The Little Boy- Purcell (VA) 1913/ back to c. 1760; Davis D
[My title, it was later titled by Davis (as sung by her sister in 1934) "Little Boy and the Ball." From Traditional Ballads of Virginia, Davis- 1929. Notes by Davis follow.
This is an example of the "nurse/sister/maid picking a chicken" version which is categorized by McCabe as Group III ii. Davis's notes for Purcell's version of "Old Bang 'Em" say, "As handed down from her great grandfather, who lived at least 150 years ago." Bronson dates it, c. 1760. Even if this is an exaggeration (Evelyn's mother was Elizabeth Ashton Garret Purcell who learned many of her ballads in the early 1890s) it still dates this back to the 1700s.
Davis CC (recorded in 1934, published in 1960 in More TBVa) is from Margaret Purcell who must be Evelyn's younger sister. The text is very similar and a tune has been added.
Since they are from the same source I'll give the notes below but will not present another version. Davis does not even mention in More TBVa (1960) that Davis D and Davis CC are from the same source (Elizabeth Purcell) as sung by sisters.
R. Matteson 2015]
TRADITIONAL BALLADS OF VIRGINIA NOTES
SIR HUGH, or, THE JEW'S DAUGHTER
(Child, No. 155)
This familiar old ballad is founded upon what passed for an actual occurrence in England in the year 1255. Child summarizes the story told by a contemporary writer in the Annals of Waverley, in these words: "A boy in Lincoln, named Hugh, was crucified by the Jews in contempt of Christ, with various preliminary tortures. To conceal the act from Christians, the body, when taken from the cross, was thrown into a running stream, but the water would not endure the wrong done its maker, and immediately ejected it upon dry land. The body was then buried in the earth, but was found above ground the next day; The guilty parties were now very much frightened and quite at their wit's end; as a last resort they threw the corpse into a drinking-well. Thereupon the whole place was filled with so brilliant a light and so sweet an odor that it was clear to everybody that there must be something holy and prodigious in the well. The body was seen floating on the water, and, upon, its being drawn up, the hands and feet were found to be pierced, the head had, as it were, a crown of bloody points, and there were various other wounds, from all which it was. plain that this was the work of the abominable Jews. A blind woman, touching the bier on which the blessed martyr's corpse was carrying to the church, received her sight, and many other miracles followed. Eighteen Jews, convicted of the crime, and confessing it with their own mouth, were hanged." Additional circumstances are supplied by other contemporary or near--contemporary writers, and many other instances of child murder, or pretended child-murder by the Jews, with horrible Christian reprisals, are cited by Child, who concludes that they are "only a part of a persecution which, with all moderation, may be rubricated as the most disgrace chapter in the history of the human race."
The English ballads founded upon the Hugh of Lincoln incident of course depart a good deal from the original occurrence, and doubtless, in the course of long tradition, from their original form. The story told by most of the Virginia texts is this: some little boys are playing ball, and one tosses the ball into the Jew's garden, where no one dares to go'. The Jew's daughter invites the boy in, but he refuses because he fears he may not come out again. She entices him in with- a red apple or other attraction, leads him to a remote part of the house where none may hear him call, and there sticks him with a pin and stabs him with a carving-knife, after providing a basin in which to catch his heart's blood. (In D and F, the boy finds his own nurse within, picking a chicken; but she is deaf to his entreaties. Compare Child H and K. The boy asks that a Bible be put at his head, a prayer book at his feet, that his mother be told that he is asleep, his playmates that he is dead. In D and E, I and J, he is carried away and thrown into a deep well.
The sixteen Virginia texts, which clearly represent more than one version, show their closest relationship to the Child series G, H, I, J, K, but the likeness is by no means exact in any case. Stanza A 6 and the corresponding stanza in other Virginia texts are most.like child F4 and N6. In Virginia text is the boy named (except in the title, which may be the work of the collector). The subsequent action of Child A-F, in which the mother sets out to seek her son, converses with him miraculously in the well, and finally has his body returned to her, with attendant miracles, is entirely lacking in the Virginia texts.
"The Jew's Daughter" is the most usual Virginia title, but "It Rained a Mist," "The Little School Boy," and "A Little Boy Threw His Ball So High" are also known. "Sir Hugh" and "Little Harry Hughes" are doubtless borrowed. Seven melodies are given, some related, some quite distinct.
For American texts see Belden, No, 8 (fragment); Bulletin, Nos. 2-5, 7, 9, 11; Campbell and Sharp, No. 26 (North Carolina, Child, III, 248 (Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York from Newell's Games and Sings of American Children); Cox, No. 9; Hudson, No. 17 (and, Journal, XXXIX 108 Mississippi) Jones, p. 301; Journal, xv, 195 (reprinted from the New York Tribune August 17, 1902, H. E. Krehbiel) ; xix, 293 (Belden, Missouri, Kentucky) XXIX, 164 (Tolman, Indiana, Connecticut); xxxv, 344 Tolman and Eddy, Iads, text and melody); xxxix, 212 (Rinker, Pennsylvania); Pound, Ballads No. 5; Scarborough, p. 53 Virginia, text and melody, Alabama from The University of Virginia Magazine, December, 1912); Shearin, p. 4, Shearin and Combs, p. 8; C. A. Smith, p. 15 (New York from Newell Games and Songs of American Children, Virginia, three melodies only, Alabama, text and melody); Reed Smith, Ballad No. 11. For additional references, see Cox, p. 120: Journal, xxix, 164; xxx, 322; xxxv, 344.
D. [The Little Boy] originally titled "Sir Hugh, or The Jew's Daughter." Reported by Prof. James M. Grainger, of the Farmville Ballad Club. Contributed by Miss Evelyn Purcell, of Schuyler (Nelson County), Va. Albemarle County. November 20, 1913. The ballad can be traced back to Miss Purcell's great-grandfather's time. Printed in the Focus for December, 1913.
1 The little boy threw his ball so high,
The little boy threw it so low,
He threw it into a dusty garden
Among some flakes of snow.
2 "Come hither, come hither, my sweet little boy,
And you shall have your ball."
"I'll neither come hither, I'll neither come there,
Neither will I come for my ball."
3 She showed him an apple as yellow as gold,
She showed him a bright gold ring,
She showed him a cherry as red as blood,
And that enticed him in.
4 She enticed this little boy out of the hall,
She enticed him into the kitchen,
And there he met with his own dear nurse,
Picking of a chicken.
5 "Pray spare my life, my own dear nurse,
Pray spare my life or else never,
For if ever I live to be a man,
We'll spend our remains together."
6 "I'll neither spare your life, I'll neither spare your life,
For I minded you but when a babe;
I've been cleaning this basin the whole day long
To catch your heart's blood in."
7 She sat him down in a golden chair,
She fed him with sugar and sweet,
She laid him down on a dusty board
And stabbed him like a sheep.
8 "Pray put my Bible at my head,
My prayer-book at my feet,
And if any of my playmates should call for me,
Pray tell them I'm dead and asleep."
9 Some take hold of locks of hair,
And others the sole of his feet,
And drag him down in a deep dry well
Fifteen fathoms deep.
10 Some take hold of locks of hair,
And others the sole of his feet,
And drag him down in a deep dry well
Where weary travelers sleep.
_____________________________
From Davis, More Traditional Ballad of Virginia; 1960. His notes follow.
CC. "Little Boy and the 8all." Contributed by Miss Margaret Purcell, of Greenwood, Va. Sung by her mother, Elizabeth Ashton Garrett Purcell (Mrs. S. H.) of Greenwood, in the early 1890's. May, 1934. Tune noted by Winston Wilkinson. According to Mr. Wilkinson, stanzas 3, 4, 6, and 7 are sung to the second half of the tune. E. C. Mead describes this as "an exceptionally fine Mixolydian tune," and points to its "simple rounded binary form, expressive arch." The stanzaic divisions are peculiar, but seem to be correct. See the note above, as to singing.
[The text is nearly identical, some stanzas are combined; music upcoming]
1 A little boy threw his ball so high,
A little boy threw it so low,
He threw it into a dusty garden
Among some blades of snow.
"Come hither, come hither, my sweet little boy,
And you shall have your ball."
"I'll neither come hither, I'll neither come there,
Neither will I come for my ball."
2. She showed him an apple as yellow as gold,
She showed him a bright gold ring,
She showed him a cherry as red as blood,
And that enticed him in.
She enticed this little boy into the hall,
She enticed him into the kitchen,
And there she met with his own dear nurse,
Picking of a chicken.
3 "Pray spare my life, my own dear nurse,
Pray spare my life or else never,
And if ever I live to be a man,
We'll spend our remains together."
4 "I'll neither spare your life, I'll neither spare my life,
For I minded You but when a babe,
I've been cleaning this basin,
To catch your heart's blood in."
5. She sat him in a golden chair,
And fed him of sugar and sweet,
She laid him down on a dusty board
And stabbed him like a sheep.
And if any of my playmates shou1d call for me,
Pray tell them I'm dead and asleep."
6 Some take hold of locks of hair,
And others the soles of his feet,
And lower him down in a deep dry well,
Fifteen fathoms deep.
7 Some take hold of locks of hair,
And others the soles of his feet,
And lower him down in a deep dry well,
Where weary travelers sleep.