On Child 76 and 173 in Divers Hands
[This is an excerpt covering the info on a version of Mary Hamilton only]
On Child 76 and 173 in Divers Hands
by A. H. Scouten
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 64, No. 251 (Jan. - Mar., 1951), pp. 131-132
ON CHILD 76 AND 173 IN DIVERS HANDS:- [excerpt]
Readers of Professor Davis's Traditional Ballads of Virginia will recall that Miss Alfreda M. Peel of Salem, Virginia, contributed a large number of ballad texts and tunes. In fact, one of her important "finds" was three stanzas of Child I73 ("Mary Hamilton"). In the spring of 1922 she secured two versions from Mrs. Marion Chandler and in November 30, 1923, she obtained the tune as well. From her interest demonstrated in connection with these texts, one might assume that Miss Peel had sent to the Ballad Society all the stanzas she could find; indeed Mr. Davis quotes her as saying this about her findings:
"... which I believe are all that have been found in this country." (p. 48.)
Meanwhile Miss Peel had recorded Child 95 ("The Maid Freed from the Gallows") from the singing of Mrs. Texas Gladden on May 27, 1917, in Salem. This entry is the only one in Davis's book that derives from Mrs. Gladden. But in 1941 Alan Lomax was able to secure for the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress a recording in Salem from Mrs. Texas Gladden of Child 173, in ten stanzas. Since the singer apparently did not know this ballad in 1917 or as late as I923, one's curiosity is stirred. But the question is easily resolved for us in the printed sheet issued for this recording (AAFS32B) by the editor, Dr. B. A. Botkin. In the introduction to the text, Dr. Botkin tells us that the singer "learned the song from Miss Alfreda M. Peel, of Salem." Here a new query arises concerning where Miss Peel learned the version that she taught Mrs. Gladden. In turning to the text of Mrs. Gladden's version, the reader will find that the words bear a remarkable similarity to Child's "A" recension. The chief difference is that most of the Scotch dialect has been removed. Otherwise, her stanza I is Child's A I; stanza 2 is A 4, with
the distinguishing phrase "old Queen"; stanzas 3 and 4 are A 6 and 7; stanzas 5, 6, and 7 are a blend or condensation from A Io, 8, 9, and 12. Then in stanza 5 interesting evidence appears: Mrs. Gladden sings "Cannogate," whereupon the editor inserts "Canongate" in brackets; but "Cannogate" is precisely the reading of Child A o1. In stanzas 8 and 9 appear the first intrusions; here Mrs. Gladden sings "Oh, tie a napkin o'er my eyes, / And ne'er let me see to dee." Now these two lines are from one of the two versions contributed by Miss Peel to Mr. Davis and the Ballad Society in I922. And the other lines extraneous to Child A ("And carried her to her bed" and "The Gallows hard to tread") are, respectively, Davis A 3, lines 2 and 4.
A. H. SCOUTEN
Universityo f Pennsylvania,
PhiladelphiaP, a.