[Sweet William] Earl Brand- Mary Sands (North Carolina) 1916 Sharp B
[My Title. This is Sharp Version B from EFSSA. The name Barbary in stanza 12 is from Barbara Allen which has become mixed in at the end. The "rose twined briar" motif is sometimes found at the end of US/Canada versions of Earl Brand.]
[SWEET WILLIAM] EARL BRAND- Mrs. Mary Sands Allanstand, North Carolina, Aug., 1, 1916- EFSSA Sharp Version B
[View Music]
1. He rode up to her father's gate,
So boldly he did say,
You may keep your oldest daughter,
For the youngest I'll take away.
2. He jumped upon the milk-white steed
And she rode the dapple grey,
And he hung a bugle horn all about his neck
And so went sounding away.
3. He had not got but a mile or two
Till he looked back over the main,
And he saw her father and her seven brothers all
Come trippling over the lane.
4. "Get down, get down, get down," says he,
"And hold this steed by the mane,
Till I play awhile with your father," he says,
"Yes, and your seven brethren."
5. She got down and never spoke,
Nor never cheeped
Till she saw her own father's head
Come trinkling by her feet.
6 "Hold your hand, Sweet William," she says,
"Pray hold your hand for sure,
For love runs free in every vein,
But father I'll have no more."
7 "If you hain't pleased at this," he says,
"If you hain't pleased, says he,
I'll wished you was at home in your mother's chambery
And me in some house or room."
8. "Go wind you east, go wind you west,
I will go along with you."
And he hung a bugle all round about his neck,
And so went bleeding away.
9. But when he got to his mother's hall,
He jingled at the ring;
"O dear mother, sleep or awake,
Rise and let me in."
10. "Sister, sister make my bed,
My wounds are very sore.
O dear mother, bind my head,
You'll never bind it more.
11. It was about three hours before day,
The chickens began to crow,
And every breath that he did draw
His heart's blood begin to flow.
12. Sweet William died of the wounds he got
And Barbary died for sorrow,
And the old woman died for the love of them both
And was buried on Easter Monday.