The Fair Sisters- Smiths (VA) 1844 Davis AA
[From Davis, More Traditional Ballad of Virginia, 1960. Davis' extensive notes follow.
Thomas P. Smith, the informant, collected songs and ballads for the Brown Collection when he lived in Zionville, NC from about 1914 onward. Some 20 years later he "contributed" this version to Kyle Davis Jr. By then Smith had moved to Palmyra, Virginia within Davis' collecting region. Smith is well aware of the Child ballads and I'm sure had access to or had a copy of Child's ESPB. Several of the Smith's contributions are of questionable authenticity and in my opinion this version is a recreation. Davis, I'm sure was aware of the Smith's questionable contributions (especially after the King Orpheo version!) and excluded at least one and noted others. There's no way to tell for certain, but after studying hundreds of texts its clear that this has too many unusual (i.e. not traditional) textual passages and short phrases to be accepted by me as traditional- even the title is exceptional- The Fair Sisters- not found in any other title. Stanza 2 (but he dearly loved the youngest one), stanza 4 (silken dress), stanza 8, stanza 10, stanza 11, the last stanzas seem copied from Child B with minor changes. This was sent in to Davis without corroboration and was not recorded.
Another, and most important, determining factor is: If Smith had this ballad in 1914- why didn't he give it to Brown and the Brown Collection- since he was eager to contribute everything he had? After checking, there is a MS in the Abrams collection (no name) that is identical with some rewritten parts to Smith's- only this version was poorly rewritten- because it kept too much of Child B to be viewed as authentic. "Bow down once to me" is the Smith's second refrain- the problem is- there are no other versions with this refrain, so the Abrams MS "Twa Sisters- Variant 5," also came from Thomas P. Smith. It's too great a coincidence to be otherwise.
Here's the first stanza of Abrams MS, variant 5:
1. There was a king lived in the West
Bow down, Bow down
There was a king lived in the West
Bow once to me
There was a king lived in the West
He had two daughters of the best
I will be true, true to my love
And my love will be true to me.
It's identical to Davis AA and no other version. Now look at the last stanza of Abrams MS where Smith copied Child B too carefully:
15. The lasten tune that he playd then
Bow down, bow down
The lasten tune that he playd then
Bow once to me
The lasten tune that he playd then
Was, 'Woe to my sister, fair El-len,
For I will be true, true to my love
An my love will be true to me.
Compare it now to that last stanza of Davis AA. Clearly Abrams and probably Brown editors rejected this as being an adaptation of Child B since that stanza Child B begins identically: "The lasten tune that he playd then," --clearly this is a direct copy and not traditional. The Smith's at least changed it somewhat (see last stanza below) so it wouldn't be so obvious to Davis.
Davis, and I'm sure Thomas P. Smith, were well aware that US versions with the "resuscitation ritual" (Barry 1930s) are very rare. Since Davis had not collected this rare version he accepted the Smith's offering- caveat emptor! The ballad is added to my collection with these qualifying notes.
R. Matteson 2014]
THE TWA SISTERS
(Child, No. 10)
One of the few old ballads that Child found to be still extant in oral tradition, "The Twa Sisters', is rich in American texts. Coffin moreover, accredits it with "more American story variations than any other ballad."
The narratives of the English and Scottish versions fall into two broad categories on the basis of the action after the older sister, motivated by jealousy, pushes the younger into the sea: one in which the body of the drowned girl is brought ashore by a miller, and some part of it is made into a musical instrument which reveals the murder; and the other in which the girl is rescued by a miller who robs her, then pushes her in again and is subsequently hanged for the deed. In general, the American texts preserve the second form and omit the musical instrument material, which is preserved in only one exceptional Virginia version, AA. This version resembles Child B in its narrative detail, but has the "bow down, true to my love" refrain of Child R, S, U, Y, Z. The wicked sister, previously unnamed in Virginia, is here named Elinder (compare with Ellen of Child B), and this may possibly be a variant introduced from "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet." AA is truly a collector's item, as a glance at coffin's survey will show.
As evidenced by narrative detail and refrain, the Virginia versions of "The Twa Sisters" normally belong with child, R, S, U, Y, Z, in which the villainous miller is executed for murdering the girl- (although the method of discovery is not revealed) -a form of the ballad which child considered "entirely wanting in ancient authority." FF, a fragment with "Hey, ho, my honey O," refrain, belongs with Child G and J. Most of tire Virginia texts belong to coffin's Story Type A, except that AA and possibly FF represent story types not recognized by him.
There is a tendency in both the British and American versions for this ballad to become abbreviated by the loss of narrative material subsequent to the lines in which the older sister pushes the younger into the sea, or the lines in which the miller pushes her in again. The closing of the ballad on these scenes introduces a comic effect which is heightened when the tune is not sung in a completely traditional manner. JJ verges dangerously close to burlesque, and for this reason has been relegated to last place among the newly collected material.
The many variants of the "true to my love" refrain lend a moving and simple lyrical quality much -more appropriate to the traditional nature of the ballad. The refrains have received considerable scholarly attention: see Barry, BFSSNE, III, 11; Mellinger, JAFL, XLV, 2; and for a discussion of the use of the refrain in dance games, see Botkin, The American Play Party Song, pp. 59 ff.
Following the extremely rare text AA, without tune, this ballad offers a number of beautiful tunes, most of them meticulously transcribed with all significant variants, from phonographic recordings. See the headnotes to individual versions of variants to follow. There are also interesting textual variations. Since Child printed a larger number of versions of this ballad (twenty-seven) than of any other ballad except one ("Mary Hamilton," No. 173, since this ballad has more American story variants than any other ballad, and especially since eight of the ten texts given here have distinctive tunes and the two without tunes (AA and II) are significant variants, it has seemed impossible to exclude any of the ten. TBVa, printed ten of a dozen available texts, plus six tunes. The ten given here represent fully the subsequent Virginia collection.
The ballad survives vigorously in recent English and Scottish tradition, especially Scottish, and has Continental affiliates in many languages. See Dean-Smith' Greig-Keith, Child.
Bronson (I, 143-84) prints a total of 97 musical versions or variants (plus texts), divided into four major groups: Group A, with twenty-two variants, contains most of the older or Scottish records, with the "Binnorie" refrain; Group B, by far the largest group of fifty variants subdivided into six parts, includes a few English and the greater portion of recent American variants, which generally keep to elaborate and repetitious "Bow down" refrains; Group C, of only three variants, is entirely Scottish and has the "Edinburgh, Edinburgh" refrain; Group D, with a sparse seven variants from Scotland, Ireland, and the United States, has the swan-refrain; and Group E contains a total of nine "anomalies." Here, as always with Bronson, the basic principle of classification is musical and rather too complicated and technical for satisfactory summary. All six of the Virginia tunes of TBVa he classifies under one or another subdivision of Group B. Under the rarer Group D he lists the text of TBVa K, which here reappears, with its tune now supplied, as FF below, a rarity of Scottish extraction of the seven tunes below, six (BB, CC, DD, EE, GG, and JJ) belong to one or another subdivision of Bronson's Group B; the seventh, FF, falls into Bronson's Group D.
AA. "The Fair Sisters." Contributed by R. E. Lee Smith, of 'Palmyra, Va., by his brother, Thomas P. Smith, of Palmyra, and himself. They learned it from the singing of their father, Bennet Smith, who "learned it over seventy years ago from Cox Ladier, Fluvanna County. February, 1914. The refrain lines are repeated because they show some variation from stanza to stanza.
1 There was a king lived in the west,
Bow down, bow down,
There was a king lived in the west,
Bow down once to me,
There was a king lived in the west,
He had two daughters of the best.
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
2 A brave knight courted the eldest one,
Bow down, bow down,
[A brave knight courted the eldest one,
Bow down once to me,][1]
The knight courted the eldest one,
But he dearly loved the youngest one.
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
3. He gave the youngest a fine gold ring,
Bow down, bow down,
He gave the youngest a fine gold ring,
Bow once to me,
He gave the youngest a fine gold ring,
And to the eldest he gave not a thing.
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
4. He gave the youngest a silken dress,
Bow down, bow down,
He gave the youngest a silken dress,
Bow once to me,
[He gave the youngest a silken dress,][1]
The eldest got mad at that.
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
5 One day as they walked by the riverside,
Bow down, bow down,
One day as they walked by the riverside,
Bow once more to me,
One day as they walked by the riverside,
[The eldest she pushed the youngest in.
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.][1]
6 The eldest she pushed the youngest in,
Bow down, bow down,
The eldest she pushed the youngest in,
Bow once to me,
The eldest she pushed the youngest in,
The youngest said it was a sin.
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
7 She swam till she came to the miller's pond,
Bow down, bow down,
She swam till she came to the miller's pond,
Bow once to me,
She swam till she came to the miller's pond,
And there she swam all round and round,
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
8. Out came the miller's son,
Bow down, bow down,
Out came the miller's son,
Bow once to me,
Out came the miller's son,
And saw the fair maid swimmin' in,
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
9. "O father, father, draw your dam,"
Bow down, bow down,
"Oh father, father, draw your dam,"
Bow once to me,
"Oh father, father, draw your dam,
There's either a merimaid or a swan."
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me."
10. The miller quickly drawed the dam,
Bow down, bow down,
The miller quickly drawed the dam,
Bow once to me,
The miller quickly drawed the dam,
And there he found a dead maid within.
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
11. And by there came a harper fine,
Bow down, bow down,
And by there came a harper fine,
Bow once to me,
And by there came a harper fine,
That harper to this king to dine.
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
12. He took three locks off her yellow hair,
Bow down, bow down,
He took three locks off her yellow hair,
Bow once to me,
He took three locks off her yellow hair,
And with them strung his harp so fair.
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
13. The first tune he plays and sings,
Bow down, bow down,
The first tune he plays and sings,
Bow once more to me,
The first tune he plays and sings,
"Alas, farewell, my father the king."
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
14. The next in that he played soon,
Bow down, bow down,
The next in that he played soon,
Bow once more to me,
The next in that he played soon,
"Alas, farewell to my mother the queen."
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
15. The last tune he played them,
Bow down, bow down,
The last tune he played them,
Bow once to me,
Was, "Woe to my sister fair Elinder."
I will be true to my love,
And my love will be true to me.
1.These lines are lacking in the Ms.and have been supplied by the editor.