Pretty Polly- Morris (VA) 1935 Wilkinson MS
[My title. From Wilkinson's notebook 1935-36, pp. 3-5(A) with music; no date listed. "Love Henery" is the from Child 68. In Bronson No. 123, he comments: Stanzas 11-14 of this text belong properly to "Young Hunting" (68).
Winston Wilkinson worked with Arthur Kyle Davis, Jr. collecting and transcribing ballads, fiddle tunes and songs in the 1930s. "In March of 1934 Davis was able to obtain some funding from the Civil Works Administration, one of the Depression-generated New Deal programs. With that assistance he hired John Stone to collect folksongs and Winston Wilkinson to transcribe music." Wilkinson also contributed his article “Virginia Dance Tunes” to Southern Folklore Quarterly in March 1942. Davis also published More Traditional Ballads of Virginia in 1960 with Winston Wilkinson's transcriptions. Wilkinson also illustrated "Virginia Fiddle Tunes."
R. Matteson 2014]
[Pretty Polly] (Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight)- Sung by Nathaniel Melhorn Morris, Harriston, Va, October 16, 1935,
1. Arise you up, my pretty Polly,
Come go along with me.
I'll take you to old Scotland
And there we'll married be, be, be.
And there we'll married be.
2. Go gather up your father's gold,
Likewise your mother's fee.
And two of the best horses in your father's barn,
Where there were twenty and three, three, three.
Where there were twenty and three.
3. She gathered up her father's gold,
Likewise her mother's fee.
And two of the best of her father's horses
Where there were twenty and three, three, three.
Where there were twenty and three.
4. He mounted her on his milk white steed,
Himself on his tiple [1] gray.
And they rode, they rode, the livelong night,
Two hours before it was day.
5. Get you down, get you down, my pretty Polly,
Get you down by the help of me.
For here I have drowned six King's daughters
And the seventh one you shall be, be, be.
And the seventh one you shall be.
6. Pull off, pull off, that rich attire,
And hand it over to me.
For it cost your father too much gold
To rot in the salt water sea, sea, sea.
To rot in the salt water sea.
7. Turn your back, turn your back, my love Henery, [2]
Cast your eyes upon the leaves of the tree.
For I think it's a scandal and a shame
A naked woman you should see, see, see.
A naked woman you should see.
8. Love Henry turned himself around,
And cast his eyes upon the leaves of the tree.
. . . .
And tripped him into the sea, sea, sea.
And tripped him into the sea.
9. Lay there, lay there, you false hearted man,
And there you may lay for me.
And your flesh may be food for the little insects,
And your bones may rot in the sea, sea, sea.
And your bones may rot in the sea.
10. She mounted herself on the milk white steed,
And she led the tiple gray.
And she rode, and she rode, to her father's gate
Two hours before it was day, day, day.
Two hours before it was day.
11. Come down, come down, my pretty Polly,
And sit here on my knee.
Your cage shall be made of pure, pure gold,
The doors of the ivory-ry-ry.
The doors of the ivory.
12. I shan't come down, nor I won't come down,
Nor sit upon your knee.
For so you killed poor Love Henery
So now you might kill me, me, me.
So now you might kill me.
13. I wish I had my bows and spikes,
And they bent in my hand.
I'd pierce them through your tender heart
Where you'd see me no more, more, more.
'Where you'd see me no more.
14. And if you had your bows and spikes,
And they bent in your hand.
I'd take a sweet fight and fly from you
Where you'd see me no more, more, more.
Where you'd see me no more.
1. dapple
2. from Child 68, as are measures 11-14