The Two Brothers- Berry (VA) c1887 Flanders C
[My date, none given. From Flanders; Ancient Ballads, 1966. Notes by Coffin follow. The informant is apparently Elizabeth Hency (1877-1959) who married Will Berry (b. 1876).
R. Matteson 2014]
The Twa Brothers
(Child 49)
This ballad, which seems to be unknown in England (Child's versions are all from Scotland), is quite easy to find in the New world. The story, however, is seldom constant, except in the fact that one brother is slain. Child A-F give a mutual sweetheart as a cause of trouble between the brothers, but the killing is nor always purposeful or even over the girl. In Child A, E, and F the killing is accidental; in other Anglo-American versions it is over land disputes, birds, or simply due to frustration during a scuffle. Frequently, a testament ending is attached; sometimes, as in Child D-G, the entire "Edward" ballad concludes the story. The dying brother may send messages to his roved ones; sometimes he wants them to know the truth, other times he wants to mislead them. Phillips Barry (BFSSNE, V, 6 f.) presents the idea that the motivation for the crime is in an incestuous love the two boys hold for their sister, and versions such as the Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles K text in English Folk songs from the Southern Appalachians [Oxford, 1932], I, 76 f.) support his thesis. Bur one is never quite certain what the details of the story are going to be when he encounters a new text of "The Twa Brothers." Barry (British Ballads from Maine, 105) argues that the American texts of the song may be older than the Child texts. He could well be right. Certainly, the borrowing of the testament from "Edward" and the request for a dead man's kiss from "Sweet William's Ghost" might lead one to think the Child versions were losing their individuality" At any rate, a study of the ballad should take into account Barry's thesis. One might also consult Alton Morris' article in SFQ, VIII, 140, and the discussion by Jane Zielonko, "Some American Variants of Child Ballads" (Master's thesis, Columbia University, 1945), 76 t- Coffin, 60-62; and Belden, 33-34, are helpful in starting a complete bibliography.
The A version below has been printed twice as "Edward" (Child 13). It is actually a rather confused remodeling of "The Twa Brothers" story after an "Edward" ending has become attached in the fashion typical to Child D-G. The implication of the mother in the crime (stanza 26), after stanza 5 informs us that the killing occurred because of frustration during the fight, makes little sense. The Flanders B version is more orthodox and like Chiid B. Here, the sweetheart is called Susan (the usual American name; Child has "Margaret"); the body which has been mourned from its grave is asked for a kiss; and the crime seems purposeful.
However, the opening needs some explanation. At first glance, line I makes the reader think the killing is over by the time the song opens. But this is merely confusing syntax and line I makes reference only to that Martyr John who was lately killed. C and D are fragments also in the general tradition of which Child B is a Part.
The six tunes for Chitd 49 can be divided into three groups, as follows: 1) Kennison tune I, Kennison tune III, and Barry, which correspond to BCI grouP A; 2) Delorme, and possibly Kennison tune II, which correspond to BCI group ts; and 3) the Edwards tune, which corresponds to the Appendix to Child 49 in BCI.
C. The Two Brothers. As sung by Mrs. Will Barry of Belvidere, Vermont. She does not recall where she learned, it but said: "It is one of the songs I used to hear sung when a very smail child." M. Olney, Collector Structure: A B1 A B2 (2,2,2,2); undulating; Scale: hexatonic t.c. D. For mel. rel. see DV, 564 (11 I); SharpI, 66 (distant), and 75; ROl, 79 and 76 (distant).
The Two Brothers
Two little brothers were going to school,
Were going to school one day,
But instead of going to school that day,
They thought they'd disobey.
The oldest one stood a knife in hand,
It was both tall and sharp;
He pierced it through his brother's side
And then through his heart.
"Oh, take my shirt off from my back
And tear it from gore to gore
And tie it around my bleeding heart
So blood won't flow any more."
He took his shirt oft from his back
And tore it from gore to gore
And tied it around his bleeding heart
But the blood flowed still more and more.
"Dear me, dear me, when you get home,
If mamma is weeping for me,
Tell her that I am in yonders land
To learn my lessons free.
"Dear me, dear me, when you get home
If sister is weeping for me,
Tell her that I am in yonders land
To learn my lessons free."