The Child Ballad (another version of The False Knight Upon the Road) - Constant Emotion, 1997
What brings you here so late? said the knight on the road I go to meet my God said the child as she stood And she stood and she stood right there well she stood I go to meet my God said the child on the road.
How will you go by sea? said the knight on the road with a strong boat under me said the child as she stood And she stood and she stood right there well she stood With a strong boat under me said the child on the road.
How will you go by land? said the knight on the road With a strong staff in my hand said the child as she stood And she stood and she stood Right there well she stood With a strong staff in my hand said the child on the road.
Me think I hear a bell said the child on the road It is ringing you to hell said the child as she stood And she stood and she stood Right there well she stood I go to meet my God said the child on the road.
This song goes by other titles including: 'Fause Knight upon the Road' and 'The Devil and the Schoolchild'. Collected in Scotland from a young miner boy by Alan Lomax. Also collected in Appalachia, the Canadian maritimes, Ireland, and northeastern U.S. An early printing can be found in Motherwell's Minstrelsy: Ancient and Modern, 1827.