The Turkish Lady- Leake (VA) 1918 Davis I
[Fragment from Traditional Ballad of Virginia; Kyle Davis Jr.; 1929. His notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
YOUNG BEICHAN
(Child, No. 53)
In Virginia the ballad is known as "Lord Bateman," "The Turkish Lady," or as "Lord Bateman and the Turkish Lady." This would indicate, what is indeecl the case, that the Virgina variants are closely related to Child L, "The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman." The story is well known, Lord Bateman, an Englishman of high degree is discontented and must take a sea voyage. He is captured by the Turks and imprisoned. A lady, daughter of his Turkish captor, sees him in prison and is enamored of him. The attraction is mutual, and after they have vowed that for seven long years neither would wed another, she sets him free and he returns home. At the end of this period, having heard nothing of him, lover, she sets out to find him. Lord Bateman has just brought home his bride but when his Turkish love appears he bids the bride's mother take back her daughter, who is none the worse for him, and forthwith he marries the Turkish lady. The Virginia variants, in the main, follow Child L fairly closely, but often they show traces not found in the Child version, such as the hole bored in the captive's shoulder (see other child versions), the lady's statement that she wants not his gold and silver but only his body, and the naming of India rather than England as the home of the noble lord. There are also certain fairly persistent exclusions, such as the stanza about the tree in the prison (Child L3) and that about the harbor and the ship of fame (Child L 9). But the likenesses are quite sufficient to prove
a common source.
Child says that, " 'Young Beichan,' is a favorite ballad, and most deservedly. There are beautiful repetitions of the story in the ballads of other nations, and it has secondary affinities with the extensive cycle of 'Hind Horn,' the parts of the principal actors in the one being inverted in the other." The story of the ballad he points out, agrees in general outline, and also in some details, with a well-known legend about Gilbert Beket, father of St. Thomas, which legend he recounts at length. but his conclusion is, "That our ballad has been affected by the legend of Gilbert Beket is altogether likely. . . But the ballad is not derived from the legend."
For American texts, see Barry, No. 12; Brown, p. 9 (North Carolina); Bulletin,Nos. 2, 3, 5-9, 12; Campbell and Sharp, No. 12 (North Carolina, Kentucky); Cox No.8; Hudson, No. 8 (Mississippi); Journal, XVIII, 209 (Barry, Mass.); XX, 251 (Kittredge, Kentucky); XXVI, 64 (Beatty, Kentucky), 78 (Barry, Pennsylvania, melody only) XXIII, 451 (Barry, Pennsylvania, melody; the Forget-me-not Songster text); XXVI, 353 (Pound, Nebraska, fragment); XXVII, 149, (Perrow, North Carolina); XXX, 294 (Kittredge, Indiana, West Virginia, North Carolina, all fragments); Mackenzie, p. 115; Mackenzie, Ballads, No. 5, p. 392 (melody); Pound, Syllabus, p. 9 (fragment); Pound Ballads no. 14; Shearin p. 4 (fragment); Shearin and Combs p. 7; Reed Smith No. 3 (text and melody) Reed Smith, No. 3; Wyman and Brockway, p. 54. For additional references, see Journal XXX, 294.
I. "The Turkish Lady." Collected by Miss. Martha M. Davis. Sung by Mrs. Leake of Harrisonburg, Va., Rockingham County. November 21, 1918.
1 "I sailed east, I sailed west,
I sailed to the Turkey shore,
And there I was taken and put in prison,
With hopes of freedom nevermore."