The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #164203   Message #3937213
Posted By: GUEST,Kevin W.
13-Jul-18 - 03:31 PM
Thread Name: Origins: James Madison Carpenter- Child Ballads 3
Subject: RE: Origins: James Madison Carpenter- Child Ballads 3
Richie,
Mrs. Dorothy Fuller Irving's Dorset text is near identical to the one recorded by Helen Hartness Flanders & Marguerite Olney from Edith Ballinger Price, of Rhode Island, who learned it from an old lady of Massachusetts c.1914:
https://soundcloud.com/user-860765554/edith-ballinger-price-three-ladies-played-

"Three Ladies Played at Ball" - Sung by Edith Ballenger Price, Newport, Rhode Island, 10-25-1945.

Three ladies played at cup and ball,
With a hey and a lady gay!
Three knights there came among them all,
The rose that[1*] smells so sweetly!

And one of them was dressed in red,
He asked me with him to wed.

And one of them was dressed in yellow,
He asked me to be his fellow.

And one of them was dressed in green,
He asked me to be his queen.

"Oh, you must ask my father the king
And you must ask my mother the queen."

"And you must ask my sister Anne
And you must ask my brother John."

[two verses are missing here.

Curiously the recording actually contains these verses which are missing from the transcription:

"Oh, I have asked your father the king
And I have asked your mother the queen.

"And I have asked your sister Anne
And I have asked your brother John."]

Her father the king led her down the hall,
Her mother the queen led her down the stairs.

Her sister Anne led her down the path,
Her brother John sat her on her horse.

And as she bent to give him a kiss
He stuck a[2*] penknife into her breast.

"Now, up and ride, my foremost man!
My lady fair looks pale and wan!"

"Oh, what will you leave to your father the king?"
"The golden chair that I sit in!"

"And what will you leave to your mother the queen?"
"The golden coach that I ride in!"

"And what will you leave to your sister Anne?"
"My silver brooch and ivory fan!"

"And what will you leave to your brother John?"
"A pair of gallows to hang him on!"

[1*] Miss Price sings "it" on the recording.
[2*] Miss Price sings "his" on the recording.