Sheet Music: Riddles Wisely Expounded
I'm using Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads by Bertrand Bronson to reference the music for the ballads. Bronson prints one US melody from Virginia collected in 1922 from Mrs. Rill Martin (reprinted from Traditional Ballads from Virginia). Lomax prints the similar melody collected from Texas Gladden which has been covered more recently by Elizabeth LaPrelle.
Devil's Nine Questions- Rill Martin 1922
Mike Yates wrote, "We are told that Texas Gladden learnt her version of The Devil's Nine Question from the collector Alfreda Peel, who had previously noted the songs from a Mrs Rill Martin of Mechanicsburg, VA, before passing it on to Texas."
Niles prints three versions (The second is The Riddle Song- which I consider to be calssified as is a different riddle ballad).
Bertrand Bronson says: For example, the early broadsides from which Durfey took his copy of "Riddles Wisely Expounded" do not print any music, but direct the ballad to be sung "to the tune of Lay the Bent to the bonny Broom." We have no copy of the tune under that name, but Durfey's ballad has it for a refrain line, and Durfey's tune is clearly cognate with that of another song popular in the seventeenth century and later, known by various names, such as "At home would I be (in)"-or "I would I were in my own country" or "The North-country Lasse" or "The Northern Lasses Lamentation" or (later) "The Oak and the Ash and the bonny Ivy Tree." A ballad by Martin Parker, of about 1650, to be sung to this tune, proves the tune's existence at the mid-century. Also, under the name "Godesses," it appears as a country dance in the first edition, 1650, of Playford's The English Dancing Master." But in the Elizabethan MSS of pieces for virginals we find the same tune under other titles. It appears twice in the Fitzwilliam Book, once set by R. Farnaby ("Fayne wolde I wedde") and again by Giles Farnaby as "Quodling's Delight." We pick it up earlier on the Continent as a Christmas carol in the Swedish publication, Piae Cantiones, by Theodoric Petri of Nyland, 1582.2 Its Latin text begins, "Congaudeat turba fidelium."
But two earlier copies of that same carol have been discovered: one in Paris in an eleventh-century MS, the other in a twelfth-century antiphonary at Apt, near Avignon." The tune of the latter is clearly a simple, plain-song form of the same melody. Naturally, all these permutations and peregrinations have not left the tune unaffected; and what, consequently, we really have to deal with is not so properly a tune as a melodic family with a persisting idea-a complex analogous in a musical way to one of Child's ballads in its widest international ramifications, where a germinal idea can be recognized behind all the welter of contradiction and change. It may one day be possible to set up something like a canon of these nuclear melodic ideas in which all genuine folk song will be comprised. Our surmise would be that such a canon would not be very large. The basic types or patterns of melody in the British-American folk tradition are probably not nearly so numerous at least as the record has survived-as Child's canon of the text families. But it is by no means so easy to set up objective criteria of demarcation for tunes as for texts-even though we fully acknowledge the difficulties that beset Child. The mere question: What constitutes identity in ballads? is, in truth, a philosophical-a metaphysical-question, to which Child himself kept making practical, unmetaphysical answers. We need look no further than the variants of Child's no. 1-"Riddles Wisely Expounded"-to realize that
undemonstrable assumptions must be nine tenths of any definition of A Ballad in the group sense of the term. The question: What constitutes the identity of a ballad tune? is even thornier, and, for the present, soluble only on practical grounds. Why do we call Child, 1A, of ca. 1450, and Motherwell's narrativeless and Mrs. Texas Gladden's Virginia copy in the Library of Congress phonograph archive the same ballad? [On the Union of Words and Music in the "Child" Ballads]
---------------------------
Early Child Ballads [posted from an on-line presentation]
Dani of the Seven Wells
Sidebar 5: Riddles Wisely Expounded
The four melodies for "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (Child #1) which follow are successive versions of the same tune. Indeed, the first three all purport to be transcriptions of the same source.
The four melodies given above are meant, among things, to make my warnings about modern sources more concrete: If you learn a ballad from a modern source, without checking against the original, you are probably learning a modern interpretation of the ballad. The top melody is taken from D'Urfey's 1719/20 "Pills to Purge Melancholy". To be more precise, it is a modernized transcription of D'Urfey, from Bronson's "The Singing Tradition of Child's Popular Ballads". D'Urfey, rather than fuss with multiple time signatures, notated the music in throughout. Bronson is meticulous in annotating such changes, but most transcribers are not.
The second melody is Chappell's transcription of D'Urfey. Emphasis on `transcription': This is the music that Chappell reported D'Urfey as having provided. In fact, as is more common in secondary sources than we could wish, Chappell was reporting what he thought D'Urfey should have meant. The key has been changed from G-Dorian to G-minor, the time signature has been regularized (with some effort) to 3/4, and there is a minor note change. (Chappell also adds piano accompaniment and dynamics.)
The third melody is taken from Bruce and Stokoe, who also claim to be relaying D'Urfey's melody. Like Chappell, they notate the music in G-minor (though, since their version has no E's, this now becomes a distinction without a difference), and they regularize the rhythm (differently from Chappell) to 3/4 time. They also modify the notes in a number of places. The modifications to the melody bring it somewhat closer to modern tastes, and most modern recordings of this melody are closer to Bruce and Stokoe than they are to D'Urfey.
The fourth melody is transcribed from a modern recording - the "Pentangle" recording of "The Cruel Sister". (The opening verses of this version of "The Cruel Sister" (Child #10), and "Riddles Wisely Expounded" are identical, and both are frequently sung to "Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom".) Although there is a sense in which this melody is "the same tune" as D'Urfey's, it becomes difficult to make a case for this melody line being appropriately early in style. On the other hand, this is the melody, of the four, most likely to be appreciated by a modern audience. It is also the melody you are most likely to know if you've learned this ballad from recordings or other singers.
Each successive version is a little more modernized. (If we find versions earlier than that of D'Urfey, we'll probably find that D'Urfey and his contemporaries also made small changes to suit their audiences.) There is also a decline in the complexity of the fa-la refrain.
Here are the lyrics from a broadside of the 1660s. They are almost identical to those printed with D'Urfey's music. (The most noticeable difference is that the word `daughter' is missing from verse 7 of D'Urfey copy.)
Riddles Wisely Expounded
1. There was a lady of the North Country,
Lay the bent to the bonny broom
And she had lovely daughters three.
Fa la la la, fa la la la ra re
2. There was a knight of noble worth
Which also lived in the North.
3. The knight, of courage stout and brave,
A wife he did desire to have.
4. He knocked at the ladie's gate
One evening when it was late.
5. The eldest sister let him in,
And pin'd the door with a silver pin.
6. The second sister she made his bed,
And laid soft pillows under his head.
7. The youngest daughter that same night,
She went to bed to this young knight.
8. And in the morning, when it was day,
These words unto him she did say:
9. `Now you have had your will,' quoth she,
`I pray, sir knight, will you marry me?'
10. The young brave knight to her replyed,
`Thy suit, fair maid,shall not be deny'd.
11. `If thou canst answer me questions three,
This very day will I marry thee.'
12. `Kind sir, in love, O then,' quoth she,
`Tell me what your [three] questions be.'
13. `O what is longer than the way,
Or what is deeper than the sea?
14. `Or what is louder than the horn,
Or what is sharper than a thorn?
15. `Or what is greener than the grass,
Or what is worse than a woman was?`
16. `O love is longer than the way,
And hell is deeper than the sea.
17. `And thunder is louder than the horn,
And hunger is sharper than a thorn.
18. `And poyson is greener than the grass,
And the Devil is worse than woman was.'
19. When she these questions answered had,
The knight became exceeding glad.
20. And having [truly] try'd her wit,
He much commended her for it.
21. And after, as it is verifi'd,
He made of her his lovely bride.
22. So now, fair maidens all, adieu,
This song I dedicate to you.
23. I wish that you may constant prove
Vnto the man that you do love.
These lyrics have the benefit of scanning to the music - since they came as a set - but in other respects, they represent the worst of both worlds for an SCA singer. On the one hand, we can't document them earlier than the 1660s, which is a bit late. On the other hand, if we're already going to sing out-of-period versions of this ballad, most listeners will prefer shorter, more recent versions. (In some modern versions, for example, verses 2-4 are collapsed into a single verse: "A knight came riding to the lady's door/He'd traveled far to be their wooer". To my mind, this is an improvement.)
Alternatively, you could work with lyrics that do date back to our period. Fitting period lyrics to period music from a different source is a perfectly period thing to do - but it generally requires some work. Here are the lyrics:
Inter diabolus et virgo
1. WOL ye here a wonder thynge
Betwyxt a mayd and the fovle fende?
2. Thys spake the fend to the mayd:
`Beleue on me, mayd, to day.
3. `Mayd, mote y thi leman be,
Wyssedom y wolle teche the:
4. `All the wyssedom off the world,
Hyf thou wolt be true and forward holde
5. `What ys hyer than ys [the] tre?
What ys dypper than ys the see?
6. `What ys scharpper than ys the thorne?
What ys loder than ys the horne?
7. `What [ys] longger than ys the way?
What is rader than ys the day?
8. `What [ys] bether than is the bred?
What ys scharpper than ys the dede?
9. `What ys grenner than ys the wode?
What ys sweetter than ys the note?
10. `What ys swifter than ys the wynd?
What ys recher than ys the kynge?
11. `What ys yeluer than ys the wex?
What [ys] softer than ys he flex?
12. `But thou now answery me,
Thu schalt for sothe my leman be.'
13. Ihesu, for thy myld mygth,
As thu art kynge and knygt,
14. `Lene me wisdome to answere here rygth,
And schylde me fram the fovle wygth!
15. `Wewene ys heyer than ys the tre,
Helle ys dypper than ys the see.
16. `Hongyr ys scharpper than [ys] the thorne,
Thonder ys lodder than ys the horne.
17. `Loukynge us longer than ys the way,
Syn is rader than ys the day.
18. `Godys flesse ys betur than ys the brede,
Payne ys strenger than ys the dede.
19. `Grass ys grenner than ys the wode.
Loue ys swetter than ys the notte.
20. `Thowt ys swifter than ys the wynde,
Ihesus ys recher than ys the kynge."
21. `Safer is yeluer than ys the wexs,
Selke ys softer than ys the flex.
22. `Now, thu fende, style thu be;
Nelle ich speke no more with the!'
Some of the verses scan nicely to our melody. Others have to be forced. (One obvious modification is that later versions of the ballad dropped an `ys' from most of the questions and answers.) Another decision that crops up with older pieces concerns pronunciation: If you modernize it, rhyme and scansion may both suffer; if you don't, you may lose your audience. One benefit of modernizing the language is that the fa-la refrain - which is inappropriate for the fifteenth century - doesn't sound as badly out of place if it isn't matched to an earlier dialect.
----------------------------------------
Bronson's 8 texts: Riddle's Widely Expounded
[Music will be added]
X:1
T:A Riddle Wittily Expounded
T:Riddles wisely expounded
B:Bronson
C:Trad
O:D'Urfey, 1719-20, IV, pp.129-32 (emended)
H: D'Urfey prints the tune in C| time throughout; Chappell,
in his revision of it (II [1859], p.531), regularizes in 3/4,
giving two beats to the last note of the first and third
phrases, and changing the signature to G minor. Bruce and
Stokoe (1882, pp. 76-78) profess to print from D'Urfey, but
again in two flats, regularizing the timing in 3/4, and with
four alterations in notes: D for initial A, e raised to f
in the third bar, the third d in the same bar lowered to c,
and the first A in the penultimate bar raised to c.
N:Child 1
L:1/8
G:A
M:3/4
K:Gdor % possibly Dphr with a natural e
A BA | GG AB cB |[M:2/4][L:1/4] A B/c/ |
w:There was a La-dy in the North Coun-try, Lay the
[M:3/4][L:1/8] d2 dd d/e/ d/c/ | d2 z d dc |
w:Bent to the Bon__ny Broom, And she had
B2 d2 cB |[M:2/4][L:1/4] A G/A/ |[M:3/4][L:1/8] AB AG AB | G2 z |]
w:love-ly Daugh-ters three, Fa la la la, fa, la la la re.
W:
W:There was a Lady in the North-Country,
W:Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom,
W:And she had lovely Daughters three,
W:Fa, la la la, fa, la la la re.
W:
W:There was a Knight of Noble worth,
W:Which also lived in the North,
W:
W:The Knight of Courage stout and brave,
W:A Wife he did desire to have,
W:
W:He knocked at the Lady's Gate,
W:One Evening when it was late,
W:
W:The youngest Sister let him in,
W:And pinn'd the Door with a Silver Pin,
W:
W:The second Sister she made his Bed,
W:And laid soft Pillows under his Head,
W:
W:The Youngest [Sister] that same Night,
W:She went to Bed to this young Knight,
W:
W:And in the Morning when it was Day,
W:These word unto him she did say,
W:
W:Now you have had your Will (quoth she),
W:I pray Sir Knight you Marry me,
W:
W:The young brave Knight to her reply'd,
W:Thy Suit, fair Maid shall not be deny'd,
W:
W:If thou can'st answer me Questions three,
W:This very Day I will Marry thee,
W:
W:Kind Sir in Love, O then quoth she,
W:Tell me what your three Questions be,
W:
W:O, what is longer than the Way?
W:Or what is deeper than the Sea?
W:
W:Or what is louder than a Horn?
W:Or what is sharper than a Thorn?
W:
W:Or what is greener than the Grass?
W:Or what is worse than a Woman was?
W:
W:(The Damsel's Answer to the Three Questions)
W:
W:O Love is longer than the Way,
W:And Hell is deeper than the Sea,
W:
W:And Thunder's louder than the Horn,
W:And Hunger's sharper than the Thorn,
W:
W:And Poyson's greener than the Grass,
W:And the Devil's worse than a Woman was,
W:
W:When she these Questions answered had,
W:The Knight became exceeding glad,
W:
W:And having truly tried her Wit,
W:He much commended her for it,
W:
W:And after as 'tis verified,
W:He made of her his lovely Bride,
W:
W:So now fair Maidens all Adieu,
W:This Song I dedicate to you,
W:
W:I wish that you may Constant prove,
W:Unto the Man that you do love.
X:2
T:Dialogue, words by O'Keefe
T:Riddles wisely expounded
B:Bronson
C:Trad
O:O'Keefe and Shield, 'The Highland Reel', n.d., p. 14.
H:This tune is admitted, partly on internal evidence, and partly by
reaon of its being identified as "Lay the bent to the bonny broom"
by Thomas Dibdin, who may have received the information from
Shield or O'Keefe. Cf. Chappell, Popular Music, II (1859), p. 531.
The last phrase carries the traditional refrain.
N:Child 1
G:A
M:3/4
K:Gmaj
D DD | G2 E>G F>A | D2 z A AA |
c2 BA G>B | d2 z2 B2 | d>B G2 E>G |
F>A D2 z2 | G2 B>G E>C | D2 d>c B>A | G3 |]
w:***Twang Lang-o Till-o Lang Twang-o dil-lo day.
X:3
T:There was a Lady in the West
T:Riddles wisely expounded
B:Bronson
C:Trad
O:Mason, 1878, p. 31. Also in Broadwood and Maitland, 1893,
pp. 6-7. Sung in Northumberland.
H:Reprinted again in the 1908 ed. of Mason, where Miss Mason adds
that the song was traditional in her mother's family, the Mitfords,
of Mitford, Northumberland. As said above, the D'Urfey tune can be
discerned behind the first half of this one.
N:Child 1
N:The letter I represents an inverted fermata, used by Bronson to
N:indicate that the note is sung shorter than notated.
G:A
M:6/8
K:Gmaj %but inflected IV
D | D2 G G2 A/B/ | c2 B A2 B/c/ | d Ie/d/ d/^c/ Id2 B |
w:There was a la-dy* in the West, Lay the bank with the bon-ny broom, She
c2 B B2 G | B>A G F3 | G3 B2 A | G/D/- D>z z2 z |
w:had three daugh-ters of the best,*Fa lang the dil-lo,*
G3 B2 c | d/B/- B>z c/A/- A>z | G3 z3 |]
w:Fa lang the dil-lo,* dil-lo,* dee.
W:
W:There was a lady in the West,
W:Lay the bank with the bonny broom,
W:She had three daughters of the best,
W:Fa lang the dillo,
W:Fa lang the dillo, dillo, dee.
W:
W:There came a stranger to the gate,
W:And he three days and nights did wait,
W:
W:The eldest daughter did ope the door,
W:The second set him on the floor,
W:
W:The third daughter she brought a chair,
W:And placed it that he might sit there,
W:
W:(To first daughter)
W:
W:"Now answer me these questions three,
W:Or you shall surely go with me,"
W:
W:(To second daughter)
W:
W:"Now answer me these questions six,
W:Or you shall surely be Old Nick's."
W:
W:(To all three)
W:
W:"Now answer me these questions nine,
W:Or you shall surely all be mine."
W:
W:"What is greener than the grass?
W:What is smoother than crystal glass?"
W:
W:"What is louder than a horn?
W:What is sharper than a thorn?"
W:
W:"What is brighter than the light?
W:What is darker than the night?"
W:
W:"What is keener than an axe?
W:What is softer than melting wax?"
W:
W:"What is rounder than a ring?"
W:"To you we thus our answers bring."
W:
W:"Envy is greener than the grass,
W:Flattery smoother than crystal glass."
W:
W:"Rumour is louder than a horn,
W:Hunger is sharper than a thorn."
W:
W:"Truth is brighter than the light,
W:Falsehood is darker than the night."
W:
W:"Revenge is keener than an axe,
W:Love is softer than melting wax."
W:
W:"The world is rounder than a ring,
W:To you we thus our answers bring."
W:
W:"Thus you have our answers nine,
W:And we never shall be thine."
X:4
T:The Three Sisters
T:Riddles wisely expounded
B:Bronson
C:Trad
O:Gilbert, 1823, pp.65-67. From editor's recollection; Cornish tradition.
Also in Child, 1882-98, I, p. 4(B).
H:The tune and first stanza are reproduced in facsimile in Sir Richard
Terry, 'Gilbert and Sandy's Christmas Carols', 1931, p. xix. It may be
observed that the first refrain-line appears under the notes as "Juniper
Gentle and Rosemary," not as given in the text below.
N:Child 1
G:A
M:6/8
K:G
G | G2 D G2 A | c2 B A3 |
w:There were three Sis-ters fair and bright,
GGD GAB | c2 B A2 A | AAB c2 A |
w:Jen-ni-fer gen-tle and Rose-ma-ree, And they three loved one val-
d2 G FED | G2 A Bdc | BcA G2 |]
w:i-ant Knight, As the dew flies o-ver the Mul-ber-ry tree.
W:
W:There were three Sisters fair and bright,
W:Jennifer gentle and Rosemaree,
W:And they three loved one valiant Knight,
W:As the dew flies over the Mulberry tree.
W:
W:The eldest Sister let him in,
W:And barred the door with a silver pin,
W:
W:The second Sister made his bed,
W:And placed soft pillows under his head,
W:
W:The youngest Sister fair and bright,
W:Was resolved for to wed with this valliant Knight,
W:
W:And if you can answer questions three,
W:Oh! then fair Maid I will marry with thee,
W:
W:What is louder than an horn?
W:And what is sharper than a thorn?
W:
W:Thunder is louder than an horn,
W:And hunger is sharper than a thorn,
W:
W:What is broader than the way?
W:And what is deeper than the sea?
W:
W:Love is broader than the way,
W:And hell is deeper than the sea,
W:
W:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
W:And now, fair Maid I will marry with thee
X:5
T:"The Devil's nine Questions"
T:Riddles wisely expounded
B:Bronson
C:Trad
O:Davis, 1929, p. 549; text, pp. 59-60. Sung by Mrs. Rill
Martin, Giles County, Va., September 11, 1922; noted by
Evelyn Rex. Collected by Alfreda M. Peel.
N:Child 1
G:B
M:4/4
K:G % Pentatonic ( -4 -7) Lydian/Ionian/Mixolydian [Pi1]
D2 | IG2 A2 BB G2 | E2 G2 D3 G | B3 B B2 A2 |
w:If you don't ans-wer me ques-tions nine, Sing nine-ty-nine and
B2 Id2 z2 e2 | d2 B2 G2 B2 | G2 E2 D2 EG | G3 G E2 D2 | E4 G2 |]
w: nine-ty, I'll take you off to hell a-live, And you are the weav-er's bon-ny.
W:
W:"If you don't answer me questions nine,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:I'll take you off to hell alive,
W:And you are the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"What is whiter than milk?
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:What is softer than silk?
W:Say You're the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"Snow is whiter than milk,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:Down is softer than silk,
W:And I'm the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"What is louder than a horn?
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:What is sharper than a thorn?
W:Sing I am the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"Thunder's louder than a horn,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:Death is sharper than a thorn,
W:Sing I am the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"What is higher than a tree?
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:What is deeper than the sea?
W:Sing I am the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"Heaven's higher than a tree,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:And hell is deeper than the sea,
W:Sing I am the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"What is innocenter than a lamb?
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:What is worse than woman kind?
W:Say I am the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"A babe is innocenter than a lamb,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:The devil's worse than woman kind,
W:Sing I am the weaver's bonny,"
W:
W:"You have answered me questions nine,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:You are God's you're not my own,
W:And you're the weaver's bonny."
X:6
T:"The Devil's nine Questions"
T:Riddles wisely expounded
B:Bronson
C:Trad
O:A. and E. Lomax, LC/AAFS, Album I, rec. 4A1. Sung by
Mrs. Texas Gladden, Salem, Va., 1941.
N:Child 1
G:B
M:4/4
K:G % Pentatonic ( -4 -7) Lydian/Ionian/Mixolydian [Pi 1]
D2 | G2 G2 GG G2 | E E3 ID2 B2 |
w:Oh, you must ans-wer my ques-tions nine, Sing
d3 d d2 A2 | B2 d4 d2 | e2 d2 B2 G2 |
w:nine-ty-nine and nine-ty, Or you're not God's, you're
A G3 IE2 G2 | A2 BB D2 D2 | E2 G4 |]
w:one of mine, And you are the weav-er's bon-ny.
W:
W:Oh, you must answer my questions nine,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:Or you're not God's, you're one of mine,
W:And you are the weaver's bonny.
W:
W:"What is whiter than milk?
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:What is softer than silk?
W:Say You're the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"Snow is whiter than milk,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:Down is softer than silk,
W:And I'm the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"What is higher than a tree?
W:And what is deeper than the sea?"
W:
W:"Heaven's higher than a tree,
W:And hell is deeper than the sea."
W:
W:"What is louder than a horn?
W:And What is sharper than a thorn?"
W:
W:"Thunder's louder than a horn,
W:and Death is sharper than a thorn."
W:
W:"What's more innocent than a lamb?
W:And what is meaner than womankind?"
W:
W:"A babe's more innocent than a lamb,
W:And the devil is meaner than womankind."
W:
W:"Oh you have answered my questions nine,
W:And you are God's you're none of mine."
X:7
T:"The Three Riddles"
T:Riddles wisely expounded
B:Bronson
C:Trad
O:Barry and Bayard, BFSSNE, No. 10 (1935), p.8 and No.
12 (1937), p.8. Sung by Florence Mixer, Stonington,
Maine, 1936; learned from her father.
H:If this be a genuine tune, and no mere singsong, it may bear some
comparison with "Newmill" in the Greig MSS., Tune-book I, p.91.
As Barry explains, the text derives from Aytoun's translation of
Herder's translation of D'Urfey's broadside version.
N:Child 7
G:B
M:3/4
K:Am % Bronson has the key as "C Anomalous"
"(a)"E | A>A d3 B | A>A F2 z c |
w:'Twas of a gay young cav-al-ier, of
"(b)"c3 A A>A | A3 z z "(c)"A | Bc e3 c |
w:hon-our and re-nown; All for to seek a
B>B G2 z c | c3 G G>G | G3 z z ||
w:la-dy fair, He rode from town to town.
Alternative tunes on parts of some stanzas: Un-comment the next 6
lines to display after the music.
(a)ST.4"B | e3 c B>A | G F3 z c ||
(a) ST.6"B | d3 B c>A | G F3 z c ||
(b) ST.7,II"d | d3 B B>B | B3 z z ||
(b) ST. 8,13"B | B3 G G>G | G3 z z | e3 ||
(c) ST.6"c | e3 c d>B | A F3 z c ||
(c)ST.7,9"d | f3 d e>c | B G3 z c | E3 ||
W:
W:'Twas of a gay young cavalier,
W:of honour and renown;
W:All for to seek a lady fair,
W:He rode from town to town.
W:
W:'Twas at a woman widow's door
W:He drew his rein so free
W:For by her side the knight espied
W:Her comely daughters three
W:
W:Small marvel if his gallant heart
W:Beat quick within his breast;
W:'Twas hard to choose, yet hard to loose,
W:Which might he wed the best.
W:
W:"Come maidens, pretty maidens,
W:Come read my riddles three;
W:And she who reads the best of all
W:My loving bride shall be;
W:
W:"Oh tell me what is longer
W:Than the longest path there be;
W:And tell me what is deeper
W:Than is the deepest sea.
W:
W:"And tell me what is louder
W:Than is the loudest horn;
W:And tell me what is sharper
W:Than is the sharpest thorn.
W:
W:"And tell me what is greener
W:Than the grass on yonder hill,
W:And tell me what is crueller
W:Than a wicked woman's will."
W:
W:The eldest and the second maid
W:They sat and thought a while
W:The youngest she looked up at him
W:And said with a merry smile;
W:
W:"Love, surely it is longer
W:Than the longest path there be;
W:And Hell, they say is deeper
W:Than is the deepest sea;
W:
W:"Thunder, I know is louder
W:Than is the loudest horn;
W:And hunger it is sharper
W:Than is the sharpest thorn;
W:
W:"I know a deadly poison, greener
W:than the grass on yonder hill;
W:And a foul fiend is crueller
W:Than a wicked woman's will."
W:
W:Now scarcely had she spoke these words
W:When the youth was at her side;
W:'Twas all for what she answered him
W:He claimed her for his bride.
W:
W:The eldest and the second maid,
W:They pondered and were dumb;
W:And they, perchance are waiting yet,
W:Some other one to come.
W:
W:Now maidens, pretty maidens,
W:Be neither coy nor shy
W:But always, when a lover speaks,
W:Look kindly and reply.
X:8
T:Lay the bent to the bonny broom
B:North Countrie Folk Songs for Schools, Ed Whittaker, 1921, Pub Curwen
F:http://www.folkinfo.org/songs
M:3/4
L:1/8
K:A
C A G |FF GA BA |G4 AB |c2 c3/2B/ ce |
w:There was a la-dy in the North Coun-trie, Lay the bent to the bon-ny
c3 c cB |A2 c2 BA |G4 FG |BA GF GA | F3 |]
w:broom And she had love-ly daugh-ters three, Fal la la la la la la la la
W:
W:There was a lady in the North Countrie
W:(Lay the bent to the bonny broom)
W:And she had lovely daughters three.
W:(Fal la la la la la la la la)
W:
W:There was a knight of noble worth
W:(Lay, etc)
W:Who also lived in the north.
W:(Fal, etc)
W:
W:THE KNIGHT
W:If you canst answer me questions two
W:This very day I will marry you.
W:
W:Oh what is longer than the way?
W:Or what is deeper than the sea?
W:
W:THE LADY
W:Oh true love is longer than the way
W:And hell is deeper than the sea.
W:
W:THE KNIGHT
W:Or what is louder than the horn
W:Or what is sharper than the thorn?
W:
W:THE LADY
W:And thunder is louder than the horn,
W:And hunger is sharper than the thorn.
W:
W:When she these questions answered had
W:The knight became exceeding glad.
W:
W:And after it was verified
W:He made of her his lovely bride.