw her ivory comb,
Back she flung her hair,
Down she fell from her bowing l door,
And never again seen there.
5 As the day being done and the night drawing on,
And most of the men were asleep ;
Who should appear at Sweet William's bed,
But gay Lady Margaret's ghost?
6 "How do you like your bed?" said she,
"And how do you like your sheet?
And how do you like this new wedded wife
That lies in your arms asleep?"
7 "Very well, very well do I like my bed,
Better do I like my sheet;
And best of all is that gay lady
That stands at my bed feet."
8 As the night being gone and the day drawing on,
And most of the men were awake,
Sweet William said he was troubled in his head
Of the dream he had last night.
9 "O is she in her dining room?
Or is she in the hall?
Or is she in her bed chamber
Among her maidens all?"
10 " She is not in her dining room,
Or is she in her hall;
But she is laying in her lead coffin,
With her pale face turned to the wall."
11 "Turn down, turn down those lily- white sheets,
Lay back those laces fine;
And let me kiss those cold, cold lips
That oft times have kissed mine."
12 Up spoke her brothers, all but one,
"Go home, go home, go home!
Go home to your wedded wife,
And let our dead sister alone."
13 Sweet William he died of pure love,
Lady Margaret died of sorrow;
Lady Margaret was buried in the church yard,
And Sweet William buried by her.
14 Out of her grave grew a red, red rose,
And out of his grew a brier;
They grew up to the church steeple top,
Till they could grow no higher;
And there they tied in a true lover's knot,
The red rose and the brier.
1. [My footnote] Lady Margaret my bride shall see."
2. Mistake for bower. [bower room, is better (See McGill)]