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21 Nov 03 - 05:55 PM (#1058772) Subject: Lyr Req: Child ballad refrain roses bloom sweetly From: Uncle_DaveO I'm tearing (what's left of) my hair out, trying to find a Child(?) ballad, with the refrain of "And the roses bloom sweetly". The story line, grossly compressed, is that a suitor is told by his wished-for bride to ask this and that and the other relative for permission to marry her, "and do not forget my brother John". Wouldn't you know, he asks everybody but Bubba John. They are married, and are mounting horses to leave when her brother John, under pretense of giving her a last hug or kiss, stabs her. I believe John is then killed on the spot, but I disremember for sure. She asks to be taken (or goes by herself?) to a hilltop. The traditional questions are asked about, "What will you leave to....", and she says to give her mother "the dress that I die in". and also to "Tell her to wash it in yonder stream, for my heart's blood flows in every seam." (POWERFUL!) "What will you leave to your brother's wife? My curse and grief for all her life." I get the overtone from this ballad that her brother has been her lover, that it's about incest in the background. I've searched the DT and the forum for "roses bloom sweetly", "roses bloom", and various combinations both from the general text and the refrain, to no avail. I have a vague recollection that I asked about this same ballad before, but durned if I can find the thread in the forum. Dave Oesterreich Can someone help here? Dave Oesterreich |
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21 Nov 03 - 06:09 PM (#1058781) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Child ballad refrain roses bloom sweetly From: Malcolm Douglas Your thread of a year ago, with answers, is at Lyr Req: Ballad: Roses Bloom Sweetly |