Sally Sailsworth- Case (MO) pre1916 Belden C
[Belden: Ballads and Songs; Collected by The Missouri Folk-Lore Society, 1940; Belden does not, to his credit, list these versions under Child 295. See his notes below. This is one of the few versions that supplies Sally's last name- its similar to Sweet Sally of Salsworth (1919 Davis E) and Sally Salisbury (1700s Proudfit).
This ballad is not to be confused with the popular ballad, Child No. 73 Lord Thomas and Fair Annet, which is commonly known in the US, and Canada as "The Brown Girl."
US and Canada versions are based on the hundreds of late 18th century English broadsides sometimes titled "The Sailor from Dover" or "Sally and her Truelove Billy."
Child's B version of 295, "The Brown, Brown Girl" collected by Rev. S. Baring-Gould, introduced stanzas from the "Sally and her Truelove Billy" songs. In his article "Folk Song Tradition, Revival and Re-Creation" Steve Gardham has shown that Baring-Gould's ballad is a re-creation of two ballads and not traditional.
To put it simply, the versions are not related to "The Brown Girl" but are part of the "The Sailor from Dover" and "Sally and her Truelove Billy" song group. In the US and Canada some common titles are "Pretty Sally," "Sally," and "A Rich Irish Lady." They have been put here following Bronson and others who have attached them to Child 295, not because they belong here.
R. Matteson 2014]
A Brave Irish Lady
This seems the most fitting title for American texts of this ballad, tho some collectors enter it as a form of Child 295, The Brown Girl. It is related, certainly, to that ballad, but is sufficiently distinct to be ranked as a separate song. In The Brown Girl it is the woman, not the man, that is hard-hearted; the story is put in her mouth; and there is no Irish lady. In fact the figure of the Irish lady is American; the British broadside, Christie's Scotch text, Sharp's from Somerset, even the Boston broadside (printed in B.BM 422-3) know nothing of her. The man's declaration that he will dance on her grave- which is probably what has most contributed to keep the song alive- goes back to Child's two versions of 295, and his suggestion that she has called him in as a doctor is at least implied in Child B, tho not fully developed till later. The peculiarly flat statement, with its false rhyme, that
'You can quit your intentions, and end your discourse,
For I will never have you unless I am forced
is apparently to be credited to the nineteenth century stall prints; it appears in both of them as printed in BBM, and maintains itself pretty well in American tradition. Only in American texts has the stanza from Death and the Lady (100EFS 52)
Now Sally is dead, lies cold in the clay,
Her rosy-red cheeks are all moldering away
crept in; it is found in TBV B, SharpK F H, FSS C D, and all the Missouri texts. The song has been reported since Child's time from Scotland (Christie II 240-1) and. Somerset (JFSS VIII 5-6), from Maine (BBM 478-25), Vermont (VFSB 244-6), Virginia (TBV 537-43, SharpK I 297,300-1, 303-4, SCSM 98), West Virginia (JAFI-, XXXII 502, FSS 366-70), Kentucky (SharpK I 299-300, 304), Tennessee (ETWVMB 119-20, FSSH 134-5), North Carolina (SharpK I 295-7,302-3), Georgia (SharpK I 298), Mississippi (FSM 128-30), and Kansas (JAFL XXVII 73-4). Tolman had a text from Indiana but did not print it because it was so much like that given by Barry in JAFL XXVII 73-4. It is listed as recorded in Tennessee but the text not given in SFLQ II 79.
C. 'Sally Sailsworth.' Sent in by Mrs. Case in 1916 as known to her in childhood in Harrison County. Note that the story begins as a first person narrative by the man; and that the lady is not Irish.
When first to this country a poor boy I came
Icourted a lady who was Sally by name.
She being so lofty, her bearing so high,
That on this poor young man she'd scarce cast an eye.
'Oh Sally, oh Sally, Sally Sailsworth,' says he,
'I'm afraid that our courtship will never agree.
Unless your hatred shall turn to true love,
We never can be married by the powers above.'
'Oh no, I don't hate you, nor no other man,
But to say that I love you is more than I can.'
'So now I will leave you to dwell all alone;
Perhaps you will marry some other young man.'
He had not been gone but weeks two or three,
. . . . . .
Till Sally fell sick and she knew not for why,
And she sent for this young man she once did deny.
'Oh, it's am I the doctor, can kill or can cure,
Or am I the young man you once did. deny?'
'Oh yes, you're the doctor, can cure or can kill;
But grant me some longer in this world to live.'
'Oh Sally, oh Sally, Sally Sailsworth,' says he,
'Oh, don't you remember when I first courted thee?
You laughed at my courtship, denied me with scorn;
And now I'll reward you for what's past and gone.'
'For what's past and gone, love, let's forget and forgive,
But grant me some longer in this world to live.'
'For what's past and gone I shan't forgive and forget,
But I'll dance on your grave when you're cold in the clay.'
She pulled diamonds off her fingers three,
Saying, 'Wear these on your right hand when you're dancing on me.
And when you're done dancing on Sally your queen,
Fly away to the West, love, no more to be seen.' [1]
Now Sally is dead, you all may suppose
Some other young lady is a-wearing her clothes.
Now Sally is dead, lies cold in the clay,
Her rosy-red cheeks are all moldering away.
1. Frequently this has "Fly away to your colours. . ." Cf. Sharp A and B