I was poking around the net looking for info on “Lady of Carlisle” (getting ready to play an Ian and Sylvia recording of it on the radio), and I found this:
(excerpt)
Then up spoke this fair young lady,
Saying “I can’t be but one man’s bride
But if you’ll come back tomorrow morning,
On this case we will decide. ”
She ordered her a span of horses,
A span of horses at her command;
And down the road these three did travel
Till they come to the lions’ den.
There she stopped and there she halted
These two soldiers stood gazing around,
And for the space of half an hour,
This young lady lies speechless on the ground.
And when she did recover,
Threw her fan down in the lion’s den
Saying, “Which of you to gain a lady
Will return her fan again?”
(In Hunter’s version, we meet the soldier and the sailor first. Then the lady arrives, by way of a door in the fire – how cool is that! This bit of research is making me love “Lady With a Fan” all over again.)
Anyway, I’m wondering what’s up with this bit –
There she stopped and there she halted
These two soldiers stood gazing around,
And for the space of half an hour,
This young lady lies speechless on the ground.
They’re parked in front of a lion’s den. The men are gazing around, presumably on the lookout for lions, and she TAKES A NAP?
I don’t geddit.
I don’t think she’s taking a nap! I think she passed out, perhaps from fear, perhaps from exhaustion. Hence the next line “And when she did recover”
There’s quite a bit of background at http://www.whitegum.com/songfile/LADYCARL.HTM
This includes a 19th century version “The Bold Lieutentant” which has the three of them travelling to the lion’s den, but without her lying speechless on the ground. Don’t know when that line was added.
It’s thought that these versions derive from an earlier story/poem “The Glove” where a lady throws her glove into a lion’s den as a test for her lover: he retrieves it, but throws it in her face and leaves, saying it was vanity not love that made her do it.