ADD:There was a lord lived inthe old country-2 Sis

Subject: Lyr Req: There was a lord lived inthe old country
From: Capt. Telemark
Date: 12 Jan 21 - 05:41 AM

NPR carried a story 1/5/21 about Katherine Jackson French, who traveled the Kentucky mountains in the early 1900s, searching for traditional ballads that were disappearing. Elizabeth DiSavino has published a book and two disc set. One cut sampled in that set is "There was a lord lived in the old country". Does anyone have the lyrics for that? A link to a recording? TIA

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There was a lord lived inthe old country
From: Reinhard
Date: 12 Jan 21 - 07:07 AM

Child 10, The Two Sisters, sung by Miss Elsie Combs at Hindman School, Knott Co., Kentucky, on 20 September 1917; in Sharp, English Folk-Songs from the Southern Appalachians 1 pp.26-35 (version i):

There lived a lord in the old country,
Bow down,
There lived a lord in the old country,
Bow down to me,
There lived a lord in the old country,
He had daughters one, two, three,
I'll be true to my love if my love be true to me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There was a lord lived inthe old country
From: Capt. Telemark
Date: 13 Jan 21 - 08:40 PM

Thank you. I shall search for a recording.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There was a lord lived inthe old country
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jan 21 - 09:39 PM

There was a lord lived in the old country, he had one only daughter...??

Try any version of "Will O'Winsbury" or "Tom the Barber"

Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There was a lord lived inthe old country
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Jan 21 - 09:53 PM

I'm tempted to buy this book, but it's fifty bucks.
Google Books has a snippet view of the book here:

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Katherine_Jackson_French/We_bDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22these+vows+were+given%22&pg=PA150&printsec=frontcover

Subject: ADD: The Twa Sisters: Lord of the Old Country
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Jan 21 - 10:08 PM

THE TWA SISTERS: THE LORD OF THE OLD COUNTRY

There was a lord lived in the Old Country, bow down,
There was a lord lived in the Old Country, these vows were given to me;
There was a lord lived in the Old Country, and he had daughters, one, two, three;
I'll be true, true to my love,
If my love will be true to me.

"Sister, oh sister, let's us walk out, bow down
Sister, oh sister, let's us walk out, these vows were given to me;
Sister, oh sister, let's us walk out, and see the boats a-sailin' about,"
I'll be true, true to my love,
If my love will be true to me.

They walked down to the water's brim, bow down,
They walked down to the water's brim, these vows were given to me;
They walked down to the water's brim, and the oldest plunged the youngest in;
I'll be true, true to my love,
If my love will be true to me.

Down she sank, and off she swum, bow down;
Down she sank, and off she swum, these vows were given to me;
Down she sank, and off she swum, until she came to the miller's pond;
I'll be true, true to my love,
If my love will be true to me.

The miller was hung upon the Fish-gate, bow down;
The miller was hung upon the Fish-gate, these vows were given to me;
The miller was hung upon the Fish-gate, for drownin' of my sister Kate;
I'll be true, true to my love,
If my love will be true to me.

---

Click to play (joeweb)

Subject: RE: ADD:There was a lord lived inthe old country-2 Sis
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 14 Jan 21 - 10:33 AM

Are we talking Child 10 or 100? There seems to be some confusion.

Subject: RE: ADD:There was a lord lived inthe old country-2 Sis
From: Reinhard
Date: 14 Jan 21 - 12:23 PM

The soundbite in the NPR article mentioned in the initial post has the three first lines of what Joe printed. So it's Child 10.

Subject: RE: ADD:There was a lord lived inthe old country-2 Sis
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 14 Jan 21 - 01:45 PM

Thanks, Reinhard.

Subject: RE: ADD:There was a lord lived inthe old country-2 Sis
From: GUEST,#
Date: 17 Jan 21 - 12:35 PM

Jean Ritchie`s version is on p.3 of the below link (Child 10)

https://www.loc.gov/folklife/LP/AFS_L57ChildBallads.pdf