Lord Thomas's Wedding- Lenington (IN) 1935 Brewster D
[From Brewster: Ballads and Songs of Indiana; 1940. His notes follow.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
10. LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET (Child, No. 73)
Eight texts of this ballad have been recovered in Indiana under the following titles: "Lord Thomas," "The Brown Girl," "Fair Eleanor," "Lord Thomas's Wedding," and "Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor." All belong to the D group of Child, and tell substantially the same story. The hero is in a quandary as to which he shall wed, Fair Eleanor or the brown girl, and takes the problem to his mother. As the brown girl has house and land and Fair Eleanor has none, the advice of the mother is for him to marry the former. He dresses himself in gorgeous attire and with his attendants rides to the home of Fair Eleanor, whom he invites to his wedding. After his departure she asks her mother's advice about attending. The mother advises her to stay at home where she will be among friends, but Fair Eleanor is determined to go. She dresses in fine array, takes her maids with her, and goes to Lord Thomas's hall. He himself admits her, leads her through the hall, and gives her the seat of honor. During the festivities she comments scornfully upon the brown complexion of the bride-to-be. The brown girl overhears her, and stabs Fair Eleanor with a penknife. After a time Lord Thomas notices the pallor of the latter, inquires as to the reason for it, and is told that he must be blind not to see the heart's blood trickling down her knee. When he realizes what has happened, he draws his sword and cuts off the brown girl's head, throws it against the wall, and then uses the sword to kill himself. Dying, he requests that Fair Eleanor be buried in his arms and the brown girl at his feet.
For American texts, see Barry, No. 2; Belden, No. 4 (fragment); Brown, p. 9; Campbell and Sharp, No. 16; Hudson, No. 10; Hudson, Folksongs, p. 78; Journal, XVIII, 128; XIX, 235; XX, 254; XXVII, 71 (melody only) ; XXVIII, 152; XXIX, 159; XXXIX, 94; XLII, 262; Cox, p. 45; Pound, Ballads, p. 27; Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth, p. 139; Davis, p. 240 (fifteen variants, including fragments) and p. 573 (airs); Greenleaf and Mansfield, p. 18; Mackenzie, Ballads, p. 20; McGill, p. 28; Sandburg, p. 157; Shoemaker, p. 155; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 106; Shearin, p. 3; Shearin and Combs, p. 8; Thomas, p. 88; Wyman and Brockway, Songs, p. 14; Flanders and Brown, p. 209; Fuson, p. 49; Mackenzie, p. 97; Folk-Iaore Journal, VII, 33; Smith and Rufty, American Anthology of Old-World Ballads, p. 17; PTFLS, X, 144; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 60; Henry, Songs Sung in the Southern Appalachians, p. 41; Neely, Tales and Songs of Southern Illinois, pp. 136-37; Cambiaire, East Tennessee and Western Virginia Mountain Ballads, pp. 34-36, 115-16.
D. "Lord Thomas's Wedding." Contributed by Mrs. Elizabeth Craig Lenington, of Indianapolis, Indiana. Marion County. November 20, 1935.
1. "O Mother, Mother, come read me a riddle,
And read it all in one,
Whether I shall go to Lord Thomas's wedding
Or tarry with thee at home?"
2. So then she took her merry maids all,
And dressed her all in green,
And every town that she rode through
They took her to be some queen.
3. She rode till she came to Lord Thomas's gate,
And loudly jingled the ring;
And none was so ready as Lord Thomas himself
To rise and let Eleanor in.
4. He took her by the lily-white hand
And led her through the hall
Where four and twenty gay ladies sat,
But she was the flower of all.
5. "Is this your wife, Lord Thomas?" she cried;
"I think she's very brown,
When once you might have had as fair lady
As ever the sun shone on."
6. The Brown Girl having a knife in her hand
And it both keen and sharp,
Between the short ribs and the lungs[1]
She pierced Fair Eleanor's heart.
7. "O what's the matter, Fair Eleanor?" he cried;
"I think your color's all gone,
When once you had as fresh a color
As ever the sun shone on."
8. "O are you blind, Lord Thomas?" she cried;
"Or can't you very well see?
For don't you see my own heart's blood
Come trickling down my knee?"
9. Lord Thomas having a sword in his hand
And it both sharp and tall,
Then off he cut the Brown Girl's head
And flung it against the wall.
10. "Come, friends and relations, and dig me a grave,
And dig it both long and deep;
And lay fair, fair Eleanor in my arms
And the Brown Girl at my feet."
Footnote:
1. For long.