The Well below the Valley
Child #21 (The Maid and the Palmer) 4:44 V, G, OM & F.
Incest and infanticide - wanton promiscuity or horrendous sexual abuse – again the story is best just told as it is. This is an Irish version, and when the young woman speaks of her interlocutor as ‘a man of the noble fame’ she is placing him as a singer or poet who, like Thomas the Rhymer, is gifted with second sight, so that he not only knows about her past, but can predict her future too.
Incest and infanticide - wanton promiscuity or horrendous sexual abuse – again the story is best just told as it is. This is an Irish version, and when the young woman speaks of her interlocutor as ‘a man of the noble fame’ she is placing him as a singer or poet who, like Thomas the Rhymer, is gifted with second sight, so that he not only knows about her past, but can predict her future too.
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A gentleman was passing by,
He asked for a drink as he was dry, At the well below the valley O, Green grows the lily O, Right among the bushes O. “My cup it is in overflow And if I do stoop I may fall in, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows etc. “Well if your true love was passing by, You’d fill him a drink if he got dry, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. She swore by grass and swore by corn That her true love was never born. “I say, fair maiden, you are forsworn At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. “Well if you’re a man of that noble fame You’ll tell to me the father o’ them, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. “Two o’ them by your father dear, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. “Two more o’ them came by your uncle Dan, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. “Another one by your brother John, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. |
“Well if you’re a man of the noble fame,
You’ll tell to me what happened then, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. “There was two o’ them buried by the kitchen fire, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. “Two more o’ them buried by the stable door, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. “The other was buried by the well, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. “Well if you’re a man of the noble fame You’ll tell to me what will happen myself, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. “You’ll be seven long years a-ringin’ a bell At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. “You’ll be seven more a-portin’ in Hell, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc. “I’ll be seven long years a-ringin’ the bell, But the Lord above might save my soul From portin’ in Hell, At the well below the valley O.” Green grows, etc.  |