More Ballad Extraction: Two Sisters

[kniteracy]

I've been familiar with "Two Sisters" for a long time, and of course I love all the English versions with harps and stuff, but I fell in love with a "Wind and Rain" version I heard on an Armstrong Family CD years ago, and that's the version that stayed with me.

I don't particularly like "Bonny Swans" versions, although bardling sand me a "Binnorie" one that I liked very much.

The "Wind and Rain" version I learned so long ago was very short, and I knew there must be a little more to it. Now, some Appalachian versions add a tag where the miller/fellow who builds the instrument from her bones is hanged for her murder, and some add a version where the sister is executed because she is accused by the sister, but I'm not sure I like that ending. But it can be evocative when you add a little imagery.

Anyway, here's the version I'm working on learning:


Two Sisters/The Wind and the Rain

There were two sisters of a valley town
Oh the wind and the rain
One was fair and the other was brown
Oh the dreadful wind and rain

And they both had love of the miller’s son
Oh...
But he was fond of the fairer one
Oh...

So she pushed her into the river to drown
And watched her as she floated down

She floated ‘til she came to the miller’s pond
Dead on the water like a golden swan

And she came to rest on the river’s side
And her bones are washed by the rolling tide

Then along the road came a fiddler fair
And found her bones just a lying there

So he made a fiddle peg of her long finger-bone
He middle a fiddle peg of her long finger-bone

He strung his fiddle bow with her long yellow hair
He strung his fiddle bow with her long yellow hair

And he made a fiddle fiddle of her breastbone
He made a fiddle fiddle of her breastbone

But the only tune that the fiddle would play
The only tune that the fiddle would play

(almost entirely from the singing of Gillian Welch, from one of the Songcatcher CDs)

Comments

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

Ah, very similar I believe to the Martin Carthy one we stole from... er... used for our arrangment on dulcimer and guitar. (which we REALLY need to work up again now that I have the wolf darn it!)

I miss you. Foo.

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

What a doof I am... I was searching the web in vain for lyrics to "Bows of London" (Carthy's version) until I realized (duh) I have the lyrics.

( doubtless you already have them)
(sorry if I missed any of our arrangment performance notes, I tried to delete them).

I can't *wait* to hear you do this. It's always been a favorite ballad of mine. You wouldn't think I have such a gory imagination would you but... there it is. ;-)

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

Bows of London
trad. (Martin Carthy)

There were two little sisters a- walking alone, Ay, the gay and the grinding.
Two little sisters a- walking alone, by the Bonny Bonny Bows of London.

And the eldest pushed her sister in, Ay, the gay and the grinding.
Pushed her sister into the stream, By the Bonny Bonny Bows of London.

Oh she pushed her in and she watched her drown, Ay, the gay and the grinding.
Watched her body floating down, By the Bonny Bonny Bows of London.

Oh she floated up and she floated down, Ay, the gay and the grinding,
Floats till she comes to the miller’s down By the Bonny Bonny Bows of London.

But out and come the miller’s son, Ay, the gay and the grinding.
“Father dear, here swims a swan By the Bonny Bonny Bows of London.”

Oh they laid her out on the bank to die/dry, Ay, the gay and the grinding.
Fool with a fiddle come a’ riding by, By the Bonny Bonny Bows of London.

And he took some strands of her long yellow hair Ay, the gay and the grinding.
Made some strings from her long yellow hair, by the bonny bonny bows of London.

And he made fiddle pegs from her long finger bone, Ay, the gay and the grinding.
Made fiddle pegs from her long finger bone, by the bonny bonny bows of London.

And he made a fiddle out of her breast bone, Ay, the gay and the grinding.
Sound would pierce a heart of stone, By the Bonny Bonny Bows of London.
But the only tune that the fiddle would play was Oh the bows of London.
The only tune the fiddle would play was The Bonny Bonny bows of London

So the fool’s gone away to the King’s High Hall, Ay, the gay and the grinding.
There was music, dancing and all, By the Bonny Bonny Bows of London.

And he laid this fiddle all down on the stone, Ay, the gay and the grinding.
Played so loud it played all alone, By the Bonny Bonny Bows of London.

It sang “yonder sits my father the king, Ay, the gay and the grinding.
Yonder sits my father the king, By the Bonny Bonny Bows of London.”

“And yonder sits my mother the queen, Ay, the gay and the grinding.
How she’ll weep at my burying, By the Bonny Bonny Bows of London.”

“And yonder she sits my sister Anne, Ay, the gay and the grinding.
She who drownded me in the stream, By the Bonny Bonny Bows of London.”