The Jew's Daughter- Wise (OH) pre-1922 Eddy
[This version first appeared in the JOAFL. It was later included in Eddy's, Ballads and Songs from Ohio.]
From: Traditional Texts and Tunes
by Albert H. Tolman and Mary O. Eddy
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 35, No. 138 (Oct. - Dec., 1922), pp. 335-432
155. SIR HUGH, OR, THE JEW'S DAUGHTER.
Part I, 164-166; JAFL xxx, 322; Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, No. 26. Journal of the Folk-Song Society, v, 253-256; English County Songs, 86; Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs, 46.
The Jew's Daughter
Obtained by Miss Eddy from the singing of Mrs. Charles Wise, Perrysville, Ohio.
I. It rains, it mists, it rains, it mists,
It sprinkles all o - ver the plain,
And all of the boys in our town
Went out to toss their ball, ball, ball,
Went out to toss their ball.
2. At first they tossed it a little too high,
And then a little too low,
Over in the Jew's garden flew one of the balls,
Where no one dared to go.
3. Out came the Jew's daughter all dressed in silk,
Crying, "Come in, little boy,
Come in, come in, my pretty little boy!
You shall have your ball again."
4. "No, I won't come in, no, I sha'n't come in,
Unless my playmates do,
For ofttimes have I heard it said
Whoever went in should never come out again.'
5. At first she showed him a ripe yellow apple,
And then a gay, gold ring,
And next a cherry as red as blood,
To entice the little boy in.
6. She took him by his lily-white hand,
And drew him across the hall;
Down in the dark cellar she went with him,
Where no one could him amid [call].
7. And there she laid him upon a table
Beside a great bow-knife,
And called for a basin all lined with gold
To catch his heart-blood in.
8. "Lay my Bible at my head,
My prayer-book at my feet,
And when my playmates call for me,
Pray, tell them I'm asleep.
9. "Lay my prayer-book at my feet,
My Bible at my head,
And when my parents call for me,
Pray, tell them that I'm dead."