Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago
The Dreadful Wind and Rain / The Cruel Sister / The Two Sisters / Bow Down / There Lived an Old Lord / Binnorie / Swan Swims so Bonnie / Twa Sisters (Child No. 10) - Sung by George Washington Cornwell (1861–1958) of Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia, USA. Recorded by Prof. Louis Watson Chappell on August 5, 1940.
00:00:00 King's Two Daughters - George Washington Cornwell
00:02:39 The Dreadful Wind and Rain (Tape Copy) - Dan Tate
00:04:43 The Dreadful Wind and Rain (Vinyl LP) - Dan Tate
00:06:35 Wind and Rain (1969) - Kilby Snow
00:09:43 Wind and Rain (1974) - Kilby Snow
Link to original recording: https://folkmusic.lib.wvu.edu/catalog/Chappell_50_Cornwell_F_KingsTwoDaughters
Notes by Kevin W.:
One of the biggest surprises for me was the discovery of this previously undocumented text of "The Dreadful Wind and Rain" from the Chappell Collection. This is a rare version of The Twa Sisters (Child 10) which has only been found in Virginia and W. Virginia. I'll share all four known texts and the field recordings available to me.
The refrain actually reminds me of "with hey, ho, the wind and the rain" (Twelfth Night, Epilogue, sung by the Clown; King Lear, The Fool's Song, III, 21 74, ff.), one of Shakespeare's songs that may have been based on a traditional song.
This version of Child 10 may have been brought over from Ireland, although it has never been reported from there. Given how fragmented the texts are while still preserving the supernatural instrument made from the drowned sister's hair and bones they must've circulated in oral tradition for a long time.
Folk musician Jody Stecher recorded a remake of Wind and Rain which is worth a listen. I won't share it here because I want to focus on recordings from tradition but if you haven't heard it yet, it's on his 1999 album "Oh The Wind and Rain / Eleven Ballads".
Of the recordings Chappell made of Mr. Cornwell this rare ballad is the one where the disc got badly damaged. It can't be helped, I'd be able to fix the gaps in the recording with Audacity but it'd be hours of tedious work and perhaps not worth the effort. At least we can hear the tune and I think I managed to transcribe the text accurately. There might be a skipped verse at the end.
Song transcription:
A King he had two daughters fair
Crying oh the wind and the rain
They went to the sea, one pushed the other one in
And the wind blew over the lily fair one
Three times she sunk and then she swam
Crying oh the wind and the rain
She swam till she came...
(restarts)
She swam till she came to the fisherman's pond
And the wind blew over the lily fair one
A-clinging out his long hook and line
Crying oh the wind and the rain
He caught her by the tail of her gown
And the wind blew over the lily fair one
Oh he made fiddle strings of her long, long hair
Crying oh the wind and the rain
He made fiddle strings of her long, long hair
And screws pinned of her three finger bones
At length he got his fiddle for to play
Crying oh the wind and the rain
Only tune that he gave his fiddle for to play
And the wind blew over the lily fair one
Oh it's yonder sits my father the King
Oh yonder sits my mother the Queen
Oh yonder sits my sister who pushed me down
And the wind blew over the lily fair one
Up speaks the...
(record skips)
Oh sister, oh sister pray lend me your hand
Crying oh the wind and the rain
It's you may have my sweetheart and all of my land
And the wind blew over the lily fair one
The Dreadful Wind and Rain / The Cruel Sister / The Two Sisters / Bow Down / There Lived an Old Lord / Binnorie / Swan Swims so Bonnie / Twa Sisters (Child No. 10) - Sung by George Washington Cornwell (1861–1958) of Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia, USA. Recorded by Prof. Louis Watson Chappell on August 5, 1940.
00:00:00 King's Two Daughters - George Washington Cornwell
00:02:39 The Dreadful Wind and Rain (Tape Copy) - Dan Tate
00:04:43 The Dreadful Wind and Rain (Vinyl LP) - Dan Tate
00:06:35 Wind and Rain (1969) - Kilby Snow
00:09:43 Wind and Rain (1974) - Kilby Snow
Link to original recording: https://folkmusic.lib.wvu.edu/catalog/Chappell_50_Cornwell_F_KingsTwoDaughters
Notes by Kevin W.:
One of the biggest surprises for me was the discovery of this previously undocumented text of "The Dreadful Wind and Rain" from the Chappell Collection. This is a rare version of The Twa Sisters (Child 10) which has only been found in Virginia and W. Virginia. I'll share all four known texts and the field recordings available to me.
The refrain actually reminds me of "with hey, ho, the wind and the rain" (Twelfth Night, Epilogue, sung by the Clown; King Lear, The Fool's Song, III, 21 74, ff.), one of Shakespeare's songs that may have been based on a traditional song.
This version of Child 10 may have been brought over from Ireland, although it has never been reported from there. Given how fragmented the texts are while still preserving the supernatural instrument made from the drowned sister's hair and bones they must've circulated in oral tradition for a long time.
Folk musician Jody Stecher recorded a remake of Wind and Rain which is worth a listen. I won't share it here because I want to focus on recordings from tradition but if you haven't heard it yet, it's on his 1999 album "Oh The Wind and Rain / Eleven Ballads".
Of the recordings Chappell made of Mr. Cornwell this rare ballad is the one where the disc got badly damaged. It can't be helped, I'd be able to fix the gaps in the recording with Audacity but it'd be hours of tedious work and perhaps not worth the effort. At least we can hear the tune and I think I managed to transcribe the text accurately. There might be a skipped verse at the end.
Song transcription:
A King he had two daughters fair
Crying oh the wind and the rain
They went to the sea, one pushed the other one in
And the wind blew over the lily fair one
Three times she sunk and then she swam
Crying oh the wind and the rain
She swam till she came...
(restarts)
She swam till she came to the fisherman's pond
And the wind blew over the lily fair one
A-clinging out his long hook and line
Crying oh the wind and the rain
He caught her by the tail of her gown
And the wind blew over the lily fair one
Oh he made fiddle strings of her long, long hair
Crying oh the wind and the rain
He made fiddle strings of her long, long hair
And screws pinned of her three finger bones
At length he got his fiddle for to play
Crying oh the wind and the rain
Only tune that he gave his fiddle for to play
And the wind blew over the lily fair one
Oh it's yonder sits my father the King
Oh yonder sits my mother the Queen
Oh yonder sits my sister who pushed me down
And the wind blew over the lily fair one
Up speaks the...
(record skips)
Oh sister, oh sister pray lend me your hand
Crying oh the wind and the rain
It's you may have my sweetheart and all of my land
And the wind blew over the lily fair one
