Lord Thomas- Bennett (WV) 1916 Cox E
[From Folk-Songs of the South- Cox, 1925; His extensive notes follow.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
10. LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET (Child, No. 73)
Eleven variants have been recovered under the following titles: "The Brown Girl," "Fair Ellender and the Brown Girl" "Fair Ellender," "Fair Ellenger," "Lord Thomas," "Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor," and "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender" (cf. Cox, XIV, 120). All of these variants belong to the same version, and nine of them tell a complete story. D and H begin with a description of Lord Thomas. In the other variants the story begins by the hero's asking his mother to solve the riddle as to whether he shall marry Fair Eleanor or bring the brown girl home. Since the brown girl has house and lot (land) and Fair Eleanor has none, she advises him to marry the brown girl. Thereupon he dresses himself up in state, takes his merry men with him, rides to Fair Eleanor's hall, and invites her to his wedding on the morrow. She says that is very bad news to her for she expected to be his bride. Later she asks her mother to solve the riddle as to whether she shall go to Lord Thomas's wedding or stay at home. Her mother advises her to stay at home since she will have few friends at the wedding and many enemies, but she is determined to go. Thereupon she arrays herself in her finery, takes her merry maids with her, and rides to Lord Thomas's hall. In answer to her knocking, Lord Thomas himself lets her in, leads her into the hall, and chooses for her the highest seat. Fair Eleanor twits him with having married such a brown wife, whereupon the brown girl stabs her with a penknife between the short ribs and the long. Lord Thomas asks why she looks so pale and she suggests that he must be blind not to observe her heart's blood trickling down to her knee. With a little hand-sword Lord Thomas cuts off the head of the brown girl, kicks it against the wall, and then slays himself with the same sword. Before he dies, he requests that Fair Eleanor be buried in his arms and the brown girl at his feet.
The West Virginia variants are closely related to group D of Child, as is shown by many striking incidents in common, such as the meeting and quick parting of the lovers; Lord Henry loves the little finger of Fair Eleanor better than he does the whole body of the brown girl; Lord Thomas dressed in green and taken for a king; Lord Thomas dressed in black (the rhyme requires the word white) and taken for a knight ; Fair Eleanor taken for a queen; Fair Eleanor seated in the noblest chair, or chair of gold, or given the highest seat; the well in the yard of Fair Ellen's father.
For American texts see Child, in, 509 (Virginia; from Babcock, Folk-Lore Journal, VII, 33) Journal, XVIII 128 Barry: Vermont, Massachusetts by way of New Jersey) XIX 235, Belden; Missouri, Arkansas); xx, 254 (Pettit; Kentucky); XXVII, 71 (Barry; tune only); XXVIII 152 (Perrow; North Carolina); XXIX, 159 (Tolman; Pennsylvania by way of Kansas; texts reported from Virginia and Indiana); McGill, p. 26 (Kentucky); Focus, 111, 204, and IV, 162 (Virginia); Shoemaker, p. 138 (Pennsylvania); Campbell and Sharp, No. 16 (North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Massachusetts); Pound, No. 12 (Maryland by way of Nebraska); Mackenzie, p. 97 (Nova Scotia); Means, Outlook, September 9, 1899, LXIII, 120; Berea Quarterly, April, 1905, IX, No. 3, p. 10; October, 1910, XIV, No. 3, p. 27; October, 1915, XVIII, No. 4, p. 14; Child MSS., XXIII, article 73; Wyman MS., No. 9 (Kentucky); Minish MS. (North Carolina); The Forget-Me-Not Songster (New York, Nails & Cornish), p. 236. See also Belden, No. 4; Shearin and Combs, p. 8; Pound, p. n; F. C. Brown, p. 9; Bulletin, Nos. 2, 3, 5-10; Campbell, The Survey, New York, January 2, 1915, XXXIII, 374; Reed Smith, Journal, XXVII, 62; XXIII, 200.
E. "Loyd Thomas." Contributed by Mrs. E. A. Hunt, Belington, Barbour County, February 21, 1916; learned when a child from her mother, Mrs. C. E. Bennett.
1 "O mother, O mother, come riddle us two,
Come riddle us two in one:
Must I go marry Fair Ellen, my dear,
Or bring the brown girl home?"
2 "The brown girl she has house and money,
Fair Ellen she has none;
Be tired of your life, beware of your death;
Go bring the brown girl home."
3 He dressed himself in a suit of red,
His fair men all in green;
And every town that he passed through,
They took him to be a king.
4 He rode up to Fair Ellen's door,
All jingling in the rings,
And none was so willing to let him in
As Fair Ellen, his own dear.
5 "Sad news, sad news to you I bring,
Sad news to you I declare:
I come to invite you to my wedding,
Sad news, sad news I declare."
6 "I God forbid that ever such news,
That ever such news I should hear;
For I the bride had took it to be,
And you the groom would be."
7 "O mother, dear mother, come riddle us two,
Come riddle us two in one:
Must I stay here and tarry all night,
Or to Loyd Thomas' wedding go?"
8 "Be tired of your life, beware of your death:
To Lord Thomas' wedding don't go."
"I'll be tired of my life, beware of my death:
To Loyd Thomas' wedding I'll go."
9 She dressed herself in a suit of red,
Her fair maids all in green;
And every town that they passed through,
They took her to be a queen.
10 They rode up to the brown girl's door,
All jingling in the rings;
And none was so willing to let her in
As Loyd Thomas, her own dear.
11 He took her by the lily- white hand,
He led her through the hall;
He placed her at the head of the table
Among the merry maids all.
12 The brown girl spoke up and said,
Spoke up as if for spite,
Saying, "Where did you get the water, my pretty fair lady,
That washes your hands so white?"
13 "In father's garden there is a well,
Which flows both wide and deep;
And you may search there till you go blind,
That well you never could find."
14 The brown girl she had a penknife
That was both keen and sharp;
She pierced it through the long ribs short,
She pierced fair Ellen's heart.
15 "O what is the matter, Fair Ellen, my dear?
What makes you look so pale?
You used to be as fair a lady
That ever the sun shone on."
16 "O don't you see, Loyd Thomas," said she,
"What is the matter with me?
My own heart's blood came trinkling down,
Came trinkling down, you see."
17 Loyd Thomas he had a sword in his hand
Which was both keen and sharp;
He cut off the head of his own brown girl
And kicked it against the wall.
18 He bent his sword all to the floor,
He pierced it through his heart;
Well met, well met, three lovers well met,
But sadly they did part.
19 "Go dig my grave both wide and deep,
Through thunders may I sleep;
Go bury Fair Ellen at my side,
The brown girl at my feet."