Young Hunting- Walton (VA) 1919 Davis F
[Stone's title. From Traditional Ballads of Virginia; Davis, 1929. His notes follow. Davis F is a single verse fragment with music. An identical text of the first verse with a different melody was collected in the same area of Virginia by Cecil Sharp in 1916 (See Sharp D).
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
YOUNG HUNTING
(Child, No. 68)
THE hero, who is usually Lord Henry, returning from the hunt, is courteously invited in for the night by his mistress, who is usually Lady Margaret. Lord Henry refuses the invitation rather brusquely, saying that another lady whom he loves more than he loves her is awaiting him. As he leans over to kiss her good-bye, Lady Margaret wounds him sorely with a little pen-knife, In the conversation that ensues, he indicates that he really loves Lady Margaret. He dies, and Lady Margaret, sometimes with the help of her maids whom she offers to reward for silence, throws his body into a deep well. Her parrot speaks accusingly to her, and she tries to cajole the bird with promises, then threatens it, but to no avail. The wily parrot is not to be deterred, and presumably betrays her guilt.
Here the Virginia texts end, as does Child F. They do not go ahead, like Child A and other fuller versions of the ballad, to the coming of the king's duckers, their finding of the body by candle light after a hint from the bird, the lady's protestations of innocence and her attempt to throw the guilt on one of her maids, the trial by fire, which leaves the maid unscathed but consumes the guilty lady.
The names and title of Virginia A, " Lord Barnet and Fair Eleonder," seem to be borrowed partly from "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard (Barnett)" (Child No. 81) and partly from "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor" (Child, No. 73). "Proud Lady Margaret," "Lord Henry," sometimes "Love Henry," and "sir Henry and Lady Margaret," are the titles more properly its own.
A point of special interest in these Virginia variants is their obvious contamination with stanzas from "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (Child, No. 4). Note the stanzas about the bird in all texts, and also stanza 8 of Virginia E. E has also many interesting verbal expressions. A, B, C, D are all excellent ballads, well preserved. The four tunes are also good, especially the strangely wild hunting tune of B.
For American texts, see Barry, No. 18; Bulletin, Nos. 5-7, 10 Campbell and Sharp, No. 15 (North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia); Cox, No. 9, Hudson, No. 9 (Mississippi); Journal XVIII, 295 (Barry, Vermont, melody only); XX, 252 (Kittredge, Kentucky); XXX, 297 (Kittredge, Kentucky, text and melody, Missouri, Indiana); Reed Smith, No. 4 (text and melody); Reed Smith, Ballads, No.4; Sandburg, p.64 (North Carolina); Sharp, Songs, I, No. 3 (Kentucky); Shearin, p. 3; Shearin and Combs, p. 8. For additional references, see Cox, p. 42; Journal, XXXI 297.
F. "Young Hunting." Sung by Mrs. Brice Walton (Mountain Fair, VA) 1919; Collected by John Stone. Davis F
As Lady Margaret was going to bed,
She heard the sound of a musical horn,
Which made her heart feel glad and sad,
To think that it was her Brother John, Brother John,
Coming in from his wild hunt.
But who should it be but her true love Henery
Returning from his king?
[additional text from Sharp D]
2 O light, O light, love Henery,
And stay all night with me,
And you shall have the cheers of the cheer (or cheery) cold girl,
The best I can give you.
3 I will not light and I shall not light
To stay all night with thee,
For there's a pretty girl in Merry Green Lea
I love far better than thee.
4 He bended over her soft pillow
And gave her a kiss so sweet,
But with a penknife in her right hand,
She wounded him in full deep.
5 Woe be, woe be, Lady Marg'ret, he cried,
Woe be, woe be to thee,
For don't you see my own heart's blood
Come twinkling down my knee?
6 She called unto a maid of hers:
Keep a secret, keep a secret on me.
All these fine robes on my body
Shall always be to thee.
7 One takened him by his long yellow hair
And the other one by his feet,
And they threw him into the well waters
Which was so cool and deep.
8 Lie there, lie there, love Henery,
Till the flesh rots off your bones,
And that pretty girl in Merry Green Lea
Thinks long of your coming home.
9 Up spoke, up spoke a pretty little parrot
Exceeding on a willow tree:
There never was a girl in Merry Green Lea
He loved so well as thee.
10 Come down, come down, my pretty little parrot,
And sit upon my knee,
And you shall have a cage of a pure, pure gold
Instead of the willow tree.
11. I won't come down, nor I shan't come down
To sit upon your knee,
For you have murdered your true love Henery,
More sooner you would kill me.
12 If I had my arrow in my hand,
My bow on tuneful string,
I'd shoot a dart that would win your heart,
So you could no longer sing.
13 If you had your arrow in your hand,
Your bow on tuneful string,
I'd take a flight and fly, fly away
And tune my voice to sing.