Lord Thomas- Hubbard (VT) 1930 Flanders I
[From Flanders' Ancient Ballads, 1966. Notes by Coffin/Flanders follow. This version closely follows the English broadside, Child D.
R. Matteson 2014]
Lord Thomas and Fair Annet
(Child 73)
Child prints nine versions of "Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor" or "The Brown Girl" as the ballad is so frequently called; all but one are Scottish. However, this one, Child D, a seventeenth-century English broadside, seems to be the progenitor of the entire American and modern British stock of the song. Child D variants have been found frequently on both sides of the Atlantic, and this circulation no doubt accounts not only for the fact most informants know or can recognize the ballad, but also for the fact there is little difference in the ballad from one area to another.
Belden, 38, points out some of the major differences between the Scottish tradition and the American versions of the song. The Scottish opening, borrowed from "Fair Margaret and Sweet William" (Child 74), and the remarks exchanged between the women on the brown girl's complexion are both missing in this country, as may be the "rose-briar" cliche, common to Child 74 and Child 75 in "Lord Lovel"). Furthermore, the American hero himself and, not his messenger goes to see Eleanor, and he seeks advice from his mother, never other members of the family. As many texts in this country open with a description of Lord Thomas as a "bold forester," the phrase used in the Nafis and Cornish Forget-Me-Not Songster, there is little doubt this popular volume had much to do with the spread and consistency of the ballad throughout the States.
I. Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor. Sung by John Docherty at the YMCA in Bennington, Vermont, as taught to him by Nellie Hubbard at Barton, Orleans County, Vermont. When he was a young boy, recently come from Scotland, Miss Hubbard, a young Vermont woman, used to entertain him by singing these old songs. Alice Brown, Collector; July 15, 1930.
Structure: 41 A2 A1 As (2,2,2,2); Rhythm A; Contour: each line an arc; Scale: hexatonic; t.c. G. For mel. rel. see MF, 265; FCB4, 30, No.19(A).
Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor
Lord Thomas he was a bold forester,
The keeper of our King's deer;
And Eleanor was a fair lady.
Lord Thomas he loved her dear.[1]
"Come riddle, come riddle, kind mother," he said;
"Come riddle us both as one
Whether shall I marry the Fair Eleanor
Or bring the Brown Girl home."
"The Brown Girl she has got money and lands;
Fair Eleanor she has got none.
Therefore I command you as my blessing
To bring the Brown Girl home."
He dressed himself and he decked himself
And his merry men all in white,
And every tow n that he passed through
They took him to be some knight.
When he arrived at Fair Eleanor's bower
How loudly his knock did ring,
And none more ready than Eleanor herself
To arrive and let him in.
"What is the news, Lord Thomas," she said,
"What news do You bring unto me?"
"I have come to invite you to my wedding,"
"That's very bad news," said she.
She dressed herself and she decked herself
And her merry maidens all in green
And every town that she went through
They took her to be some queen.
And when she arrived at Lord Thomas' castle
How loudlY her knock did ring,
And none were more ready than Sir Thomas
To arise and let her in.
"Is this your bride, Lord Thomas?" she said,
"She seems so wonderfully brown.
You might have as fair a lady
As ever the sun shone on."
The Brown Girl held in her hand a knife;
It was both keen and sharp,
She stabbed Fair Eleanor twix the ribs
And pierced her tender heart.
"'What is the matter?" Lord Thomas he said,
"You seem to look wonderful wan;
You used to be as fair a ladY
As e'er the sun shone on"'
"Oh, are you blind, Lord Thomas?" she said,
"Or cannot you very well see
That my heart's blood this very moment
Comes trickling down to my knee?"
He took the Brown Girl by the hand
And led her through the hall
And there he cut off his own bride's head
And threw it against the wall.
1 Note that this line differs as given with tune.