The Cruel Brother- Roberts (Miss.) 1926
[From Ballads and Songs from Mississippi by Arthur Palmer Hudson; B version. The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 39, No. 152 (Apr. - Jun., 1926), pp. 93-194. Hudson's notes taken from Kittredge follow.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
1. EDWARD. (Child No. 13.)
See Campbell and Sharp, No. 7; Sharp, American-English Folk-Songs, Ist Series, No. I; Focus, III, 394, 395, 398--399; Combs Ms., fols. 14-15 (cf. Shearin and Combs, Syllabus, p. 7; Modern Language Review, VI, 514; Sewanee Review, July, 1911). Cf. Journal, XXVII, 62; XXVIII, 200--202; Virginia Bulletin, Nos. 2-4, 6. Perrow reports the ballad from Kentucky. For the first stanza see Child's C.
B. "The Cruel Brother." Communicated by Miss Annie Laurie Roberts, Poplarville, Mississippi; written down from memory by Jesse Harvey, a pupil in the Pearl River County Agricultural High School.
1. "What made you kill your brother, my son,
My son, pray tell it to me?"
"For cutting down that little bush
Which might have made a tree."
2. "What will you do when your father comes home,
My son, pray tell it to me?"
"I'll put my foot on yonders boat
And sail all over the sea."
3. "What will you do with your children, my son,
My son, pray tell it to me ?"
"I'll leave them with you, dear mother,
To keep you company."
4. "What will you do with your house and land,
My son, pray tell it to me?"
"I'll leave them here with you, dear mother,
To set my children free."
5. "What will you do with your wife, my son,
My son pray tell it to me?"
"I'll put her foot on yonders boat
And let her sail with me."
6. "When are you coming home, my son,
My son, pray tell it to me?"
"When the sun goes down on yonders high hill,
Which you know that never shall be."