> Cyril Tawney > Songs > The Three Knights
> Norma Waterson > Songs > The Rose and the Lily
> Eliza Carthy > Songs > The Rose and the Lily

The Cruel Brother / The Three Knights / The Rose and the Lily

[ Roud 26 ; Child 11 ; Ballad Index C011 ; The Cruel Brither at Muckle Sangs ; VWML SBG/1/2/834 ; DT CRUELBRO ; Mudcat 33567 ; trad. ]

The Everlasting Circle Canow Kernow The Scottish Folksinger Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc. The Oxford Book of Ballads

Polly Johnson of Wise, Virginia, sang The Three Maids to Herbert Halpert on 24 March 1939. This recording was included in 1978 on the Blue Ridge Institute album in their Virginia Traditions series, Ballads From British Tradition. Blanton Owen noted:

Mrs. Johnson learned this song when she was seventeen from her nephew in Johnson County, Kentucky, fifteen miles below Paintville on Big Sandy. Professor Child says this song was once one of the most popular of Scottish ballads and he has found the same story in Scandinavian and German ballads as well. The bride‘s bequest of good things to her friends but ill things to the author of her death is highly characteristic of ballad poetry. Perhaps because the crime seems motiveless by today‘s standards, this ballad survives only weakly in tradition. Davis, for example, gives no versions of it in either of his collections. Emory Hamilton recorded three variants of the song, two from Mrs. Johnson and the third from a neighbour. It has not been reported elsewhere in the state.

This ballad is a perfect example of what is termed “incremental repetition”. The story progresses in clear increments or by regular consecutive additions: “What do you will your sister Ann?”; “What do you will your true love?”; “What do you will your mother dear?”, etc. The seemingly meaningless refrain of this version has probably always been so for a version of the ballad collected in Scotland in 1800 (from Mrs. Brown of Falkland) is similar:

There was three ladies play‘d at the ba.
With a hey ho and a lillie gay
There came a knight and played o‘er them a‘.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
(Kittredge and Sargent, p. 20)

It seems this ballad, as Mrs. Johnson sings it, “degenerated” little over the 139 year span between the versions.

Another version of this song attributed to Mrs. Johnson goes:

What do you will your brother John? I lily-O
What do you will your brother John?
A rope and a gallows for to hang him on,
For the rose is sweet I know.

It is likely there was simply not enough room on the disc for this last verse and it was consequently omitted.

Cyril Tawney sang The Three Knights in 1969 on his album of folks songs from Devon and Cornwall, The Outlandish Knight. He noted:

Both [The Three Sisters and The Three Knights] are taken from the 1823 edition of Davies Gilbert’s Some Ancient Christmas Carols where they appear as part of a secular “appendix”. Although Gilbert does not definitely state they are from Cornwall he gives them from his own recollection, and as he was a native of St. Erth we can assume they are Cornish versions of these two ancient ballads. […] Cecil Sharp found two versions with texts resembling this Cornish one in Hot Springs, North Carolina.

The Songwainers sang The Three Knights in 1971 on their eponymous Argo album The Songwainers. They noted:

A rather short version of Child 11—The Cruel Brother—in which a girl would marry, but fails to obtain the permission of her brother; for this she dies by his hand. This is a C16 setting, to the tune Queen Eleanor’s Confession.

The Gaugers sang this ballad as The Cruel Brother in 1976 on their Topic album Beware of the Aberdonian. This track was also included twenty years later on the Topic compilation Ancient Celtic Roots. Duncan MacLennan noted on the original album:

In ballad times, vague as that term may be, it was apparently regarded as unpardonable not to ask a brother’s assent to his sister’s marriage. The story here revolves round such a failure on the part of the suitor. The brother’s consequent murder of his sister seems to be a somewhat extreme reaction, but perhaps becomes credible when we consider that in a patriarchal society he would naturally have a vested interest in who became part of the family. The ballad does not make this point—but then to contemporaries it wouldn’t need to. In archetypal fashion, the murderer is revealed in the heroine’s testament.

The text here is a collation of various versions in Child (No. 11) where the tune is also to be found. Tom Spiers is the singer.

Archie Fisher sang The Cruel Brother in 1976 too on his Folk-Legacy album The Man with a Rhyme. He noted:

Learned from the singing of a fine young Aberdeenshire fiddler called Tom Spiers [of The Gaugers, see above]. This version was collated for me by Duncan MacLennan of Inverness. It is mainly from Child 11, version C, with additions from other versions.

Battlefield Band sang The Cruel Brother in 1977 on their eponymous Topic album, Battlefield Band. They noted:

In the period that concerns this ballad, the heir to a man’s possession was not his own child, but his sister’s; it was therefore obligatory for a suitor to gain the permission of his sweetheart’s brother prior to any marriage. The suitor in this story neglects to obtain this consent, with the result that on the wedding day his bride is murdered by her brother.

This is a compilation of several versions set to the Geordie tune The Jolly Beggar.

Dick Gaughan sang The Cruel Brother on Five Hand Reel’s 1977 album For A’ That, and Dick Gaughan sang it at Forrest Hill Bar (Sandy Bell’s) or Pan Audio Studios in Edinburgh for the 1977 album Sandy Bell’s Ceilidh which was later reissued by Greentrax on cassette and CD. This track was also included in 2002 on his Greentrax compilation Prentice Piece. Gaughan noted on his now defunct website:

One of the few songs which was in my solo repertoire which went into Five Hand Reel. I’ve never been able to sing it since as Dave Tulloch’s percussion became such an essential part of my interpretation of the story. I learned it from Tom Spiers of the Aberdeen based group, The Gaugers.

Colin Thompson recorded The Three Knights in 1980 as the title track of his Fellside album Three Knights.

Peggy Seeger sang The Cruel Brother in 1982 on her and Ewan MacColl’s Blackthorne album Blood & Roses Volume 2. They noted:

In 1858, according to Aytoun, the Scots collector, this was “the most popular of the Scottish ballads”. In 1846, it was common amongst English rural folk. Bronson reckons that it had disappeared from Britain by the turn of this century, but turns up—albeit rarely—in the United States. Most of the American sets are from the South, although ours is from Vermont.

At first glance, the motive for the murder seems to be incest. Several other incest ballads (Edward and Lizie Wan) have testament verses such as our stanzas 13-18. Scholars tend to dismiss this motive in favour of another social phenomenon, one set in a vestigially matriarchal society. Child puts it: “The offence given by not asking a brother’s assent to his sister’s marriage was in ballad-times regarded as an unpardonable offence.” This could be due to the fact that a brother’s duty to his sister’s offspring (and vice-versa, as in Chylde Owlet) was of prime importance—therefore his consent was required. Fraser, in The Golden Bough, takes us even further back into societies in which sisters were the heirs rather than brothers, and many brothers married their sisters rather than lost the parental inheritance.

Katherine Campbell sang Cruel Brother in 2004 on her Springthyme album The Songs of Amelia and Jane Harris.

Debra Cowan sang Cruel Brother —as collected by Helen Hartness Flanders on 25 October 1945 from Edith Ballinger Price of Newport, Rhode Island—in 2005 on her album of songs from the Flanders Collection, Dad’s Dinner Pail. She noted:

One is not certain about the relationship between brother and sister. You may draw your own conclusions.

Martin Simpson sang The Cruel Brother in 2005 on his Topic album Kind Letters. He noted:

Dick Gaughan is capable of singing a song as well as anyone I’ve ever heard. While he was with 5 Hand Reel, the excellent and much missed folk rock band, he recorded The Cruel Brother. I have used his tune and a set of lyrics, which are largely from a version from Somerset which I found in Bronson’s Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads. The last verse here is enormously important for me. In some versions the dying lady curses her brother’s wife but in this version there is an empathy and a recognition of abuse which I find profoundly moving.

Crucible recorded this ballad as Three Maidens on their 2008 Fellside CD Love & Money. They noted:

This comes from the John Clare manuscript as published in George Deacon’s book John Clare and the Folk Tradition. Helena [Reynolds] was taken by the unusual tune, not to mention the convoluted relationships and extreme violence.

Eliza Carthy and Norma Waterson sang The Rose and the Lily in 2010 on their Topic CD Gift. A live recording from the Union Chapel in November 2010 was released in the following year on the DVD and CD The Gift Band Live on Tour. They commented in their original album’s liner notes:

The idea that the two siblings represent the two flowers of the family: both beautiful, one deadly. What has passed between them we don’t know, he could just be a selfish baddun. Or it could be an example of an old-style honour killing as the brother was not informed of her intended wedding. The bulk of this comes from The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads, by Bertrand Harris Bronson. We added to the tradition a little bit here and there.

The Shee sang Three Knights in 2012 on their third album, Murmurations. They noted:

Led by Rachel Newton, this grizzly Child ballad, a version of The Cruel Brother, is largely accompanied by the accordion and concentrates on using the three vocalists in the band to dramatic effect.

Marion Fleetwood sang The Rose and the Lily on her 2015 CD Holding Space.

Arthur Knevett sang The Cruel Brother on his 2016 CD Simply Traditional. He noted:

Davies Gilbert in his collection, Some Ancient Christmas Carols, gives this ballad as The Three Knights. Francis James Child included it in his seminal collection (The English and Scottish Popular Ballads) using the title The Cruel Brother. He simply says of it that the mortal offence giving by neglecting to ask for the approval of the brother for the marriage of his sister also occurs in a number of Scandinavian ballads.

Steeleye Span sang both Cruel Brother and Gulliver Gentle and Rosemary in 2016 their CD Dodgy Bastards. A 2019 live recording of Gulliver Gentle and Rosemary from Buxton Opera House was released in the same year on the bonus DVD of their album 50^th Anniversary Tour. They noted on the first ballad:

Child 11. It seems to concern an honour killing. A young man comes to ask for a woman’s hand, but fails to ask the permission of the brother, an offence that is fatal for the sister.

and on the second:

Child Ballad 11. Sometime versions of the same ballad, in Child and Bronson, are almost unrecognisable as the same story. This is such a light hearted lyric that it feels unconnected to the Cruel Brother, which it is grouped with.

Sophie Crawford sang Green Grow the Lily on her 2018 album Silver Pin. Her story line is similar to Archie Fisher’s The Cruel Brother, with the in-verse chorus lines “Green grow the lily-o / And the rose is sweet and merry”. Sophie noted:

I heard this sung by [Crucible] at Towersey Folk Festival many, many years ago and just repeated it to myself ever since, which might account for variation in lyrics. I don’t know where it is from.

Cambridge and Walker sang The Rose and the Lily on their 2019 EP Worry, Grief and Care.

Lau sang The Cruel Brother on their 2020 album Folk Songs.

Innocent Hare sang Young Viola on their 2025 tribute to John Clare, the album The Windings of Their Wandering Song. Chloe Middleton-Metcalfe noted:

The original first line in this untitled manuscript was “As three maiden’s played at ball” (Peterborough MS B7 p.34). Deacon [in John Clare and the Folk Tradition] suggests that this song was probably one that Clare would have heard sung and written down from memory. There are older broadside versions of this story and the song is more widely known as The Cruel Brother. Amidst the liberties taken with this song, we gave the unfortunate protagonist a name, Young Viola. This is a rather gruesome ballad with a beautiful refrain “Roseys sweet in Mary”. A knight asks to marry a maiden who consents providing her family are all in accord. The knight replies that he has already asked her family and they consent to the marriage, so does her lover John, who has also been referred to as her brother. The brother/lover, who it transpires is already married then changes his mind and kills Viola, and the song ends in a curse for him and all of his kin. The tune is our adaption of that suggested by Deacon The Three Knights from Some Ancient Christmas Carols by Davies Gilbert (1823).

Lyrics

The Three Knights in Davies Gilbert’s Some Ancient Christmas Carols

There did three Knights come from the West,
With the high and the lily o!
And these three Knights courted one Lady,
As the rose was so sweetly blown.

The first Knight came was all in white,
And asked of her if she’d be his delight.

The next Knight came was all in green,
And asked of her, if she’d be his Queen.

The third Knight came was all in red,
And asked of her, if she would wed.

Then have you asked of my Father dear,
Likewise of her who did me bear?

And have you asked of my brother John?
And also of my sister Anne?

Yes, I have asked of your Father dear,
Likewise of her who did you bear.

And I have asked of your sister Anne,
But I’ve not asked of your brother John.

[Here some verses seem to be wanting.]

For on the road as they rode along,
There did they meet with her brother John.

She stooped low to kiss him sweet,
He to her heart did a dagger meet.

Ride on, ride on, cried the serving man,
Methinks your bride she looks wond’rous wan.

I wish I were on yonder stile,
For there I would site and bleed awhile.

I wish I were on yonder hill,
There I’d alight and make my will.

What would you give to your Father dear,
The gallant steed which doth me bear.

What would you give to your Mother dear,
My wedding shift which I do wear.

But she must wash it very clean,
For my heart’s blood sticks in ev’ry seam.

What would you give to your sister Anne,
My gay gold ring, and my feathered fan.

What would you give to your brother John,
A rope and gallows to hang him on.

What would you give to your brother John’s wife,
A widow’s weeds, and a quiet life.

Polly Johnson sings The Three Maids

There was three maids a-playing ball, I lily-O
There was three maids a-playing ball, I lily-O
They some three lords for to court them all,
For the rose is sweet I know.

The foremost one was dressed in red, I lily-O
The foremost one was dressed in red.
And this is the one I make my wed,
For the rose is sweet I know.

The middle one was dressed in green,
And this is the one I’ll make my queen.

The foremost one was dressed in white,
O this is the one I’ll make my wife.

Her brother John was standing by,
He wounded his sister with a knife.

Ride on, ride on, to yonder‘s hill,
Till I get down and bleed a while.

Ride on, ride on, to yonder‘s hill,
Till I get down and make my will.

What do you will your sister Ann?
My trunk of gold and silver pan.

What do you will your true love dear?
This snow white horse that I rode here.

What do you will your mother dear?
My snow white dress what I wore here.

Tell her to wash it nice and clean,
So my heart‘s blood call never be seen.

Archie Fisher sings The Cruel Brother

There were three sisters lived in a ha’
Hech, hey, and the lily gay,
By cam a knicht and he woo’d them a’
And the rose is aye the redder aye.

And the first ane she was dressed in green.
“Would ye fancy me and be my queen?”

And the second ane she was dressed in yellow.
“Would ye fancy me and be my marrow?

And the first ane she was dressed in red.
“Would ye fancy me and be my bride?”

“Ye may seek me frae my faither dear,
And frae my mither wha’ did me bear.

“Ye may seek me frae my sister Anne,
And dinna forget my brither John.”

And he socht her frae her faither, the king,
And he socht her frae her mither, the queen.

And he socht her frae her sister Anne,
But forgot tae speir at her brither John.

And her mither dressed her in her gown,
And her sister tied the flounces ’round.

Her faither mounted her on her horse,
And her brither led her doon the close.

And he’s ta’en a knife baith lang and sharp,
And he’s pierced the bonnie bride through the heart.

“O lead me, lead me up yon hill,
And there I’ll sit and mak’ my will.”

“What will ye leave tae your faither dear?”
“The bonnie white steed that brocht me here.”

“What will ye leave tae your mither dear?”
“The bloody robes that I do wear.”

“What will ye leave tae your sister Anne?”
“The gowden ring frae off my hand.”

“What will ye leave tae your brither John?”
“The gallows tree for tae hang him on.”

Battlefield Band sing The Cruel Brother

There were three ladies played at ba’,
Hey wi’ the rose and the linsey o,
But a knight came by, played o’er them a’,
Doon by the greenwood sidey o.

This knight bowed low tae a’ the three,
But tae the youngest he bent his knee.

“O lady fair, gie me your hand,
And I’ll mak ye lady o’er all my land.”

“Sir knight, ere you my favour win,
Ye maun gain consent o’er all my kin.”

He gained consent fae her parents dear,
And likewise fae her sisters fair.

He’s gained consent o’er all her kin,
He forgot tae speak tae her brother John.

When the wedding day was come,
This knight would take his bonnie bride home.

Her mother led her through the close,
And her brother John stood her on her horse.

He took a knife baith long and sharp,
And he stabbed the bonnie bride tae her heart.

“Lead me tae yon high high hill,
And I’ll lie doon and I’ll mak my will.”

“And what will you gie tae your brother John?”
“The gallows tree for tae hang him on.”

“And what will you gie to your brother John’s wife?”
“The wilderness tae end her life.”

Dick Gaughan sings The Cruel Brother

Thair were three sisters lived in a haa
Hie the rose an the lily gay
An it’s doun cam a knight an he courted them aa
An the rose is aye the reider aye

The first ane she wis dressed in red
“Wad ye come wi me an be ma bride?”

An the saicont ane wis dressed in green
“Wad ye come wi me an be ma queen?”

The third ane she wis dressed in white
“Wad ye cam wi me an be ma bride?”

“It’s ye maun ask ma faither the king
An it’s ye maun ask ma mither the queen

“An ye maun ask ma sister Anne
Bit mind ye o ma brither John”

Sae he has asked her faither the king
An he has asked her mither the queen

An he has asked her sister Anne
Bit he forgot her brither John

Her faither he led her thro the haa
An her mither she danced afore thaim aa

Her sister Anne led her thro the close
An her brither John helped her on her horse

Then it’s he’s taen out his wee penknife
An thair he’s twined her o her life

As we cam by St Evron’s well
She daurstnae light tae drink her fill

An as we cam by St Evron’s close
Our bonnie bride she fell aff her horse

“An it’s whit will ye leave tae yer faither the king?”
“The bonnie steed that A ride on”

“An whit will ye leave tae yer mither the queen?”
“The bluidy robes that A lie in”

“An whit will ye leave tae yer sister Anne?”
“Ma guidlord tae be her man”

“An it’s whit will ye leave tae yer brither John?”
“The rope an the halter tae hing him on”

Peggy Seeger sings The Cruel Brother

Three ladies played at cup and ball,
With a hey and a lady gay;
There came three knights among them all,
And the rose it blooms sweetly.

And one of them was dressed in red,
And he asked me with him to wed.

“O, you must ask my father, the king
And you must ask my mother, the queen.

“And you must ask my sister, Anne,
And you must ask my brother, John.”

O, he did ask her father, the king,
And he did ask her mother, the queen.

He did ask her sister, Anne,
He forgot to ask her brother, John.

Her father, the king, led her down the hall,
Her mother, the queen, danced before them all.

Her sister, Anne, led her through the door,
Her brother, John put her on her horse.

“Now you are high and I am low,
Give me one kiss before you go.”

She bent low to give him a kiss
He struck his knife into her breast.

“Rise up, rise up, my foremost man!
My lady fair looks pale and wan.”

“Take me up yon hill so high,
Lay me down and let me die.”

“What will you leave to your father, the king?”
“The golden chair that 1 sat in.”

“What will you leave to your mother, the queen?”
“The bloody gown that I die in.

“She must wash it in yonder stream,
For my heart’s blood runs in every seam.”

“What will you say to your sister, Anne?”
“Don’t give your heart till you give your hand.”

“And what will you leave to your brother, John?”
“A pair of gallows to hang him on.”

“What will you leave to your brother’s wife?”
“Grief and misfortune all her life.”

Martin Simpson sings The Cruel Brother

There came three knights from the west
Aye the rose and the lily gay
They have courted a lady fair
And the rose it blooms so sweetly O

First of them was dressed in white
He’s asked her to be his heart’s delight

The second of them was dressed in green
He’s asked of her to be his queen

The third of them was dressеd in red
He’s asked of her if she might wed

Then you must ask my father the king
You must ask my mother the queen

And you must ask my sister Anne
But don’t forget my brother John

He has asked her father the king
He has asked her mother the queen

And he has asked her sister Anne
But he forgot her brother John

Her father led them through the hall
Her mother, she danced before them all

Her sister Anne led them through the close
Her brother John helped her on her horse

And he had a penknife keen and sharp
He stabbed his sister to the heart

Then up and spoke our leading man
Me thinks our bride looks wondrous wan

I wished I was on yonder style
It’s there I’d sit and bleed awhile

I wished I was on yonder hill
Aye the rose and the lily gay
It’s there I’d sit and make my will
And the rose it blooms so sweetly O

(The next five verses are without the ‘rose’ refrain lines)

And what would you leave to your father the king?
The milk white steed that I ride on

What would you leave to your mother the queen?
The white silk dress that I lie in

But tell her to wash it very clean
For my heart’s blood sticks in every seam

What would you leave to your sister Anne?
A comb of gold, and my feathered fan

What would you leave to your brother John?
A rope and a gallows to hang him on

What would you leave to your brother John’s wife?
Aye the rose and the lily gay
A widow’s weeds and a quiet life
And the rose it blooms so sweetly O

Eliza Carthy and Norma Waterson sing The Rose and the Lily

There were three men come from over the way,
O the rose and the lily-o,
And these three men came after one lady
As the rose was so sweetly grown.

The first man came, he was all in white,
He asked her if she’d be his delight.
The next man came and he was all in green,
Asked her if she would be his queen.

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
O the rose and the lily
O the rose and the lily
As the rose is so sweetly grown
So the lily, so sweetly sown

The first man came, he was all in white
Asked her if she’d be his delight.
The last man came and he was dressed in red
Asked her nicely if she would wed.

“As I have asked your father dear
And also her that did you bear.
And I have asked your sister Anne
Though I never met your brother John.”

On the road as they rode alone
There they met her brother John;
O she stood low to give him kisses sweet,
Into her heart did a dagger meet.

“I wish I were on yonder stile,
There I’d sit and I’d bleed awhile.
I wish I were upon yonder hill
For there I’d sit and I’d make my will.”

“What would you give to your father dear?”
“This gallant horse that does me bear.”
“What would you give to your mother dear?”
“This wedding dress that I do wear.”

“What would you give your mother dear?”
“This wedding dress that I do wear;
Though she must wash it very, very clean
For my heart’s blood sticks in every seam.”

“What would you give to your sister Anne?”
“My good gold ring and my feathered fan.”
“What would you give to your brother John?”
“A tall, tall tree to hang him on.”

“What would you give to your brother John?”
“A rope and gallows to hang him on.”
“What would you give to your brother’s wife?”
“A widow’s weeds and a peaceful life.”

The Shee sing The Three Knights

There were three knights came from the West,
With the high and the lily-o,
And these three knights courted one lady,
As the rose was so sweetly blown.

The first knight came was all in green,
And asked of her if she’d be his queen.

The next knight came was all in white,
And asked of her if she’d be his delight,

The third knight came was all in red,
And asked of her if she would wed,

“Then you must ask of my Father dear,
Likewise of her that did me bear?

“And you must ask of my brother John?
And also of my sister Anne.”

So he did ask of her father dear,
Likewise of her that did she bear.

And he did ask of her sister Anne,
But did not ask of her brother John.

’Twas on the road as they rode along,
There they did meet with her brother John.

She stooped low to kiss him sweet,
He to her heart did a dagger meet.

“Ride on, ride on,” cried the serving man,
“Methinks your bride she looks wond’rous wan.”

“I wish I was on yonder stile,
There I would site and I’d bleed awhile.

“I wish I were on yonder hill,
There I’d alight and I’d make my will.”

“What would you give to your Father dear?”
“The gallant steed that doth me bear.”

“What would you give to your mother dear?”
“My wedding gown that I do wear.

“But she must wash it very clean,
For my heart’s blood sticks in ev’ry seam.”

“What would you give to your sister?”
“My gay gold ring and my feathered fan.”

“What would you give to your brother?”
“A rope and gallows to hang him on.”

What would you give to your brother’s wife?”
“A widow’s weeds and a quiet life.”

Steeleye Span sing Gulliver Gentle and Rosemary

There were three ladies playing at ball,
Gulliver, Gentle and Rosemary,
There came three knights, looked over the wall,
Sing: O the red rose and pure white lily.

The first young knight was clothed in red,
O the rose, the blood red rose,
He said, “Gentle lady will you me wed?”
O the rose and the pure white lily.

The second young knight was clothed in blue,
O the rose, the blood red rose,
He said, “To my love I will be true.”
O the rose and the pure white lily.

The third young knight was clothed in green,
O the rose, the blood red rose,
He said, “Fair maiden, will you be my queen?”
O the rose and the pure white lily.

The lady spoke to the knight in red,
“With you, Sir Knight, I never can wed.”

The lady spoke to the knight in blue,
She said, “Little faith I have in you.”

The lady spoke to the knight in green,
She said, “’Tis a court you must seek for a queen.”

The three young knights they rode away,
The ladies laughed and went back to their play.

Sophie Crawford sings Green Grow the Lily

There were three ladies played at ball,
Green grow the lily O
They were virgins maidens all,
And the rose is sweet and merry.

There came a young red knight
To take another as his bride.

“You must ask of my father dear
And the mother that did me bear.

“You must ask of my brother John,
And you must ask my sisters everyone.”

“I have asked of your father dear
And the mother that did you bear.

“I have asked of your lover John,
I have asked your sisters everyone.”

Her father led her to the door
And her brother gave her a death wound.

O the horse she rode it was pitch black
And her brother rode at the back.

“Ride on, you false young man,
For I fear your bride looks awf’lly wan.

“Ride on and never fail,
For I fear your bride looks awf’lly pale.”

They rode to the riverside
And there she laid down and died.

“What’ll you leave your mother dear?”
“O the bridal dress that I do wear.”

“Take it down to yonder stream,
My heart’s blood runs in every seam”

“What’ll you leave your brother’s wife?”
“O to mourn and grieve in all her life.”

“What’ll you leave your brother John?”
“O a hangman’s noose to hang him on.”

Innocent Hare sings Young Viola

As young Viola played outside
Aye and the lilly aye
A fine young man came riding by
Roseys sweet in Mary

This young man was dressed in red
He asked Viola is she would him wed

You must ask my family all
And my brother John so great and tall o

I have asked your family all
And your lover John so great and tall

Her father gave her at the stile
Her mother weeped for her child o

John took a penknife long and sharp
John took a penknife long and sharp
He stabbed his sister to the heart
Roseys sweet in Mary

What will you give your brother John
Aye and the lilly aye
I’ll give him the gallows to hang on
Roseys sweet in Mary

And she cursed her brother then
For wronged love did her life end o