US and Canada Versions- Cambric Shirt; Strawberry Lane; Love's Impossibilities; Are you Going to Yonders Town; Where Are you Going?; Blow Ye Winds, Blow; Rose Mary in Time;
[Child's Version J, collected in 1828, is the oldest known US text, no title was given- see below. Barry, Eckstorm, and Smythe say in British Ballads from Maine, "This ballad seems to have been brought over early and to exist in purely traditional form." This supposes a date of the mid 1600s. (The editors- including Barry and Flanders- of the New Green Mountain Songster say this about the version of Amy Perkins, "must have been in tradition since the first half of the seventeenth century.") Although versions of this ballad were in the US in the early 1800s no authenticated record has been found taking it back even to the 1700s- yet it was surely in oral tradition in the US in the 1700s. The Perkins version can be taken back through family lines to perhaps the Revolutionary War but 1670 (date of Child A) is conjecture based on an archaic word found in her version.
Versions found in the US and Canada should not be titled Elfin Knight, since the Elfin Knight character is not directly part of the ballads. The standard first line will be used as the title in most cases.
The ballad is rare although it had some currency in the New England area including some broadsides and print versions. Child No. 2 was not as popular in the south, although the number of traditional version is greater than a dozen. It does not appear in Traditional Ballads of Virginia, for instance, but Davis found three versions later in the 1930s that were published in "More Ballads."
Also below are two articles and a book excerpt from Coffin. The JAFL article has one of the first published traditional versions (1894) with music from Miss Gertrude Decrow, of Boston (The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 7, No. 26 (Jul.- Sep., 1894), pp. 228-232). It's interesting to note the lack of early recordings of this and other US versions of the Child ballads.
Attached on the left hand column are various US and Canada versions, some with music. I'll list the contents immediately below. See "Main Headnotes" under "British & Other Versions."
R. Matteson 2011]
CONTENTS- (Click to open individual version attached to this page on left hand column or click on title)
1) Now You Are A-Going To Cape Ann- (MA) 1828--Rev. F. D. Huntington; Elfin Knight: Child Version J; Communicated by Rev. F. D. Huntington, Bishop of Western New York, as sung to him by his father in 1828, at Hadley, Mass.; derived from a rough, roystering "character" in the town.
2) Love Letter and Answer- (MA) 1831 broadside-- Barry C; British Ballad From Maine; Barry, Eckstorm and Smythe 1929; This broadside "Love-letter & Answer: And Father, Jerry & I," was "Sold wholesale and retail, by L. Deming, no. 1, south side Faneuil Hall, Boston, 1831. It's one of the earliest printed versions. According to Barry, "An old broadside in the Harris Collection of American Poetry, in Brown University Library, imprint: Sold with a variety of other articles by Hunts and Shaw, N.E. Corner of Faneuil Hall Market, Boston." Dated, 1836-1837 (G.L.K., JAFL, XXX, 284, n. 2). Not listed by Ford. Though not a Maine item, this is strictly a New England text and should be preserved for comparison with other forms."
3) Love's Impossibility- Songs for Million (MA) 1844--Traditional Ballads in New England II by Phillips Barry; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 18, No. 70 (Jul.- Sep., 1905), pp. 191-214; Version D; From "Songs for the Million," printed in this country about 1844. Contributed by J. E. W., Boston, Mass.
4) Can you make me a cambric shirt?- (PA) 1846 Bliss--Following J. O. Halliwell's 1842 book, The Nursery Rhymes of England, which included Can you make me a cambric shirt?, came the same text from the 1846, The Book of Nursery Rhymes Complete: From the Creation of the World to the present time, published in Philadelphia by Theodore Bliss & Co.
5) The Labors of True Lovers- (PA) 1860 Shoemaker--From: North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy As Sung in the Backwood Settlements, Hunting Cabins and Lumber Camps in Northern Pennsylvania, 1840-1910; Compiled by Henry W. Shoemaker; 1919, page 114. The title could be "Strawberry Lane." Cf. Strawberry Lane: from Ballads and Songs by G. L. Kittredge; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 30, No. 117 (Jul. - Sep., 1917), pp. 283-369. Both are from same time period.
6) Cambric Shirt - Williams (IA) c1865 Williams--Sung by Mrs. John Williams (nee Violet Selena Hawkins) Iowa City, Iowa, January 1 and February 5, 1922 in 1865-70, in Penn Township, Johnson County, Iowa; recorded by Mrs. Flora Brennan. Communicated by Prof. Charles A. Williams. Bronson's title "I Want To Make You as Cambric Shirt."
7) The Cambric Shirt- Griffin (GA-FL) dated c.1870, recorded in 1939--Sung by Mrs. G. A. Griffin; Newberry, Fla. June, collected in 1939 by Alan Lomax. Titled "Save Rosemary and Thyme" in Morris, 1950, pp. 235-36 with music. Griffin was born in Dooly County, Georgia in 1863. In 1877 she moved to Newberry, Florida. She learned songs from her father, a fiddler, before 1877. "Learned it when a little girl and sang it more times than the hairs o' my head."
8) Blow, Ye Winds, Blow- Allen (MA) c1870 Barry--From Traditional Ballads in New England II by Phillips Barry published in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 18, No. 70 (Jul. - Sep., 1905), pp. 191-214. Also in Barry's "Some Traditional Songs." The pamphlet from which this song is taken is entitled "Family Songs," compiled by Rosa S. Allen. Music arranged by Joseph A. Allen. As sung by the Allens at the Homestead, Castle Hill, Medfield, Massachusetts, 1899." The Allen family version was also collected by Linscott 1939, from Lucy Allen who learned it from an uncle circa 1870.
9) [Holland Shirt]- Delorme (NY) c.1873 Flanders K 1944--My title (no title given) from Flanders, Ancient Ballads; 1966 The informant, “Grandma” Lily Delorme (born in 1869), of Hardscrabble on the Saranac, NY, learned songs from parents and her grandfather, Gideon Baker, who fought in the War of 1812. Her father was born in Starksboro, Vermont; her mother, in Schuyler Falls, New York. This ballad was learned in her home as a child.
10) The Cambric Shirt- Luce (VT) c.1874 Flanders F--The title was provided in Flanders, Ancient Ballads; 1966; notes by Coffin follow. The informant, Horatio Luce, was born c. 1864 (1940 census) and he got the ballad from his father born in 1839. I've guesstimated a date of 1874 when the informant was 10 years old- the ballad is surely older through his father.
11) [Cambric Shirt]- S.A.F. (RI) 1875 Barry JAFL 1905--My title, B version. From: Traditional Ballads in New England II by Phillips Barry; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 18, No. 70 (Jul. - Sep., 1905), pp. 191-214.
12) Redio-Tedio: Emery (ME) 1882 Young/Barry A--From British Ballads from Maine; Barry, Eckstorm and Smythe; 1919, version A. This version of Child 2- The Elfin Knight was sung by Mrs. Susie Carr Young of Brewer, Maine; She learned it from Sybil Emery in 1882. A similar version titled, "The Cambric Shirt" with a recording was collected in nearby Eddington, Maine from Mrs. Gray in the early 1960's.
13) The Cambric Shirt- Kinkdale (MO) c1886 Belden A; Sung by Leroy Kinkade, University of Missouri, 1922; as learned from his-mother, who in turn learned it from her mother in Harrison county about 1886.From Ballads and Songs collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society; Belden, 1940.
14) Cambric Shirt- Samson (MA) 1890 Austin--My title. Taken from the novel, Dr. LeBaron and His Daughters: A Story of the Old Colony by Jane Goodwin Austin - 1890 p. 314. In Austin's novel the "Cambric Shirt" is sung by Deborah Cushing, the wife of Simeon Sampson (b. August 1736, d. June 22, 1789). Simeon was a famous naval captain.
15) Cambric Shirt- Farmer (MA) pre1894 JAFL--Contributed by Mrs. Sarah Bridge Farmer, as learned from an elderly lady born in Beverly, Mass. From: American Versions of the Ballad of the Elfin Knight from The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 7, No. 26 (Jul. - Sep., 1894), pp. 228-232.
16) [As I Walked Out in Yonder Dell]- Decrow (MA) 1894--My title, words and the music of this version are contributed by Miss Gertrude Decrow, of Boston, in whose family the song has been traditional. From: American Versions of the Ballad of the Elfin Knight in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 7, No. 26 (Jul. - Sep., 1894), pp. 228-232. William Wells Newell
17) The Cambric Shirt- Hembree (AR) 1896 Randolph A -- Sung by Wiley Hembree Farmington, Ark. Randolph, I, 1946, pp. 38, Version A
18) [As You Go Up To Yonders Town]- (GA) 1900 JAFL--My title. Contributed by Mrs. E. M. Backus, as obtained from recitation in Columbia County, Ga. From Early American Ballads II by William Wells Newell in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 13, No. 49 (Apr. - Jun., 1900), pp. 105-122.
19) Cambric Shirt- McKay (MO) c1901 Belden B--My title. From Mrs. E. A. McKay, January, 1921; from her husband, who learned it some twenty years earlier from a wandering hired man at his father's farm in Knox County. Published in Ballads and Songs collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society; Belden, 1940.
20) The Six Questions- Conner (New England) c.1904 Barry MS--Sung by O. F. A. Conner; Barry MSS., I, vn. E; also transcribed in IV, No. 123. No date or place given but it must have been in the early 1900s to no later than 1934 since it was collected by Phillips Barry. Edmunds (1985- English Riddle Ballads) gives a date of c.1904.
21) [Cambric Shirt]- I.L.M. (MA) 1904 Barry JAFL 1905--My title; Version C; from Traditional Ballads in New England II by Phillips Barry; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 18, No. 70 (Jul. - Sep., 1905), pp. 191-214. Contributed March, 1904, by I. L. M., Vineland, N . J., formerly of Lynn, Mass.
22) Love's Impossibilities- Herrick (CA) 1906 JAFL--From: Two Traditional Songs by Mrs. R. F. Herrick; Eureka, California. The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 19, No. 73 (Apr. - Jun., 1906), pp. 130-132. This is the first of two songs probably dating back to circa 1820 (or the early 1800s) in California when her father was young.
23) The Parsley Vine- Patterson (KY) 1908 Niles B-- From Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p 17. Sung by Carter Patterson, 1908, Jeffersontown, KY; (Niles No. 2 B). With Niles ballads, the possibility exists that this is a recreation.
24) The Shirt of Lace- Patterson (KY) 1908 Niles C--From Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p 17. Sung by Uncle Brother Patterson; Jeffersontown, KY; 1908; (Niles No. 2 C). With Niles ballads, the possibility exists that this is a recreation.
25) The Cambric Shirt- Wilkinson (MO-VT) 1910 Belden--From: Three Old Ballads from Missouri by H. M. Belden; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 23, No. 90 (Oct. - Dec., 1910), pp. 429-431; Secured by Miss Hamilton in 1910 from Fred Wilkinson who got it from a MS collection made by his grandmother, Eliza Robbins, of Brownington, VT.
26) The Cambric Shirt- De Zavala (TX) 1913 Kittredge--From Various Ballads (Cambric Shirt; Maid Freed from the Gallows; Mermaid; Sailor's Tragedy; John Hardy) by G. L. Kittredge; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 26, No. 100 (Apr. - Jun., 1913), pp. 174-182. Contributed by Miss Adina De Zavala, San Antonio, Tex. It came from Ireland (Dublin or thereabout).
27) Strawberry Lane- Davis (ME) 1914 Kittredge JAFL--One of several versions titled Strawberry Lane (see also The Labors of True Lovers- (PA) 1860 Shoemaker). From Ballads and Songs by G. L. Kittredge; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 30, No. 117 (Jul. - Sep., 1917), pp. 283-369. Communicated in 1914 by Mr. E. Russell Davis, as remembered by his mother and himself from the singing of his grandfather, Mr. William Henry Banks (born 1834), a vessel-owner of Maine.
28) The Cambric Shirt- (VA) 1915 Davis CC--Collected by Miss Corita Sloane, of Merryfield, Va. Learned from an old Negro woman in Fairfax county, January 10, 1915. From More Traditional Ballads of Virginia- Davis 1960.
29) Every Grove is Merry in Time- (NE) 1915 Pound--Not a complete version, outlined with several verses. Pound's title from her Nebraska and Central West Folk Songs, a Syllabus printed in 1915.
30) The Lover's Tasks- Proctor (KY) 1917 Sharp MS--One verse with tune from Sharp MSS 3996; Bronson No. 37. The Lover's Tasks is a standard title Cecil Sharp used for Child 2, The Elfin Knight. Sharps noted: "The tune imperfectly remembered by the singer."
31) A True Lover of Mine- Jones (KY) 1917 Sharp A--My title, from EFSSA, No. 1; Sharp A. The title, Elfin Knight, is the standard title used by Sharp. He used, "Lover's Tasks," as a secondary title. Sung by Mrs. Cis Jones at Manchester, Clay County, Kentucky 1917.
32) True Lover of Mine- Mitchell (NC) 1918 Sharp B-- Sung by Mrs. Polly Mitchell at Burnsville, N.C., Sept. 22, 1918. From English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians; 1932 edition Sharp and Karpeles; My title, Sharp used generic "The Elfin Knight."
33) Cambric Shirt- Brooks (KY) 1920 Roberts--My title, no title given. From Robert's In the Pines, 1978. Text with music from Mrs. Stella Byrd Brooks, Breathitt County, in 1961. She had moved at an early age from Virginia and had learned this and other songs from her parents in about 1920.
34) A True Lover of Mine- (BC) 1920 Fowke--No informant given in Bronson. From Barbeau, Lismer, and Bourinot, 1947, p. 33. Also in Fowke and Johnston, 1954, pp. 138-39. From Hazleton, British Columbia, 1920.
35) The Cambric Shirt- Peterson (NC) 1923 Brown C--Two stanzas only, contributed in 1923, by Mildred Peterson of Bladen county. Appears in Brown Collection of NC Folklore, as Version C.
36) As I Walked Out in Yonder Dell- Bush (WV) 1924--Josiah Combs Collection "from the singing of William Bush, Index, West Virginia" (no date given- circa 1924), collected by Woofter (Wilgus). This is the "controversial text" that Bernth Lindfors wrote an article about entitled, A Fraudulent "Elfin Knight" from West Virginia in Western Folklore, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Apr., 1968), pp. 107-111.
37) O Where Are You Going? I'm Going To Lynn-- Ayers (WV) 1924 Gainer--Sung by Moses Ayers, Calhoun County 1924. Printed in his 1975 book, Folk Songs from the West Virginia Hills, Gainer's version (according to Edmunds- 1985) was first collected in 1924 which was when he was a student at the University of West Virginia. Gainer's refrain is the same as Woofter's version called "Fradulent" by Lindfors in the 1968 JAFL. Other versions, including "The Cambric Shirt" from Flanders 1938 (below) has the exact same opening line: "Oh, where are you going?" "I'm going to Lynn."
38) The Cambric Shirt- Pritchard (NC) 1924 Chappell--Fragment sung by Henry Pritchard, Weeksville, NC, 1924. From Chappell's book, Folk-Songs of the Roanoke and Abermarle; 1939. Has the unique first refrain, "Sea bright, sea goes merry in time."
39) You Shall Be a True Lover- Decoster (ME) 1925, Barry B--From British Ballad from Maine- Barry, Eckstorm, Smythe 1929; sent in August 1925, by Justin Decoster, Buckfield, who wrote, "It is a very old song."
40) Where Are You Going? I'm Going to Lynn- Perkins (VT) pre1931 Flanders A--From Miss Amy Perkins, as recalled from the singing of Emery R. Fisher, Rutland, Vermont. An identical text was collected from Miss Perkins' brother, Cleon Perkins, then mayor of Rutland. From Flander's Ancient Ballads; 1966; notes by Coffin. Also in The New Green Mountain Songster p. 8 where they write: Miss Perkins version must have been in tradition since the first half of the seventeenth century, then, at least as old as child A, a broadside dated about 1670.
41) Scarborough Fair- Gray (VT) 1931 Flanders C--This folk song was sent to the Vermont Commission on Country Life by Miss Sylvia Bliss, Plainfield, Vermont, contributed by Ola Leonard Gray (Mrs. Ian W. Gray), East Calais, Vermont. Sung by Mrs. Gray, her mother, and her grandmother. Published in Vermont Folk-Songs & Ballads, 1931.This mysterious title, provided by Flanders, makes no sense and probably should be changed since "Scarborough Fair" is not part of the text. From Flander's Ancient Ballads; 1966; notes by Coffin.
42) Saver a Rose- Horton (VA) pre1931 Davis BB--From More Traditional Ballads of Virginia- Davis 1960. This title is taken from the second version sent in 1931 and it appears to once have been "Savory rose." Sung by Mrs. William Horton, of Roanoke Va. Roanoke County.
43) Rose Mary in Time- Gage (IL) pre1931 Henry--This fragment was recalled by Dr. D. S. Gage of Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, who writes as follows: "I heard the lines sung in Illinois when I was a boy."
44) The Cambric Shirt- Mason (VT-MA) 1932 Flanders I
The Cambric Shirt- Marshall (TX) 1932 Dobie
An Acre of Land- Grubb (VA) 1932 Davis AA
The Cambric Shirt- Lorette (VT) 1932 Flanders N
Strawberry Lane- (WA/Canada) 1932 Vincent
I'm Going to Lynn- Doten (VT) pre1933 Flanders D
The Cambric Shirt- Sicily (VT) pre1933 Flanders E
My Father Gave Me an Acre of Ground- Niles 1934
The Cambric Shirt- Daniels (VT) pre1934 Flanders G
The Cambric Shirt- Wade (VT) 1934 Flanders M
A True Lover of Mine- Evilsizer (MI) 1935 Gardner
Rose de Marian Time- Norton (NC) 1936 Chase
The Two Lovers- Ward (IN) 1936 Brewster A
Cambric Shirt- Bryant (IN) 1936 Brewster B
If You Go Up To Town- Underhill (IN) 1936 Brewster
Mother, Make Me a Cambric Shirt- Wright (IN) 1936
Cambric Shirt- Shriver (IL) 1936 Brewster E
Do You Know the Way to Selin?- Parker (ME) 1937
The Cambric Shirt- Moser (NC) pre1937 Moser REC
The Cambric Shirt- Bost (NC) 1937 Brown A
Scarborough Fair- Underhill (VT) 1938 Flanders B
Go And Make Me A Cambric Shirt- Jacobs(WS) 1938
An Impossibility- Graham (CA) 1938 Robertson
Rosemary and Thyme- Byers (OH) 1939 Eddy
The Cambric Shirt- Ward (MA) 1939 Flanders O
Rose Mary in Time- Lux (OH) pre1939 Eddy B
Cambric Shirt- McCord (AR) 1940 Randolph B
Cambric Shirt- Tucker (MD) pre1940 Carey
The Cambric Shirt- (NY) pre1940 Thompson
Plant Me an Acre of Corn- Reynolds(NH) 1941 Flan P
The Cambric Shirt- Richards (NH) 1941 Flanders L
Petticoat Lane- Edwards (VT) pre1942 Cazden
Are You Going to the Fair?- Genders (RI) 1945 Flan
The Cambric Shirt- Daley (OK) 1950 Moores A
The Cambric Shirt- McFarland (OK) 1950 Moores B
Rosemary- Mrs. Rachel Henry (AR) 1951 Parler
Rosemary One Time- Drake (TX) pre1952 Owens
Rosemary and Thyme- Parker (AR) 1958 Hunter
The Cambrick Shirt- Decker (NL) 1959 Peacock A
The Cambric Shirt- Stevens (NL) 1959 Peacock B
Cambric Shirt, Questions Three- Winters (KY) 1960
Impossibilities- Medlin (AR) 1960 Wolf Collection
The Cambric Shirt- Jennie Gray (ME) 1961
Flim-A-Lim-A-Lee: Older (NY) 1963 REC Paton
On Yonder Hill- Ketter (OK) pre1964 Moores C
Rosemary and Thyme- Allen (OK) pre1964 Moores D
Every Rose Grows Merry- Cleveland (NY) 1965
Are You Going to Calhoun Fair? (WV) c1970 Gainer
Cambric Shirt - Gunning (MA) 1974 REC Wilson
_______________________________________
Notes and additions:
ADD:
1) Lillian Mason Morton 1932 (learned from her father)
Cylinder 56 - Flanders Ballad Collection https://archive.org/details/HHFBC_tapes_C03B
1. Where are you going? I'm going to Lynn
Plum de la linktum fal la day,
2) Horatio Luce of South Pomfret, VT.
Track 10a : Cambric Shirt (Elfin Knight) - voice performance by Horatio Luce at S Pomfret (Vt.). Classification #: CH002. Dated 10-21-1931. https://archive.org/details/HHFBC_tapes_C01B
1. O, where are you going ( )
Every rose grows merry and fine,
Twas there I spied a lovely maid
She once was a true lover of mine.
Track 10 : Elfin Knight - voice performance by Lily Delorme at Cadyville (Ny.). Classification #: CH002. Dated 08-29-1944.
https://archive.org/details/HHFBC_tapes_D40B
Track 05 : Cambric Shirt (Elfin Knight) - voice performance by Myra Daniels at E Calais (Vt.). Classification #: CH002. Dated 11-09-1939. https://archive.org/details/HHFBC_tapes_D09B
3. Tell her to wash it in yonder well
For every grove is merry in time
___________________________
Love-letter & Answer: And Father, Jerry & I.
Sold wholesale and retail, by L. Deming, no. 1, south side Faneuil Hall, Boston., 1831 -
Love-Letter Answer, AND FATHER, JERRY I. Father, Jerry, and I.
O where are you bound, are you bound to Lynn?
Let every rose grow merry and fine,
O give my love to a young woman,
In token she's been a true lover of mine.
True lover of mine.
Tell her to weave me a yard of cloth,
Let every thread be even and fine;
And not touch a shuttle unto the cloth,
In token she's been a true lover of mine, &c.
Tell her to make it up into a shirt,
Let every seam be made neat and fine;
And not put a needle unto the work,
In token she's been a true lover of mine, c.
Tell her to wash it out in a dry well,
And cause it to look both neat and fine;
Where there never was a drop of water fell,
In token she's been a true lover of mine, c.
Tell her to hang it out on a green thorn,
Let every rose grow merry and fine;
That never bore a bud since Adam was born,
In token she's been a true lover of mine, c.
O where are you bound are you bound to Cape Ann,
Let every rose grow merry and fine,
O give my love unto a young man,
In token he's been a true lover mine, c.
Tell him to buy me an acre of land,
Let every rose grow merry and fine;
Between the salt ocean and the sea sand,
In token he's been a true lover of mine, c.
Tell him to plough it up with a cats horn,
Let every rose grow merry and fine;
And plant it all over with one pepper corn,
In token he's been a true lover of mine, c.
Tell him to reap it before it shall grow,
Let every rose grow merry and fine;
And tread it all down with the sole of his shoe,
In token he's been a true lover of mine, c.
Tell him to gather it into a barn,
Let every rose grow merry and fine;
When it may not take any harm,
In token he's been a true lover of mine, c.
Tell him to thrash it out with a goose quill,
Let every rose grow merry and fine;
And clean it and put it in one egg shell,
In token he's been a true lover of mine, c.
Now tell this young man when he's done all this work,
Let every rose grow merry and fine;
Send him to me he shall have his new shirt,
And still he may be a true lover of mine c.
---------------------------
The Elfin Knight [Notes by Coffin; Flanders' Ancient Ballads]
(Child 2)
On page 227 of Ben Botkin's Folksay 1930, L. W. Chappell points out that "Riddles, perhaps even more than most types of traditional lore, have a way of 'staying put.' " It is not surprising then to find "The Elfin Knight," widespread, but relatively unvarying, in both Britain and America. The major collections in the two countries usually include it, and it has been the object of a good bit of study. Its popularity is undoubtedly due to its presence in broadside tradition; Child B is a black-letter text from Restoration times, and the ballad appears in American songsters and on American broadsheets just before the Mexican war, Phillips Barry, with the help of George Lyman Kittredge, has reviewed the printed tradition of the song in JAF, XXX,
284, and a bibliography of song-sheet texts is given there. For a start on further references, see Coffin, 30-31 (American); Dean-Smith, 65, and Belden, (English); and Greig and Keith, 1-2 (Scottish).
The relationship of this song and others like it to British courtship customs and vestigial fertility rites has never been thoroughly discussed. However, there is enough evidence to warrant research along these lines. As most scholars have recognized, the elfin lover of the British texts and child's title is nor native to the ballad and the riddler is a mortal lad. The situation is that of courtship, not unlike the one in the widespread Aarne-Thompson, Mt. 875. The most common refrain, as in Versions A-B and D-G, a corruption of "rosemary and thyme," preserves the plant symbolism of fidelity and fertility. It is these herbs that the girl such as Madeline in Keats's "The Eve of St. Agnes" put on either side of her bed to dream of her lover. Also, the riddle, as Charles Francis potter indicates on page 940 of The standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and, Legend, may be solved as a sort of sympathetic magic to insure the success of critical ventures like those into love and marriage. certainly the relation of riddling to puberty and fertility rites is to be found everywhere.
The song is in Phillips Barry's British Ballads from Maine, 3.
The eight tunes included here fail into three main groups: 1) the versions sung by Underhill, Luce, Delorme, and possibly Perkins; 2) the versions of Gray and Daniels; and 3) those of Morton and Richards, whose relationship, if any, is quite distant. There is also a possibility that the Perkins version is related to that of Richards rather than group 1. Group 1 corresponds to BCI, group B, and so does group 2, although the two groups represent distant relatives in BCI. Strangely enough, our group 3 also corresponds ro some tunes in the large group B in the BC classification, whose integrity is upheld only by a large number of intermediate versions, and which consists of rather diverse materials. our groups 1 and 2 seem to have variants which are widespread in the United States, in conjunction with Child 2 texts. The Perkins, Morron, and Richards tunes have fewer analogues and are not so typically representative of the Anglo-American ballad style as the other tunes in this collection of Child 2.
------------------------
Bob Dylan's version--From the web: Before Simon had learned the song, Bob Dylan had borrowed the melody and several lines from Carthy's arrangement to create his song, "Girl from the North Country."
In this song, Dylan sings of a lost love who was from the North Country: "Well, if you're travelin' in the north country fair/Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline/Remember me to one who lives there/She once was a true love of mine." Debate continues to rage as to who this song is referring to. Some fans believe it to be about Echo Helstrom or Bonnie Beecher, Dylan's sweethearts before he left Minnesota for New York. Others claim it is about Suze Rotolo, who is pictured walking arm in arm with Dylan on the cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.In 1962, Dylan visited England for the first time. Here, he met many local Folk artists, including Martin Carthy, who introduced Dylan to many traditional English ballads, including "Scarborough Fair." Dylan would lift the line "Remember me to one who lives there/She once was a true love of mine" from this ballad for "Girl From The North Country."Dylan and Johnny Cash collaborated on a joint version of this song for Dylan's 1969 album, Nashville Skyline.Joe Cocker, Sting, Rod Stewart, Eddie Vedder and The Black Crowes have all covered this song.
If you're travelling to the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine
See for me that her hair's hanging down
It curls and falls all down her breast
see for me if her hair is hanging down
For that's the way I remember her best
If you go when the snowflakes fall
When the rivers freeze and summer ends
Please see for me if she's wearing a coat so warm
To keep her from the howling wind.
If you're travelling in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Please say hello to the one who lives there
For she was once a true love of mine
If you're traveling in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was the true love of mine
-----------------
THE CAMBRIC SHIRT
Oscar Brand & Jean Ritchie, Riddle Me This, Riverside
This version is apparently a cover song taken from Roy Palmer's book, "Bushes and Briars," which are folk songs collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Can you make me a cambric shirt?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without a seam or needlework
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
Can you wash it in the well
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Where water ne'er ran nor rain never fell
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
Can you dry it on a thorn
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Which never has grown since Adam was born
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
Can you clear an acre of land
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the sea water and the salt strand
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
Can you plow it with a hog's horn
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And seed it down with one pepper corn
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
Can you tie it up in a sack
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And send it to market all on a rat's back
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
Can you deep it all in the salt sea
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And still bring it back to home and me
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
And when you've gone and done this work
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Then you may have your cambric shirt
Then you shall be a true lover of mine
----------------------
Missing versions:
(xiii) 'Blow ye Winds'
Place: Haymarket, Virginia
Date: 18 June 1942
Source: Sung by Maud Ewell (learned from her grandfather, who learned it as a boy in Dumfries). Collected by Susan R. Morton, University of Virginia Library Collection 1547/20.
Description: 8 stanzas (sung as a duet)
G1,3,4 K1b,4,5,8c,13d,17b M.
Refrain: Blow, blow, blow ye winds
Blow, blow, blow ye winds
Alice Maude Ewell (1860-1946) was a local author of the late Victorian period who wrote fictional stories and poems for prominent periodicals of the day as well as locally published books. She was a contributor to such national magazines as Atlantic Monthly, Godey’s Lady’s Book, Peterson’s Magazine, and St. Nicholas, a magazine for children.
"Miss Maude,” as she was known locally, was born and lived her entire life north of Haymarket on her family’s farm located at the foot of Bull Run Mountain near the present day intersection of Route 15 and Log Mill Road. Her paternal grandparents came to this area in the 1830s.
--------------------
(xviii) 'The Elfin Knight' [See her relative? George Decker's 1959 version from NL]
Place: Parson's Pond, Newfoundland
Date: 1966
Source: Mrs.Charlotte Decker, aged 89. Collected
by H.Halpert and J.Widdowson, Memorial
University Folklore Archive (MUNFLA)
66-24, C. 261 R.
Description: 6 stanzas:
A5 G1, 3 K1a,2a,5 M.
Refrain: Blow, blow, blow the wind blow
And the wind 'll blow my plaid awa
Tune: Group Aa
"Cambric Shirt" Almeda Riddle; 1970 referenced in her book, A Singer and her Songs.
AFS 22,053B2: One tape containing "The Cambric Shirt" and "Swapping Song" performed by Lillian Mason Merton. Recorded in St. Albans, Vermont, May 19, 1932. (LWO 12,254 reel 3B)
(lviii) 'The Cambric Shirt'
Place: Dallas, Texas
Date: c.1934
Source: Sent by Miss Ruby Lawrence, remembered
from her mother's singing. H.H.Flanders
collection, Vermont.
Description: 3 fragmented stanzas: c1 G1, 6b.
Refrain: Rosemary and thyme, etc.
ELFIN KNIGHT, THE
Source Library of Congress recording 3064 B2
Performer Walker, Mrs. Carrie
Place collected USA : Mississippi : Magee
Collector Halpert, Herbert
Roud number 12 | Roud number search
ELFIN KNIGHT, THE
Source Library of Congress recording 1743 B1 & 2
Performer Ward, Mrs. Dora
Place collected USA : Indiana : Princeton
Collector Lomax, Alan & Elizabeth
Roud number 12 | Roud number search
ROSEMARY AND THYME
Source Library of Congress recording 866 A2
Performer Dusenberry, Mrs. Emma
Place collected USA : Arkansas : Mena
Collector Lomax, John A. / Laurence Powell
Roud number 12 | Roud number search
ROSEMARY AND THYME
Source Library of Congress recording 1871 A1-10 in.
Performer Hull, Myra E.
Place collected USA : Washington DC
Collector Lomax, Alan
Roud number 12 | Roud number search
J. P. & Annadeene Fraley - Galleynipper [JA0058] - Songs include Cambric Shirt
ROSEMARY AND THYME
Source Parler, Arkansas Ballad Book pp.49-50
Performer Parker, Mrs. Allie Long
Place collected USA : Arkansas : Hog Scald Holler
Collector Parler, Mary Celestia
Roud number 12 | Roud number search
ELPHIN KNIGHT, THE
Source Combs, Folk-Songs of the Southern United States (1967) p.199 item 1(b)
Performer Rafferty, John
Place collected USA : W. Virginia : Withers
Collector Combs, Josiah H.
Roud number 12 | Roud number search
CAMBRIC SHIRT, THE
Source Jean Thomas Coll. (Dwight Anderson Music Lib, Univ. of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky) Box 4A folder 199
Performer Day, Rosie
Place collected USA : Kentucky
Collector Thomas, Jean
---------------------------
Elfin Knight: Child Version J; Communicated by Rev. F. D. Huntington; 1828 Haldey Mass;
[First collected US version in 1828]
Version J
[Now You Are A-Going To Cape Ann]
Communicated by Rev. F. D. Huntington, Bishop of Western New York, as sung to him by his father in 1828, at Hadley, Mass.; derived from a rough, roystering "character" in the town.
1 NOW you are a-going to Cape Ann,
Follomingkathellomeday
Remember me to the self-same man.
Ummatiddle, ummatiddle, ummatallyho, tallyho, follomingkathellomeday
2 Tell him to buy me an acre of land
Between the salt-water and the sea-sand.
3 Tell him to plough it with a ram's horn,
Tell him to sow it with one peppercorn.
4 Tell him to reap it with a penknife,
And tell him to cart it with two mice.
5 Tell him to cart it to yonder new barn
That never was built since Adam was born.
6 Tell him to thrash it with a goose quill,
Tell him to fan it with an egg-shell.
7 Tell the fool, when he's done with his work,
To come to me, and he shall have his shirt.
-----------------------
2. THE ELFIN KNIGHT (Tristram Coffin- 1950)
Texts: Jane G. Austin, Dr. Le Baron and his Daughter, 314 / Barry, Brit Bids Me, 3 / Belden, Mo F-S, I / Brewster, Bids Sgs Ind, 23 / Brown Coll / Chappell, F-S Rnke Alb, 1 1 / Child, I, 19; V, 284 / Davis FS Va / Eddy, Bids Sgs Ohio, 3 / Flanders, Garl Gn Mt Sg, 58 / Flanders, New Gn Mt Sgstr, 8 / Flanders, Vt F-S Bids, 194 / Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, 137 / Gray, Sgs Bids Me Vjks, 78 / Henry, F-S So Hghlds, 31 / JAFL, VII, 228 ; XIII, 120; XVIII, 49; XIX, 130; XXIII, 430; XXVI, 174; XXX, 284; LII, 14 / Jones, F-L Mich, 5 / Linscott, F-S Old NE, 169 / "Love Letter and Answer" (broadside in Harris Coll., Brown University), Hunts and Shaw, Boston / Morris, Fla F-S, 364 / Musick, F-L Kirksville, i / Pound, Nebr Syllabus, io/ PTFLS, X, 137; Randolph, OzF~S, I, 38 / Ring, NE F-S, 12 / Sandburg, Am Sgbag, 60 / SharpK, EngF-S So Aplchns, I, i / Shoemaker, Mt Mnstly, 134 / Shoemaker, No Pa Mnstly, 129 / Songs for the Million (c, 1844): "Love's Impossibility" / SFLQ, VIII, 135 / Thompson, Bdy Bts Brtchs, 423.
Local Titles: A True Lover of Mine, Blow Ye Winds Blow, (The) Cambric Shirt, Every Grove is Merry in Time, Go and Make Me a Cambric Shirt, Go Marry in Time, I Want You to Make Me a Cambric Shirt, Mother Make Me a Cambric Shirt, Oh Say Do You Know the Way to Salin?, Redio-Tedio, Scarborough Fair, Strawberry Lane, The Two Lovers.
Story Types: A: A man imposes tasks centering about the making of a cambric shirt upon a girl. She is to be acquitted of them and get her lover if she can answer with ones no less difficult. Hers usually deal with an acre of land. The elf, a carry-over in Child from some other ballad, is properly a mortal suitor.
Examples: Barry (B); Belden (A); Brewster (C)
Flanders, New Gn Mt Sgstr; Gardner and Chickering.
B: The story of Type A seems completely forgotten, and only a coy question-and-answer game between two lovers remains.
Examples: Linscott; Randolph (A); Shoemaker, Mt. Mnstly; SharpK (A, B).
C: A nonsense song, carrying the degeneration a step further than Type B, exists. Here, the Mother is told to make "me" a cambric shirt. Examples: Brewster (D).
Discussion: This ballad is the best remembered of the Child riddle songs both in America and Europe. However,, in this country, the elf, an interloper in Britain, has been universally rationalized to a mortal lover. Frequently, nothing remains but the riddle, sometimes even the love affair being absent. (See Child J, K, L, and my Types B and C.)
The common American refrains, as in Child, are the "rosemary and thyme-she will be a true lover of mine" and the "blow winds blow" types, though the New York (Thompson, Bdy Bts Bricks, 423), the Texas (PTFLS, X, 137), and other versions have choruses of nonsense words. For a discussion of the "rosemary and thyme" burden see JAFL, VII, 232. Also check Flanders, New Gn Mt Sgster, 10, where the line "she's worth a true lover of mine" is treated to show that worth is wyrth is the usual will be.
Riddles and riddle ballads in general, as well as the riddle in this song, are discussed in JAFL, VII, 230, while the American songbook versions are reviewed by Barry, JAFL, XXX, 284,
-----------------------
Ballads and Songs
by G. L. Kittredge Source: The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 30, No. 117 (Jul. - Sep., 1917), pp. 283-369
[Kittredge's article includes a version titled, Strawberry Lane with music]
THE ELFIN KNIGHT (Child, No. 2)
Child was the first scholar to print an American version from oral tradition (1883; I : 19 [J, from Massachusetts, 18281). Other American versions or variants have since appeared from time to time. See JAFL 7 : 228-229 (from Massachusetts; reprinted in Child, 5 : 284); 13: 120-122 (Georgia); 18:212-214 (Barry, Massachusetts and Rhode Island); 19 : 130-131 (California); 23 : 430-431 (Vermont); 26 : 174-175 (Texas, from Ireland). B. L. Jones (p. 5) records two copies from Michigan, one beginning, -
"Where are you going?" "I'm going to Lynn."[1]
Let every rose grow merry in time.
See also Pound, pp. 10-11. Barry (in JAFL 18: 214) called attention to the fact that the ballad was published in this country about 1844 in "Songs for the Million," and reprinted the text ("Love's Impossibility"). Later he found a remarkably full and interesting text in a broadside in the Harris collection (Brown University), --" Love Letter and Answer," "Hunts and Shaw, N. E. corner of Faneuil Hall Market, Boston." [2] This has twelve stanzas, and includes both Lynn and Cape Ann.[3]
A good version may be found in Walter Rye, "Songs, Stories, and Sayings of Norfolk" (1897), pp. 7-8. The ballad is well known in England as "Scarborough (Whittingham) Fair" (Child, 2:495-496; 4 : 440; 5: 206; Baring-Gould, "A Book of English Nursery Songs and Rhymes," No. I, pp. 3-4; Sharp, " One Hundred English Folksongs," No. 74, PP. xxxvi-xxxvii, 167-169, with references). Compare Greig, " Folk-Song of the North-East," C; Joyce, " Old Irish Folk Music and Songs," No. 117, pp. 59-60.
Footnotes to above:
1 Compare Child's F (Kinloch's MSS.): "Did you ever travel twixt Berwick and Lyne? " (I : 17).
2 Hunts and Shaw were at this address during a part of 1836 and of 1837 only.
3 The man asks, "O where are you bound, are you bound to Lynn?" The girl's question is, "O where are you bound, are you bound to Cape Ann?"
---------------------------
American Versions of the Ballad of the Elfin Knight (JOAFL article 1894)
American Versions of the Ballad of the Elfin Knight
from The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 7, No. 26 (Jul. - Sep., 1894), pp. 228-232
AMERICAN VERSIONS OF THE BALLAD OF THE ELFIN KNIGHT
A. THE words and the music of this version are contributed by Miss Gertrude Decrow, of Boston, in whose family the song has been traditional: -
As I walked out in yonder dell,
Let ev'ry rose grow merry in time;
I met a fair damsel, her name it was Nell;
I said, "Will you be a true lover of mine?
I want you to make me a cambric shirt,
Let ev'ry rose grow merry in time;
Without any seam or needlework,
And then you shall be a true lover of mine.
"I want you to wash it on yonder hill,
Let ev'ry rose grow merry in time;
Where dew never was nor rain never fell,
And then you shall be a true lover of mine.
"I want you to dry it on yonder thorn,
Let ev'ry rose grow merry in time;
Where tree never blossomed since Adam was born,
And then you shall be a true lover of mine."
"And since you have asked three questions of me,
Let ev'ry rose grow merry in time;
And now I will ask as many of thee,
And then I will be a true lover of thine.
"I want you to buy me an acre of land,
Let ev'ry rose grow merry in time;
Between the salt sea and the sea sand,
And then I will be a true lover of thine.
"I want you to plough it with an ox's horn,
Let ev'ry rose grow merry in time;
And plant it all over with one kernel of corn,
And then I will be a true lover of thine.
"I want you to hoe it with a peacock's feather,
Let ev'ry rose grow merry in time;
And thrash it all out with the sting of an adder,
And then I will be a true lover of thine."
B. Contributed by Mrs. Sarah Bridge Farmer, as learned from an elderly lady born in Beverly, Mass.:-
Can't you show me the way to Cape Ann?
Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme;
Remember ma to a young woman that's there,
In token she's been a true lover of mine.
The requirements which follow are identical with those of the previous version. There is an additional stanza:-
And when he has done, and finished his work,
Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme;
If he'll come unto me, he shall have his shirt,
And then he shall be a true lover of mine.
The reciter invariably added, with much glee:- I think she got even with him, my dear.
C. The deficiencies in the latter version can be filled up by one given by Child. This version, "communicated by Rev. F. D. Huntington, Bishop of Western New York, as sung to him by his father in 1828 at Hadley, Mass.; derived from a rough, roystering 'character' in the town." The incomprehensible refrain is here omitted.
Now you are a-going to Cape Ann,
Remember me to the selfsame man.
Tell him to buy me an acre of land
Between the salt water and the sea sand.
Tell him to plough it with a ram's horn,
Tell him to sow it with one peppercorn.
Tell him to reap it with a penknife,
And tell him to cart it with two mice.
Tell him to cart it to yonder new barn
That never was built since Adam was born.
Tell him to thrash it with a goose-quill,
Tell him to fan it with an egg-shell.
Tell the fool, when he's done his work,
To come to me, and he shall have his shirt.
This version gives the last half of the ballad, that marked A being the first part.
In the great work of Prof. F. J. Child, "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads," now approaching completion, the first place is given to riddle-songs. With regard to these he remarks (vol. i. p. I):
"Riddles, as is well known, play an important part in popular story, and that from very remote times. No one needs to be reminded of Samson, OEdipus, Apollonius of Tyre. Riddle-tales, which, if not so old as the oldest of these, may be carried in all likelihood some centuries beyond our era, still live in Asiatic and European tradition, and have their representatives in popular ballads. The largest class of these tales is that in which one party has to guess another's riddles, or two rivals compete in giving or guessing, under penalty in either instance of forfeiting life, or some other heavy wager; an example of which is the English ballad, modern in form, of 'King John and the Abbot of Canterbury.' In a second class, a suitor can win a lady's hand only by guessing riddles, as in 'Captain Wedderburn's Courtship' and 'Proud Lady Margaret.' There is sometimes a penalty of loss of life for the unsuccessful, but not in these ballads. Thirdly, there is the tale (perhaps an offshoot of an early form of the first) of 'The Clever Lass,' who wins a husband, and sometimes a crown, by guessing riddles, solving difficult but practicable problems, or matching and evading impossibilities."
To this last division belongs the first ballad of Professor Child's collection, in which (in version A) the first two questions
and answers are, -
Oh, what is longer than the way,
Or what is deeper than the sea?
Oh, what is louder than the horn,
Or what is sharper than a thorn?"
Oh, love is longer than the way,
And hell is deeper than the sea.
And thunder is louder than the horn,
And hunger is sharper than a thorn.
The questions being properly answered, the knight marries the maiden.
It would seem, however, that the part of the song relating to the elfin knight is out of place, and borrowed from other ballads, as this character does not appear in the versions of the story found in other European tongues. "Gesta Romanorum" contains a mutilated form of the tale. A king is urged by his friends to marry, and a maiden found who is suitable. The king, desiring to try her sagacity, sends a bit of linen three inches square, with a promise to marry her if she will make him a shirt of proper length and width. She sends back reply that she must have a proper vessel in which to work.
In a Transylvanian tale, a king similarly requires the maid to make a shirt and drawers of two threads; she, in return, sends to the king a couple of broomsticks, requiring that he should first make a loom and bobbin-wheel out of these. In a Turkish tale from South Siberia (the references may be consulted in the work of Child), a king who is desirous to find a proper bride for his weak-minded son, being struck with the ability of a poor girl, tests her sagacity by requiring of the father impossible feats: he is to die unless he can cause an ox to bear a calf. The girl goes out to gather herbs; when examined, she explains that it is to make a bed for her father, who is about to bear a child. This is as likely as that an ox can have a calf. The girl thus becomes the bride of the prince, and saves her husband from danger by guessing the enigmas of a hostile king, who has proposed a riddle-match, of which the two kingdoms shall be the stake. The whole story is thus shown to be an outgrowth from that class of tales in which one king propounds tasks to another in order to acquire his possessions, and the latter is delivered either by the wisdom of his minister, whom he has imprisoned, or by the cleverness of the daughter of the minister. Moreover, in the older forms of the story (we follow the discussion of the editor), the object of the attack is to discover whether the prince to whom the demand is addressed enjoys the aid of such counsellors as will make an attack on him dangerous. It will be seen that, in the earlier versions of the tale, it assumes a form which would have, in the eyes of a simple-minded people, some sort of historical sequence, while in this, as in other cases, the ultra-romantic aspect is the later.
The songs which have been sung, and indeed are still sung in America, are therefore the echoes of a tale which long antedates the Christian era. An anecdote in Plutarch, in which the king of the AEthiops gave a task to Amasis, king of Egypt, with a stake of many towns and cities, is, as Professor Child remarks, probably a fragment of a story connected with the class of tales in question.
The songs above printed belong to another ballad, "The Elfin Knight," Child's No. 2, which has had more currency in modern oral tradition. According to the beginning of this ballad, a girl, who has heard the marvellous sweetness of the strains produced by a fairy knight, desires to obtain the love of the latter: this the knight evades by asking the performance of impossible tasks; she is to make for him a shirt without cut or seam, shaped without knife or thread, washed in a well where never was water, and dried on a hawthorn that never grew. To these requirements the maiden responds by counter-desires: the knight must till an acre of land with his horn, sow it without seed, harrow it with a thread, cut it with a knife, stack it in the sea, and fetch it home dry. According to the usual conditions of controversies of this sort, the person accosted is now free from the performance.
The refrain of the ballad seems to have been an enumeration of certain flowers. This refrain belongs to the dance (for the ballad was a dancing-song), not to the story. "Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme" appears in a version given by Motherwell, as corrupted into "Every rose grows merry with thyme," and in the first of our American versions receives a moral sense: "Let every rose grow merry in time." Just so, in the first of Child's ballads, "Juniper gentle (gentian?) and rosemary" have been taken for the names of persons: "Jennifer gentle and Rosemaree."