Pretty Polly (II) [cf. Laws P36]

DESCRIPTION: Willie urges Polly to go riding with him "some pleasure [to] see" before they get married. Although she is "afraid of [his] ways," she comes, only to find her new-dug grave awaiting her. Willie kills and buries her and heads home (or out to sea)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1856 (Thompson-APioneerSongster)
KEYWORDS: homicide burial betrayal
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,Ro,So) Canada
REFERENCES (25 citations):
Thompson-APioneerSongster 23, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
Randolph 153, "Pretty Polly" (2 texts plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 64, "The Gosport Tragedy" (3 texts plus 1 excerpt and mention of 1 more; Laws lists the "A" text as P36A, and the rest as P36B, but "D" and probably "C" are "Pretty Polly")
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore4 64, "The Gosport Tragedy" (3 excerpts, 3 tunes; the "C" version is probably "Pretty Polly" and the others Laws P36B)
Moore/Moore-BalladsAndFolkSongsOfTheSouthwest 67, "Pretty Molly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brewster-BalladsAndSongsOfIndiana 64, "Pretty Polly" (1 text plus a fragment)
Leach-TheBalladBook, pp. 698-700, "The Gosport Tragedy" (2 texts, but only the second goes with this piece; the first is, obviously, "The Gosport Tragedy")
Wyman/Brockway-LonesomeSongs-KentuckyMountains-Vol1, p. 79, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wyman/Brockway-LonesomeSongs-KentuckyMountains-Vol2, p. 110, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson-BalladsOfTheKentuckyHighlands, pp. 69-70, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
Roberts-SangBranchSettlers, #11, "Purty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roberts/Agey-InThePine #42, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sulzer-TwentyFiveKentuckyFolkBallads, p. 12, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SouthernFolkBalladsVol1, pp. 140-141, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cox-FolkSongsSouth 89, "Come, Pretty Polly" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Cox/Hercog/Halpert/Boswell-WVirginia-A, #17A-C, pp. 73-78, "Pretty Polly," "Come, Polly, Pretty Polly" (2 texts plus an excerpt, 2 tunes; the "A" text is the full "Cruel Ship's Carpenter" version; "B" is the short "Pretty Polly (II)"; the "C" fragment is too short to tell but has lyrics more typical of the latter)
Burton/Manning-EastTennesseeStateCollectionVol2, pp. 2-3, "Pratty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune); pp. 67-68, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
Lomax/Lomax-OurSingingCountry, pp 172-174, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune, a composite version)
Henry-SongsSungInTheSouthernAppalachians, pp. 53-54, "" (1 text, very short even by the standards of this worn-down song)
Scarborough-ASongCatcherInSouthernMountains, pp. 128-134, collectively titled "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter" but with individual titles "Pretty Polly," "Dying Polly," "Pretty Polly," "Pretty Polly," "Pretty Polly," "Oh, Polly!" (6 texts; 5 tunes on pp. 395-398; of these only the "C" text has a ghost; in "D" and "E" there is no ghost but Willie's ship sinks; these presumably should file with Laws P36, while "A," B," and "F" go here)
Hubbard-BalladsAndSongsFromUtah, #26, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
Lomax/Lomax-FolkSongUSA 84, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NewAmericanSongster, pp. 143-144, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 227, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
DT 311, PRETPOL2*
Roud #15
RECORDINGS:
Estil C. Ball, "Pretty Polly" (on LomaxCD1701, LomaxCD1705); "Pretty Polly" (AFS, 1941; on LCTreas)
Frank Bode, "Pretty Polly" (on FBode1)
Dock Boggs, "Pretty Polly" (Brunswick 132A, 1927); (on Boggs1, BoggsCD1)
Coon Creek Girls, "Pretty Polly" Coon Creek Girls, "Pretty Polly" (Vocalion 04659/OKeh 04659/Perfect 16102, 1939; rec. 1938)
Bill Cornett ,"Pretty Polly" (on MMOKCD)
Cranford & Thompson, "Pretty Polly" (Melotone 45092, 1935)
John Hammond, "Purty Polly" (Challenge 168, 1927)
Orville Hicks, "Pretty Polly" (Piotr-Archive #205, recorded 06/27/2022)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "Pretty Polly" (Brunswick 116, 1927)
Ivor Melton & band, "Pretty Polly" (on Persis1)
Pleaz Mobley, "Pretty Polly" (on JThomas01)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Pretty Polly" (on NLCR13)
Jean Ritchie, "Pretty Polly" (on RitchieWatson1, RitchieWatsonCD1)
Sauceman Brothers, "Pretty Polly" (Rich-R-Tone 457, n.d.)
Pete Seeger, "Pretty Polly" (on PeteSeeger16)
Lee Sexton, "Pretty Polly" (on MMOKCD, ClassOT)
B. F. Shelton "Pretty Polly" (Victor 35838, 1927; on BefBlues1)
Stanley Brothers, "Pretty Polly" (Columbia 20770, 1951)
Pete Steele, "Pretty Polly" (AFS 1587/1702, 1938; on PSteele01, KMM)
Turner & Parkins, "Pretty Polly" (Superior 2635, 1931)
Jack Wallin, "Pretty Polly" (on Wallins1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. esp. "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter (The Gosport Tragedy; Pretty Polly)" [Laws P36A/B], from which this ballad is descended at a great distance
cf. "Fair Eleanor (II)" (plot)
cf. "Pastures of Plenty" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Pastures of Plenty (File: Grnw293)
NOTES [276 words]: This much-shortened form of "The Gosport Tragedy" has now taken on a life of its own. Although no clear line between the two can be drawn, I tend to call the piece "The Gosport Tragedy" if it includes the ghost and "Pretty Polly" if it omits.
Beth S. H. Brooks, "'Pretty Polly': A History of a Folk Song," article in Missouri Folklore Society Journal, Volume 27-28 (cover date 2005-2006, but published 2015), pp. 125-145, on p. 127 gives a sketch genealogy of the history of this song, starting with a 1720 broadside, "The Gosport Tragedy, or, The Perjur'd Ship-Carpenter," which was the direct source of "The Gosport Tragedy." This split into two lines of descent, the smaller being Laws P36A, "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter," the larger being "Pretty Polly," including Laws P36B. Brooks then classified some fifty versions of "Pretty Polly" into a "Standard Version" (18 examples), those with an "Altered Tune" (14 examples), and those with "Altered Lyrics" (18 examples).
One of Cox's texts (the C text, which also has a tune) was called by the informant "Young Beeham." There is no basis for this in the text of the song. One has to think this the result of some sort of confusion with "Young Beacham." - RBW
Many if not most American versions are probably traceable back to B. F. Shelton's recording, which was enormously (and deservedly) popular.
According to J. M. Jarrell of Wayne Co., WV, cited by J. B. Cox in "Traditional Ballads Mainly From West Virginia," in the early 19th century one Polly Aldridge was murdered by William Chapman, who was convicted and executed in Martin Co., KY, and this ballad was being sung about the killing c. 1850. - PJS
Last updated in version 6.7
File: LP36B

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