“The Brown Girl (I)”

Description

The Brown Girl's former lover tells her he cannot marry her because she is so brown. She cares not. He writes again, saying he is sick and asking her to release him from his promise. She comes slowly and releases him, but promises to dance on his grave

Notes

Identified by some (including Roud) with the ballad Laws calls "A Rich Irish Lady" and Randolph labels "Pretty Sally of London." The difference between the two is that, in "The Brown Girl," the girl is unforgiving; in "Pretty Sally" it is the man. Laws therefore declares that the two ballads are related but distinct.

It should be observed that "A Rich Irish Lady" is much, much, much more popular; other than Baring-Gould's text (Child's B), I know of no traditional texts of the Child song. Any text listed as Child 295 should be carefully checked to see if it is not Laws P9 instead.

No attempt has been made to list here all the songs claimed as Child #295 when in fact they are Laws P9.

For further discussion on this point, including the opinions of various editors on the matter, see the entry on Laws P9. - RBW

Cross references

• cf. esp. "A Rich Irish Lady (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.)" [Laws P9]
• cf. "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" [Child 73]

References

1. Child 295, "The Brown Girl" (2 texts)
2. Bronson 295, "The Brown Girl" (49 versions+2 in addenda, but mostly these are Laws P9; of the 49, #1, #3, #8, #13, #16, #17, (#19), #24, #25, #35, #36, #41, #44, #8.1 are listed by Laws as "A Rich Irish Lady," as is #8 though it mixes with "The Death of Queen Jane"; #2, #5, #10, #15, #20, #21, #29, #32a/b, #34, #37, #38(a), #45, #47, #49, #41.1 are apparently LP9 as well; #4, #6, #7, #11, #31, #39, #42 are fragments which appear more likely to be LP9; #14, #22, #23, #27 are fragments identified by Laws with LP9 though this cannot be proved; #9 (Baring-Gould's) is definitely the Child version, and #33, #48 probably; #18 is a fragment that might be part of "Glenlogie"; #26, #28 have no text; #30, #40, #43 might be either)
3. Leach, pp. 678-680, "The Brown Girl" (2 texts, but "B" is Laws P9)
4. OBB 157, "The Brown Girl" (1 text)
5. Roud #180
6. BI, C295