Recordings and Info: 288. The Young Earl of Essex's Victory over the Emperor of Germany
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Child Collection Index
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 123: The Young Earl of Essex's Victory over the Emperor of Germany (5 Listings)
Alternate Titles
Young Essex
Queen Elizabeth's Champion
Traditional Ballad Index: Young Earl of Essex's Victory over the Emperor of Germany, The [Child 288]
DESCRIPTION: The Queen appoints Essex to command the fleet against Germany. The Emperor, learning who opposes him, would avoid battle, but his son begs for the command. Essex is victorious, and the German prince must be exhibited in London before he is sent home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1764 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 2(5))
KEYWORDS: royalty sea navy battle prisoner patriotic
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 288, "The Young Earl of Essex's Victory over the Emperor of Germany" (2 texts)
Bronson 288, "The Young Earl of Essex's Victory over the Emperor of Germany" (2 versions)
GlenbuchatBallads, pp. 131-132, "Young Essex" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 36, "Young Essex" (1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
Roud #123
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 2(5), "Queen Elizabeth's Champion" or "A Famous Sea-Fight Between the Emperor of Germany, and the Earl of Essex" ("Come sound up your trumpets, and beat up your drums"), W. and C. Dicey (London), 1736-1763; also Douce Ballads 3(80b), "Queen Elizabeth's Champion" or "Great-Britain's Glory"
NOTES: Bodleian note to Harding B 2(5) and Douce Ballads 3(80b): "Subject: Naval battles; Essex, Robert Devereux, Earl of, 1566-1601" - BS
Needless to say, there is no history in this song. By the time Britain developed a respectable Navy, the "emperorship" of Germany (i.e. the Holy Roman Empire) was little more than a token office. As the Habsburg Empire, it would rise again (until destroyed by Napoleon), but by then, an Earldom wasn't enough to give a man command.
The broadside copy (Child's A) may be from the publishing house of John White, meaning that it was likely issued in the years before White's death in 1769. It is reasonable to assume that the Hannoverian Succession of 1714 had made the British more aware of Germany, and some anonymous (Jacobite?) balladeer decided to grant the English a victory over them.
Internal evidence, to be sure, points to the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who of course was the first great Queen of England, and who was friendly with an Earl of Essex. Her reign also saw the voyage of the Spanish Armada, resulting in the first real battle of seagoing gunships. But the Germany of Elizabeth's time was in no sense a country; feuds between Catholics and Protestants were constant, and Protestants at that time generally did not go to war with Protestants.
This song should not be confused with the broadside "The Earl of Essex," printed e.g. by Logan. - RBW
Child Collection- Child Ballad 288: The Young Earl of Essex’s Victory Over the Emperor of Germany
Child --Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have
288 Bell Duncan The Earl Essex The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
288 Bell Duncan The Earl of Essex The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No