Castle By The Sea

Lena Bourne Fish of East Jaffrey, New Hampshire, sang this ballad. I've tried to stick as closely as possible to her way of doing it. It's an American relative of a family of ballads grouped under "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight," #4 in English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Francis James Child). Look here for other, similar narratives: https://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/chil...

To hear the field recording (as taped by Anne and Frank Warner) and to learn more about Mrs. Fish and her vast and varied repertoire, go here: http://woods.tauny.org/subpages/69/9/... The recording and the bio are courtesy of TAUNY (Traditional Arts of Upstate New York).

Lyrics:

Arise, arise, my lady fair,
For you my bride shall be,
And you shall dwell in a sylvan bower
In my castle by the sea.

And bring along your marriage fee,
Which you can claim today,
And also bring your swiftest steeds,
The milk white and the grey.

The lady mounted her white steed,
He rode the turban grey.
They took the path by the wild sea shore,
Or so I've heard them say.

But when she saw his castle walls,
They looked so dark and cold,
She wished herself back in Boston town
With her ten thousand pounds in gold.

He halted by the wild sea shore,
"My bride you shall never be!
For six fair maidens I have drowned here,
And the seventh you shall be."

"Take off, take off, your silken robe,
Deliver it to me,
For it is too fine and it is too fair
To rot in the saltwater sea."

"If I must take off my silken robe,
Then turn your back on me,
For it is not right for a man like you
An unclothed woman to see."

He turned his back to the wild sea shore,
His face to the lofty tree.
She caught him up in both of her arms
And she tumbled him into the sea.

"Lie there, lie there, you false young man,
Lie there instead of me.
If six fair maidens you drowned here,
Go keep them company."

The lady mounted her milk white steed,
She led the turban grey,
She rode till she came to Boston town,
Three hours before it was day.