| Author | Topic: Add: Sweet Kitty | |
| dmcg | Posted - 23 Feb 04 - 12:25 pm | |
A bonny Scotch laddie was riding one day, He chanced to meet Molly all on the highway. He tipped her the wink and she rolled her dark eye. Thinks he to himself I'll be with you by and by. And sing fal the diddle i-do, fal the dal day. Here's fifty bright guineas if you will comply One night in my bedchamber with me to lie. With the sight of the money she soon gave consent And into his bedchamber quickly she went. With hugging and kissing she lulled him to sleep And out of his bedchamber softly did creep. GOld rings and bright jewels and diamonds and gold, She robbed this young lord of a fine sum all told. He saddled his horse and awy he did ride Thinking to meet Molly down by the sea-side. Three times he passed by her but did not her know. She laughed in her sleeve and said: There goes my beau. So now pretty Molly she lives on the shore, She never will go out a-courting any more, Unless some young sailor should be greatly in want For the loss of old England shall never want salt(--?) Source: Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Dec 1959 Notes: The Journal entry reads:
I am sure there is a good reason this song is called 'Sweet Kitty' but is about Molly ... Database entry is here. | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 23 Feb 04 - 06:25 pm | |
Roud 1349. Cecil Sharp found several examples, and the Hammond brothers got one. The set quoted here was noted by Sharp from Captain Lewis at Minehead, Somerset, on September 12 1906. It's called Sweet Kitty because that's how Sharp first heard it, from Mrs Emma Overd in 1904; the heroine's name is variously Molly or, more often, Peggy. Indeed, the song shows strong signs of being descended from an older song, Long Preston Peggy (Roud 8764), texts of which tend to be fragmentary; Harland and Wilkinson (Ballads and Songs of Lancashire, Ancient and Modern, London: Routledge, 1875, 61-63) quote two fragments of two and four verses, including (from the latter; stanzas 1 and 4): Long Preston Peggy to Proud Preston went, To view the Scotch Rebels it was her intent; A noble Scotch lord, as he passed by, On this Yorkshire damsel did soon cast an eye. * * * * "It's oh! Mistress Madam, your beauty's adored, By no other person than by a scotch lord, And if with his wishes you will comply, All night in his chamber with him you shall lie." There is another text in Dave Harker (ed), Songs from the Manuscript Collection of John Bell (Durham: Surtees Society, 1985, 298-299), which I failed to copy when I had the opportunity. Bruce Olson quoted the final stanza in a discussion on the Ballad-L list a while back: Now lang preston peggy lives nigh and see shor And she swears by old Ingland shel never sport more Unles with sum sailer or sum in great nead Since the whors of old Ingland is all gon indead. This perhaps clarifies a little the slightly confused final verse in Captain Lewis' version, the final words of which have tentatively been guessed as "salt juice(?)" On the other hand, a version of Kitty turned up in Florida, with the final stanza: Now Peggy is rich and lives by the seashore. She swears by her Maker she'll whore it no more, Unless some poor sailor is sadly in want For the tars of Columbia shall never lack [cunt]. The full text and source details are in the Digital Tradition: Pretty Peggy. Bert Lloyd may have got the wrong end of the stick on this occasion; on balance it seems likely that Lovely Joan is the more recent of the two songs, and not really related to Sweet Kitty at all. He lifted the second two lines of Captain Lewis' first verse and grafted them onto the set of Lovely Joan that appeared in Penguin, incidentally; whether because he thought the songs really were related, or just because the lines were racier than the authentic ones, I don't know. Edited By Malcolm Douglas - 24-Feb-2004 07:50:06 PM | ||