Two Pretty Boys

Original Track ID

SA1960.141.B12

Original Tape ID

SA1960.141

Summary

In this ballad, two brothers, William and John, decide to have a wrestling contest on their way to school. William is wounded by John's knife. Despite his best efforts, John is unable to save William's life, and asks him what he should tell their family. William instructs John to tell their father that he has gone to London to study and will return a good boy; by contrast, he says to tell their stepmother that he will not return, as she had prayed many times that he would not.

Item Notes

7 verses of 4 lines; last line of each verse repeated.

See:
'The Sang's the Thing' (S. Douglas, 1992) pp. 142-143
'The Scottish Ballads' (R. Chambers, 1829) pp. 126-128
'Book of Scottish Ballads' (A. Whitelaw, 1845) pp. 157-158
'Jeannie Robertson' (J. Porter & H. Gower, 1995) pp. 253-255
'Ballads of Scotland' vol. 1 (W. E. Aytoun, 1858) pp. 191-193
'Till Doomsday in the Afternoon' (E. MacColl & P. Seeger, 1986) pp. 169-171
'Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads & Songs' vol. 2 (E. Lyle, 1996) pp. 125-126
'Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads' vol. 1 (B. H. Bronson & F. J. Child, 1959) pp. 384-402

Recording Location

Language

English, Scots

Genre

Song

Collection

SoSS

Classification

R38 C49

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good