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The Sisters' Revenge
[trad. Scandinavian]
Salt House sang The Sisters' Revenge, on their 2018 CD Undersong. They adapted their version from The Two Sisters in Robert Buchanan's Ballads Stories of the Affections: From the Scandinavian (ca. 1869, p. 29).
Lyrics
Rubert Buchanan: The Two Sisters | Salt House sing The Sisters' Revenge |
---|---|
One sister to the other spake, |
One sister to the other spoke, |
“Man shall never marry me |
“Man shall never marry me |
“How may such revenge be planned?— | |
“Rich farmers dwell along the vale; | |
They doff their garb from head to heel; |
They dress in mail from head to heel, |
Slim and tall, with downcast eyes, |
Slim and tall, with downcast eyes, |
Their armour in the sunshine glares |
Their armour in the sunshine glares |
They ride unto the castle great: |
Lord Erland's castle stands so great |
“Hail, Dame Erland!” the sisters say; | |
“Herr Erland is within indeed; | |
Into the hall the sisters go; | |
The maidens in the chamber stand: |
The maidens in his chamber stand, |
Herr Erland slaps the cushions blue: | |
“We have ridden many a mile, | |
“Oh, tell me, have ye wives at home? |
“Tell me friends, have ye wives at home?” |
“Nor wives nor bairns have we at home, | |
“Then, by our Lady, ye shall try |
“Then, by our Lady, ye shall try |
“Two maidens with neither mother nor sire, | |
Paler, paler the maidens turn; | |
“If they indeed so beauteous be, | |
Herr Erland shrugged his shoulders up, | |
“Now, by our Lady, they were won, |
”Two bonnie maidens would be won |
“I sought their mother to lure away, |
“I sought their mother to lure away, |
Then up they leap, those maidens fair; |
Then up they leap, those maidens fair, |
“This for tempting our mother dear!” | |
“This for the death of our father brave!” | |
They have hacked him into pieces, small |
They hacked him into pieces small |
Then stalk they forth, and forth they fare; | |
Fridays three they in penance pray, |
Fridays three their penance pay, |