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204 Indiana University Publications, Folklore Series |
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36 THE WEXFORD GIRL (THE CRUEL MILLER)
Only one Indiana text of this ballad has been found, the title being given as "My Confession." Belden notes that the song is "a reduction" of the English broadside "The Berkshire Tragedy, or, The Wittam Miller." In the early part of the nineteenth century appeared a condensed American version of "The Wittam Miller," under the title of "The Lexington Miller."
For references and other American versions, see Cox, p. 311; Dobie, Texas and Southwestern Lore, p. 213; Greenleaf and Mansfield, p. 119; Hudson, Folksongs, p. 141; Journal, XXV, 11; XLV, 126; Mackenzie, Ballads, p. 293; Payne, "Songs and Ballads—Grave and Gay" (PTFLS, VI, 213); Shearin and Combs, pp. 13, 28; Neely, Tales and Songs of ScnUhern Illinois, p. 150; Henry, Folk-Songs fromn the Southern Highlands, p. 214; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 160.
"My Confession." Contributed by Miss Sylvia Vaughan, of Oakland City, Indiana. Gibson County. Secured from her mother, Mrs. Hiram Vaughan. March 5,1935.
1. My parents brought me up
And provided for me well;
They brought me to Lexington
And placed me in the mill.
2. And there I saw a pretty fair maid;
She pleased me in my mind. I promised her I would marry her If with me she would comply.
3. At length I saw another one
That pleased me fully as well; The devil put it in my head My first true-love to kill.
4. I went to her sister's house
At eight o'clock at night; But little did this poor girl think That I owed her any spite.
5. I asked her to walk with me,
Just walk a little way,
That she and I might both agree
Upon our wedding day. |
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