Oh mother, oh mother, come tell me this riddle
Come tell it to me as one
Must I go marry Fair Ellender
Or bring the Brown Girl home?

The Brown girl she has house and land,
Fair Ellender she’s got none,
I charge you with my blessing, son
To bring the Brown Girl home.

Go saddle me up my milk-white steed
Go saddle him up for me
I go to invite Fair Ellender
My wedding for to see.

He rode and he rode till he came to her hall,
He tingled all on the ring,
And none so ready as Fair Ellender herself
To rise and bid him come in.

What news? What news? Fair Ellender cried
What news have you brought me?
I've come to invite you to my hall,
My wedding for to see.

Bad news, bad news! Fair Ellender cried
Bad news you have brought me
For I once did think I would be your bride
And you my bridegroom would be

Oh mother, oh mother, come tell me this riddle
Come tell it to me as one
Should I go to Lord Thomas’s wedding
Or tarry this day at home?

Oh enemies, enemies you have there
And the Brown Girl she’s got none
I charge you with my blessing, child
To tarry this day at home

There may be few of my friends, dear mother
And many more of my foes
But if I never return again
To Lord Thomas’s wedding I’ll go

She dressed herself in a scarlet cloak
Her maids she dressed in green
And every town that they passed through
They took her to be some queen

They rode and they rode 'til they came to the hall,
She tingled all on the ring
Nobody so ready as Lord Thomas himself
To rise and welcome her in.

He took her by her lily white hand
When leading her through the hall
He placed her in a golden chair
Among fine ladies all.

Is this your bride, Fair Ellender cried
Who is so wondrously brown?
Thou you once could have married the fairest lady
That ever the sun shone on?

Despise her not Fair Ellender, he cried
Despise her not to me
For I love the end of your little finger
More than her whole body

The Brown Girl she was standing by
With knife ground keen and sharp,
Between the long ribs and the short,
She pierced Fair Ellender's heart.

Oh what is the matter? Lord Thomas he cried
Oh can’t you see? said she
Oh can’t you see my own heart’s blood
Run trickling down to my knee?

He took the Brown Girl by the hand
And led her across the hall
He took off his sword and cut off her head
And threw it against the wall

Oh mother, oh mother, go dig my grave
Go dig it both wide and deep
And place Fair Ellender at my head
And the Brown Girl at my feet

He placed his sword against the wall
The point against his breast
Saying this is the end of three poor lovers
God take us all to our rest

Contemporary listeners, of course, latch onto the "brown" in Brown Girl, owing to the modern obsession with skin pigmentation. In old ballads, a "brown girl," "brown maiden," etc. would usually be a woman with brown hair. In this song, though, “brown” does seem to refer to her complexion more broadly. Moreover, we have a case of someone of aristocratic birth characterized as “fair” and someone from a newly-wealth, upstart family characterized as “brown.” Other ballads, like Willie o' Winsbury (Child #100), clearly regard milk-white skin as a mark of great beauty. Most likely the ideas was that noble people = beautiful people = no labor outside in the elements.

Modern conceptions of race, wishy-washy though they may be, are much more recent constructs than ballads like this one. We don't start to see them in popular consciousness until the nineteenth century. I have heard all sorts of strange, modern-style interpretations of this ballad. One, for example, claims that the Normans who invaded Britain in 1066 “looked brown” and thus the Brown Girl was a descendant of these Normans. I highly doubt it.

Here we have a classic case of the dilemma of marrying for money and other material benefits (the Brown Girl) or following one's feelings (Fair Ellender) superimposed on social notions about nobility. The dramatic beheading is surely the most memorable part of the song.

Below is a Scottish version that closely follows the singing of Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. It, too, is much shorter than most, leaving out many details.

Lord Thomas and Fair Annie [Annet]

Child #73

Lord Thomas he was a very fine man

Went out te hunt his colleen

Fair Annie she was the fairest woman

That ever the sun shown on (line X2)

Lord Thomas he spake a word in jest

And Annie took it ill

He said I'll marry a lowly, mean maiden

Without my parents will (line X2)

 

Then Thomas he is hame te his mither,

An' bowed low doon till his knee,

Oh will I wed the nut-brown may,

Or shall I wed Fair Annie (line X2)

 

The nut-brown may has cows and yowes

Fair Annie she has nane

An' for my blessings my son Thomas

I pray ye let her alane (line X2)

 

Then out and spake his little sister

Stood by her nurse's knee

Oh marry ye yer Fair Annie

And let the other-yen be (line X2)

A Coo [cow] may dee [die] in the coven

An ox may droon in the mire

But marry ye yer Fair Annie

You'll get yer heart's desire (line X2)

A Coo [cow] may dee [die] in the coven

An ox may hang in the ploo [plow]

But marry ye yer Fair Annie

An ye'll get yer anew (line X2)

Lord Thomas he's gane te Annie's bower door

And twirled low on the pin

Nae ready there was but Annie herself

Te let Lord Thomas in (line X2)

It's will ye come te my wedding Annie

The morn's te be the day

It's never a fit said Fair Annie

Unless the bride I be (line X2)

Lord Thomas he gaed up the high highway

And Annie she gaed in the glen

And Annie she shown as fair her lane [alone]

As Thomas and all his men (line X2)

Oh whar got ye the water Fair Annie

That wash-ed ye sae clean

I got it from me mither's bower door

Beneath a marble stane (line X2)

Oh ye mun wear my heart Annie

An' ye mun wear my love

An' tell my wife you've borne a son

An' that will end her love (line X2)

I will nae wear your heart, Lord Thomas

I will nae wear your love

But ye mun get yer nut-brown bride

An' te her constant prove (line X2)

Then he sent him with Fair Annie

His heart and his heart's bleed

But er the 'our o twelve o-the-clock

Fair Annie she was deed (line X2)

Then Tomas he's gane te Annie's bower door

And twirled low at the pin

Nae ready there was but Annie's mither

To let Lord Thomas in (line X2)

Ye dee as will at my lover's like

The white bread and the wine

But come the morning at this time

Ye'll dee as will like mine (line X2)

The yen was laid at Mary's kirk,

The other at Mary's quire;

An' feer the yen there sprang a birk

Feer the other there sprang brier (line X2)

In this version we see the same basic plot but with some additions. Thomas's sister, for example, eloquently tries to persuade him to focus on what is really important (good looks!). Livestock (wealth) can die (can fade), but matters of the heart will always be a powerful part of one's life. Thomas apparently realizes this point, but it is too late. And fair Annie's mother seems to be a soccer or otherwise have access to magic powers. Not only is Annie's mother somehow connected to the water that makes Annie "sae clean" (so attractive)--in some versions this water is found in her mother's womb--she also puts a curse on Thomas, causing him to die of grief like Fair Annie. In some of the Scottish versions, the three lovers die by stabbing each other in various ways.

 

There are many elements in this Scottish version that are found in other ballads. There, was, of course, much borrowing between them.