THE TWA BROTHERS—I
[_]
Communicated by Mr J. K. Hudson
of Manchester. Sung after a St George play regularly
acted on All Souls' Day at a village a few miles from
Chester, and written down for Mr Hudson by one
of the performers, a lad of sixteen. The play was introduced
by a song called Souling (similar to a Stephening,
see I, 234), and followed by two songs, of
which this is the last, the whole dramatic company
singing.
1
‘And it's where hast thou been all this night long, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘I have been lying on yonder bull-rushes,
Which lies beneath yond tree.’
2
‘And it's what are the spots on this thy coat, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘They are the spots of my poor brother's blood,
Which lies beneath yonder tree.’
3
‘And it's what didst thou kill thy poor brother for, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘Because he killed two pretty little birds,
Which flew from tree to tree.’
4
‘And it's what will the father say when he comes, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘I will dress me up in sailor's clothes,
And my face he will never see.’
5
‘And it's what wilt thou do with thy pretty little wife, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘I will dress her up in lad[d]ie's clothes,
And she will sail along with me.’
6
‘And it's what wilt thou do with thy children three, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘I will leave them to my poor grandfather to rear,
And comfort [to] him [to be].’
7
‘And it's when shall we see thy face again, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘When the sun and moon shines both at once,
And that shall never be.’
