“King William was King James's Son”
Description
"King William was King James's Son, Upon the royal race he run, Upon his breast he wore a star, (That points the way to the ocean far)." "Now this couple are married together... You must be kind, you must be good, And help your wife in kindling wood."
Supplemental text
King William was King James's Son
Complete text(s)
*** A ***
King Arthur Was King William's Son
From W. W. Newell, Games and Songs of American Children, item
#27 (second text, with tune), p. 73. Said to be an "exceedingly
familiar" kissing round "throughout the Middle and Southern States."
King Williams was King James's son,
And all the royal race he run;
Upon his head he wore a star.
Star of the East,
Star of the West,
Star of the one you love the best.
If she's not here don't take her part,
But choose another with all your heart.
Down on the carpet you must kneel,
As the grass grows on the field,
Salute your bride, and kiss her sweet,
And rise again upon your feet.
*** B ***
King William Was King George's Son
From W. W. Newell, Games and Songs of American Children, item
#177, p. 246, from Connecticut.
King William was King George's son,
And from the royal blood he sprung;
Upon his breast he wore a stowe,
Which denotes the sign of woe.
Say, young lady, will you 'list and go?
Say, young lady, will you 'list and go?
The broad-brimmed had you must put on,
And follow on to the fife and drum.
*** C ***
King William
As printed in Alice B. Gomme, The Traditional Games of England,
Scotland, and Ireland, Volume I, p. 302, first text. From H. Hardy,
Hanging Heaton, Yorkshire.
King William was King David's son,
And all the royal race is run;
Choose from the east, choose from the west,
Choose the one you love the best.
Down on this carpet you shall kneel
While the grass grows in yonder field;
Salute your bride and kiss her sweet,
Rise again upon your feet.
Notes
Norm Cohen says succinctly of the Randolph version, "The title of the song is not true."
To clarify: There are no specific references in this song to which king is meant, but there has never been an actual case, in England or Scotland (or any other country, to my knowledge) of a King William who was the son of a King James. The closest thing to a parallel would be William III and Mary II; William III was the nephew, son-in-law, and deposer of James II.
Paul Stamler recalls a song "King William was King George's Son," and of course this is the title in Flanders/Brown; Newell also lists this as a variant reading. This is more possible (King William IV, reigned 1830-1837, was the song of George the III and the younger brother of George IV) -- but William IV was a dissolute, childless king who would hardly inspire a song.
Another known combination of father and son is the song is King Charles son of James (possible for James I and Charles I).
Gomme has two texts with William son of David; England never had a King David. Scotland did, but neither was succeeded by a William. David II Bruce died without legitimate offspring. David I was succeeded by his grandson Malcolm IV "the Maiden." When Malcolm died, he was succeeded by his brother William the Lion. This is therefore the closest example of a William-and-David in British history.
It has been claimed that this is a war recruiting song, but of Randolph's fifteen versions, only one (H, "This old slouch hat you must put on To follow the man with the fife and drum") supports this conclusion, and while Newell's text #177 gives hints of a soldier's life, it's directed to a young woman! The Flanders/Brown version appears to be just a singing game.
Newell tied his first text (#27) to the Swedish tale of Folke Algotson, but if so, there has been a lot of evolution along the way. - RBW
Cross references
- cf. "Oats and Beans and Barley Grow" (floating lyrics)
- cf. "The White Cockade"
References
- Randolph 543, "King William was King James's Son" (15 texts, mostly short, 2 tunes; the "C" and "D" texts might be "Oats and Beans and Barley Grow")
- Randolph/Cohen, pp. 402-403, "King William Was King James's Son" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 543A)
- Hudson 142, pp. 289-290, "King William" (1 text plus mention of at least five others)
- Creighton/Senior, pp. 263-264, "See This Pretty Little Girl of Mine" (1 text)
- Flanders/Brown, pp. ,188-189 "King William Was King George's Son" (1 text)
- ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 181-182, "The White Cockade" (1 text, translated from the Gaelic with some lines surely inspired by this; the rest is not the usual "White Cockade." I rather suspect two-way translation)
- ST R543 (Full)
- Roud #4203
- BI, R543