The Lass of Aughrim- Mahon (MI) c.1830 Child H
[From: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis J. Child; version H, Volume 3: Ballads 54-82; Published June 1885.
The Lass of Aughrim is a version of the broadside "The Lass of Ocram" c. 1740 one of the earliest versions of the ballad. It was collected by Mr. G.C. Mahon, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, as sung by a laborer, at Tyrrelspass, West Meath, Ireland, about 1830. Certainly this version can be considered both a US version and an English (Irish) version.
Mr. Mahon, December, 1884, May, 1885: "I find myself quite unable to arrange the fragments of the 'Lass of Aughrim' in anything like decent symmetry. The idea that I have of the arrangement is that the Lass begins with a sort of soliloquy, lamenting her condition; that she sings this at the door of a castle, shut against her; that she hears Gregory's voice within, and then appeals to him for admittance; and then comes the dialogue between them.
"The [third] stanza, as I heard the thing sung, was repeated as a burden after all the succeeding stanzas, even when the Lad and not the Lass speaks; but I do not think it followed the [first two] stanzas; they were a sort of introduction."
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
The Lass of Aughrim- Version H; The Lass of Roch Royal Child 76
Communicated by Mr. G.C. Mahon, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, as sung by a laborer, at Tyrrelspass, West Meath, Ireland, about 1830.
1 'Oh who'll comb my yellow locks,
With the brown berry comb?
And who'll be the child's father,
Until Gregory comes home?'
2 'Oh . . . . .
And God will be the child's father,
Until Gregory comes home.'
* * * * *
3 'The dew wets my yellow locks,
The rain wets my skin,
The babe's cold in my arms,
Oh Gregory, let me in!'
4 'Oh if you be the lass of Aughrim,
As I suppose you not to be,
Come tell me the last token
Between you and me.'
The dew wets my skin.
5 'Oh Gregory, don't you remember
One night on the hill,
When we swapped rings off each other's hands,
Sorely against my will?'
Mine was of the beaten gold,
Yours was but black tin.'
The dew wets my skin.
6 'Oh if you be the lass of aughrim,
As I suppose you not to be,
Come tell me the last token
Between you and me.'
The dew wets my skin.
7 'Oh Gregory don't you remember
One night on the hill,
When we swapped smocks off each other's backs,
Sorely against my will?
Mine was of the holland fine,
Yours was but Scotch cloth.'
The dew wets my skin.
8 'Oh if you be the lass of Aughrim,
As I suppose you not to be,
Come tell me the last token
Between you and me.'
The dew wets my skin.
9 'Oh Gregory, don't you remember,
In my father's hall,
When you had your will of me?
And that was worse than all.'
. . . . .
. . . . .
The dew wets my skin.