Young Henerly- Hammons (WV) 1970 Recording
[From a 1970 recording by Carl Fleischhauer and Dwight Diller. AFS 15,530 A1. Liner notes follow. Also published in Folk Songs from the West Virginia Hills; Patrick Gainer 1978 (see below).
Listen: Hammons- Young Henerly
Maggie Hammons Parker (1899- 1987) came from a family with a rich musical tradition of fiddle and banjo tunes, ballads, play party songs, riddles, ghost and witch tales, and family anecdotes(Cohen).
This is one of the few time can be compared to a documented version. I have the recording and Maggie's version has been transcribed below. Gainer has a different opening line but it's obvious it's the same version for the first 5 stanzas. She does sing Henerly with an "ly" not Heneree as Gainer has. Suddenly in stanza 6 Gainer apparently writes the last three verses- they have no resemblance to Maggie's version and appear stilted and rhyme. Here's Gainer's verse 6:
6. There was a pretty parrot bird
Sitting high on a limb,
Saying, "You have murdered young Heneree,
And in the well thrown him."
I can fathom no reason for this obvious change of the ballad by Gainer, except perhaps that Hammons' version is defective at the end- she forgotten the first part of the second line in the last two stanzas.
R. Matteson 2014]
Notes: 13. YOUNG HENERLY
Maggie Hammons Parker, vocal, October 23, 1970, recorded by Carl Fleischhauer and Dwight Diller. AFS 15,530 A1. Maggie's version of this traditional ballad (Child 68) comes from John Roberts. The modern corpus of versions of the ballad is generally limited to Scotland and the southern United States, with the most published versions coming from the southern Appalachians. Bronson's Traditional Tunes (II, p. 60-82) gathers together 43 versions with tunes. Maggie's tune is closely related to three already published from Appalachian Virginia and North Carolina (Bronson, Traditional Tunes, p. 71-72, no. 20-22). The tune is also occasionally used for another traditional ballad (Child 4); see Bronson, Traditional Tunes, p. 48, 66, no. 19, 63-64. The tune is notable for its great compass—a twelfth in this variant. Maggie's rendition is especially distinguished, even in comparison with her other ballad performances, by a slow and stately pace and a profusion of melodic ornamentation.
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YOUNG HENERLY: Listen: Hammons- Young Henerly
1. "Come in, come down, Young Henerly,
And stay all night with me;
The very best lodging that I can afford
Will be much better for thee."
2 "I won't came in, I shan't came in,
Nor stay all night with you,
For I have a girl in the merry green land,
I love her much better than you."
3 She leant herself against the fence
And kisses gave him three.
"That girl you love in the merry green land
She ain't no better than me."
4 So she took him by the lily white hand,
The other by the feet,
She plunged him into the deep blue well
That was more than one hundred feet.
5 "Lie there, lie there, Young Henerly,
Till the flesh rots off of your bones;
That girl you love in the merry green land
Will be waiting for your return.
"Fly down, fly down, you pretty parrot bird,
And set on my right knee;
Your cage shall be out of the best of gold
And your doors out of ivory."
6 "I won't fly down, I shan't fly down,
Nor stay all night with you,
For a girl that'll murder her old true love
Will murder a bird like me."
7 "It's if I had my bow and arrow,
He—and my string,[1]
I'd shoot a dart through your tender heart,
No longer your note would sing."
8 "Now if you had your bow and arrow,
He—and your string, [2]
I'd fly away to the merry green land,
And I'd tell 'em what I had seen."
1. "Me-- and my string" or "Me bow and my string," (Hammons simply forgot this line) it's usually, "My bow and arrow and string," which would add too many syllables.
2. Your (bow) and your string,
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YOUNG HENEREE -Patrick Gainer 1978
(CHILD 68, "YOUNG HUNTING")
The motivating emotion which causes this tragedy is jealousy. This version was sung to me by Maggie Hammans Parker, of Marlinton, on August 6, 1970.
1. "Get down, get down, Young Heneree
And stay all night with me.
And the very best lodging that I can afford
Will be much better for thee.
2 "I won't come, I shan't come in
And stay all night with you,
For I have a girl in the merry green lands
I love much better than you."
3 She leant herself against a fence,
And kisses gave him three.
"That girl you love in the merry green lands,
She ain't no better than me."
4 She caught him by the lily-white hand,
The other't by the feet,
She plunged him into the deep blue well
That was more than a hundred feet.
5 "Lie there, lie there, young Heneree,
Till the flesh rots off of your bones,
That girl you love in the merry green lands
Will never see you retum."
6. There was a pretty parrot bird [1]
Sitting high on a limb,
Saying, "You have murdered young Heneree,
And in the well thrown him."
7 "Come down, come down, my pretty parrot bird,
And sit on my right knee,
Your cage shall be of the finest gold,
And decked with ivory."
8. "I won't come down, I can't come down,
I won't come down," says she,
"For you have murdered young Heneree,
And you would murder me."
1. This verse and the last two seem to be fabricated.