Three Ladies Playing at Ball- T.W. (Ches) c.1790s Child K
[My date, sung in the 1700s. From Notes and Queries, Dec. 11, 1869 comes this related text from T.W. after a reply from C. W. Barkley(see both below at bottom of this page). Though clearly related it's hard to call this a version: the ladies responses vary, no wedding is suggested and no murder takes place!!
R. Matteson 2018]
Three Ladies Playing at Ball- sent by T.W. and published in Notes and Queries, 4th S., IV, 517, as "sung in Cheshire amongst the people" in the last century.
1 There were three ladies playing at ball,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary
There came three knights and looked over the wall.
Sing O the red rose and the white lilly
2 The first young knight, he was clothed in red,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary
And he said, 'Gentle lady, with me will you wed?'
Sing O the red rose and the white lilly
3 The second young knight, he was clothed in blue,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary
And he said, 'To my love I shall ever be true.'
Sing O the red rose and the white lilly
4 The third young knight, he was clothed in green,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary
And he said, 'Fairest maiden, will you be my queen?'
Sing O the red rose and the white lilly
5 The lady thus spoke to the knight in red,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary
'With you, sir knight, I never can wed.'
Sing O the red rose and the white lilly
6 The lady then spoke to the knight in blue,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary
And she said, 'Little faith I can have in you.'
Sing O the red rose and the white lilly
7 The lady then spoke to the knight in green,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary
And she said, ''Tis at court you must seek for a queen.'
Sing O the red rose and the white lilly
8 The three young knights then rode away,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary
And the ladies they laughed, and went back to their play.
Singing O the red rose and the white lilly
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"THERE WERE THREE LADIES PLAYING AT BALL" [Notes and Queries Dec. 11, 1869]
(1" S. vi. 53; 2»d S. v. 171; 4th S. iv. 300.) In Aytoun's Ballads of Scotland a version of this ballad is given under the name of "Fine Flowers i' the Valley." He says in the introduction, this is the most popular of all the Scottish ballads, being commonly recited and sung even at the present dav. Sometimes a different refrain is employed, as in the copy given by Mr. Jamieson under the name of " The Cruel Brother," which commences thus:—
"There was three ladies plav'd at the ba',
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
There cam a knight and play'd o'er them a',
As the primrose spreads so sweetly."
It appears that a version of the same ballad is popular in some parts of England, where it is known as "The Three Knights." In it also the refrain differs; the first stanza, according to Mr. Bell, running as follows :—
"There did three knights come from the west, With the high and the lily, O! And these three knights courted one lady, As the rose was so sweetly blown." The ballad was first printed in Herd's collection, though in rather an imperfect form. The subjoined version is taken down from recitation:— "There were three sisters in a ha', Fine flowers i' the valley j There came three lords amang them a', The red, green, and the yellow." See Aytoun's Ballads of Scotland, vol. i. p. 224. I should be glad to see a copy of W. M. T.'s version. C. W. Barkley.
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The following is a copy of the ballad, sung in Cheshire amongst the people in the last century: —
"There were three ladies playing at ball,
Gilliver[1], Gentle, and Rosemary:
There came three Knights and looked over the wall,
Sing, O the Red Rose and the White Lilly.
'The first young Knight he was clothed in Red,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary:
And he said,' Gentle ledy, with me will you wed?
Sing, O the Red Rose and the White Lilly.
' The second young Knight he was clothed in Blue,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary:
And he said,' To my love I shall ever be true,'
Sing, O the Red Rose and the White Lilly.
"The third young Knight he was clothed in Green,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary:
And he said,' Fairest maiden, will yon be my queen?'
Sing, O the Red Rose and the White Lilly.
"The Lady thus spoke to the Knight in Red,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary:
'With you, Sir Knight, I never can wed.'
Sing, O the Red Rose and the White Lilly.
"The Lady then spoke to the Knight in Blue,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary:
And she said, 'Little faith I can have in you.'
Sing, O the Bed Bose and the White Lilly.
"The La dy then spoke to the Knight in Green,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary:
And she said,' 'Tis at Court you must seek for a queen.'
Sing, O the Red Rose and the White Lilly.
"The three young Knights then rode away,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary:
And the ladies they laughed, and went back to their play—
Singing, 0 the Red Rose and the White Lilly."
T.W.
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1. probably for "gilliflower"