Old Bangum- Conway (Va.) 1915 Davis C
[From: Traditional Ballads from Virginia; Kyle Davis Jr., 1929. His notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
SIR LIONEL
(Child, No. 18)
A comparison with the Child texts will show how vastly this ballad has been altered by its American tradition. Child summarizes the composite story of the ballad about as follows:
"A knight finds a lady sitting in (or under) a tree, who tells him that a wild boar has slain (or worried) her lord and killed (or wounded) thirty of his men. The knight kills the boar, and seems to have received bad wounds in the process. The boar belonged to a giant, or to a wild woman. The knight is required to forfeit his hawks and leash and the little finger of his right hand for his horse, his hound, and his lady). He refuses to submit to such disgrace, though in no condition to resist; the giant allows him time to heal his wounds, and he is to leave his lady as security for his return. At the end of the time the knight comes back sound and well, and kills the giant as he has killed the boar. C and D say nothing of the knight having been wounded. The wild woman, to revenge her "pretty spotted pig," flies fiercely at him, and he cleaves her in two. The last quarter of the Percy copy [which is lost] would, no doubt, reveal what became of the lady who was sitting in the tree, as to which traditional copies give no light."
The Virginia ballad is not so pretentious as this, but it is vigorous and amusing. It limits itself generally to introducing the hunter and telling of his successful encounter with the ferocious wild boar, but one version introduces the lady and has her agree to marry the hunter. The Virginia ballad is much more jovial than its Child fellows. To turn from "Sir Lionel" to "Old Bangum" is to turn from Arthurian romance to semi-burlesqued melodrama in homespun. The Virginia ballad is also known as "Old Bang'em," "Bangum and the Boar," "Bingham," etc. Ferocious as the ballad is, it is often used as a lullaby or nursery song. Note the "cuddle down " of the refrain in Virginia B and D.
For American texts, see Belden, No. 3 (fragment); Bulletin, Nos. 3-5, 9; Campbell and Sharp, No. 8 (North Carolina, Virginia); Journal, XIX, 235 (Belden, Missouri, fragment); XXV, 175 (Belden, Missouri); XXX, 291 (Kittredge, Missouri, British version); McGill, p.79; Scarborough, p. 5r (Virginia, text and melody); J. R. Moore, Modern Language Review, XI, 396 (two stanzas from Missouri). Note two Virginia texts and two melodies previously listed. For additional references see Journal, XXX, 291.
C. "Old Bangum." collected by Miss Ellen Dana Conway. Spottsylvania County. November 1, 1915.
1. Old Bangum would a-hunting ride,
A sword and pistol by his side,
Dellum-down, dellum.
Old Bangum would a-hunting ride,
A sword and pistol by his side,
Dellum-down, kimmy-quo-quan.
2 There lived a wild boar in the wood,
He'd eat your flesh and drink your blood,
Dellum-down dellum.
There lived a wild boar in the wood,
He'd eat your flesh and drink your blood,
Dellum-down, kimmy-quo-quan.
3 Old Bangum passed the wild boar's den,
He spied the bones of a thousand men.
Dellum-down dellum.
Old Bangum passed the wild boar's den,
He spied the bones of a thousand men,
Dellum-down, kimmy-quo-quan.
4. The wild boar came in such a wrath,
He made his way from south to north,
Dellum-down dellum.
The wild boar came in such a wrath,
He made his way from south to north,
Dellum-down, kimmy-quo-quan.
5 Old Bangum drew his wooden[1] knife
To deprive him of his life,
Dellum-down dellum.
Old Bangum drew his wooden knife
To deprive him of his life,
Dellum-down, kimmy-quo-quan.
6. They fought nine hours of the day,
And then the wild boar ran away,
Dellum-down dellum.
They fought nine hours of the day,
And then the wild boar ran away.
Dellum-down, kimmy-quo-quan.
1. "I have heard it suggested that the hero's knife was properly 'woodsman's' and not 'wooden' but put it down as it is sung" (Miss Conway).