The [Baffled] Knight

There was a knight and he was young,
A-riding along the say [sic], sir.
And there he met a lady fair
Among the cocks of hay, sir.
	Down, derry, down.

Quoth he, "Shall you and I, lady, 
Among the grass lay down-o?
And I will take especial care
Of rumpling of your gown-o."
	Down, derry, down.

"If you go along with me 
Unto my father's hall, sir
You shall enjoy my maidenhead
And my estate and all, sir."
	Down, derry, down.

He mounted her on a milk-white steed,
Himself upon another
And then they rid upon the road
Like sister and like brother.
	Down, derry, down.

And when she came to her father's house
All moated 'round about, sir.
She step'ed straight within the gate
And shut this young man out, sir.
	Down, derry, down.

"Here is a purse of gold," she said.
"Take it for your pain, sir.
And I will send my father's man
To go home with you again, sir."
	Down, derry, down.

"And if you meet a lady fair
As you go through the town, sir.
You must not fear the dewy grass
Nor the rumpling of her gown, sir."
	Down, derry, down.

"And if you meet a lady gay
As you go by the hill, sir,
If you will not when you may,
You shall not when you will, sir."
	Down, derry, down.

This resurrected version of "The Baffled Knight" (Child 112) was furnished in 1994 by Pasadena, California, attorney Roger Gray, who spends some weeks appearing as a traveling player in Southern California's Renaissance Pleasure Faire.  Seeking Elizabethan "authenticity" in dress, manner, speech and song, these performers have researched traditional songs, and reintroduced them in limited oral currency among performers and patrons of the Faire.  
Gray learned the ballad in 1990 from a tape recording made by an unknown singer.  See also Gray's version of "The Trooper and His Nag," below.