"Where have you been,"
Jimmy Randall, my son?
Where have you been,
my handsome young one?"
"I've been to my true-love's.
Mother, make my bed soon.
I've a pain in my heart,
and I want to lie down."
"What had you there?"
Jimmy Randall, my son.
What had you there,
my handsome young one?"
"I had eels in eel broth.....
Mother, make my bed soon.
I've a pain in my heart,
and I want to lie down."
"What color were they,
Jimmy Randall, my son?
What color were they,
my handsome young one?"
"They were brown and speckled...
Mother, make my bed soon.
I've a pain in my heart,
and I want to lie down."
"Who else ate them,
Jimmy Randall my son?
Who else ate them,
my handsome young one?"
"My greyhound did....
Mother, make my bed soon.
I've a pain in my heart,
and I want to lie down."
"Where is your greyhound,
Jimmy Randall, my son?
Where is your greyhound,
my handsome young one?"
"Cold and dead....
Mother, make my bed soon.
I've a pain in my heart,
and I want to lie down."
"What will you leave me,
Jimmy Randall, my son?
What will you leave me,
my handsome young one?"
"Gold and silver.....
Mother, make my bed soon.
I've a pain in my heart
and I want to lie down."
"What will you leave your true-love,
Jimmy Randall, my son?
What will you leave her,
my handsome young one?"
"A rope to hang her....
Mother, make my bed soon.
I've a pain in my heart,
and I want to lie down."
................................................................................
This ballad is more generally known as "Lord Randall," but that name didn't
work for the tune that I devised...a shifting waltz-like one to simulate the
effects of being poisoned by adder soup.
It was my good culinary fortune to have eels in eel broth at an ancient establishment in Japan reputed to serve the very best version of that dish. It was exquisite.
I've tried to imagine the recipe for the deadly pseudo-eel broth. Just cutting up a snake and boiling it is unlikely to yield a fatal dish. Perhaps you could milk the venom and drizzle it over the soup just before serving. You'd have to be a very determined murderess to do that. Even then, the victim would have to have a cut or lesion in their mouth to be effected.
I think the answer is mushrooms. Amanita Phallodes would serve the purpose....it is deadly, reputed to be tasty, and has an eight-hour delayed reaction time.
Of course in the days before refrigeration, she might have served him 3 day old broth reheated, trying to be frugal.
This is the wonderful thing about the ballads; they give you so
much to think about!