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Fair Ellender

Composer: Traditional

Jerry Garcia

info Shady Grove, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, 1996

Others

no info Singing Family of the Cumberlands, Jean Ritchie, 1955
no info British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains (Vol. 1), Various Artists (Jean Ritchie), 1961
no info Folk Music of the Newport Folk Festival 1959-60. Vol 1, Mike Seeger, 1961
no info Classic Scots Ballads, Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, 1961
info Horton Barker: Traditional Singer, Horton Barker , 1962
no info Joseph Able Trivett, Joseph Able Trivett, 1962
no info Hedy West, Hedy West, 1963
no info You Got to Reap What You Sow, Mance Lipscomb, 1964
no info Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 4. The Child Ballads, Jessie Murray, 196?
no info Best of Jean Ritchie, Jean Ritchie, 196?
no info Once I Had a True Love, Phoebe Smith, 1970
no info Lovely In The Water, Frankie Armstrong, 1972
no info What's for Supper?, Grandpa Jones, 1973
no info Folk Music in America, Vol. 9, Songs of Death and Tragedy, Various Artists (Grandpa Jones), 1978
no info Someday We'll Meet Again, Iron Mountain String Band, 1981
no info Folksongs and Ballads, Vol 1, Various Artists (Everett White), 1991
no info Carolina Sampler, Various Artists (Kada McNeil), 1992
no info Skin And Bone, Martin Carthy, 1992
info Third Annual Farewell Reunion, Various Artists (Peggy And Mike Seeger), 1994
no info Everybody's Grandpa, Grandpa Jones, 1996
no info Old Time Country Music, Mike Seeger, 19??
no info Library Of Congress Collection Vol. 2-Anglo-American Ballads, Various Artists, 19??
no info Give A Damn/Bitter Green, The Johnstons, 19??

Notes

A song which occurs in a number of forms and with a number of titles but which is primarily derived from the ballad Lord Thomas And Fair Elinor. Earliest known recording of the song is as Lord Thomas And Fair Annet which was printed on a broadsheet in England sometime between 1663 and 1685. It was included in Pepys collection in 1700 and in Percy's Reliques of circa 1765.

Child documented ten British texts circa 1890 (Child ballad 73). Since then it has been recorded in many folk song / ballad collections in both the UK and the United States. It is included for example in; Sandy's Christmas Carols and Traditional Songs, Ritson's Scottish Songs, Sharp's English Folk Songs and Randolph's Folksongs Of The Ozarks.

Commonly occurs as The Brown Girl and with titles that are variants on the Lord Thomas and Fair Elinor names. | The Fair Ellender name is less common, though it does occur as Lord Thomas And Fair Ellender.