The Jeweler's Daughter- Griffin (GA-FL) 1877 Morris
[From Folksongs of Florida; Morris, 1950, p. 302-303. His notes follow.
R. Matteson 2015]
SIR HUGH, OR, THE JEW'S DAUGHTER
(Archive 981-A2; Child, No. 155)
Two variants of this ballad have been found in Florida, but only one is presented here. The title "The Jeweler's Daughter" is an interesting variation occasioned by oral transmission.
"The Jeweler's Daughter." Recorded from the singing of Mrs. G. A. Griffin of Newberry, who learned this song in Dooly County, Georgia, from her father a native Georgian before 1877.
It rains, it pours, it rains, it pours,
It rains both night and day.
The prettiest boy in our whole town
Came down there playing ball.
They tossed the ball so high, so low,
And then again so low;
They tossed it onto the jeweler's garden,
Where man was daredn't to go.
Down stepped the jeweler's daughter,
Dressed in green and yellow,
'Come in, come in, my pretty little boy,
And get your ball again.;
"I can't and I shan't and I won't come in,
Without my playmates all,
For that would get to my mother's ears;
Her tears would surely fall."
She showed to him an apple seed,
And then a gay gold ring
She showed him a cherry rose red,
And that's what 'ticed him in.
She takened him by his lily-white hand,
And led him through the wall;
She led him into the chamber room,
There none could hear him call.
She pinned him in a silver chair,
She pinned him with a pin;
She shined a basin both bright and brass
For to catch his heart's blood in.
"O nurse me, nurse me, now of never,
O nurse me now or never;
If I ever live to be a man,
I'll give you a veil forever.