Here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index.
-Joe Offer-
Nobleman's Wedding, The (The Faultless Bride; The Love Token) [Laws P31]
DESCRIPTION: A man disguises himself to attend the wedding of the girl he loved before he went away. He sings a song that reminds her of her unfaithfulness and promises to return her love token. She swoons and returns to her mother's home. She dies before morning
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1855 (Petrie)
KEYWORDS: disguise wedding infidelity death
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) US(MA,MW,NE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws P31, "The Nobleman's Wedding (The Faultless Bride; The Love Token)"
SHenry H60a, pp. 400-401, "An Old Lover's Wedding"; H60b, p. 401, "The Laird's Wedding" (2 texts, 2 tune, the second mixed with "All Around My Hat")
Ord, pp. 132-133, "The Unconstant Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 164, "The Nobleman's Wedding" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 142-143, "To Wear a Green Willow" (1 text)
DT 509, NOBELWED
RECORDINGS:
Sara Cleveland, "To Wear a Green Willow" (on SCleveland01)
Notes: According to Hazlitt's Dictionary of Faiths & Folklore, to wear the willow meant that one had been forsaken by a lover. - RBW
File: LP31Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index InstructionsThe Ballad Index Copyright 2002 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.