The Jew's Maiden- Bull (CT) 1907 Tolman B
[From: Some Songs Traditional in the United States, p. 165 JAF, Vol. 29, April-June 1916, by Albert Tolman. Kittredge's notes follow.
R. Matteson 2015]
Mr. S. M. Clement gave me the following copy in March, 1914, with this note: "The following ballad was taken down by me, exactly as sung by Mr. Ludlow S. Bull (Yale, 1907). He told me, when he gave me the words, that he had never seen them in print, but that his mother had often sung them to him when he was a child. She in turn had heard them sung to her by her mother. I think the family lived in Connecticut originally." — G. L. K.
B. [The Jew's Maiden] - sung by Mr. Ludlow S. Bull (Yale, 1907)
1. There was a little boy,
Who tossed his ball so high;
There was a little boy,
Who tossed his ball so low ;
2. He tossed his ball so low,
He tossed his ball so high,
He tossed it into a merry Jew's garden,
Where all the Jews do lie.
3. Then out came a merry Jew's maiden,
All dressed up in green;
"Come here, come here, my little boy,
And fetch your ball again."
4. She enticed him with an apple,
She enticed him with a pear,
She enticed him with a cherry red,
And so she enticed him there.
5. She led him through the garden,
She led him through the hall,
She led him through the kitchen,
Amid the servants all.
6. She sat him on a chair of gold
And gave him sugar sweet;
She laid him on the dresser
And killed him like a sheep.
7. She took him to the bedroom
And laid him on the bed;
She put a bible at his feet
And a prayer-book at his head.
8. She put a prayer-book at his head
And a bible at his feet;
And all the people that passed by
Thought the little boy was asleep.