Lord Thomas- Langille (NS) 1919 Mackenzie B
[Sung by Mrs. Jake Langille. From Ballads and Sea Songs from Nova Scotia; William Roy Mackenzie, 1928; Lord Thomas version B. Also from The Quest of the Ballad by William Roy Mackenzie, 1919.
An excerpt from "Quest of the Ballad" with ballad text follows. By 1928 when he republished this ballad he had changed "blue" in measure 11 to "green" so that it rhymed- however he made no note of this in the 1928 printing.
R. Matteson 2014]
A few lines back I explained that, in my efforts to supplement the contributions made by Easter Ann, I interviewed all suspected members of the Langille family. Among these was a Mrs. Jake Langille, wife of a very friendly and mild-mannered farmer known as Devil Jake or Jake the Bear, in allusion to his ferocious appearance. Mrs. Jake was a grandniece of little Ned's father, and, furthermore, she had had the rare privilege of being reared in the presence of that great and inexhaustible fountainhead of ballads. The women-folks in this household had, as we may easily understand, been expected to adopt the role of listeners rather than of entertainers, in matters both of conversation and of song; but Mrs. Jake—or Lucy, as she was then—Was inordinately fond of music, and she had contrived to pick up a few scraps of song as they were dropped by the lords of creation.
When the doctor and I made overtures to Lucy she became extremely nervous, and begged us piteously not to ask her to sing. She promised, however, to dictate a song to her daughter, who "was in the fifth grade at school and could write as well as the next one"; but we would have to give her a few days to get over the fright we had given her and to "study up" the song, which she had not thought of for years.
The promised ballad was duly received by me in the course of the week. In its manuscript form, however, it left much to be desired; consequently the doctor and I called upon Lucy once more, and by our friendly and ingratiating conversation wrought her up to such a pitch of boldness that she finally sang the ballad in our presence, just as though we had been mere women like herself.
It was "Lord Thomas and Fair Elinor," a very tolerable version of the noble old ballad:
1. Lord Thomas he was a worthy man,
He wore a sword by his side.
Fair Ellinor was a beautiful bride,
Lord Thomas he loved her full well.
2. "Come riddle, come riddle, dear Mother," he says,
"Come riddle us all in one,
Whether I'll marry fair Ellinor
Or bring the brown girl at home."
3. "The brown girl she's got house and land,
Fair Ellinor has got none.
My son, if you will take my blessing,
O bring the brown girl at home."
4. Lord Thomas he was a worthy man,
He wore a sword by his side.
Fair Ellinor was a beautiful bride.
Lord Thomas he loved her full well.
5. When he came to fair Ellinor's door
He knocked so loud at the ring.
There was none so ready as fair Ellinor
To rise and let him in.
6. "What news, what news, Lord Thomas?" she said,
What news do you bring to me?"
"I come to invite you to my wedding,
It is bad news for thee."
7. "The Lord forbid, Lord Thomas," she said,
"If any such things should be.
I'm in hopes myself to be the bride,
And you to be the bride's groom."
8. "Come riddle, come riddle, dear Mother," she said,
"Come riddle us all in one,
Whether I'll go to Lord Thomas' wedding,
Or will I stay at home?"
9. "Many a one has been your friend,
Many more has been your foes.
My girl, if you will take my blessing,
To Lord Thomas' wedding don't go."
10. "Betray my life, betray my death,
To Lord Thomas I'll go."
11. She dressed herself in riches so gay,
Her merry maids all in blue,
And every gate that she passed by
They took her to be some queen.*
12 When she came to Lord Thomas' door
She knocked so loud at the ring.
There was none so ready as Lord Thomas
To rise and let her in.
13 He took her by the lily-white hand
And led her through the hall.
He set her on a golden chair
Among the ladies all.
14 "Is this your bride, Lord Thomas?" she said,
"I think she looks wonderful black.
You might have had as fair a one
As ever the sun rose on."
15 "Despise her not, fair Ellinor," he said,
"Despise her not to me.
For better do I like your little finger
Than all her whole body."
16 The brown girl she being standing by
With a pen-knife in her hand,
Betwixt the long rib and the short
Pierced fair Ellinor to the heart.
17 "O what is the matter?" Lord Thomas he said,
"I think you look wonderful pale.
You used to have as bright a color
As ever the sun rose on."
18 "Are you blind, Lord Thomas?" she said,
"Or can you not very well see?
Don't you see my own heart's blood
Come dribbling down to my knees?"
19 Lord Thomas he was a worthy man,
He wore a sword by his side.
He off with his own bride's head
And dashed it against the wall.
20 He ordered a coffin to be made,
A coffin both wide and long.
He ordered fair Ellinor at his right side
And the brown girl at his feet.
This ballad, like many others which I am fortunate enough to remember, not as mere successions of lines and stanzas, but as vivid and resonant songs with appropriate music, moved to the Dorian mood of a sombre minor strain which even Lucy's timid and rather shrill delivery could not rob of its effectiveness. It will be noticed that the story comes to a somewhat abrupt and disjointed conclusion, and this was immediately remarked by Lucy herself, who paused before the last stanza and proclaimed in great distress that there was a verse in here that she couldn't remember to save her soul. After delivering the concluding stanza she went back and groped around desperately in the remote corners of her mind, but all that she could drag forth was the recollection that the missing stanza told about the death of Lord Thomas by his own hand.
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* It will be obvious to anybody acquainted with the old ballad, or with an ear for rhyme, that the desirable word for the rhyme is "green" and not "blue." I asked Lucy if she had never heard the word "green" here, which she denied, but later, when I persuaded her to sing the ballad a second time she, apparently unconsciously, substituted "green." However, since I had a hand in bringing about the change I have not introduced it in the version that I present.