Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- Maypother (Ga) 1933 Niles B
[From: The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles; 1961. Collected and probably rewritten by Niles.
R. Matteson 2014]
Lord Thomas & Fair Ellen- miss Bertha Maypother (Ringgold, GA) 1933 Niles B
1. "Oh riddle me, Mother, riddle me,
And sing it all in one:
It‟s shall I marry sweet Ellen the fair,
Or bring the brown girl home?
Or bring the brown girl home?”
2. “You know the brown girl has farms and lands,
You know fair Ellen hath none.
That‟s why I say, my own dear son,
Go bring the brown girl home.” (twice)
3. He dressed himself in scarlet red,
And he wore a golden ring,
And every village he passèd through,
They took him for some king.
4. He rode up to fair Ellen's gate.
And tingled on her ring,
None was so handy as Ellen herself
To rise and let him in.
5. “What news, what news, what news?” cried she,
“You've come so far away”.
“Oh, it's I have come to invite you
To guest my wedding day.”
6. She dressed herself in scarlet red,
And she wore a bodice of green,
And every village she passèd through,
They thought she was some queen.
7. She proudly rode to Thomas's gate
And loudly tingled the ring,
And none was so spry as Thomas himself
To run and let her in.
8. He led her by the lily hand,
He led her through room and hall,
And sat her down in a canopy chair,
Well placed against the wall.
9. “Is this the bride?” fair Ellen cried,
“She is so wondrous brown.
You might have wed the fairest girl
Who ever walked the ground”.
10. Then up spake the nut-brown maiden,
And she spake in bitter spite,
“Where got you the water of roses, fair Ellen,
That washes your skin so white?”
11. “Oh, you could wash in the melted snow,
And you could wash in the sea,
And you could wash till the clap of doom
And ne'er be as white as me."
12. Oh, the brown girl pluckèd a bodkin
From out the hair of her head,
And plunged it into fair Ellen's heart,
And Ellen lay cold and dead.
13. Lord Thomas's sword was in his hand,
He slashed both right and left.
The brown girl cried, the brown girl died,
Her life, it was bereft.
14. He put his sword against the wall
And drove it into his heart.
And there three true loves all lay dead,
And never more did part.