Florella (The Jealous Lover), Lyric Variant 02

This item is part of the I. G. Greer Folksong Collection which consists of more than 300 individual song titles and their variants as collected by Isaac Garfield Greer (1881-1967) from informants, primarily in Ashe, Wilkes and Watauga counties. The collection includes manuscripts, typescript transcriptions produced by Dr. Greer’s clerical staff, and handwritten musical notations. Songs range from traditional Child Ballads, traditional English and Scottish ballads as well as their American variants, to 19th century popular music to musical compositions of local origin.

Ballads

Murder--Songs and music

Last words--Songs and music

Courtship--Songs and music

Blue-Eyed Ella

AC.113 Isaac Garfield (I.G.) Greer Papers and Recordings

W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Appalachian State University

Greer, I. G. (Isaac Garfield), 1881-1967

PDF

English

Text

The Jealous Lover

One eve when the moon shone brightly,
There softly fell a dew,
When in a lonely cottage
A jealous lover drew.
Said he to fair young Ellen:
Won’t you come and roam with me?
We’ll watch and wait and wander
Until our wedding day.
Said she to fair young Edgar:
I car not for to roam.
O, Edgar, I am weary,
Please ,won’t you take me home?

In silence then he kissed her,
And pressed her to his heart.
Oh, Ellen, Oh, Ellen, my darling,
‘Tis sad that we must part.
She then knelt down beside him
And prayed him spare her life-
When in her fair young bosom
He plunged a daggered knife.
Oh, Edgar I’ll forgive you,
Though this be my last breath.
I never will deceive you
Till I close my eyes in death.

Down in the shaded valley,
Where the violets are in bloom,
There lies the fair young Ellen
A sleeping in the gloom.
We know not how she suffered.
We know not how she moaned,
But I know these words were spoken:
Please, Edgar, take me home.

Brown, Native American Ballads - 250 Randolph, 138 Laws, F 1 Cox, 38 Combs, 63

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