[wintemberg] lord LOVEL AND LADY NANCY 21 



"So he rode and he rode, on his milk-white steed, 

 Till he came to London town, 

 And there he heard St. Paneras bells, 

 And the people all mourning round." 



In the ninth stanza, Lady Nancy — not Lord Lovel — is laid in the 

 church, and he "was laid in the choir," 



Several versions of Child's variant H have been independently 

 recorded in the United States. Three are given by Phillips Barry, 

 in his "Traditional Ballads in New England,"^ which differ but slightly 

 from H, the third being a mere fragment. "St. Paneras bells" become 

 "St. Patrick's bells" in Barry's A, stanza 5, line 3. The first lines of 

 stanza 9, are entirely different: 



"They buried them both in St. Patrick's Churchyard, 

 In a grave that was close by the spire." 



In Barry's A 2, stanza 1, line 1, Lord Lovel "stood by his garden 

 gate," instead of the usual "castle gate." 



H. M. Belden^ has published two variants (a and hy in his "Old 

 Country Ballads in Missouri." Compared with ours, Belden's versions 

 offer some differences. Lord Lovel replies to Lady Nancy:* 



"I'm going to travel this wide world round, 

 Strange countries for to see." 



Stanza 5, the second last line: 



"But when he came to his native city 

 He found the people mourning round." 



Stanza 8: 



"Lady Nancy she died as it were to-day, 

 Lord Lovel he died to-morrow; 

 Lady Nancy was laid in St. Peter's churchyard, 

 Lord Lovel was laid in the choir." 



Stanza 9, the first lines of which do not occur in any other 

 recorded version : 



"And there they laid for many a year, 

 And there they laid, these two" .... 



1 The Journal of American Folk-Lore, Vol. XVIII, 1905, pp. 291-293. 



2 Ibid., Vol. XIX, 1906, pp. 284-285. 



^ Belden's B does not differ much from Barry's A. 

 * Stanza 2, lines 3 and 4. 



