Recordings & Info 9. Fair Flower of Northumberland

Recordings & Info 9. Fair Flower of Northumberland

[This ballad was collected in Aberdeenshire by American James Madison Carpenter from Bell Duncan and others from 1929-1934.  This documents that the ballad was in oral tradition in England at that time. Carpenters collection will be availble on-line in the near future and his versions will be found in the English Version page (attached). In the US the ballad has only been collected by John Jacob Niles, whose three versions are included in this collection (See: US Versions).]

 

CONTENTS:
    1) Alternative titles
    2) Ballad Index
    3) Folk index
    4) Child Ballad Collection: List of recordings sources

ATTACHED PAGE
   1) Roud Index No. 25: Fair Flower of Northumberland (Listings)

Alternative Titles:

The Ungrateful Knight and the Fair Flower of Northumberland,
The Provost's Daughter
The Betrayed Lady
The Deceived Girl
The Sinful Maiden
Sin's Reward

Ballad Index: Fair Flower of Northumberland, The [Child 9]

DESCRIPTION: A Scots soldier is captured and imprisoned. He captivates the gaoler's daughter, promising to marry her if she will free him. As soon as he is over the Scots border, he abandons her, saying he is already married. Her mother comforts her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1597 (see NOTES)
KEYWORDS: courting prison escape trick lie abandonment
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(North))
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Child 9, "The Fair Flower of Northumberland" (7 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Bronson 9, "The Fair Flower of Northumberland" (7 versions)
Greig #111, pp. 1-2, "The Flower of Northumberland" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1149, "The Fair Flower o' Northumberland" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 94-96, "The Fair Flower of Northumberland" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #3}
Ord, p. 192, "The Flower o' Northumberland" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 71-74, "The Fair Flower of Northumberland" (1 text)
OBB 71, "The Fair Flower of Northumberland" (1 text)
Niles 6, "The Fair Flower of Northumberland" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
DT 9, FAIRFLWR* FAIRFLR2*
Roud #25
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Young Andrew" [Child 48] (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Deceived Girl
The Sinful Maiden
Sin's Reward
NOTES: Chambers: E. K. Chambers, English Literature at the Close of the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1945, 1947, p. 141, declares that Thomas Deloney (1543?-1600?) "in his Pleasant History of John Winchcomb (c. 1597) introduced a ballad of The Fair Flower of Northumberland, of which he says, 'the maidens in dulcet manner chanted out this song, two of them singing the ditty, and all the rest bearing the burden.'" This is the basis for Child's "A," which is similar to Ritson's 1790 text. It would be very interesting to know what was Deloney's source.
Niles claims that all three of his informants used this song to draw a moral; in two instances they gave it a religious tone. This, obviously, is absent from all the Scottish versions. This is another instance where one questions the veracity of Niles's collections; there are no other American versions of this ballad known. - RBW

Folk Index: The Fair Flower of Northumberland [Ch 9]

Clayre, Alasdair (ed.) / 100 Folk Songs and New Songs, Wolfe, Sof (1968), p 88
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p 71 [1633]
Grey, Sara. Sara Grey, Folk Legacy FSI 038, LP (1970), trk# A.07
MacColl, Ewan. Blood and Roses, Vol. 2, Blackthorne ESB 80, LP (1979ca), trk# A.03 

The Child Ballad Collection

Alex Campbell The Flooer O'Northumberland Big Daddy of Folk Music 1976 
Alex Campbell The Fair Flower of Northumberland (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 
Alex Campbell The Fair Flower of Northumberland (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 

Alistair Hulett The Fair Flower of North Umberland At the Community Church of Boston 2006 5:32 Yes
Alistair Hulett The Fair Flower of Northumberland Riches and Rags - Modern Music for Wireless and Gramophone 2005 5:09 Yes

Bell Duncan The Fair Flower of Northumberland The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 
 
Bumerry The Flower of Northumberland <website> 2009 4:19 Yes

Ceoltoiri Fair Flower of Northumberland Women of Ireland 1998 6:42 Yes

Dan Eyde Arthur Mcbride & Fairflower of Northumberland Arthur & Fairflower 2003 

Dick Gaughan The Fair Flower of Northumberland No More Forever 1972 5:26 Yes

Eileen McGann The Fair Flower of Northumberland Turn It Around 1991 5:05 Yes

El McMeen The Fairflower of Northumberland Playing Favorites 1996 

Enoch Kent Floo'r of Northumberland I'm a Working Chap 2002 3:47 Yes

Ewan MacColl Fair Flower of Northumberland Blood and Roses - Vol. 2 1981 5:31 Yes

Frank McLaughlin & Gillian MacDonald The Flooer O' Northumberland Out of the Wood 1998 3:46 Yes

Jack Armstrong The Fair Flower of Northumberland Bagpipes Of Britain & Ireland 1996 :47 Yes
Jack Armstrong & Patricia Jennings The Fair Flower of Northumberland The Northumbrian Smallpipes 1969 

Jackie Oates The Flower of Northumberland Jackie Oates 2006 4:45 Yes

Jessie Davidson The Fair Flower of Northumberland The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 

Jim Reid Flower of Northumberland I Saw the Wild Geese Flee 1984 

Jock Duncan The Flower O' Northumberland Tae the Green Woods Gaen 2001 

John Renbourn Group Fair Flower Live in America 1982 7:24 Yes
John Renbourn Group The Fair Flower of Northumberland Rare Performances 1965-1995 2002 

Kat Eggleston Flower of Northumberland Outside Eden 1997 4:24 Yes
Kat Eggleston Flower of Northumberland Cornstock '96 - Vol. 1 1996 

Lizzie Higgins Flower of Northumberland What a Voice [Lizzie Higgins] 1985 
 
Lori Watson and Rule of Three Floor Pleasure's Coin 2009 5:43 Yes

Martin Simpson Fair Flower of Northumberland Buttons & Bows - A Celebration of British Tunes 1984 1:24 Yes
Martin Simpson Fairflower of Northumberland Leaves of Life 1989 1:58 Yes

Nancy Curtin The Flower of Northumberland Nancy Curtin 1985 4:19 Yes

Mirk Flower of Northumberland Moddan's Bower 1979 5:03 Yes

Natterjack The Fair Flower of Northumberland On the Fly 2000 5:18 Yes

Orriel Smith The Deceived Girl A Voice in the Wind 1964 4:16 Yes

Pauline Cato Fair Flower of Northumberland + Blow the Wind Southerly Minstrel's Fancy 1997 2:32 Yes

Rachel Unthank & The Winterset The Fair Flower of Northumberland Cruel Sister 2005 4:51 Yes

Raymond Crooke The Fair Flower of Northumberland <website> 2007 9:26 Yes

Sara Grey Fair Flower of Northumberland Sara Grey 1970 5:10 Yes

Seelie Court Fair Flower of Northumberland Cobblestone 2007 
 
Sheena Wellington The Fair Floor O'Northumberland Hamely Fare 2003 4:03 Yes

Susie Allan Flo'er O'Northumberland Tipsy Courting 1998 

Tania Opland & Mike Freeman Flower of Northumberland Choice Fare 2000 5:42 Yes 

The Exiles The Fair Flower of Northumberland The Hale and the Hanged 1967 

The John Renbourn Group Fair Flower Live in America 1982 7:24 Yes

The Johnstons The Flower of Northumberland The Johnstons + The Barleycorn 2002 4:33 Yes
The Johnstons The Flower of Northumberland The Johnstons Sampler 1970 4:24 Yes
The Johnstons The Flower of Northumberland Scottish Folk Scene 1974 

The Kitchen Band The Flower O' Northumberland Simply 2000 

The Pratie Heads Flower of Northumberland Early Fare 2007 

Ula Kapała Fair Flower from Northumberland Minstrel's Song 1997 3:42 Yes