Randal, My Son- (KY) c1914 McGill
[My title, no date or informant named. From Josephine McGill's, Folk Songs of the Kentucky Mountains, 1917, with music. McGill, from New York, began collecting ballads in the eastern Kentucky region using Hindman Settlement School as her base in the summer of 1914. This ballad was collect during the 1914-1915 summers. Following is and excerpt from "Following Music" in a Mountain Land by Josephine McGill from The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Jul., 1917), pp. 364-384.
Cf. "Randal My Son" as collected by Shearin in Knott County, KY.
R. Matteson 2014]
"Following Music" in a Mountain Land by Josephine McGill from The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Jul., 1917), pp. 364-384:
With this so poignant a memory, the ballad-seeker's delight may be fancied on hearing in a squalid mountain cabin the somewhat similar Lord Randal:
Where have you been Randal, it's Randal, my son,
Where have you been, Randal, my pretty sweet one?
O I've been a-courting, Mother make my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart and I fain would lie down.
What will you leave to your father, it's Randal, my son?
What will you leave to your father, my pretty sweet one?
My land and fine buildings, Mother make my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart and I fain would lie down.
Through legacies to the brother, sister, and mother the "incremental repetition" proceeds, attaining the dramatic climax
similar to that of Edward:
What will you leave to your sweetheart, it's Randal, my son?
What will you leave to your sweetheart, my pretty sweet one?
A rope and a gallows, Mother make my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart and I fain would lie down.
The music for this miracle of terse drama and pathos is in major key, swiftly moving in what Professor Gummere terms "abounding triple measure." The ballad is evidently a prized and common heritage of the descendants of Kentucky pioneers. One version from the Bluegrass section begins: "Where have you been Randal, taranter, my son?" Another variant heard from an old negro nurse characteristically runs: "Where have you been Miranda?" Miss Lucy Furman, who has so ably reproduced the mountain types in her stories, Mothering on Perilous, Sight to the Blind, etc., heard her grandfather sing: "Where have you been, Ronald?" This version doubtless antedates Sir Walter Scott's alteration of the hero's name to Randal, thereby connecting the episode with the death of Randolph, Earl of Murray.
Randal, My Son- Collected by Josephine mcGill, c. 1914, no date, place or informant named.
1. "Where have you been, Randal, it's Randal my son,
Where have you been, Randal, my pretty sweet one?"
"O I've been a-courting, mother make my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."
2. "What did you have for your supper, it's Randal my son,
What did you have for your supper, my pretty sweet one?"
"Fried eels and fresh butter, mother make my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."
"What will you leave to your father, it's Randal my son,
What will you leave to your father, my pretty sweet one?"
"A chest of fine clothing, mother make my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."
'What will you leave to your brother, it's Randal my son,
What will you leave to your brother, my pretty sweet one?"
"My horse and fine saddle, mother make my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."
"What will you leave to your sister, it's Randal my son,
What will you leave to your sister, my pretty sweet one?"
"My land and fine buildings, mother mike my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."
"What will you leave to your sweetheart, it's Randal my son,
What will you leave to your sweetheart, my pretty sweet one?"
"A rope and a gallows, mother make my-bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."
"What will you leave to your mother, it's Randal my son,
What will you leave to your mother, my pretty sweet one?"
"A dead son to bury, mother make my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."