The Berkshire Tragedy (Wexford Tragedy; Cruel Miller; Knoxville Girl) Roud 263; Laws P35
Additional titles include: Hanged I Shall Be; Bloody Miller; The Oxford Girl; Knoxville Girl; Ekefield Town; Ickfield Town; Wexford Town; The Butcher Boy; Lexington Murder; The Prentice Boy; Lexington Miller; Wexford Tragedy; Lexington Girl; Cruel Miller; Wexford Lass; The Miller's Apprentice, or The Oxford Tragedy; Expert Girl; Export Girl; Noel Girl; Nell Crospie/Crospey; Flora Dean; Waco Girl
Woodcuts from the Catnach broadside of "The Berkshire Tragedy" c. 1820
Bloody Miller (possible model)
A. "The Bloody Miller" printed by P. Brooksby in Pye Corner, London, shortly after the murder on Feb. 10, 1684 (The Pepys Ballads, volume 2, p156). Subtitled, Being a true and just account of one Francis Cooper of Hocstow near Shrewsbury, who was a Millers Servant, and kept company with one Anne Nicols for the space of two years, who then proved to be with child by him, and being urged by her father to marry her he most wickedly and barbarously murdered her, as you shall hear by the sequel. Tune: Alack for my Love I dye.
Berkshire Tragedy/Whittingham Miller broadsides
Ba. "The Berkshire Trgedy; Or, the Wittam Miller: with an Account of His Murdering His Sweetheart," dated c. 1700 in Bodleian, ESTC: T204012; Antiq c. E9 (125) (dated c.1730 Pettitt); and see: Roxburghe (dated c. 1700 Ebsworth). Also John Cluer/Dicey as printed and sold at No. 4, Aldermary Churchyard c. 1730s. Unknown printing (ref. Google Books), no printer named, dated 1720.
Bb. “The BERKSHIRE TRAGEDY, OR, The WHITTAM Miller, Who most barbarously murder’d his Sweet-heart: With his whole Trial, Examination and Confession; and his last dying Words at the Place of Execution,” dated 1744; from a Scottish chapbook printed by Robert Drummond for John Keel, Edinburgh. It concludes, “The last dying words and confession of John Mauge, a Miller, who was executed at Reading in Berkshire, on Saturday the 20th of last month, for the barbarous murder of Anne Knite, his sweet-heart.”
Bc. "The Berkshire Tragedy; Or, The Wittam Miller. With an Account of his Murdering his Sweetheart. To the Tune of, The Oxfordshire Tragedy," c.1750’s and 60’s. London: Printed and sold at Sympson's Printing-Office, in Stonecutter Street, Fleet Market. n.d. given.
Bd. "THE WITTHAM-MILLER, Being an Account of his Murdering his Sweetheart, &c. OR THE BERKSHIRE TRAGEDY." c. 1790 as printed and Sold by D Wrighton [sic] 86 Snow Hill, Birmingham.
Be. "The tragical ballad of the miller of Whittingham Mill. Or, a warning to all young men and maidens." Glasgow, printed by J. & M. Robertson, 1800. Also in chapbook, "The History, Witty Questions and Answers, of that noted Philosopher, the Miller of Whittingham Mill, and Betty Puslem his wife." Published Edinburgh, 1793.
Bf. "Discovery of an Extraordinary MURDER Committed by a Respectable Miller, of Wittam in Berkshire," (see woodcuts at top of this page), J. Catnach, Printer, 2 & 3, Monmouth-court, 7 Dials. c. 1825.
Wexford Tragedy (chapbook) Archaic Wexford Reductions
Ca. "The Wexford Tragedy Or, The False Lover" from a chapbook printed by [Yellich and] T. Johnston 1818 Falkirk, Scotland. 8 1/2 stanzas or 17 divided stanzas. Chapbookis titled: "The freemason's song; to which are added, The Wexford Tragedy Or, The False Lover and My Friend and Pitcher." Printed for Freemason[s], 1818. From: Bodleian's Firth collection, catalogue no. Firth f.75 (23).
Cb. "The Worcester Tragedy." Collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1959 from Mrs Charlotte Decker [1884-1967] of Parson's Pond, NL. Published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, pp.638-639, by the National Museum of Canada (1965).
The Four "Cruel Miller" broadsides
Da. "The Cruel Miller, or, Love and Murder" broadside dated 1813–38 London: J. Catnach, 18 stanzas [This is not "Love and Murder" or "Polly's Love" a shortened broadside version of Gosport Tragedy].
Db. "Bloody Miller" broadside dated 1789-1820 Imprint: Thompson, Printer, no. 156, Dale-Street, Liverpool [This is not A, also Bloody Miller or Ic, The Bloody Miller].
Dc. "The Cruel Miller," broadside dated 1819-1844; Pitts, Printer, 6, Great St. Andrew Street, 7 Dials, London.
Dd. "False-Hearted Miller," broadside 1815-1855 by Pollock, J.K. printer; North Shields.
Lexington Miller broadside
Ea. "The Lexington Miller" broadside dated 1829-1831, Sold wholesale and retail, by L. Deming, no. 1, Market Square, Boston. Also printed in The Journal of American Folklore (Vol. 42, No. 165, pp. 247-253), 1929.
Eb. "The Lexington Tragedy," sung by Alonzo Lewis on York, Maine as recorded by Helen Flanders on October 1, 1948.
Scottish Traditional- "Butcher Boy" Reductions
Fa. "The Butcher Boy" sung by Sam Davidson 1863–1951 of Auchedly, Tarves Aberdeen; a farmer and the owner of North Seat Farm and well known singer who learned ballads from his farm hands. Collected by Gavin Greig (version D) c. 1908.
Fb. "The Butcher Boy" sung by Annie Shirer (b. 1873) of Kininmonth who got her ballads from her father and uncle Kenneth Shirer. Collected by Gavin Grieg (version E), c. 1908.
Fc. "The Butcher's Boy" As sung by Miss Kate Mitchell, collected by Gavin Grieg (A), c. 1910.
Fd. "The Butcher Boy"- sung by Charles Fiddes Reid (b. 1907) of Crimond, Aberdeenshire as recorded by Hamish Henderson and Prof. James Porter in 1972. Charles Reid heard this song from his grandmother when he was about eight, on holiday at Auchnagatt.
Fe. "The Butcher Boy" sung by Jeannie Robertson recorded by Hamish Henderson in 1953. Jeannie Robertson learned this from a woman friend around 25 years previously.
Ff. "The Butcher's Boy" sung by Elizabeth Stewart (c. 1955)as learned from her mother Jean (c1945), with minor changes.
Fg. "The Butcher Boy" John Argo of Ellon, Aberdeenshire. Recorded by Hamish Henderson in 1952. John Argo heard this song from his mother while she was nursing his baby brother.
Fh. "The Butcher's Boy" sung by Andrew Robbie of Strichen, Aberdeenshire. Recorded in 1960 by Prof. Kenneth Goldstein
English Traditional ballads- "Various" reductions
Ga. "The Miller's Apprentice," sung by William Spearing of Somerset as collected by Cecil Sharp in 1904. From Sharp's MS and "Miller's Apprentice" is Sharp's master title.
Gb. "Prentice Boy" sung by Joseph Elliot of Dorsst in 1905. From Henry Hammond Manuscript Collection (HAM/2/8/20) with music. Also in Songs of Crime and Prison Life by Lucy E. Broadwood and A. G. Gilchrist; Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Vol. 7, No. 27 (Dec., 1923), pp. 41-49.
Gc. "Hanged I Shall Be," sung by David Marlow of Basingstoke, Hampshire recorded by George B. Gardiner, 1906. From the George Gardiner Manuscript Collection (GG/1/10/553). Originally titled: My Parents Reared me Tenderly (Hanged I shall Be).
Gd. "Ferry Hinksey Town" sung by George Hicks of Arlington, Gloucestershire and an old woman. Collected by Alfred Williams, published 3rd June, 1916 in Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, p 3, Part 32, No. 4. See also Williams MS and WSRO transcription.
Ge. "Hanged I Shall Be," sung by 'Sheppard' Taylor of Hickling, Norfolk in October 1921. Collected and arranged by E.J. Moeran, The Journal of the Folk Song Society, vol.VII issue 26, 1922 (p.23).
Gf. "Oxford Girl," sung by Phoebe Smith of Suffex, July 8, 1956 as recorded by Peter Kennedy, London; BBC Sound Archives 23099. Also `Black Velvet Band;' and 'I am a Romany' Topic TSCD 673T 'Good People Take Warning', CD1 track 18. Published in Folksongs of Britain and Ireland. Ed. Peter Kennedy. London, 1975, p. 713, No. 327.
Gg. "Ekefield Town," sung by Harry Cox of Catfield in Norfolk; recorded by Mervyn Plunkett in 1960.
Gh. "Waxford Town," sung by Mary Ann Haynes of Brighton, in 1972; recorded by Mike Yates.
Irish Traditional ballads
Ha. "Oh Johnny, Dearest Johnny" is an air with a single stanza of text collected in Londonderry in the summer of 1837. Petrie calls this an Anglo-Irish peasant ballad.
Hb. "Dublin City" sung by Mary Doran (tinker), Belfast, recorded and collected by Peter Kennedy in 1952.
Hc. "Town of Linsborough" sung by an Irish traveller in England named Mary Delaney in the early 1970s.
Older American Traditional- Berkshire/Oxford and Lexington Reductions
Ia. ["Wittenham Miller"] "The Lexington Girl." Recorded by Mrs. Henry from the singing of Mrs. Samuel Harmon (b. about 1870), Cade's Cove, Blount County, Tennessee, August 13, 1930, who says that she has "known the song all her life." From Mellinger Henry's "Folk Songs from the Southern Highlands," J. J. Augustin, 1938.
Ib. ["Lexington Girl."] From Mrs. Mary Boney, Perrysville, Ohio, from Eddy, "Ballads and Songs from Ohio," 1939, version C.
Ic. "Bloody Miller" from a MS by Jane Eller of North Carolina in 1901 Abrams A
Id. "Bloody Miller or Murdering Miller." Contributed by I. G. Greer of Boone, Watauga county, NC in 1915 or 1916. Text from
Abrams Collection/Greer Collection- Lyric Variant 4.
Ie. "The Oxfordshire Lass," collected in 1949 by Jean Ritchie, as sung by Jason Ritchie who learned it from the Williams family. From an article "Living is Collecting" by Jean Ritchie in "An Appalachian symposium: essays written in honor of Cratis D. Williams" by Jerry Wayne Williamson- 1977; p. 195, 196.
American Traditional- "Lexington Murder" Reduction
Ja. "The Lexington Girl." Sung by Miss Mary Riddle, North Fork Road, Black Mountain, North Carolina, 1925. From Mellinger Henry's "Folk Songs from the Southern Highlands," J.J. Augustin, 1938; first published in the 1929 JAFL article "Lexington Girl."
Jb. "My Confession." Contributed by Miss Sylvia Vaughan, of Oakland City, Indiana. Gibson County. Secured from her mother, Mrs. Hiram Vaughan. March 5, 1935. From: Brewster's "Ballads and Songs of Indiana; Indiana University Publications, Folklore Series," 1940.
Jc. "Lexington Murder." Sung by Fields Ward of Galax, Va., recorded in 1937; from Our Singing Country by Alan Lomax, 1941.
Jd. "Lexington Murder." Sung by Nora Hicks, taken down by Addie Hicks c. 1937 From Abrams Collection; no date, typed MS. This standard version (from the late 1800s) was copied by Nora's daughter Addie for Edith Walker, a student collector for Abrams.
Je. "The Lexington Murder." Collected by Mrs. Zebulon Baird Vance near Black Mountain, Buncombe county, and received by the Society in April 1915. From: Brown Collection of NC Folklore; volumes 2, 1952.
Jf. "The Lexington Murder," c. 1939. Sung by anonymous singer. Recorded, but no date or place given. The text of this version is a combination of Brown versions A and F. From the Brown Collection of NC Folklore, volume 4, 1956.
Jg. "Lexington Murder." Sung by Mrs. Nilla Lancaster of Wayne County, NC; from the Brown Collection of NC Folklore; volumes 2, 1952.
Jh. "Lexington Miller," sung by Martha Hodges of NC in 1931. Given to W. Amos Abrams in 1939 by Imogene Norris, "to whom the ballad was sung 8 years previously by Mrs. Martha Hodges."
Ji. "Lexington Murder." Sung by Mrs. Susie Wasson of Springdale, Arkansas on August 8, 1959 Ozark Folk Song Collection- online; Reel 284, Item 4. Collected by Iola Stone for Mary Celestia Parler. Transcribed by Iola Stone.
Jj. "Lexington Girl," sung by Lillie and Pearl Steele of Hamilton, Ohio, with banjo by Pete Steele on March 30, 1938. Recorded by Alan Lomax. Learned in Butler County, Kentucky from Clara Boyd (?) known for 23 years.
Jk. "The Lexington Murder," sung by Wesley Hargis of Raleigh, North Carolina in 1934. Collected by John A. & Alan Lomax. New World NW 245 (`Oh My Little Darling: Folk Song Types').
Jl. "Lexington Murder," sung by Abie Shepherd of Bryson City, N. C. in summer of 1923. Collected by Isabel Gordon Carter.
Some Songs and Ballads from Tennessee and North Carolina by Isabel Gordon Carter; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 46, No. 179 (Jan. - Mar., 1933), pp. 22-50.
Jm. "Lexington Murder," as sung by W. D. Collins of Missouri, Wyoming, and Oklahoma about 1953. W.D. Collins (1893-1976), a stockman, community song leader, square dance caller, cowboy, and Baptist preacher. From "Ideology and Folksong Re-creation in the Home-recorded Repertoire of W. D. Collins" by Melinda S Collins.
Jo. "One Saturday Night," sung by Colon Keel with guitar in Raiford, Florida on June 3, 1939 (recorded by John Avery Lomax, Ruby T. Lomax)
Jp. "Never Let the Devil Get The Upper Hand Of You," as sung by the Carter Family of Virginia, collected by A.P. Carter, recorded 1937 on Decca recording 5479, New York , NY.
Jq. "The Old Mill," sung by Mr. Lair to his daughter about 1890. Payne "Songs and Ballads Grave and Gay" and also Dobie, Texas and Southwestern Lore, p. 213; Texas.
Jr. "City of Pineville," sung by Mrs. Lee Stevens of White Rock MO, Aug. 10, 1927. Randolph A; Randolph, Ozark Folksongs; 4 vols. 1946-50.
Js. "The Mill Boy," sung by Mrs. Dan McCracken (daughter of informant) Fayetteville, Ark. (guitar) March 3, 1950. Ozark Folk Song Collection- online; Reel 22 Item 3.
Jt. Lexaton Murder- Frank Joy (NY) pre-1963 REC
Ju. "The Lexington Girl," sung by Fleecy Fox, Arkansas, 1963 Wolf C
Jv. "Prentice Boy" sung by Marybird McAllister of Brown's Cove, VA in 1958, collected by Barry Foss. From "Anglo-American Folksong Style" by Abrahams and Foss, 1968.
Jw. "The Printer's Boy"- Communicated by Miss Sylvia Vaughan, of Oakland City, Indiana. Gibson County. From Southern Folklore Quarterly - Volumes 2-3 - pages 208-209, 1938.
American Traditional- Nell Cropsey Murder- "Lexington Murder" Reduction
Ka. "Nell Cropsey," sung by John Squire Chappell of Tyner, NC in 1912. [Lexington Murder]
Kb. "Nellie Crospie," sung by Betty Bostic of Mooresboro, NC March 5, 1938 as learned from her grandmother; Abrams. See also her grandmother's version 'Lexington Murder,' as sung by Mrs. G. L. Bostic. [Lexington Murder]
Kc. "Nell Cropsey" sung by Grace Zurawicki (NC) 1974 From North Carolina Folklore Journal - Volume 22 - Page 52, 1974. [Lexington Murder].
Mostly American Traditional- Standard "Wexford" Reduction
La. "Wexford Murder," sung by Walter Church c.1900. From Garners Gay, EFDS Publications, 1967, p.40. This is an Irish-Canadian version learned by an Englishman.
Lb. "The Tragedy." Communicated by Miss Marie Rennar, Morgantown, Monongalia County; obtained from Mrs. Dayton Wiles, who learned it from her mother, who lived many years in the mountains near Rowlesburg, Preston County. From Cox, "Folk-Songs Of The South," p. 311-313, 1925.
Lc. "Johnny McDowell." Contributed by Miss Snoah McCourt, Orndoff, Webster County, May, 1916.
Ld. "Waterford Town- sung by Daniel Brown of River John, Nova Scotia. Roy Mackenzie's "Ballads and Sea Songs from Nova Scotia," 1928; pp. 293-294.
Le. "The Wexford Girl," sung by Ethel Findlater of Birsay and Harray, Orkney. Recorded by Alan Buford, Elizabeth Neilsen. Ethel Findlater learned this song from her mother many years before. Since it's obviously from North America it's likely that since Orkney's industry is fishing that "the Orkney version came back from the Eastern Seaboard (of Canada). Orkney men were great sailors and many went to the fishing off Newfoundland and of course went whaling to Baffin Bay."
Lf. "Waxford Girl," sung by Mrs. Robertson of Ohio 1939 Eddy A from "Ballads and Songs from Ohio," 1939. Most version are from the 1920s, a version of her The Murdered Girl ballads.
Lg. "The Expert Girl" was contributed by Miss Lucile Morris, Springfield, Mo., Feb. 22, 1933. From: Randolph, Ozark Folksongs; 4 vols. 1946-50; reprinted Columbia, 1980, II, 92.
Lh. "The Waxford Girl." Sung in 1935 by Mrs Allan McClellan, near Bad Axe. Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan by Chickering and Gardner 1939.
Li. "Wexford Girl" -sung by John James of Trespassy, NL. Recorded by MacEdward Leach in 1951
Lj. "Wexford Girl," sung by Irish-American emigrant John W. Green (1871-1963) of Saint James, Beaver Island, MI, in 1938.
Library of Congress recording by AFC 1939/007: AFS 02282A made Alan Lomax in 1938.
Lk. "Waxford Girl." - sung by Alice Mancour of Bellows Falls, Vermont on 10-17-1942. Partial transcription From a recording in the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection at Middlebury College Special Collections & Archives. Classification #: LAP35. Track 14.
Ll. "Waxford Girl," sung by Lily Delorme of Hardscrabble, Cadyville (NY). Dated June 18, 1942. Many of Delorme's ballads date to her childhood and to her father from Vermont in the early to mid-1800s. Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection at Middlebury College Special Collections & Archives. Classification #: LAP35. Track 09.
Lm. "Wexford Girl," recitation by Eldin Colsie at Stacyville (Me.) dated 1941. Flanders D; from recording in Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection at Middlebury College Special Collections & Archives. Classification #: LAP35. Track 08b.
Ln. "Waxford Girl," sung by John Galusha of Minerva, New York, 1941. Warners' "Traditional American Folk Songs" 1984.
Lo. "The Waxford Girl." Sung by Mrs. Pearl Brewer Pocahontas, Arkansas August 28, 1958. Ozark Folk Song Collection- online; Reel 295, Item 7. Collected and transcribed by Mary Celestia Parler.
Lp. "The Wexford Girl." Collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1958 from Arthur Nicolle [1900-1971] of Rocky Harbour, NL (Kenneth Peacock - Variant A) Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, pp.634-635, by the National Museum of Canada (1965).
Lq. "Wexford Lass," sung by Frank Ramsay of New Brunswick in 1947 Manny/Wilson. From: Songs of the Miramichi by Manny and Wilson 1968.
Lr. "The Wexford City." Collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1951 from Michael (Mike) A Kent [1904-1997] of Cape Broyle, NL.
Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, pp.634-635, by the National Museum of Canada (1965).
Ls. "The Waxweed Girl." As sung by Mr. David Pricket, Clifty, Arkansas on January 19, 1958. Mr. David Pricket learned this song from his father. Max Hunter Folk Song Collection Cat. #0008 (MFH #670).
Lt. "The Waxfort Girl," sung by Mrs. Donia Cooper of West Fork, Ark. on August 14, 1959. Ozark Folk Song Collection- online; Reel 287-288, Item 19. Collected by Mary Celestia Parler.
Lu. "Waxford Lass." Sung by Dellas Macdonald of Glenwood, NB in 1961. The Folklore Historian, Volume 14; "How the Apples Got In?' by Ives; also see Ives, Wilmot MacDonald at the Miramichi Folksong Festival- page 51.
Lv. "Waxford Lass." sung by Marie Hare of Strathadam, New Brunswick, Canada on Ballads and Songs of the Miramichi Folk Legacy, recorded circa 1964.
Lw. "Waxford Girl" sung, played on banjo, and recorded by Nora Carpenter at her home in Salyersville, Maggoffin County, Kentucky 07-07-72
Lx. "Wexford Girl," sung by Mrs. Alvin Reed of Glenville, WV before 1970. Folk Songs of Central West Virginia I, by Michael E. Bush, 1971.
Ly. "Wexford Girl," sung by Rita Emerson of Glenville, WV; 1998, Davies recording.
Lz. "The Expert Girl" was contributed by Miss Lucile Morris, Springfield, Mo., Feb. 22, 1933. From: Randolph, Ozark Folksongs; 4 vols. 1946-50; reprinted Columbia, 1980, II, 92.
LAa. "Wexford Gal" sung by Long Tom, before 1901, Peshtigo, Wisconsin collected by Fayette Dublin, Jr. and published in Forest and Stream, Volume 56, p. 422 on June 1, 1901 in New York.
LAb. "Town of Waxford" [James W. Cline of Denville, New Jersey who used to work in Sullivan County lumber camps] published in New York Folklore Quarterly, V, p. 95-96; 11 stanzas. 1949.
Mostly American Traditional - "Oxford" Reduction
Ma. "Prentice Boy," my title. From a manuscript collection lent me in 1904 by Harry Fore of the University of Missouri. Compiled in Gentry County, apparently in the 1870s.
Mb. "Prentice Boy"- sung by Louie Hooper and Lucy White of Hambridge, Sept. 1903.[Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/9/41) with music.
Mc. "Oxford Girl." Sung by William A. Owens; Lamar County, Texas circa 1910. From Texas Folk Songs (1950), William Owens and Owens. The author, William A. Owens, was born on November 2, 1905-- he learned this song when just 5 years old.
Md. "The Oxford Girl." Written out in the summer of 1913 for Miss Jennie F. Chase of St. Louis by Addie McClard of French Mills, Madison County, whom Miss Chase heard sing it there. I have made the line and stanza divisions and have indicated what I take to be gaps. Belden B, Ballads and Songs, 1940.
Me. "Hang-ed I Shall Be." - Recorded by Mr. Brown, from the singing of Nellie S. Richardson, August, 1930 as remembered from the singing of Mr. James Simpson, born in 1830. From: Vermont Folksongs and Ballads; Flanders and Brown, 1933.
Mf. "The Oxford Girl." Sung by Mrs. Almeda Riddle as recorded by John Quincy Wolf in Miller, AR on 8/22/57. Learned from her husband's MS when she was 16 circa 1914. From The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection.
Mg. "The Oxford Girl." 1926 Written down from memory by Mrs. G. V. Easley, Tula, Mississippi, who describes it as one of the most popular 'ballets' in Calhoun county in her girlhood. From Ballads and Songs from Mississippi- Arthur Palmer Hudson The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 39, No. 152 (Apr. - Jun., 1926), pp. 93-194.
Mh. "The Oxford Girl." 1926 Communicated by Mr. T. A. Bickerstaff, a student in the University of Mississippi, who obtained it from his sister, Mrs. Audrey Hellums, of Tishomingo, Mississippi. From Ballads and Songs from Mississippi- Arthur Palmer Hudson The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 39, No. 152 (Apr. - Jun., 1926), pp. 93-194.
Mi. "Oxford Girl." Sung by Mrs. Sula Hudson, Crane, Mo., Sept. 15, 1941. From: Randolph, Ozark Folksongs; 4 vols. 1946-50.
Mj. "Oxford Town." Text written down in 1934 from the singing of Fred Harris, age 63, of Monticello, FL. From Morris, Folksongs of Florida, 1950; this is the B text.
Mk. "The Oxford Girl," sung by Mrs. Donna Everett of Huntsville, Ark. on August 11, 1958. Ozark Folk Song Collection- online; Reel 307, Item 5. Collected by Parler.
Ml. "The Oxford Girl." sung by James Turner of Elkins, Ark. on September 30, 1963. The Oxford Girl - James Turner of Elkins, Ark. on September 30, 1963. Ozark
Mm. "The Oxford Girl." [has Wexford ending]- sung by George Marshall, of Poteau (Okla.) on 6-25-1960 Ozark Folk Song Collection- online; Reel 386; Item 2. Collected by Ellen G. Ledbetter for Parler.
Mn. "Oxford Girl" sung by Linda Lee Jones of Huntsville, Ark. on January 10, 1960. Ozark Folk Song Collection- online; Reel 331, Item 4. Collected by Linda Lee Jones for Mary Celestia Parler.
Mo. "Oxford Town"- Sung by Mr. Earnest Hugley, Englewood, Colorado. from: Colorado Folksong Bulletin - Volume 3 - Page 46, 1964.
Mp. "A Murder Scoundrel (Oxford Girl)" - sung by W. A. Ammons, of Fairview, W. Virginia; communicated by Estelle T. Ammons, 1951. Has additional trial stanzas unique to tradition.
American Traditional- "Knoxville Girl" Variants
Na. "The Knoxville Girl," from Florence Mathis, from Franklin County, who learned it about 1906. Folk Songs of Middle Tennessee--George Bowell Collection notes by Wolfe.
Nb. "Knoxville Girl' from the manuscript of Mrs. Russell Wood, Kalkaska; she learned the song from her sister, Miss Lily Brown, who had memorized it about 1910 in Tawas City, Michigan.From: "Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan" by Chickering and Gardner, 1939.
Nc. "The Knoxville Girl," sung by Sgt. Alexander Kirkheart, Recorded on March 29, 1938 at Fort Thomas, Kentucky, Campbell County; vocal with guitar- fast waltz tempo. Learned from his father back in mountains of West Virginia about 1916. AFC recording 1938004- 1698B recorded by Alan Lomax in 1938.
Nd. "Knoxville Girl," text from Selma Chubb (Turkey Creek, NC) c.1932 Scarborough A; A Song Catcher; 1938- ballads collected circa 1932
Ne. "Knoxville Girl," sent by Miss Bessie Musick, of Artrip, Buchanan County, VA. Scarborough B; A Song Catcher; 1938- ballads collected circa 1932.;
Nf. "Knoxville Girl," from Mary Rathburn MS about 1932, (Asheville NC) Scarborough C; A Song Catcher; 1938- ballads collected circa 1932.
Ng. "Knoxville Girl" No informant named. From: "Songs and Ballads Sung in Overton County, Tennessee: A Collection" by Lillian Crabtree, 1936, version A
Nh. "Knoxville Girl." No informant named. From: "Songs and Ballads Sung in Overton County, Tennessee: A Collection" by Lillian Crabtree, 1936, version B
Ni. "Knoxville Girl," sung by Katherine and Mary Magdalene Trusty of Paintsville, Johnson County KY on September 11, 1937
AFC recording 1937001- 1395A by Alan Lomax.
Nj. "The Knoxville Girl," sung by Howard Collins with dulcimer accompaniment on October 19, 1937 in Smithboro, KY; Knott County. AFC recording 1937001- 1541A recorded by Alan Lomax in 1937. From Kentucky Alan Lomax Recordings, 1937-1942.
Nk. "The Knoxville Girl (Part 1 and Part 2)." Sung by Mary Davis and Cora Davis on October 9, 1937in "Sibert, Manchester" KY; Clay County. AFC recording 1937001_1490A2 recorded by Alan Lomax in 1937. From Kentucky Alan Lomax Recordings, 1937-1942.
Nl. "The Knoxville Girl," sung by J.F. "Farmer" Collett of Marrowbone Creek; Gardner, KY (Leslie County). Recorded on September 26, 1937 (vocal and guitar- fast waltz tempo) at the home of John Sizemore by Alan Lomax. Library of Congress recording AFC 1937/001.
Nm. "Knoxville Girl," Elizabeth Minyard of Pine Mountain, KY; Harlan County on September 7, 1937. AFC recording 1937001- 1391B2 by Alan Lomax. From Kentucky Alan Lomax Recordings, 1937-1942.
Nn. "Knoxville Girl," sung by Fred Painter of Galena, MO Sept. 26, 1941. From: Randolph, Ozark Folksongs; 4 vols. 1946-50.
No. "Knoxville Girl - sung by Artus Moser of Wilson's Cove, NC, before 1949. Botkin, A Treasury of Southern Folklore; 1949. cf. Cox. Botkin calls it: A Southern version of the British broadside ballad, Berkshire Tragedy.
Np. "The Knoxville Girl," Sung by Marie Washam and J. R. Crymes of DeValls Bluff, Arkansas on June 13, 1954. Ozark Folk Song Collection- online; Reel 191 Item 5. Collected by Mary Jo Davis For M. C. Parler.
Nq. "The Knoxville Girl." Sung by anonymous female singer with guitar. Brown Collection of NC Folklore volumes 4, 1957.
Nr. "The Knoxville Girl." Sung by Mr. Al Bittick of Winkelman, Arizona September 3, 1958. Ozark Folk Song Collection- online; Reel 360, Item 4. Collected by Parler and O'Bryant
Ns. "The Knoxville Girl." Sung by Mrs. Maxine Hite of Prairie Grove, Arkansas on January 9, 1959. Ozark Folk Song Collection- online; Reel 264, Item 23. Collected by Mrs. Laura Willie for Mary C. Parler
Nt. "The Knoxville Girl." As sung by Mrs. George Ripley, Milford, Missouri on November 21, 1959. Max Hunter Folk Song Collection; Cat. #0430 (MFH #670). Minor editing. Unusual version.
Nu. "Knoxville Girl." Sung by Ralph E. Frazier, January 21, 1966. Collected by Sue Frazier. Burton and Manning I, 1967.
Nv. "Knoxville Girl." Sung by Mrs. Basil Casto; Jackson County, West Virginia c. 1969. Folk Songs of Central West Virginia I, by Michael Bush, 1971.
Nw. "Knoxville Girl," recording Vocalion A5121, 1926 sung by Lester McFarland and Robert A. Gardner; NYC.
Nx. "The Knoxville Girl," sung by Mrs. Jessie Monroe of Looneyville, West Virginia, 1953. From West Virginia Folklore - Volumes 4-9 - page 27, 1953.
Knoxville Girl (Early Commercial Recordings based on "Tanner" version)
Oa. "Knoxville Girl" sung by Arthur Tanner of Atlanta, Georgia (guitar and vocal), probably Earl Johnson on fiddle; Chicago Illinois, June, 1925. June 1925 (Silvertone 3515) Chicago, Illinois. Also “Knoxville Girl,” by Arthur Tanner & His Corn Shuckers (Columbia 15145-D, 1927) Atlanta, Georgia.
Ob. "The Story of the Knoxville Girl." Recorded by The Blue Sky Boys (Bluebird B7755).
Oc. "Mountain Girl" recorded by Hill Brothers of Kerrville, Texas on Savoy 3016 - side A; 1948. Listen on Honkingduck. This is a version of Knoxville Girl with a new ending.
Od. "The Knoxville Girl" Louvin Brothers on 1956 LP "Tragic Side of Life" also single release 1959.
Knoxville Girl (Collected Versions based on the Commercial Recordings)
Oe. "The Knoxville Girl." One of two texts contributed by Mrs. Minnie Church of Heaton, Avery county, in 1930. Brown Collection- G
Of. "The Knoxville Girl," sung by Frank Couch (Jim' Couch's son) recorded by Robert's in 1954, has different last stanza.
Og. "Notchville Girl." As sung by Betty Lou Copeland, Mountain View, Arkansas on May 26, 1969. From Max Hunter Folk Song Collection; Cat. #0767 (MFH #670). This is a cover of the Wilburn Brothers.
American Traditional- Expert/Export Girl Variants
Pa. "The Export Girl" - Sung by Louisiana Lou of Jackson, Mississippi, on 12-04-1933 Chicago Illinois. Bluebird recording B5424
Pb. "Expert Town." Sung by Mrs. Mildred Tuttle, Farmington, Ark., Dec. 31, 1941. Learned years ago from her parents. Randolph J
Pc. "Expert Girl." Sung by Mr. and Mrs. Arlie Freeman, Natural Dam, Ark., Dec. 14, 1941. Randolph K
Pd. "Export town" sung by Mrs. Matilda Amos of Marshall AR in April 1941, collected Garrison. From Mid-America Folklore - Volume 30, page 81, 2002.
Pe. "Export Girl." Sung by: Julie Powell. Recorded in Fox, AR, 7/18/53 Wolf E
Pf. "The Export Girl," sung by Jimmie Driftwood of Timbo, Ark. November 5, 1954.- Ozark Folk Song Collection- online; Reel 213, Item 5. Collected by Mary Celestia Parler
Pg. "Export Girl." Sung by: Mrs. Ben Daugherty. Recorded by John Quincy Wolf in Cave City, AR 8/10/58. Wolf B
Ph. "The Export Girl." Sung by Jewel Hawkins. Recorded in Batesville, AR 9/30/62 Wolf D
Pi. "Export Girl." Sung by: Mr. And Mrs. Berry Sutterfield. Recorded in Marshall, AR 8/1/63. Wolf F
Pj. "Export Girl." Sung by: Lowell Harness. Recorded in Pangburn, AR 7/29/63; Wolf G
Pk. "Export Town." As sung by Ollie Gilbert, Mountain View, Arkansas on August 8, 1969 Wolf
American Traditional--Flora Dean Variants
Qa. "Flora Dean." Sung by Mrs. Mary Wilson and Mrs. Townsley at Pineville, Bell Co., Ky May 1, 1917. . From: English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians Collected by Cecil J. Sharp and Olive Dame Campbell. Edited by Maud Karpeles; Volume I, 1932. Sharp A
Qb. "Flora Dean," sung by Aunt Molly Jackson, May 27, 1930 in New York City, recorded by Lomax.
English Traditional- Variants from Tristan da Cunha
Ra. "Maria Martini (Waxford Girl)," as sung by Frances Repetto. From Traditional Songs of Tristan da Cunha by Peter A. Munch; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 74, No. 293 (Jul. - Sep., 1961), pp. 216-229. Also see: The Song Tradition of Tristan da Cunha; 1979. Version A.
Rb. "Maria Martini (Waxen Girl)," as sung by Lily Green about 1938 from The Song Tradition of Tristan da Cunha; 1979. Version B.
American Traditional- Waco Girl Variants
Sa. "Waco Girl." Esther Anderson Shinn, who taught it to me, says that she first heard it about 1906 from our aunt, Ethel Collins Anderson, a native of Catoosa in northeast Oklahoma. From: "The Waco Girl": Another Variant of a British Broadside Ballad by John Q. Anderson; Western Folklore, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Apr., 1960), pp. 107-118; Published by: Western States Folklore Society.
Sb. "Waco Girl," sung by Eddie Murphy of Crowley, Louisiana in June, 1934 as recorded by Alan Lomax. From, "Traditional Music in Coastal Louisiana: The 1934 Lomax Recordings" by Joshua Clegg Caffery.
Sc. "Waco Girl," sung by Fred Ross, Arvin, Calif., FSA Camp, on August 1, 1940. Learned from a migrant girl named Dorothy Ledford at Indio Camp in 1938. From Library of Congress recording of "Waco Girl, The, sung by Fred Ross, Arvin, Calif., coll. by Chas. L. Todd and Robert Sonkin, 1940. Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940 to 1941.
Sd. "Waco Girl," contributed by Ray C. Barlow, a native of Corpus Christi, Texas. His mother, whose parents came from Tennessee, taught it to him. [From: "The Waco Girl": Another Variant of a British Broadside Ballad by John Q. Anderson; Western Folklore, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Apr., 1960), pp. 107-118; Published by: Western States Folklore Society. Anderson B
American Variants "Noel Girl" Lexington Reduction
Ta. "Noel Girl," sung by Eva Shockley of Missouri in 1928; Randolph B. Mrs. Shockley insists that this piece is called "The Noel Girl," and has never doubted that it referred to the murder of Lula Noel.
"The Berkshire Tragedy," [hereafter "Berkshire"] a broadside ballad printed about 1700, tells the tale of a miller or miller's apprentice who brutally murders his sweetheart after she becomes pregnant with his child. The early prints of "Berkshire" were usually 44 stanzas long (sometimes printed with double lines as 22 stanzas). By the late 1700s and early 1800s a number of reductions were printed that were around 18 stanzas (or 9 double line stanzas) long. The reductions have been grouped into four main types which also entered tradition. There is evidence that earlier "archaic" reductions of the four types were printed that are now missing and only exist in rare traditional versions (see, for example, The Oxford Reductions). One possible antecedent titled "The Bloody Miller" may have been used to fashion the early Berkshire broadsides.
A, titled "The Bloody Miller" (as seen above), is a broadside from The Pepys Ballads, Volume 2, p. 156, which was printed by P. Brooksby in Pye Corner, London, in 1684[1]. A is subtitled, Being a true and just account of one Francis Cooper of Hocstow near Shrewsbury, who was a Millers Servant, and kept company with one Anne Nicols for the space of two years, who then proved to be with child by him, and being urged by her father to marry her he most wickedly and barbarously murdered her, as you shall hear by the sequel.
Rather than include A, a different ballad, as an appendix to B, "The Berkshire Tragedy" (the title ballad and originator of all the reductions and ballads that follow), I'm including A first-- since it's older and is the possible antecedent for B, although B has been completely rewritten.
A's tune "Alack for my Love I dye" is, according to Bruce Olson, a 17th century tune which is not known, but comes from a broadside ballad "William Grismond" (on which ours here seems to be modeled), ZN1988, which has appeared in Scots tradition as "William Guiseman/Graham", and from that there are traditional tunes (Grieg-Duncan #190)[2]. The broadside's title includes the date of Grismond's murder: The downfall of William Grismond: or, A lamentable murder by him committed at Lainterdine in the county of Hereford, the 22 of March, 1650, with his woful lamentation.
Since "William Grismond" also killed his pregnant lover rather than marry her and since the chorus is nearly identical, this broadside dated 1658-1664, was likely modeled by the unknown author of "The Bloody Miller." Olsen also mentioned that "Hyder E. Rollins, In The Pepys Ballads III, reprinted the [Bloody Miller] ballad, and quoted a diary entry of Feb. 20, 1684, stating that the murder had been committed on the 10th, the Sabbath[3]." The actual date of the murder would be Sunday February 10, 1684-- ten days earlier. The entry was made by Phillip Henry whose dairy is found online (Google Books) titled, Diaries and Letters of Philip Henry, M.A. Of Broad Oak, Flintshire, A.D 1631-1696; by Philip Henry, M.A. At the top of p. 323 is found the full diary entry:
“I heard of a murther in Salop on Sabb. Day ye 10. instant, a woman fathering a conception on a Milner was Kild by him in a feild, her Body laye there many dayes by reason of ye Coroner's absence.”
Philip Henry was a minister who lived about 20 miles from the Shropshire town of Shrewsbury which was also called Salop[4]. Further evidence that the ballad was "a true and just" account of a murder on Sunday February 10, 1684 near Salob was obtained in 2005 by a local historian Peter Francis and independently by writer Paul Slade, who was investigating the source of "The Knoxville Girl."
The evidence was first reported by Pete Francis[5] who wrote, "At the time (1684) the nearby village of Minsterley didn't have its own church and marriages, burials etc. took place at Westbury (3 or 4 miles to the west). The records there contain the following entry[6]:
1st March 1683 [our year 1684] Anne Nicholas murdered (truculenter occisa) - burial
As far as I can tell, the Latin phrase means something like 'savage death'. There are a number of baptism entries which could refer to Anne and her murderer (Francis Cooper), the most likely of which would mean he was 27 and she 23 at the time. Most interesting of all, however, is the following entry:
24th March 1683 [our year 1684] Ichabod son of Francis Cooper, homicide, and Anne - baptism
In his series of online articles about murder ballads also found his book[7], journalist Paul Slade has written about the origins of Knoxville Girl and traced that version back to The Bloody Miller. He claims he received the same information on June 30, 2005 from Shropshire Archivist Jean Evans-- which was several months before Francis posted it[8].
With the diary entry of Feb. 20, 1684 and burial record of Anne Nicolas and birth record of Ichabod, son the murderer Francis Cooper--it's clear that "The Bloody Miller" was "a true and just" account of a murder on Sunday February 10, 1684 near Salob. The Bloody Miller was written shortly thereafter-- based on the form and melody of "William Grismond[9]." It was printed by P. Brooksby in Pye Corner, London (see copy above).
The ballad featured a chorus; "I for my transgression must dye," that appeared similarly at the end of each stanzas and was patterned after "Alack for my Love I must dye." In "William Grismond" the chorus is similarly: "And it's for my offence I must die." Cf. "The Pining Maid," Roxburghe Collection III, 118.
The Bloody Miller is only 14 stanzas and I've included just 7 below to help tell the ballad story:
I was a Miller by my Trade,
it plainly doth appear,
Pretending love unto a Maid,
whose Father lived near,
But she for my acquaintance,
poor soule, did pay full dear:
I for my transgression must dye.
[A miller seduces a maid pretending to love her]
Tho' I was young and likely too,
I wanton was and wild,
And by my amorous carriage she
most strangely was beguil'd,
She did beleive my flattering tongue
till I got her with Child:
I to my transgression must dye.
[He flatters her, and she believes him until she becomes pregnant.]
Her Father sent her to the Mill
to ask him her to marry;
Which he then seemed to refuse,
and told her she must tarry
but by my strange & treacherous tricks
I strangely did miscarry:
I for my transgression must dye.
[Her father sends her to the mill to offer marriage, but he refuses.]
She told me I must marry her,
or for the Child provide;
Five pound I offer'd, which by her
was utterly deny'd;
She in the full conclusion
by me was mortified:
I for my transgression must dye
[She offered him marriage or for him to provide for her child. He offered five pounds which she denied.]
One Sunday on an Evening tide
for her poor soule I sent
Who came to me immediately
not dreaming what I meant,
And so into a secret place
we sinful sinners went:
I for my transgression must dye.
[On Sunday he sent for her and led her to a secret place where he kisses her-- then murders her.]
The Murder Scene- The Bloody Miller
My bloody fact I still denied,
disown'd it till the last,
But when I saw for this my fact
just judgment on me past,
The blood in Court ran from my nose
yea; ran exceeding fast;
And for my transgression must dye.
[He denies killing her, then he is taken to court, his nose bleeds and he is convicted of his crime.]
So like a wretch my daies I end,
upon the Gallow-Tree,
And I do hope my punishment
will such a warning be,
That none may ever after this
commit such villany;
And for my transgression I die.
[He's sentenced to death upon the gallows and warns others not to commit crimes of such villany.]
Berkshire broadside-- Bodleian, ESTC: T204012; Antiq c. E9 (125), dated c.1700
Ba, the fundamental broadside and title of this study is illustrated above and dated c. 1700 by Ebsworth[10]. One early broadside print is titled "The Berkshire Trgedy; Or, the Wittam Miller: with an Account of His Murdering His Sweetheart." B, the progenitor of the subsequent ballads in this series, also appears with the correct spelling of "Tragedy" as in Bc: "The Berkshire Tragedy; Or, the Wittam Miller With an Account of his Murdering his Sweetheart." There are a number of different title variations of the same broadside. In this study, versions of B will appear as "The Berkshire Tragedy" or sometimes shortened to just "Berkshire." The relationship between A and B is tenuous at best since A is a different ballad than B. In this study A is included only as a possible ballad from which B was modeled-- since A is a different ballad and not related to B and its reductions. Some of the similarities however are obvious:
1. The ballad story is told in the first person as a "dying confession" from a repentant murderer.
2. A miller or a miller's apprentice seduces a girl and she becomes pregnant.
3. When his lover or one of her parents tries to persuade him to marry her, he lures her to a secluded place and murders her.
4. When accused, the murderer's blood runs from his nose, or in subsequent versions, he claims the blood on his hands and clothes is from a nosebleed.
5. He eventually confesses his crime or it is found out and he is hung.
Even though the theme of B and some details may have been based on A -- there are enough significant differences to prevent B and its reductions to be closely related to A: The 6 line form of A with a chorus has been replaced with a standard quatrain in B. Although it may be shown that A can easily be written in quatrain form[11], there is no chorus in B, a difference that cannot be reconciled. The text of A although similar in plot is very different and except for two or three lines cannot be part of B and its reductions. The fourteen stanzas of A have been expanded into twenty-two[12] in B. After murdering his sweetheart with a stick, as in most versions of B, he throws her body into a river (see also: Banks of the Ohio). The location of A has been moved from Shropshire town of Shrewsbury to Wittam (usually "Wytham" or in Roxburghe-- "Wittenham") near Oxford in B and B therefore is about a similar murder with different people[13]. The ballad story of B could have been modeled after A --just as A was likely modeled after "William Grismond." B, however, includes as its reductions the print versions of "The Wexford Tragedy," "The Cruel Miller," and the "Lexington Miller," as well as the primary traditional reductions of "Oxfordshire Lass," "Lexington Murder," "Wexford Girl" and "Butcher Boy."
It should again be noted that the title of this study is "The Berkshire Tragedy," indicating that the possible role of A is hypothetical. Two Berkshire reductions have the same title as A: the first "Bloody Miller" is an alternate broadside title of the "Cruel Miller" text while the second is an old traditional version from North Carolina titled two ways- "The Bloody Miller" and also "The Bloody Miller, or, The Murdering Miller." Neither of these Berkshire reduction titles show a close resemblance to A, a different ballad.
Here is a short composite I've arranged that shows that B and A are at least compatible and that some lines in A are similar to those in B:
Bloody Miller /Berkshire Tragedy (composite)
“By chance upon an Oxford lass, [Berkshire]
I wanton was and wild, [Bloody Miller]
She told me I must marry her, [Berkshire]
If she with me would lie. [Berkshire]
And by my amorous carriage, [Bloody Miller]
She most strangely was beguil'd,
She did believe my flattering tongue
Till I got her with child.
She told me I must marry her, [Bloody Miller]
Or for the child provide;
Five pounds I offer'd,
Which by her was utterly deny'd.
One Sunday on an evening tide [Bloody Miller]
For her poor soul I sent
Who came to me immediately
Not dreaming what I meant.
There kissing and embracing her, [Bloody Miller]
My treachery appear'd,
I like a cruel bloody wretch,
Whom she so little fear'd,
Thus I deluded her again, [Berkshire]
And so into a secret place [Bloody Miller]
Then took a stick out of the hedge, [Berkshire]
And struck her in the face. [Berkshire]
But she fell on bended knee, [Berkshire]
For mercy she did cry,
"For heaven's sake don't murder me,
I am not fit to die."
“From ear to ear I slit her mouth, [Bloody Miller]
And stabbed her in the head,
Till she poor soul did breathless lie,
Before her butcher bled.
“And then I took her by the hair, [Berkshire]
To cover the foul sin
And dragged her to the river side,
And threw her body in.
So like a wretch my days I end, [Bloody Miller]
Upon the gallows tree,
And I do hope my punishment
Will such a warning be,
That none may ever after this
Commit such villany.
Ironically, the composite ending from the Bloody Miller resembles the two-stanza warning that is found at the end of the standard Wexford Girl traditional ballad. The two stanzas above with a line of the Bloody Miller inserted don't suffer badly for it. Although this is a drastic reduction, the traditional and print versions derived from Berkshire were all reductions-- some of a similar length.
Ebsworth says about the Berkshire broadside[14], "This is a Berkshire variation of the tale (already reprinted, disjointedly, on pp. 68, 175) entitled, 'The Oxfordshire Tragedy; or, The Virgin's Advice.' Therein the seducer who murders his victim is an Oxford Student of theology, but here he is a Miller of Wittam, probably Wittenham. Both ballads were sung to the same tune, and of date near 1700." Despite the similar theme of "The Oxfordshire Tragedy; or, The Virgin's Advice," also known as "Rosanna's Overthrow," it is significantly different and does not met the criteria for inclusion with these murder ballads: 1) it is not a murderer's confession; 2) it is not about a miller; 3) there is no reference to a nose-bleed; and 4) there are unique supernatural elements in the Oxfordshire Tragedy's ending.
"The Berkshire Tragedy; Or, the Wittam Miller," as written in 22 stanzas, begins[15]:
Young Men and Maidens, all give ear, to what I shall relate;
O mark you well, and you shall hear, of my unhappy fate:
Fear unto famous Oxford town, I first did draw my breath —
Oh! that I had been cast away, in an untimely death[16].
My tender parents brought me up, provided for me well,
And in the town of Wittenham[17] they placed me in a Mill.
By chance upon an Oxford Lass I cast a wanton eye,
And promis'd I would marry her, if she would with me lie.
But to the world I do declare, with sorrow, grief, and woe,
This folly brought us in a snare, and wrought our overthrow;
For the Damsel came to me, and said — "By you I am with child:
I hope, dear John, you 'll marry me, for you have me defil'd."
B at 22 stanzas or with subdivided lines (the Berkshire broadsides are written as 44 stanzas) is obviously more detailed than A at 14 stanzas. The date of the murder is similar-- in B it's a month after Christmas and in A, February 10. An important element is added in B-- the stick as murder weapon as found in stanza 6 [see stick in c. 1700 wood-cut above]:
I told her, if she 'd walk with me aside a little way
We both together would agree about our Wedding-day.
Thus I deluded her again into a private place,
Then took a stick out of the hedge, and struck her in the face.
The knife as the murder weapon is found in the Scottish reduction of B, but that may be coincidental. The first two lines (or four lines) are similarly found in the first stanza of the US murder ballad, "Banks of the Ohio." Other textual similarities in B and its reductions are found in "Girl I Left Behind Me," "Boston Burglar" and a later reduction--"Knoxville Girl[18]." The nose-bleed which helped convict Francis Cooper in the "Bloody Miller" now is used as an alibi for the blood on his hands:
"Oh! what's the matter?" then said he, "you look as pale as death,
What makes you shake and tremble so, as tho' you 'd lost your breath,
How came you by that blood upon your trembling hands and cloaths?"
I presently to him reply'd, "By bleeding at the nose!"
In British ballads the nosebleed is known as an omen of badluck[19] and is one of the most important identifiers in this murdered-sweetheart ballad. B begins “Young men and maidens all give ear” and was printed in London including printers Dicey, Sympson; Howard & Evans; Pitts; and Catnach and the provinces including Coventry; Birmingham; Banbury, while others including the c. 1700's version in the Bodleian, are without imprint[20].
Exceptional are the two Edinburgh printings of B. The first, Bb, was made by Robert Drummond for John Keed in an eight page chapbook dated 1744 and titled, “The BERKSHIRE TRAGEDY, OR, The WHITTAM Miller, Who most barbarously murder’d his Sweet-heart: With his whole Trial, Examination and Confession; and his last dying Words at the Place of Execution.” It concludes, “The last dying words and confession of John Mauge, a Miller, who was executed at Reading in Berkshire, on Saturday the 20th of last month, for the barbarous murder of Anne Knite, his sweet-heart.”
Drummond's print gives the name of the murderer-- John Mauge, the name of the murdered-sweetheart-- Anne Knite, and the date. Since Saturday the 20th happened in the month of June in 1744, the printing would have been made in July, 1744. It should be noted that the date in the ballad text and this date do not correspond. Despite this detailed information, no record of this murder has yet been found. Drummond's broadside information was published in "Notices of Fugitive Tracts" by James Orchard Halliwell, 1851 on p. 90:
118. THE BERKSHIRE TRAGEDY, OR THE WHITTAM MILLER, who MOST BARBAROUSLY MURDER'D His SWEETHEART. 12mo, Edinburgh. Printed for John Keed, in the Swan-closs, 1744.
In verse, with a cut of the miller on the gallows. It concludes with "the last dying words and confession of John Mauge, a miller, who was executed at Reading, in Berkshire, on Saturday, the 20th of last month, for the barbarous murder of Anne Knite, his sweetheart."
Halliwell's "Notices of Fugitive Tracts" was used by Cox (Folk Songs of the South, 1925, p. 311) and others in their song notes describing the shortened US variants.
The second exceptional version from Edinburgh is Be, "The tragical ballad of the miller of Whittingham Mill. Or, a warning to all young men and maidens[21]."It was printed in a chapbook in Edinburgh in 1793 and also in Glasgow in 1800[22].
Front page of the Edinburgh chapbook, the version is dated 1793
"The Miller of Whittingham Mill" has 47 stanzas, three more than most standard long broadsides and is the longest extant broadside of Berkshire. It is missing Berkshire's stanza 2, and has a different last line of 8. Additionally, it adds 4 stanzas near the end:
42 The ruin of innocence let ne’er,
like mine your study be;
But when that Satan tempts you fore,
from his suggestions flie.
43 Likewise young women all take care,
how you your charms do yield,
By doing so too soon you lose,
your virtue and your shield.
44 When men do tempt you to this guilt,
remember with a sigh,
That horrid and most barbarous crime,
for which I now must die.
46 Me pardon for the bloody deed,
for which I’m doom’d to death,
And let my tears flow fast therefore,
e’er I resign my breath.
for which there are no corresponding stanzas. Another possible location for the mill and murder has been added-- Whittingham which is similar to the text "Wittam then" found in Berkshire and the name given by Ebsworth-- "Wittenham." The additional stanzas have not been found in tradition.
Bf, a Catnach print from the early 1800's is titled, Discovery of an Extraordinary MURDER Committed by a Respectable Miller, of Wittam in Berkshire. The print which features several woodcuts (one depicting the miller holding the unconscious girl by the hair and beating her with a large stick resembling a club) and a lengthy subtitle which begins, "Upon the body of his sweetheart, in December last, he first seduced her, and got her with child, . . ." As with the 1744 Scottish print by Drummond a date is affixed (December last) which purports to be the actual date of the heinous crime. Apparently this was done to promote sales since a real murder is more scandalous-- thus more appealing to prospective buyers.
Despite the obvious popularity of the various print versions of "The Berkshire Tragedy," forty-four or forty-seven stanzas were too wieldy to be memorized by a balladeer so shorter versions evolved from print and tradition that could more easily be sung[23]. A number of different reductions were created that stemmed from the long Berkshire broadside. The reductions are labeled: 1) The Wexford Reductions; 2) The Lexington Reductions; 3) The Butcher Boy Reductions and 4) The Berkshire/Oxford Reductions. These are the four primary reductions that were made and from these come the secondary reductions.
THE ORIGINAL OXFORD REDUCTIONS
The original reduction was based solely on the original 44-stanza Berkshire Tragedy broadside. The first reduction was named for "Oxford Town" and "Oxford lass" as found in the opening stanzas. This English reduction is made up mostly from text of the long Berkshire broadside. No print version of this reduction has been found and there have been no traditional English versions known to have been based on it although traces of text have been found in English tradition. The original or archaic Oxford Reduction is known through two traditional versions collected in the United States. The first and most archaic was collected in 1930 from Maryanna Harmon in Tennessee[24] and may be viewed later in this study. It is a reduction of 18 stanzas and I estimate it was learned in England by the 1760s. The second, titled "Oxfordshire Lass" was learned by Jason Ritchie of Knott County, Kentucky who claimed he learned it from a local family. The Ritchie version is more modern and has some minor corruption from other local versions. This text will be given in full after the list of identifiers.
In most of the reductions the first stanza (introduction) and the last 20 stanzas (incarceration, trial) are eliminated. Stanzas 4-7 and 14 are rarely found in tradition or have been changed and include the marriage agreement, pregnancy and mother's request for marriage. After these eliminations there are 18 stanzas which are the fundamental stanzas found in the reductions. Here are the main identifiers of the Berkshire or Oxford Reduction:
tender parents
Oxford town/Oxford lass
with a wanton eye
If she with me would lie
folly/snare, overthrow
deluded her again
creature think
Christmas last
devil persuade
heaven's sake
cover sin
blood of innocence
snatched the candle (sim. grabbed or took the candle)
to the mill
was amazed/on me gazed
my man (miller)
rest/ breast
Floating-- brother's door
Hillsferry town/Hindley Ferry town
[Ending:] Have mercy upon me I pray/and so receive my soul.
The ending is found only in Maryanna Harmon's reduction, and Jason Ritchie's reduction (see immediately below). Harmon's variant has a stanza not found in any of the reductions: the payment of a reward of (two) guineas published by the murderer in the Post Boy newspaper to anyone who should find the missing damsel. This newspaper under the Post Boy title was in circulation from 1695-1728 and is important in dating the original broadside. Under printer George James, it became a daily paper, The Daily Post Boy, in October of 1728, and it ran daily until 1736. The prints of the broadside that mention "Post Boy" should logically be dated 1695-1728 or possibly as late as 1736.
The Oxfordshire Lass- from Jason Ritchie (1860- 1959) of Knott County, Kentucky as learned from the Williams family.
1. My parents raised me tenderly
And provided for me well,
It was in the town of Oxfordshire,
They placed me in a mill.
2. It was there I met an Oxford lass
with a dark and charming eye,
I asked her if she would consent
one night with me to lie.
3. Then what to do I did not know
I considered night and day;
The devil he persuaded me
To take her life away.
4. I went unto her sister's house,
At eight o'clock at night,
Poor creature little did she think
I owed her any spite.
5. I asked her if she would walk with me,
in the field a little way.
That we could talk and soon agree,
and appoint the wedding day
6. All hand in hand we went along,
unto a lonesome place;
I drew a stake out of the hedge
And smote her over the face.
7. Down on her bended knees she fell
and did for mercy cry,
For heavens sake don't murder me
for I am not fit to die
8. No mercy on her I did show
but wounded her full sore,
O there I put my love to death
whom I cannot restore.
9. Then for to wash the stain away
I took her by the hair
And dragged her to the river
and I threw her body there.
10. Then straightway to the mill I run
like one all in a maze.
The miller fixed his eyes on me
and at me he did gaze.
11. Saying "What's this blood upon your hands,
likewise upon your clothes?"
I answered him immediately,
"The blood is from my nose."
12. Next day this maiden she was missed
and nowhere could be found,
And I was apprehended soon,
to the high sheriff bound.
13. Her sister there against me swore,
she said she had no doubt,
She swore she thought I murdered her,
by me calling of her out.
14. O Lord, give me a praying heart
and time for to repent,
I soon will leave this wicked world,
so shamefully I am sent.
15. Lord wash, my sins and guilt away,
they are of the darkest fold;
O lord from heaven look down on me,
and Christ receive my soul.
The two stanza ending corresponds to Berkshire's stanzas 42 and 44. Over time, the Oxford Reduction changed--this ending disappeared and the marriage agreement (in Ritchie's version: "I asked her if she would consent/one night with me to lie") and pregnancy were removed. The stanzas about the devil are no longer found and running to the mill. Only the Lexington Reduction retained some of the archaic text from the original or archaic Oxford Reduction. The modern or standard Oxford versions more closely resemble the standard Wexford Reductions without the two-stanza ending.
Traditional versions with any of the above Berkshire/archaic Oxford identifiers added, are usually older and representative of an early reduction. The identifiers are not found in, for example, the standard Wexford traditional reduction-- which has few of the Berkshire identifiers in its standard text. Since the Berkshire/Oxford Reduction would be used by professional broadside writers to recreate a print version-- naturally many these identifiers will be present. It may be the case that the first Cruel Miller broadsides were penned by a professional writer working for a printer and possibly a writer was used by Deming in The Lexington Miller, but the chapbook printer in this next reduction certainly borrowed the following reduction from tradition.
The following print, my Ca, was recently found (2016) in a chapbook and represents an older reduction of the Wexford tradition:
Chapbook cover of Wexford Tragedy -1818
Ca, "The Wexford Tragedy Or, The False Lover" was printed in a Scottish chapbook in 1818 by [Yellich and] T. Johnston of Falkirk, Scotland. It is a reduction of 8 1/2 stanzas or divided 17 stanzas and appears: "The freemason's song; to which are added, The Wexford Tragedy Or, The False Lover and My Friend and Pitcher. Printed for Freemason[s], 1818." I give the text in full with divided stanzas and punctuation changes as found in printed versions of B:
THE FALSE LOVER. [Wexford Tragedy]
1. My parents rear'd me tenderly,
Endeavouring for me still,
And in the town of Wagan
They brought me to a mill.
2. Where there I spied a Wexford girl,
That had a black rolling eye,
And I offered to marry her
If she would with me lie.
3. In six months after this,
This maid grew big with child,
Marry me, dear Johnny,
As you did me beguile.
4. I promised to marry her,
As she was big with child:
But little did this fair maid know
Her life I would beguile.
5. I took her from her sister's door,
At 8 o'clock at night,
But little did this fair maid know,
I her bore a spite.
6. I invited her to take a walk
To the fields a little way,
That we might conclude a while
And appoint a wedding day.
7. But as we were discoursing
Satan did me surround
I pulled a stick out of the hedge,
And knock'd this fair maid down.
8. Down on bended knees she fell,
And for mercy she did cry;
I'm innocent, don't murder me,
For I'm not prepar'd to die.
9. He took her by the yellow hair
And dragged her along,
And threw her in the river,
That ran both deep and strong.
10. All in the blood of innocence
His hands and clothes were dy'd
He was stained with the purple gore
Of his intended bride.
11. Then returning to his mother's door,
At 12 o'clock at night
But little did his mother think
How he had spent the night.
12. Come tell me dear Johnny
What dy'd your hands and clothes?
The answer he made her was,
Bleeding at the nose.
13. He called for a candle
To light himself to bed,
And all the whole night over,
The damsel lay dead.
14. And all the whole night over,
Peace nor rest he could find,
For the burning flames of torment,
Before his breast did shine.
15 In three days after,
This fair maid she was miss'd,
He was taken up on suspicion,
And into jail was cast.
16. Her sister swore away his life,
Without either fear or doubt,
Her sister swore away his life,
Because he call'd her out.
17. In six weeks after that,
This fair maid was found,
Coming floating to her brother's door
That liv'd in Wexford town.
This establishes a variant of the Wexford reduction which was missing until now. Notice the course rhymes, awkward verbs ("That we might conclude a while"- stanza 6), missing ending and the shift from 1st person in stanza 9-- which indicates that this was created not by a professional print writer but was more likely the capturing of tradition. I had already postulated the existence of this and other printed reductions before finding it in November, 2016 at Google Books. This has "The Girl/Maid I Left Behind Me" opening line as found in a number of versions including the New Brunswick Miramichi's "Wexford Lass," where the whole first stanza is borrowed. As an important printed variant of the Wexford tradition, it represents a capturing of tradition in 1818. Older reductions may still exist, since I estimate the first reductions were made in the 1700s. By its traditional nature, "The Wexford Tragedy" would have evolved from an earlier unknown Irish or possibly an English print. Even though printed in Scotland, this Wexford reduction is not from with the Scottish tradition but is rather--associated with that tradition. Steve Gardham of Hull, Yorkshire, an expert of broadsides and prints, comments: "Wexford is in Ireland and though it is clearly derived from Oxford the most likely progression is that the alteration to Wexford took place in Ireland. Having had a cursory look at the version I would say it's pretty certain it was taken from oral tradition."
One older traditional version that resembles "The Wexford Tragedy" is Cb, "The Worcester Tragedy," collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1959 from Mrs Charlotte Decker of Parson's Pond, Newfoundland. The chapbook and this similar traditional version establish an earlier tradition of Wexford that I've called "archaic" -- indicating that these are older and from a different reduction than the standard versions. See more on the Wexford Reductions later in the study.
By the 1820s a number of 18-stanza broadside reductions where printed in England under the titles "The Cruel Miller," "The Cruel Miller, or, Love and Murder," "False-Hearted Miller," and "Bloody Miller" (not A, also titled "Bloody Miller"). Although the titles are different, these broadsides, my D versions, are the same length with only minor differences in text. Since they mention "Wexford Town," the four broadsides are associated with and may be grouped with the "Wexford" reductions.
"The Cruel Miller," Dc, will refer to the four reduced 18 stanza (also written as 9 double-line stanzas) broadside versions. Of the four titles, "The Cruel Miller, or, Love and Murder," dated c. 1813, and "Bloody Miller," (Imprint: Thompson, Printer, no. 156, Dale-Street, Liverpool) dated between 1789-1820, are among the earliest printed. It's reasonable to assume all four titles were printed by c. 1820 and other duplicate prints followed that were made until the late 1800s. This reduction was issued by many printers, both in London with imprints by Disley; Such; Fortey; Pitts; Catnach and outside London with imprints by Birmingham; Worcester; Newcastle; Liverpool; North Shields; Manchester), plus several issues with no imprint[25].
This Catnach broadside, Da, is thought by David Atkinson to be one of the earliest versions of the Cruel Miller group. The text follows:
The Cruel Miller;
Or, Love and Murder.
Printed by J. Catnatch, 2 & 3, Monmouth-Court
My parents educated [me], good learning gave to me,
They bound me to a miller to which I did agree,
Till I fell a courting a pretty maid, with a black and a rolling eye,
I told her I would marry her if she would with me lie.
I courted her for six long months a little now and then,
I thought it was a shame to marry her, I being so young a man,
At length this fair maid proved with child and aloud on me did cry,
Saying Johnny dear, come marry me, or else for you I'll die.
I went unto her sister's house at ten o' clock at night,
And little did this fair maid think, I owed her such a spite,
I ask'd her to take a walk all in those meadows gay,
And there to sit and talk awhile, and fix our wedding day.
I took a stick out of the hedge and struck her to the ground,
And soon the blood of innocence, came trick'ling from the wound,
She fell upon her bended knees, and did aloud for mercy cry,
Saying John dear don't murder me, for I am not fit to die.
I took her by her curly locks and dragg'd her through the glen,
Until I came to a river's side, and then I threw her in,
Now with blood from the innocence, my hands & clothes were dy'd,
Instead of being a breathless corpse, she might have been my bride.
Arriving at my master's house at twelve o'clock that night,
My master rose and let me in by striking of a light,
He asked and questioned me, what stained my hands and clothes!
I made him an answer as I thought fit, by the bleeding of my nose.
I asked for a candle to light myself to bed,
And all that long night my true love she laid dead,
And all that long night no comfort could I find,
For the burning flames of torments before my eyes did shine.
All in a few hours after, my true love she was miss'd,
They took me on suspicion and I to jail was sent,
Her sister prosecuted was, for reason and for doubt,
Because that very evening we were a walking out.
All in a few days after, my true love she was found,
A floating by her brother's house, who lives in ---- town,
Where the judges and juries did so both agree,
For murdering my own true love, then hanged I must be.
"The Cruel Miller, or, Love and Murder" is identified by the blank in front of town ( ----- town) found at the end of the second line in the last stanza. This was left blank in order for the singer to fill the blank with the name of his or her local town. In the other Cruel Miller broadsides it's always "Wexford Town" which has been changed from Berkshire's "Oxford Town." The "Wexford" found in the broadside has been taken from a reduction like the printed "Wexford Tragedy," which naturally has "Wexford" in the text. The Cruel Miller broadsides are the first known English reductions of Berkshire (see the Oxford Reductions) with other changes-- some from the Wexford Reductions (for example, "with a black(dark) and rolling eye[s]"). The Standard Wexford Reduction, a more recent reduction, is also found traditionally in America -- mainly in Canada/New England and Irish-American versions-- but rarely in the UK. The Wexford Reductions are assumed to originate in Ireland and are associated through a common stanza with the Scottish Butcher Boy Reductions.
The influence of the shortened broadside, The Cruel Miller, is found mainly in traditional versions in England collected in the early 1900s. In the past, it's influence has been exaggerated. For example in America, Cox's heading for the ballad in his 1925 book, "Folk Songs of the South" is "Wexford Girl (Cruel Miller)."
In 1957 Malcolm Laws suggested that evidence of The Cruel Miller was not found in American tradition and that the "Wexford Reduction" was a "deliberate recomposition[26]" rather than just a variant made by traditional singers. This is proven by the recently discovered print version Ca, The Wexford Tragedy, from a Scottish chapbook (see above). Laws was implying therefore that the Wexford "recomposition" was printed and unknown. This would indicate other unknown Wexford prints exist since the quality of reduction C suggests it was sung orally and written down by printer Thomas Johnston or one of his associates as a filler ballad for the Freemason's chapbook in 1818.
Evidence that the Cruel Miller wasn't just copied from Berkshire is the significant change of "Oxford Town" to "Wexford Town[27]" and the change from "Wanton eye" to the common "black (dark) and rolling eye." It's logical to assume then that these and some of the changes came from The Wexford tradition-- considered to have originated in Ireland. The discovery of the reduction in a Scottish chapbook, however, doesn't necessarily change the source of the Wexford chapbook text. It's still taken from the Wexford tradition (Ireland) and is another reason the traditional Scottish versions are considered to be linked with the Wexford tradition.
In North America, Wexford versions are found primarily in New England and Canada but are also scattered throughout the United States where they have been disseminated in the mid-west and west under a variety of titles. Since many of these versions came originally to America from emigrants of Irish decent it's reasonable to assume that Laws was correct and that it was once printed in Ireland from a tradition that is now lost. Versions of The Wexford Girl and related titles are old and certainly pre-date the Cruel Miller which would not have enter tradition until the late 1820s in England. All the reductions were achieved in part by dropping the beginning stanza, reducing, changing or eliminating the marriage agreement/pregnancy stanzas (4-7), eliminating the mother's marriage request stanza (14) and all of the "judicial" stanzas (last 20 stanzas) from 44 stanza "The Berkshire Tragedy." Since the short Cruel Miller broadside isn't long, here's the complete text of the Pitts' version, dated c. 1820 which is written in double lines (9 instead of 18 stanzas):
The Cruel Miller
My parents educated me, good learning gave to me,
They bound me apprentice to a miller with whom I did agree,
Till I fell courting a pretty lass with a black and a rolling eye,
I promised for to marry her if she with me would lie.
I courted her for six long months a little now and then,
I was ashamed to marry her being so young a man,
Till at length she proved with child by me and thus to me did say,
Ah Johnny do but marry me or else for love I die.
I went unto her sister's house at 8 o' clock at night,
And little did this fair one know I owed her any spite,
I asked her if she would take a walk thro' the meadows gay,
And there we'd sit and talk awhile upon our wedding day.
I took a stick out of the hedge and hit her on the crown,
The blood from this young innocent came trickling on the ground,
She on her bended knees did fall and aloud for mercy cried,
Saying Johnny dear don't murder me for I am big with child.
I took her by her yellow locks and dragged her to the ground,
And we came to the river's side where I threw her body down,
With blood from this young innocent my hands and feet were dyed,
And if you'd seen her in her bloom she might have been my bride.
I went unto my master's house at 10 o' clock at night,
My master getting out of bed and striking of a light,
He asked me and questioned me what dyed my hands and clothes.
I made a fit answer I'd been bleeding at the nose.
I then took up a candle to light myself to bed,
And all that blessed long night my own true love lay dead,
And all that blessed long night no rest at all could find,
For the burning flames of torment all round my eyes did shine.
In two or three days after this fair maid she was miss'd,
I was taken on suspicion and into prison cast,
Her sister prosecuted me for my own awful doubt,
Her sister prosecuted me for taking of her out.
In two or three days after this fair maid she was found,
Came floating by her mother's door near to Wexford town,
The judge and the jury they quickly did agree,
For the murder of my true love that hanged I must be.
Woodcut c. 1820 by Catnach depicting the brutal murder
D, The Cruel Miller, is based on Berkshire (Oxford Reduction) with some changes from the Wexford Reduction as found in the "Wexford Tragedy" and text from other sources. The Cruel Miller represents, as a secondary reduction print, an unknown English tradition from whence the Pollyanna Harmon's and Jason Ritchie's Berkshire reductions came. "The Butcher Boy" and "The Lexington Murder" are the other two other reductions. Additional titles and variants like "Knoxville Girl," "Ekefield/Ickfield Town," "The Prentice Boy" and "Waco Girl (US southwest) are derived from these older somewhat distinct reductions. If you compare The Cruel Miller with the original Berkshire broadsides (c.1700) and then the Wexford Tragedy chapbook print you can see, for example, that some of the changes found in the Cruel Miller were taken from the Wexford tradition, others are a reworking of Berkshire and others (too young to marry) come from "other" sources.
The Cruel Miller has influenced many of the circa 1900 English traditional ballads but remnants of text (such as 'tender' parents) from the older reductions remain. In his short article, "Memory, Print and Performance (‘The Cruel Miller' Revisited)[28], Tom Pettitt compares the long broadside (B, The Berkshire Tragedy) with the short broadside (D, The Cruel Miller) and a Scottish and English traditional ballad. In this way it's much easier to see the differences between the older broadsides and the reductions. In another article "Worn by the Friction of Time[29]" Pettitt has also pointed out that traditional versions have borrowed textual phrases and lines from of the Berkshire broadside that are not part of the Cruel Miller broadsides. These textual phrases are simply an indication that older unknown reductions pre-date the Cruel Miller and were used in its creation. It's clear that some of the new text found in the Cruel Miller-- is either from an unknown traditional text, from an unknown reduction, or recreated by the broadside writer(s).
Ballad identifiers- Cruel Miller (short broadside) compared to the Berkshire broadside "Whittam/Wittam" and "Oxford" are removed; "Wexford Town" is introduced.
1. The first two stanzas of Berkshire Tragedy have been eliminated. His ("tender" has been removed) parents educated him (the location, Wittam/Whittam/Witham Town, has been removed) and bound him to a miller, to which they all agree. He courts a "pretty" girl or maid (no longer an "Oxford lass") whose "wanton eye" (Berkshire) becomes "dark (black) and rolling eye." The promise of marriage if "with him she will lie" remains.
2. He courts her for six months "a little now and then" and is ashamed to marry because he "is too young a man." When she is with child, she (not her mother as in Berkshire) demands that he will marry her or else she'll die (how prophetic!).
3. He goes to his sister's house at 8 o'clock (same in both) to take her for a walk (no date, premonition of murder or motive is given in Cruel Miller). He strikes her with a stick "on the crown" or "to the ground" in the Cruel Miller (instead of "in the face" as in Berkshire or the Lexington Murder).
4. She still pleads for mercy but the murder is abbreviated. The blood of the innocent is still mentioned but he goes to "his master's house at 10 o'clock" instead of to the mill where his "man" (the miller) questions him.
5. After "the bleeding at the nose" alibi, he lays in bed thinking his love is dead and "no rest could find." She is missed and he is "into prison cast." Her sister testifies against him. In two or three day her body is found "floating by her mother's door near to Wexford town" (taken from Wexford tradition). In the penultimate line last stanza--"the judge and jury agree." The last 14 stanzas of Berkshire are condensed into this and the last line. No "assize" is mentioned as is found in Berkshire and the trial, further deliberations and confession are eliminated. The Cruel Miller ends with a rhyme on "agree;" "For the murder of my true love, that hanged I must be."
Ea, "The Lexington Miller," a broadside (see copy above) dated between 1829-1831 and printed by Leonard Deming in Market Square, Boston, is one of the Lexington reductions of The Berkshire Tragedy and the only known broadside of the Lexington reduction. The broadside was also printed as "Sold wholesale and retail by Hunts & Shaw, no. 2 Mercantile Wharf, and head of City Wharf[30]" in the 1830s and 1840s. Since this is an American reduction (not found in the UK although it was once brought in some form from England), it's hard to tell if it's meant to be Lexington, Massachusetts or some other Lexington (perhaps Kentucky or North Carolina). In 1929 Mellinger E. Henry published the text of the Lexington Miller in The Journal of American Folklore (Vol. 42, No. 165, pp. 247-253) which he received from Kittredge via a broadside in the Harvard Library. The broadside text was reduced from The Berkshire's 22 stanzas (or 44 with divided lines as originally found in the broadside) to 11 and a half (or 23 with divided lines) in The Lexington Miller. Here are the first two stanzas:
The Lexington Miller
Come all you men and maidens dear, to you I will relate.
Pray lend an ear and you shall hear concerning my sad fate,
My parents brought me up with care, provided for me well,
And in the town of Lexington employ'd me in a mill.
'Twas there I 'spied a comely lass, she cast a winning eye,
I promis'd I would marry her if she would but comply:
I courted her about six months, which caused us pain and woe;
'Twas folly brought us into a snare, and it prov'd our overthrow.
Of the 23 stanzas only 3 new stanzas appear that are not found in the Berkshire Tragedy-- one at the beginning and two at the end. The first is an opening stanza (see above) and in the last two, he contemplates his death, bids farewell and offers a warning to be true to your lover, which is similar to the warning in some traditional versions of the Lexington Murder. Other stanzas have been changed, at least one is not editorial and is from another source. The reduction appears to have been made by Deming or one of his writers in part from a copy of the original 44-stanza Berkshire Tragedy. Some of the other changes are expurgatory--including "If she would but comply" from "If she would with me lie" also "she cast a winning eye" from "I cast a wanton eye" and the fact that this comely lass was pregnant was removed. These changes were made by the broadside writer to adhere to the standard mores of Boston in the early 1800s.
Two of the most revealing changes were made in the following stanza:
Now straight unto the Mill I went,
like one that's in a maze,
And first I met was my servant boy,
who deeply on me gaz'd;
In Berkshire's broadside text when he returns to the mill he meets his "man" who is the miller since he is an apprentice boy. In The Lexington Miller he meets his servant boy, a bizarre twist. How could this change happen? Quite simply-- "servant boy" was taken from tradition. What tradition? It was taken from an earlier reduction known as "The Lexington Murder."
Here's how the "miller" became "my servant boy": In Berkshire the murderer is named John- he is an apprentice or servant boy to the Miller, who is "the man," and in the Cruel Miller--his master. On returning home (to the mill) John is asked by the miller, "How come my servant boy(John)/ You have dyed (blood on) your hands and clothes?" Somehow in the broadside reduction "my servant boy" is no longer the apprentice (the murderer) but becomes an additional person in the conversation-- which eliminates the miller completely!! This corruption was taken from the traditional "The Lexington Murder" reduction and put into the broadside "The Lexington Miller":
And on returning to my home
I met my servant John[31].
This small corruption proves that the traditional or earlier print reduction of the Lexington Murder was used to help fashion the Lexington Miller broadside of 1829. In the very same stanza other text from a traditional reduction was used. In a North Carolina variant of the "Lexington Murder" titled "Bloody Miller[32]," the source of the first two lines in that stanza from Lexington Miller is revealed:
Then to my mill, my mill, I ran,
The miller was amazed[33],
This is similar to the original Berkshire text and shows that the first two lines were not copied from Berkshire but taken from a different reduction-- possibly printed and lost. This change to "amazed" --not in the Lexington Miller-- is also found in the text of traditional versions of The Lexington Murder. This indicates that The Lexington Murder predated The Lexington Miller and is the reason why the broadside has Lexington in the title. The earliest example of a traditional Lexington Murder reduction is Eddy's C version collected from Mrs. Mary Boney of Perrysville, Ohio which has vestiges of the last two stanzas of the Lexington Miller. In Boney's version and nearly all the Lexington Murder versions is the opening with "tender" parents that provided for him well-- this "tender" has been removed from the broadside "Lexington Miller" which shows that Mary Boney's version was not based on the Boston broadside but pre-dates it and that the changes to the broadside come from a similar unknown text. Despite the corruptions that are inevitable over a long period of oral transmission, here is her version:
"Lexington Girl." From Mrs. Mary Boney, Perrysville, Ohio[34].
1. My tender parents brought me up,
Provided for my wealth[me well],
And in the town of Lexington
Employed me in a mill.
2. A lady came unto the mill,
And cast a wanting[wanton] eye;
I told her I would marry her
If she with me would lie.
3. So early the next Monday,
As you may understand,
Her mother wanted me to marry her
A-Saturday off-hand.
4. I sorrily reflected
And troubled in my mind,
Saying, "Polly[Folly], you have gained my love
Which caused my overthrow."
5. I went unto her sister's house
About eight o'clock at night;
I asked her for to take a walk,
A walk a little ways.
6. I told her we would take a walk
But a little ways,
That her and I might well agree
Upon the wedding day.
7, I then deluded her away
To some convenient place;
I drew a stake all out of the fence,
And struck her across the face.
8. She fell upon her bended knees,
"For mercy's sake," she cried,
"For mercy's sake don't murder me,
For I'm not fit to die."
9. I never minded a word she said,
But pelted her the more,
Until I had her life destroyed
To cover my sins o'er.
10. I took her by the hair of her head,
And threw her into the river;
I then returned unto my mill
Like one of olden age[ who was amazed.].
11. The miller he stepped up to me,
And on me he did gaze,
Saying, "How came this blood
Upon your hands and clothes?"
12. I replied, "It was bleeding
Of the nose."
13. I went into my chamber
And threw myself on the bed,
I rolled and I tumbled the whole during night,
There was no rest for me.
14. The next day they sought for her
And could not find her;
Then they sought for me,
And in my chamber found me.
15. Her sister swore her life against me,
Without doubt or fear,
Saying I was the last man
That conveyed her sister out.
16. Then back to Lexington
Where first I drawed my breath,
And by my own confession
Condemned me there to death.
17. Adieu to Lexington, adieu,
And, my old friends, adieu;
Young men, a warning take,
And to the girls prove true,
And oh, for God's sake, do.
Despite multiple broadside printings, only one traditional version, Eb, "The Lexington Tragedy," sung by Alonzo Lewis of York, Maine on October 1, 1948 has been collected that is based on the Lexington Miller broadside. Notice how "tender" is missing in the opening and it's instead based on The Lexington Miller's opening. Although Lewis's version is short and the ending is missing, it's given in full here:
Lexington Tragedy- sung by Alonzo Lewis at York, (ME). Dated 10-01-1948. Transcribed R. Matteson, 2016.
1. My parents brought me up with care,
Provided for me well,
'Twas in the town of Lexington
They plac'd me in the mill.
2. A handsome girl came to my room,
On her I cast my eye,
I told her that I'd marry her,
If she would with me lie.
3. I courted her about six months,
Which caused us pain and woe,
When folly brought us into a snare,
And proved our overthrow.
4. I went down to her uncle's house,
Bout eight o'clock one night,
But little did she think on it
I owed her any spite.
5. So let us take a walk
Just a little ways,
That we can talk and well agree
Upon our wedding day.
6. So hand in hand I led her around,
Down in the lonesome place,
I pulled a stake out of the fence
And struck her in the face.
7. Then coming to herself again,
For mercy she did cry,
"Oh Johnny dear, don't murder me,
For I'm not prepared to die."
8. I paid no 'tention to her cry,
I laid it on the more;
Till I had taken her life away,
Which I could not restore.
9. Returning to my mill again,
Like one that was amazed;
The miller being at the door,
And strictly on me gazed.
10. "Where have you been, Johnny," he said,
What has dyed your hands and clothes?"
I answered him as I saw fit,
"Take a-bleeding at the nose."
11. The next morning she was searched for
And was not to be found,
And I was apprehended
And in my chamber bound.
12. Her sister swore against me
She swore it was no doubt
That I's the man who murdered her,
For I did lead her out.
G. Malcolm Laws in his 1957 "American Balladry from British Broadsides" devoted almost 18 pages to the Berkshire ballads and he included the text to Lexington Miller broadside. He did not have access to the Alonzo Lewis version (above) which I've recently transcribed and put on my web-site. Laws equates the "Lexington Miller" with the "Lexington Murder" and says that, "Several traditional texts related to 'The Lexington Miller' may be found in American folksong collections." As an example he gives Fields Ward's Virginia version titled "Lexington Murder" which is not similar to "The Lexington Miller" except for the "I met my servant John" line and the Lexington title. The only similarity found in all complete versions of The Lexington Murder is the "I met my servant John" line. Although Laws did not say how they are related, I have shown that the Lexington in the Lexington Miller title is not a mere a coincidence and that The Lexington Murder pre-dates the 1829 broadside and was used in its construction.
The Tradition
The traditional versions are similar to the Berkshire broadside reductions as represented in print by the Wexford Tragedy, The Lexington Miller and The Cruel Miller[35]. The Cruel Miller was written by broadside writers from the shortened Berkshire Tragedy and includes some text from the Wexford reductions and other sources so the ballad could more easily be remembered and sung. It's clear to me that four principle reductions were already being sung and disseminated by the time The Cruel Miller broadsides were printed circa 1820. The reason the Cruel Miller broadsides are similar to traditional versions has become obvious-- the Cruel Miller was taken from the 44-stanza Berkshire broadside as well as from its reductions and modified. These reductions are general and individual texts may have nonconforming lines and stanzas. The four main reductions that were derived from the Berkshire broadside are:
1) The Wexford Reduction-- was established between 1760 to the early 1800s[36]. It includes two main ballad types: the "archaic"-- represented by two texts, C, "The Wexford Tragedy" from a chapbook, dated 1818, and also "The Worcester Tragedy" collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1959 from Mrs Charlotte Decker of Parson's Pond, Newfoundland and the "standard"-- a later reduction which includes the traditional titles Wexford Girl/Wexford Lass/Wexford Town/Wexford City and a variety of related titles including Waxford and Waxweed. The standard version's first stanza ends: " 'Twas in the town of Waxford/I owned a flour mill" and it has the handkerchief stanza. According to Laws the "archaic" versions were developed from a presumed missing print version (recomposed version) probably from Ireland. Since there are only two "archaic" texts, the Wexford Reduction will refer to the standard traditional Wexford texts which are related to Scottish Butcher Boy Reduction and which have the "handkerchief" stanza not found in any printed versions. The Wexford ballads are found scattered throughout the US and Canada (New Brunswick) and the versions from Irish emigrants are invariably titled "Wexford." It was first brought to the coastal areas of Maritime Canada, New England and the US south and has migrated west. The ballad's presence in the south, an area predominated by the Lexington reduction, is somewhat rare. According to Peacock and others, it is of Irish origin. This is not corroborated by any of the three known Irish versions--all are lacking Wexford in the text. Although obvious, it needs to be repeated: A version titled "Wexford Girl" has never been found in Ireland and the name "Wexford" is not found in an Irish text.
2) The Lexington Reduction-- as covered above-- was established between 1760 to late 1700s and includes The Lexington Murder, Lexington Miller (1829 print), Lexington Girl and is known under a variety of other local titles. According to Laws, it was from a presumed missing print version (recomposed version) similar to Eddy C(my Gb). Its origin is English but it was created in the United States and is old American.
3) The Butcher Boy Reduction-- Scottish; was established from 1760 to early 1800s. It includes "The Butcher Boy" variants (not Laws P24, Roud 409 which is the usual Butcher Boy title). The Butcher Boy Reduction is aligned with the Wexford tradition-- both have the "handkerchief" stanza in common. One version of Wexford (titled, Town of Waxford), collected in NY fron an Irish emigrant before 1949, has Waxford as the town of origin and also the murdered reveals he is a "'butcher boy"-- the same occupation found in the Scottish tradition.
4) The Oxford Reduction (A) Archaic: shortened Berkshire tradition- established from 1760 to late 1700s in England. It includes the 18 stanza Pollyanna Harmon version and the 15 stanza "Oxfordshire Lass" as sung by Jason Ritchie. The Harmon version is based entirely on the long 44 stanza Berkshire Tragedy and is presumed to be of English origin. This is an early reduction which I'm guessing was taken from England to the Virginia colony possibly by a Hicks ancestor while the family was still living at Tuckahoe Creek on the James River in Virginia (before 1760).
(B) Standard: reductions established by late 1700s found in the American south and west; England. These are traditional variants with more modern text that include "Oxford" but have borrowed text from the other reductions like "dark and rolling eye" and are missing most of the identifiers of the two archaic versions. The texts are similar to the Wexford traditional variants but are missing the two stanza ending. Titles include "Oxford Girl," "Oxford Town," "Prentice Boy" and other titles. Surprisingly there is no extant version titled "Oxford Tragedy" even though Sharp used "The Miller's Apprentice, or, Oxford Tragedy" as his master title.
Curiously, evidence of the four principle reductions-- that Laws suggests where consistent and probably recomposed (printed)--is wanting. Today (November 2016) another reduction was discovered-- The Wexford Tragedy-- which is evidence of the Wexford reduction--even though it propbably is not the first or only Wexford reduction. Even though the Hicks/Harmon version proves the shortened Berkshire tradition and Eddy C by Mrs. Mary Boney, Perrysville, Ohio proves the Lexington tradition, the older texts still have not been found. There is hope-- since two unknown print versions Be, "The Tragical Ballad of the Miller of Whittingham Mill" and C, "The Wexford Tragedy Or, The False Lover" have been discovered since the start of this study over a month ago.
The lack of collected versions in the early 1800s by well known collectors such as Peter Buchan, Sir Walter Scott, James Johnson, and William Motherwell may be in part a rejection of the ballad as a printed broadside. Still, a lack of any traditional versions collected in the UK from the early to mid 1800s is puzzling. For example, a Scottish printer named Robert Drummond produced the 1744 broadside for John Keed which gave the identities of the murderer and his victim[37] and a different Scottish print in an 1793 Edinburgh chapbook titled The Miller of Whittingham Mill, was the longest extant version of the Berkshire Tragedy-- forty-seven stanzas. Scotland's tradition however, gives us "The Butcher Boy," a modified version similar to the short broadside collected in the early 1900s. This is not the ballad, "The Butcher's Boy" but rather "The Cruel Miller" with the young apprentice employed in a different trade-- it begins:
1. My parents gave me learning,
Learning they gave to me,
They sent me to a butcher's shop,
A butcher's boy to be.[38]
Instead of a miller named John (Mauge)-- there's a butcher named Willie. Instead of a pretty lass from Wexford-- there's a pretty girl named Mary Ann. In another stanza:
They walk-ed east and they walk-ed west
And they walk-ed all around,
Till he pulled a knife from out his coat
And he stabbed her to the ground.[39]
The stick from the hedge has been replaced with a knife. Her body is still thrown in the river and it's still discovered soon after the crime but the murderer's punishment is prefaced by this torment;
No peace, no rest could this young man get
No peace no rest could he find
For he thought he saw the flames of hell
Approaching in his mind.[40]
After he is hung on the "gallis," sweet Mary Ann goes where the roses bloom-- which is another way of going to Heaven. So how was this Scottish variant created and when? Since it was first collected about 1906 and dates back to the later part of the 1800s, how can that Butcher Boy represent a tradition older than the c.1820 Cruel Miller?
In North America the reduction of Berkshire titled The Lexington Miller has had little effect on America tradition. According to Laws[41], the shortened broadside The Cruel Miller has had even less effect. Clearly the four older traditional reductions and their derivatives (Oxford, Knoxvile Expert) have dominated tradition in America. The older forms were first brought to Virginia and also to New England and Maritime Canada. All three areas were settled long before the early 1800s[42] when the shortened Cruel Miller broadsides were printed in the UK. Some remote ares of the Appalachians including North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky were settled in the mid-1700s and early 1800s when the Lexington and Wexford forms were brought from the UK and were preserved for over one hundred years before being discovered by John Cox, Frank Brown, Cecil Sharp, and other collectors who began preserving them in the early 1900s. Since it does not seem unreasonable that these four traditional reductions could be found in Appalachia, New England and Canada before the Cruel Miller broadsides were printed in the UK, then we must assume that similar traditions were active in the UK at the same time and earlier.
The ballad usually titled Expert or Export Girl/Town, Oxford Girl/Town or Knoxville Girl was very popular in the US south and south-west in the mid-1800s into the 1900s. A number of early country recordings were made beginning in the 1920s and the ballad has remained popular today usually under the Knoxville Girl title.
Areas of Traditional Dissemination
As expected, with the large number of broadsides and chapbooks, England and Scotland are the two main areas with an established tradition in the UK. Scotland's tradition is distinct and is known to have been active by the last half of the 1800s, I assume from unknown printed materials. In England the ballad was first collected in Wollacott Moor, Thrushelton in 1880[43] and a large number of traditional versions were collected in the early 1900s[44]. Aside from a single stanza[45], I know of only one Irish version that dates back to circa 1900 but it's from the Canadian-Irish community. Only two extant Irish traveller versions have been collected and these after 1950. No extant broadsides have been found in Ireland but perhaps the missing print version from the Wexford tradition will someday turn up. Two versions have been collected in Tristan da Cunha in the late 1930s, the principle island of a remote group of volcanic islands in the south Atlantic, which was subject to British rule in the early to mid 1800s. The Tristan da Cunha versions give us a glimpse of the undiscovered English reductions of the mid-1800s as brought to the islanders by British sailors, and grenadiers who helped establish British rule about 1820.
In North America the ballad came to the established Virginia colony and spread from the James River basin[46] to remote areas such as Brown's Cove[47] near the Rappahannock basin and into Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia and North Carolina. From there the ballad went west into Tennessee and Kentucky-- where Cecil Sharp found a number of versions in 1917. The ballad spread north to Indiana and Ohio as well as west into Missouri (where it was attached to a different murder) and Arkansas. Dozens of versions have been collected in the southwest under the Export Girl, Oxford Girl and Knoxville Girl titles. A variant titled "Waco Girl" has been found in Texas and Oklahoma. The Wexford Reduction has also been found in Maritime Canada as well as New Brunswick (Wexford Lass). The Wexford Reduction has also been found in the northeast but it is somewhat rare-- Flanders collected six versions and Warner one. The first printed text "Town of Waxford" was from a northeast text found in Wisconsin.
The Scottish Tradition-- "The Butcher Boy"
F, titled "The Butcher Boy" or "The Butcher's Boy" is one of the four main traditional reductions derived from Berkshire. It is similar to the Wexford Reduction and has the handkerchief stanza in common with it which is not found in the broadsides. The title has changed because the murder's occupation as a miller's apprentice has been changed to a butcher's apprentice. It is not related to the traditional ballad, "The Butcher Boy[48]," which is Laws P24, Roud 409. The ballad found primarily in the Aberdeenshire area in Scotland is very consistent and this indicates another possible unknown print source. The reason the apprenticeship was changed is conjecture. It has been suggested by Steve Gardham that a lost print of "Butcher Boy" may have made by a local publisher such as Peter Buchan and that the name was changed from "miller" to "butcher" so it would be different than a local ballad, "The Buchan Miller." Regardless of the occupational change, "The Butcher Boy" was collected in Scotland in the early 1900s where it was known in the mid to late 1800s[49] and is represented by over 20 traditional versions. Only one different version, a 14 stanza version titled, "Wexford Girl" recorded by Ethel Findlater of Orkney, has been found[50]. The Findlater version is not part of the standard Scottish tradition but rather is associated with the Wexford tradition as found in Maritime Canada and is an important link to the dissemination of the ballad by itself.
Here is a summary of the Scottish ballad story: A boy named named Willie (or Billie) is sent by his parents to be an apprentice butcher. He meets a pretty fair maid named Mary Ann who he promises to marry if she lies with him. He courts her for six months but is afraid to marry her because is he is so young and not ready to marry. She becomes pregnant and tells him, "Marry me or else I'll die." More prophetic words were ever spoken. Since Willie is still not ready to marry her, he goes to her mother's house and asks his lover to talk a walk-- so they can talk about their wedding day. He takes her out for a walk, stabs her, drags by the hair to the river and throws her body in. He goes home around midnight and his mother asks him why there's blood on his hands and clothes. He replies that it's from a bleeding from his nose. He goes to bed but can get no rest and sees the flames of hell approaching in his mind. Soon Mary Ann's body is found and he is taken to the gallows and hanged for the murder of lover. The main difference found in the Scottish versions is the murder weapon-- a knife instead of a stick or hedge stake.
Fa, titled "The Butcher Boy" was sung by Sam Davidson (1863–1951) of Auchedly, Tarves Aberdeen. He was a farmer and the owner of the North Seat Farm. A well-known singer Davidson learned his ballads from his farm hands. His version is 13 stanzas compared to the 18 of the shortened broadside, The Cruel Miller. It was collected about 1908 by Gavin Greig who collected eight versions between circa 1907 and 1910 from informants who learned them in the 1800s. Greig, of New Deer, published the first version of Butcher Boy in a series of local newspapers articles about ballads and folk songs[51]. The Butcher Boy was article 137, in Folk-Song of the North-East, dated about August 1910. He comments[52]:
"The folk-singer is fond of tragedy. Ballads of Murder and Execution, in particular, are pretty numerous, although it must be allowed that, as far as our North-Eastern minstrelsy is concerned, they are mainly importations. They have likely enough been introduced through broadsides. 'The Butcher Boy' is well known in our part of the country, judging from the records which we
have got of both words and tune."
No informant is named by Grieg and the second stanza, last line has been sanitized from, "If she would with me lie." The stanza where she becomes pregnant has also been sanitized (see stanza 3 below):
4 The girl being with child to me,
Full sore on me did cry,
"O Billy dear, do marry me,
Or for your sake I'll die[53]."
This sanitization has occurred in different ways in most of the traditional reductions. Otherwise Grieg's published text below represents a standard version of Butcher Boy-- although it seems to be a compilation:
THE BUTCHER BOY.
My parents gave me good learning,
Good learning they gave unto me,
They sent me to a butcher's shop,
A butcher's boy to be.
I fell in love with a nice young girl,
She'd a dark and rolling eye;
I promised for to marry her
In the month of sweet July.
This fair maid being beguiled by me,
Upon me she did cry,-
O Willie dear, you'll marry me,
Or else for you I'll die.
I went unto her mother's house,
'Twixt the hours of eight and nine,
And asked if she would take a walk
Down by yon running stream.
They've walkèd up, and they've walkèd down,
And they've walkèd all along,
Till from his breast he drew a knife,
And stabbed her to the bone.
She fell upon her bended knees,
And for mercy she did cry,
O Willie dear, don't murder me,
And leave me here to die.
He's ta'en her by the lily white hand,
And dragged her all along,
Until be came to yon running stream,
And he plunged her body in.
He went into his mother's house,
"Twixt the hours of twelve and one;
But little did his poor mother think
What her only son had done.
The question she did put to him,
Why blood did stain his clothes?
But the only answer he gave to her,
'Twas a bleeding at the nose.
He asked her for a handkerchief
To roll around his head;
He asked her for a candle
To let him see to bed.
No rest nor peace could this young man get,
No rest nor peace could he find;
For he saw the burning flames of hell
Approaching in his mind.
The young man's crime it being found out,
The gallows was his doom,
For the murdering of sweet Mary Ann,
The flower that was in bloom.
From the collected versions of the early 1900s (Fa-Fc) the ballad remained popular among the Scottish travellers and was the famous singer Jeannie Robertson's favorite ballad[54]. Robertson's version was learned from a woman friend about 1928[55] and was later sung by her daughter, Lizzie Higgins. Higgins also knew a variant of the ballad as sung by her grandmother on her father's side[56]. Jeannie was Stanley Roberston's aunt and he also learned the ballad in a similar fashion. The Robertson's version is also sanitized as are nearly all the Scottish versions so "In the month of sweet July" appears in place of "If with me she would lie." Jean Stewart, the matriarch of another related traveller clan, sings the ballad quite differently. Her daughter Elizabeth sings the Stewart version of the ballad as does her sister. These travellers versions and others were recorded from the 1950s to the 1970s and appear online at the School of Scottish Studies (Edinburgh)[57].
The recent discovery of "Wexford Tragedy" in a Scottish Chapbook does not alter the Scottish tradition since it is already alligned with the Wexford tradition anyway and the print itself does not seem to be an early reduction which is presumed to be of Irish or English origin.
Butcher Boy or Butcher's Boy Scottish Identifiers
1) The Butcher Boy or sometimes titled "Butcher's Boy" is 11-13 stanzas as compared to 18 stanzas in Cruel Miller and 44 stanzas in the Berkshire Tragedy. He is identified as Willie or Billy and she is Mary Ann, or Rosie Ann, or Mary Queen. No town or city is mentioned.
2) The first stanza is improved "my parents gave me good learning" and their boy is apprenticed to a butcher (butcher shop) instead of a miller.
3) He agrees to marry her if she lies with him. When she is with child, she (not her parent) demands that he marry her, he sometimes responds he is too young to marry. The implied sexual union "if you with me lie" and pregnancy are sometimes left out or sanitized.
4) He goes to her mother's house instead of her sister's house (Cruel Miller) to ask her to take a walk and talk about their wedding day.
5) He stabs her with a knife (A, Bloody Miller) instead of hitting her with a stick (B, Berkshire; C, Wexford Tragedy, D, Cruel Miller).
6) After the murder he goes to bed at his mother's house instead of his master's house (miller's house).
7) After getting a candle, he takes a handkerchief and wraps it around his head (the handkerchief is not found in The Cruel Miller). The meaning of this action is unclear: perhaps he "binds his aching head" because of the stress of the murder or the handkerchief is somehow related to his alibi of a bleeding nose-- the handkerchief has more likely been taken from another ballad or broadside. The handkerchief also appears in traditional US versions and is associated with the Wexford Reductions. See more about the handkerchief below.
8) He is not taken to jail. After her body is found (no location is named), he is taken to the gallows where he is hung. At the end, she is called a "flower in bloom" or she died "where the roses bloom" or similarly.
Abracadabra - now you see it- the handkerchief. The handkerchief appears from nowhere-- like magic-- in the Scottish versions. This is very important. Why? Because the handkerchief is not found in any known printed broadsides or chapbooks. Any version with "handkerchief" is from an unknown reduction common to both the standard Wexford and Butcher Boy traditions. Because the handkerchief stanza is found in the Wexford tradition in North America as well, that proves that the Scottish versions are considerably older than late 1800s since the same versions were brought to the US long before 1880. Steve Gardham commented that "It looks like this stanza has been affected by the many 'Distressed Maid/Lily-white Hand' versions (Roud 564). Again the candle bed stanza has also been affected by 'Rosemary Lane' (Roud 269). In my opinion, this is where the wrapping the handkerchief comes from[58]."
Assuming that "Butcher Boy" dates back to the late 1700s and early 1800s before the Cruel Miller broadsides, then an assumption could be made that the missing Scottish broadside (assuming there was one) was printed around this time or by 1840 and that these versions were developed from it. Either way (traditional or print), the ballad is an independent reduction.
One ballad from the Wexford tradition title "Town of Waxford" was published in NY in 1949[59] and mentioned in Laws analysis of Berkshire. It further establishes the relationship of Wexford and Butcher Boy in this last stanza:
For if you do you'll surely
be the same as I,
For high upon the gallows,
The butcher boy must die.
The English Tradition
The English tradition is based on the Berskire Tragedy broadsides and their reductions. The "Traditional Berkshire reduction" has been found in America so it once was current in England. I've estimated the date of this tradtional reduction to be 1760 to 1795. The Wexford reduction (England, Ireland, Scotland) along with Berkshire broadsides were used by broadside writers to pen the Cruel Miller broadsides which were published in the early 1800s (or before 1820). It wasn't until 1880 that a traditional English version was collected[60]. The traditional English ballads of circa 1903 are similar to, or based on, The Cruel Miller broadsides with some text borrowed from Berkshire of its traditional reductions. I know the ballad in reducted form was being sung in England long before 1880 but may have been overlooked by collectors who considered it to be derived solely from print and therefore not traditional or worthy of being collected. The ballad was never popular in England, possibly because of the topic matter-- a horrific murder of a pregnant lover, and only about a dozen full versions have been collected-- most of them from the early 1900s to the 1970s. Still, it's odd that no trace of the traditional ballad was found until 1880. Although the "horrific murder" may have prevented Sabine Baring-Gould and Cecil Sharp from publishing their texts, the broadsides themselves used the murder as tabloid fodder: he was the miller, "who most barbarously murdered his sweetheart: with his whole trial, examination and confession; and his last dying Words at the place of execution,” or, it was the "discovery of an extraordinary murder by a respectable miller." It seems that "blood" sells and the more the merrier!
This also may be the reason so many murders have been attached to these ballads. From the ballad of an actual murder naming Anne Nicol and her slayer Francis Copper in 1684-- to a ballad of an invented murder naming Ann Knite and her imaginary slayer John Mauge in 1744-- to the real murder of Nell Cropsey by rejected suitor, Jim Wilcox in North Carolina in 1901-- all were reported as horrific murders--all have piqued the public's interest and all have sold print.
The complete English traditional versions, which are represented by G, "The Miller's Apprentice," average between 10-14 stanzas as compared to the Cruel Miller's 18 stanzas. Curiously, the agreement of marriage-- "if she will with him lie"-- has been sanitized and the pregnancy removed. Does this mean that brutally murdering a lover with a fence stake and grabbing her by the hair and dragging her to the river is acceptable while getting her pregnant isn't?
I've selected eight ballads to represent the English tradition and the first is Ga, "The Miller's Apprentice," as sung by William Spearing (Spearman) of Somerset in 1904. Other titles include, "Prentice Boy," "Hang-ed I Shall Be," "Ferry Hinksey Town," "Ekefield Town," and "Oxford Girl." These traditional ballads are formed from the traditional reductions and also from the popular Cruel Miller itself. Some text has been borrowed from other ballads. One of these related other ballads is:
1) "The Distressed Maid/ Dublin Tragedy/ Lily-White Hand" ballads (Roud 564 and 1414, Laws P18)
while the other has been mistaken for our ballad because of its name and similar story:
2) "Oxford City/ Worcester City/ Newport Street/ The Cup of Poison" ballads (Roud 218, Laws P30)
The Distressed Maid ballads have been linked to an older broadside titled "The Forsaken Damosel: Or, The Deluded Maid" dated about 1670. One "Distressed Maid" broadside was printed by J. Wheeler, Manchester circa 1837 and is found at Bodleian Library website, 2806 c17 (101). As in the opening stanzas of Berkshire or Cruel Miller, a man promises the maid he will marry her if she lies with him. She does and becomes pregnant. Later traditional versions of the "Distressed Maid" titled "Lily-White Hand" share some stanzas with the English tradition. Four traditional ballads have been collected with lines from the "Distressed Maid" ballads-- two in England and two in the mid-west US.
The similarity of the titles ("Oxford City/Oxford Town/ Worcester City/ etc.) of Roud 218 with "Miller's Apprentice" have caused some confusion and some collector's notes[61] have failed to differentiate between the two ballads. Although they begin similarly, "The Cup of Poison" story is about the young man's jealousy of a girl from Oxford City. Here's an English traditional version Hf, as sung by traveller Phoebe Smith. It was recorded at Woodbridge, Suffolk by Peter Kennedy on 8 July, 1956:
Oxford Girl
I fell in love with a Oxford girl,
She had dark and a-rolling eyes,
And I feeled too shamed to marry her,
Her being too young a maid.
I went along to her sister's house
About eight o'clock that night,
Asking her if she'd take a walk
Through the fields and meadows gay.
And the answer what she gave to me,
That laid so far away.
I caught fast hold of her lily-white hand[62],
And I kissed those cheek and chin,
And I had no thoughts of murdering her
And hid no evil ways.
I pulled the hedgestick all from the hedge
And I gently knocked her down,
And the blood from that poor innocent girl
Come trinkling on the ground.
I caught fast hold of her curly, curly locks
And I dragged her through the field,
Until I came to a deep river side
I gently flung'ed her in.
Look how she go, look how she flows
She's a-floating by the tide,
And, instead of her having a watery grave,
She ought to've been my bride.
I went alone to my uncle's house
About ten o'clock that night,
Asking him for a candle
To light me up to bed.
He answered me and close-questioned me,
What had stained my hands in blood?
And the answer I gave to him,
"I've been bleeding from the nose."
It was about three weeks afterwards
When that pretty fair maid were found,
Come floating down by her own mother's door,
One near called Oxford town.
In the 3rd stanza at footnote 62 is a line also found in the Distressed Maid: "He took her by the lilly white hand/ he kist her cheek and chin." The sixth stanza compares to "Lily-White Hand" as sung by William Reed of Sutton on Hull, 1979:
See there she goes, see there she goes,
She's floating with the tide,
Instead of having a watery grave,
She should have been a bride[63].
Smith's version also reverses the man being too young (standard in Cruel Miller)--in her version, the maid is too young (standard in "Lily-White Hand") and the normal complaint. Phoebe's version is a hybrid version of the Wexford tradition with text from the Distressed Maid ballads.
The Miller's Apprentice (traditional English)- Identifiers
1) His parents reared him "tenderly" or they were "tender" and in one version she was "tender." It's found, for example, in David Marlow's opening: "My parents reared me tenderly/Good learning gave to me." This opening is found in a number of other ballads-- most notably the "Maggie Walker Blues/Girl I Left Behind Me" songs. In "Wexford Lass" of New Brunswick, Canada, the whole stanza of "Girl I left Behind Me" appears. "Tender" is not found in the Cruel Miller broadsides but it is found in the Berkshire Tragedy and its reductions- it's likely source.
2) Much of the text from the Berkshire reductions with addition text from The Cruel Miller is retained. As found in the Wexford tradition -- she is still a pretty maid with "dark (or now black) and a-rolling eyes." He asks her to take a walk and it's still across or through "the meadows gay." As in the traditional reductions, the pregnancy is missing in the traditional English versions. The candle found in the Scottish versions and Cruel Miller is also missing (except for Smith's version above). Here are the five stanzas found in Cruel Miller that in English tradition are missing or have been sanitized (the 2nd stanza below found in several English version now ends, "For I'm not prepared to die," removing the pregnancy):
Till at length she proved with child by me and thus to me did say,
Ah Johnny do but marry me or else for love I die.
She on her bended knees did fall and aloud for mercy cried,
Saying Johnny dear don't murder me for I am big with child.
I then took up a candle to light myself to bed,
And all that blessed long night my own true love lay dead,
In two or three days after this fair maid she was miss'd,
I was taken on suspicion and into prison cast,
Her sister prosecuted me for my own awful doubt,
Her sister prosecuted me for taking of her out.
3) The "stick" that he takes out of the hedge has now become a "stake." The "blood of an innocent" is still retained from the Berkshire traditional reductions/Cruel Miller.
4) He still drags her by her curly locks to a river and throws her in but following that two lines are interjected from the "Lily-White Hand/Distress Maid" songs: "She floated high, she floated low/She floated there I spied.
5) After the murder, instead of going to his master's house or his parent's house, in some versions (as above) he goes to his uncle's house.
The Irish (Lack of) Tradition
In two or three days after this fair maid she was found,
Came floating by her mother's door near to Wexford town[64].
Considering that the Wexford tradition is one of the four fundamental reductions, that Wexford Town is the location of the murder and activity in The Cruel Miller and that several UK versions have titles with Wexford/Waxford in them, I would expect Wexford to be in Ireland and the ballad to have a strong Irish tradition--neither is known to be the case. Wexford could be just a derivative of Oxford and as far as I know, only two complete Irish versions, Hb-Hc, have been collected-- "Dublin City" from Mary Doran, a tinker from Belfast in 1952 and "Town of Linsborough" from an Irish traveller in England named Mary Delaney in the early 1970s.
The Wexford tradition as known in America, Scotland (see: Wexford Tragedy print) and England pre-dates the Cruel Miller and the name "Wexford" as well as "dark(black) and rolling eye[s]" was borrowed from the Wexford tradition and used by broadside writers to help create the Cruel Miller broadsides from a shortened Berkshire reduction. Evidence of the age of the Wexford tradition is found in this stanza collected in 1837. The traditional Irish-American versions from the south use "Johnny" while the northern American versions use "Willie" as found in Scotland. In C, the chapbook Wexford Tragedy, it's Johnny as in Ha below:
George Petrie, the Ancient Music of Ireland, 1855
The oldest report of this ballad, Ha, is an air with a single stanza of text collected in Londonderry in the summer of 1837 (see music above). Petrie calls this an Anglo-Irish peasant ballad and gives this text:
"Oh Johnny, dearest Johnny,
What dyed your hands and clothes?"
He answered as he thought fit,
"By a bleeding at the nose."
Another Irish version "Wexford Murder" was learned about 1900 by an Englishman nicknamed "Paddy" from Irish emigrants in Canada but this version is from the American Wexford tradition which doesn't closely resemble the UK versions. It is similar to Maritime Canada's tradition, the New England tradition and Miramichi versions from New Brunswick that are considered by some collectors to Irish, largely because of the "Wexford" title. The "Wexford Murder" was collected by Hamer in England and was published in Garners Gay in 1967. "The Wexford Tragedy" (see C above) is perhaps a representative of the missing Irish print tradition. Compare stanza 12 to Petrie's stanza:
12. Come tell me dear Johnny
What dy'd your hands and clothes?
The answer he made her was,
Bleeding at the nose.
"The Wexford Girl" by Angelo Dornan of New Brunswick, whose parents came from Northern Ireland in the 1800s may be of Irish origin but it is been changed, apparently because of nature of the text--a horrific murder-- since he learned it as a child of nine in about 1911. Other American versions by Irish emigrants such as the 1938 recording by Alan Lomax of "The Wexford Girl" as sung by John W. Green (who emigrated from Ireland to Michigan) or the "Town of Waxford" from an Irish emigrant which was published NYFQ in 1949 reveal more of the Wexford tradition, a lost Irish tradition.
North American Tradition
The North American tradition is varied and based on two fundamental ballad reductions: The Lexington type and the Wexford type. From America also comes the only example of a third ballad type, the "Traditional Berkshire Reduction" which was collected in Tennessee in 1930[65]. Although it proves the Berkshire broadside was sung as a reduction in England, it's effect on tradition in North America has not been found. Associated with, or derived from, the Lexington tradition are the following titles: Lexington Miller; Lexington Murder; Bloody Miller; and Nell Cropsie. Associated with or derived from the Wexford tradition are the following titles: Wexford Girl/Gal; The Oxford Girl; Knoxville Girl; Wexford Lass; The Miller's Apprentice, or The Oxford Tragedy; Expert Girl; Export Girl; Noel Girl and Waco Girl.
After the publication of The Lexington Miller about 1829 in Boston came the first known published American traditional version that I've titled "Waxford Gal." It was published in New York in Forest and Stream, Volume 56, p. 422 and was dated June 1, 1901. The author, Fayette Dublin, Jr. was born in Janesville, Wisconsin on October 25, 1868 but later lived in Missouri. His version was included in a story titled, "Repentance of Peshtigo Sam," which was sung by a character named "Long Tom." Since the setting is Wisconsin, I'm attributing the ballad to that location:
Waxford Gal (first extant traditional US version published)
"O 'twas in the town of Eagle, O,
Where I did live and dwell;
'Twas in the town of Waxford
I owned a flour mill.
I fell in love with a Waxford gal
With a dark an' rollin' eye-ee;
I asked her for to be my wife.
Her wishes to comply-ee.
"I went into her father's house
About eight o'clock at night;
I asked her for to come an walk,
Our weddin' to app'int.
We walked an' talked along the road
Till we came to level ground.
When from a hedge I drew a stake
An' knocked this fair maid down.
"She fell upon her bended knees.
An' for mercy she did cry-ee,
Savin', 'Willie, dear, don't kill me here,
For I'm not prepared to die-ee.'
But none did I heed her pleadin',
An' I beat her all the more,
Till on the ground an' all around
Was strewn a bloody gore.
"I took her by her golden locks
An' dragged her o'er the ground,
An' threw her in the river
That ran through Waxford town,
Sayin', 'Lie there, lie there, you pretty fair maid,
Who was to be my bride;
Lie there, lie there, you Waxford gal,
To me you'll never be tied.'
When this young man returned home
About ten o'clock at night.
His mother, bein' weary,
Woke up all in a fright.
Sayin', 'Son, O son, what have you done
To bloody your hands an' clothes?'
The answer that he gave to her
Was a bleedin' at the nose.
He called for a candle
To light his way to bed.
Likewise a silken handkerchief
To tie his achin' head.
But tyin's an' all tanglin's,
No rest could this man find,
For the gates of hell before his eyes,
Before his eyes did shine."
This printed version, as far as I know, has not been discovered until now. It's an example of the Wexford tradition which is found mainly in Maritime Canada, Canada and New England. It's also been found in Michigan and Ohio and is present in the US south from whence it has spread to the mid-west where it is well-known.
The earliest known published report in the US of the ballad's existence is found in the 1911 "A Syllabus of Kentucky Folk-songs," by Hubert Gibson Shearin and Josiah Henry Combs. They write:
The Waxford Girl (Wexford Girl), 4a3b-1c3b, G: A youth murders his sweetheart and throws her into a stream. He tells his mother, who sees the blood on his clothes, that his nose has been bleeding. He is haunted by the ghost of the dead girl (Cf. Lizzie Wan, Child, No. 51, and Miller-boy, page 28.)
It's interesting that Sherin and Combs imply that The Waxford Girl is a revenant ballad (he is haunted by the ghost of the dead girl). It certainly is not normally considered to be one, however, I think it should be. In most American versions the "flames of Hell" are around him and "in his eyes can see." If this vision of Hell isn't enough to be "revenant" then this additional text found in some versions is: in his vision she is "behind," meaning-- she (her ghost) is also present. And in one version's text, her ghost is described as being there[66]. The versions with the Waxford/Wexford Girl title mentioned in 1911 have now been collected throughout in the US and Canada. "The Miller Boy," however, is a rare title.
North America and the Reduction of The Berkshire Tragedy (Oxford Reduction)
The reduction of the Berkshire broadside was the shortening of the 44 stanza ballad by traditional singers and print writers so it could be remembered more easily. This was achieved by dropping the last 19 stanzas and replacing them with a short ending. Some evidence of this reductions[67] has been found in the Cruel Miller along with changes from the Wexford Reduction. In the UK borrowing can be understood by comparing The Wexford Tragedy printed text with The Cruel Miller. Several US versions have more extensive borrowing and one-- already mentioned-- from Pollyanna Harmon in Tennessee, is a nearly complete reduction of 18 stanzas. The obvious the Berkshire Reduction identifier is "Oxford" as in the original broadside. "The Oxfordshire Lass" from Kentucky is the other archaic Berkshire Reduction and with it comes the alternative title "Oxford Reduction." This demonstrates that the tradition in North America is similar to, or based on The Berkshire broadsides and is independent of the shortened UK broadsides of The Cruel Miller[68]. The direct line of descent from the Berkshire Reduction to tradition is found in the aforementioned four older ballads from the US but also in one of the common identifiers found in most traditional versions regardless of age or location. An important identifier in Berkshire is "tender" as an adjective to parents as in "my tender parents" and it appears similarly in tradition or it has been changed in variety of ways to, for example here it is an adverb, "my parents brought me up tenderly"-- the latter's wording is also found in other ballads. Here's the wording from the Berkshire broadside:
3. My tender parents brought me up,
provided for me well; [Berkshire Tragedy; stanza 3, line 1 and 2]
This is one of several popular opening stanzas found in tradition in North America and also the UK. The word "tender" is not found in the Cruel Miller broadsides which means the word "tender" has descended from the traditional reduction of Berkshire or one of its branches.
In the Cruel Miller is found one common phrase, "With the dark (or black) and rolling eye(s)" that is not in Berkshire. Why does this phrase appear in Cruel Miller but not in Berkshire? The appearance of "dark and rolling eye" can only be explained as being taken from the Wexford "traditional reduction" by the broadside writers of the Cruel Miller who captured this phrase as well as the abbreviated ending. From the Wexford traditional reduction and the Berkshire reduction the broadside writers recreated a standard short version of 18 measures which are the various "Cruel Miller" broadsides. One of the leading authorities of the "Murdered Sweetheart ballads" is Tom Pettitt who concurs. In an email attachment[69] he states, "The short version (your D, [The Cruel Miller]) is, I think, copied from tradition (as it has 'oral' features), but not everyone agrees."
This means that the "dark and a rolling eye" phrase, the abbreviated ending from The Cruel Miller and a few other textual details were part of the Wexford "traditional reduction" in the UK before the c.1820 Cruel Miller broadsides was penned. Further examination of several of the older traditional versions found in the US prove that they were brought from the UK before these traditional reductions occurred. Instead of "dark and rolling eye" they have "wanton eye" or "cast my eye" as found in Berkshire's text:
4. By chance I met an Oxford lass,
I cast a wanton eye;
And promis’d I would marry her,
if she with me would lie. [Berkshire Tragedy; stanza 4]
The few US versions with additional older Berkshire text, my I, would therefore indicate a different tradition than the "dark and rolling eye" of the Wexford tradition or the Scottish "Butcher boy" tradition. This different tradition is the Lexington tradition. Since some of the Lexington traditional versions have additional "older" text from Berkshire, they would presumably have been exported to America in the 1700s about the Revolutionary War period. In "Over the Threshold: Intimate Violence in Early America," the authors Christine Daniels and Michael V. Kennedy concur. They comment: "This ballad migrated from England to the colonial South during the eighteenth century." This, of course, is not backed up by any prima facie evidence. It seem likely, however, that in the 1700s the ballad was in oral circulation in North America. As additional evidence I offer the case of the handkerchief as found in the Scottish traditional reductions titled, "The Butcher Boy." This version is not related to the usual ballad title, "The Butcher's Boy," which is Roud 409 and Laws P24. The boy is simply an apprentice to a butcher instead of a miller. In North America the handkerchief of the Wexford tradition usually follows the candle-- here's a Scottish example:
10. He asked her for a handkerchief,
To wrap around his head,
And also a candle,
To show him to his bed[70]. [John Argo, 1952-- Scotland]
This handkerchief is found only in traditional Scottish versions but it is also found in the Wexford tradition which was popular in New England and Canada as well as being found the US south. This shows that versions of the Wexford tradition were brought to Scotland from England and Ireland and also to the shores of America. The handkerchief itself plays no important role in the ballad story and is a 'commonplace' imported from other ballads[71].
Further evidence is offered in this old version, Ga, via the Virginia colony[see text below]. This Hicks/Harmon version was inappropriately[72] titled "Lexington Girl" by collector Mellinger Henry who had recently published an article in JAF titled "Lexington Girl." The version comes from Pollyanna Harmon, the wife of excellent ballad singer "Uncle Sam" Harmon (b. 1869, both were born in North Carolina[73]). According to Betty Smith, Pollyanna was raised in Big Sammy Hicks' household[74] and he would be the source. Sam Harmon's grandfather was legendary balladeer and storyteller Council Harmon. "Old Counce's" source for his ballads and Jack tales was also the Hicks' household. Back in the 1600s the Hicks (then Hix) family settled in Tuckahoe Creek, Virginia on the James River where Samuel Hicks was born about 1695. Samuel and members of his clan moved to North Carolina where he died before the Revolutionary War. Before the conflict with England, Samuel's son David, a loyalist, independently moved to Beech Mountain, NC after receiving a land grant. His eldest son, Samuel, known as Big Sammy, settled there with him. Since no one knows when and where the family learned it, determining the age of this version by the late 1600s date Samuel Hicks and family lived at Tuckahoe Creek is clearly wrong. However, in the text a reward of ten guineas is offered ("Ten guineas I offered any man, This damsel they would find") so this version is likely very old. Since this reward is only offered in versions of Berkshire Tragedy (dated c. 1700) it seems to clearly pre-date the Cruel Miller broadsides and I would date it back to the 1700s. I've supplied the title which has been corrupted to the "Town of Wickedness" (line 3) which may have been a mishearing by Mellinger Henry, the collector. Even though "The Wickedness Miller" is an appropriate title, the town name appears to have been corrupted from Wittham or Whittingham. I've left the spelling errors and other corruptions as they appeared in print in 1938:
[Wittenham Miller] sung by Pollyanna Harmon of Cade's Cove, TN in 1930.
1. My tender parents brought me here,
Providing for my wealth;
And in a town of wickedness
He fixed me out a mill.
2. Here came a wanting lass,
She had a wanting eye;
I promised her I'd marry her,
And with her I did lie.
3. A very few weeks and afterwards,
Here came that lass again:
"I pray you, young John, you'd marry me;
You've got me with a child."
4. Perplexed was I on every side,
No comfort I could find;
But to take my darling's life from her
My wicked heart inclined.
5. 1 went to my love's sister's house;
It was getting late at night.
But little did the poor creature think
I owed her any spite.
6. "Come, take a walk with me, my dear;
We'll pint the wedding day;"
I tuk her by her lily-white hand;
I led her through the field.
7. I drew a stake then out of the fence;
I hit her in the face;
She fell on her bending knee;
For mercy loud did cry:
"I pray, young John, don't murder me,
For I'm not fit to die."
8. I kept putting on more and more,
She did resign her breath,
And wasn't I a crazy soul
To put my love to death?
9. I tuk her by the hair of the head;
I drug her through the field;
I drug her to the river bank
And plunged her in the deep.
10. Right straight home then I run;
My master strangely on me gazed:
"What's the matter, young Johnny?" he says,
"You look as pale as death.
11. "You look like you've been running
And almost spent for breath.
How came you by, young John," he says,
"These trembling hands enfold?
12. "How came you, young John," he says,
"These bloody hands and clothes?"
I answered him immediate lie:
"A-bleeding at the nose."
13. He stood; he strangely on me gazed,
But no more he said.
I jerked a candle out of his hands
And made my way to bed.
14. I lay there all that long night;
I had but little rest;
I thought I felt the flames of hell
Strike within my guilty breast.
15. The very next morning by day-light
Ten guineas I offered any man,
Ten guineas I offered any man,
This damsel they would find.
16. The very next morning by sunrise,
This damsel she were found,
Floating by her brother's door
In Harry Fairy Town.
17. Then her sister against me swore,
Good reasons without a doubt:
By coming there after dark,
And calling her out.
18. "My Lord, my God,
Look down on me,
And pray receive my soul.
Harry Fairy Town in stanza 16 resembles Ferry Hinksey Town as sung by George Hicks of Arlington, Gloucestershire. This name also appears in The Berkshire Tragedy[75]. This name is one of the few ties to the original broadside found both in England and the US. Ia, despite its corruptions, represents the only extant "traditional reduction" of Berkshire.
Ib, Mary Eddy's "Lexington Girl" has several places of agreement with Berkshire and is another very old version. In other traditional North American ballads only a phrase or a few words are borrowed from Berkshire.
The presence of the devil is found in the original Berkshire Tragedy but not in The Cruel Miller reduction. Here's Berkshire stanza 9:
9. About a month since Christmas last,
oh! cursed be the day,
The devil then did me persuade,
to take her life away.
The presence of this stanza or usually part of it, indicates an association with the original Berkshire broadside. At least four versions from North Carolina usually titled "The Bloody Miller[76]," my Ic and Id, begin similarly with this very stanza:
1. One month of May since Christmas last,
that most unhappy day
That he devil persuaded me
to take her life away. [Bloody Miller- Jane Eller (NC) 1901 Abrams A]
Stanzas with devil are from The Lexington tradition. This stanza is part of the older NC versions and a concluding warning stanza was recreated to tie in with the devil being the cause of the murder:
Come all young men and warning take
Unto your lovers be true
And never let the devil get
The upper hand of you. [Carter Family 1937, "Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand Of You"]
Stanza 16 of Berkshire appears in some North American version, usually it's "run mt hands through her coal-black hair/ to cover up mt sin." Here's the original stanza from Berkshire:
16 And then I took her by the hair,
to cover this foul sin,
I drag’d her to a river side
Then threw her body in.
Compare stanza 16 to Randolph A, "City of Pineville" as sung by Mrs. Lee Stevens of White Rock MO, on Aug. 10, 1927.
I run my fingers through her coal black hair
To cover up sin,
I drug her to the river side
An' there I plunged her in. [Randolph A]
Many of the North American versions seem to miss the point of stanza 16 which is the murderer is dragging his victim to the river by the hair to throw her in -- once she is gone under the water, it will cover up his sin. The murder was done with a hedge stake or a stick and after he beats her she is dead. However, in some traditional versions he beats her then throws her in the river to drown. In the broadsides she is dead before he throws her in the river to cover up his murder.
Part of stanza 12 of Berkshire is found in North America. When he took her "unto a private place" and "struck her in the face," this is not found in Cruel Miller:
12. Thus I deluded her again,
unto a private place:
Then took a stick out of the hedge,
and struck her in the face.
This is found in a number of versions and is part of the Lexington Murder tradition as is the next example from Parler (Ozark Folk Songs- G version) titled "The Murdered Sweetheart" as sung by Mrs. Ollie Riggins of Fayetteville, Ark. on April, 1964:
We strolled together side by side
'til we came to a silent place,
I taken a stick from off of the fence
and struck her in the face.
Another Lexington Murder stanza found in the Berkshire but not Cruel Miller is the "lay trembling all the night" stanza where "rest" rhymes with "breast:"
Where I lay trembling all the night,
For I could take no rest,
And perfect flames of hell did flash
Within my guilty breast.
This standard Lexington Murder stanza is found is some US/Canadian versions and is a more modern adaptation that occurs in several versions:
I lit my candle, went in my room,
as if to take my rest,
It seemed like me like the fire of Hell
was burning in my breast[77].
A last example from the tradition Berkshire reduction possibly the oldest traditional version as sung by Pollyanna Harmon in 1930:
14. I lay there all that long night;
I had but little rest;
I thought I felt the flames of hell
Strike within my guilty breast.
This again (see Pollyanna's complete ballad above) is from the Hicks/Harmon version I've titled "Wittenham Miller" which was sung by Pollyanna Harmon of Cade's Cove, TN in 1930. From these few examples it's clear that the older North American versions pre-date the Cruel Miller broadsides and were similar to, or based on, the four Berkshire reductions. They provide additional evidence that the ballad likely came in the late 1700s or before 1820 when the first Cruel Miller broadsides were printed.
North American Ballad Types: The Lexington Murder (I)
Categorizing ballad types by title has proven to be difficult for the traditional descendants of Berkshire in North America. The popular older titles Lexington Murder/Girl, Wexford Girl and Oxford Girl and their descendants have been used interchangeably in different areas of the country by traditional singers. The Lexington tradition, however, is very consistent and has only one older version with additional text (Mary Boney; Eddy C).
Here are the quick identifiers for all the ballad types in North America (some identifiers may be missing):
A. The name of the city of town where the murderer did dwell or was born and raised. Also the name of the city or town he was placed in or owned a mill. The location of the mill is also the name of the girl (Knoxville/Oxford girl) and usually the title (Knoxville/Oxford Girl) as well as the town where the dead girl's body is discovered (floating down through ---- Town).
B. The identity of the person who sees the nosebleed: his servant John, his master (the miller) or his mother.
C. The name of the murderer.
D. The name of the location of the jail and/or the name town where her body floats down on the river that flows through it. This is usually A, if different it's D.
In general the name of the murderer, if given, corresponds to versions in the UK. The name "Willie" is Scottish and English (New England/Canada) while the name "Johnny" is Irish[78] and English (John is the name given in Berkshire). The name of the victim is rarely given, so it is not usually an identifier-- her name, Mary or Mary Ann, is found consistently in the Scottish tradition.
"The Lexington Murder" or "The Lexington Girl," my J, is one of the oldest ballad reductions and is English then American. It is found mainly in the US south and especially in North Carolina (see Brown Collection of NC Folklore) and Virginia. One version I've titled "Lexington Girl" (from Mrs. Mary Boney, Perrysville, Ohio), although categorized as Hb because it is much older and closer to the original Lexington Miller broadside and Berkshire, is also part of I. See also the similar "Bloody Miller" titles from North Carolina and two complete Nell Cropsey texts which are just versions of The Lexington Murder with the Nell Cropsey title. The Lexington title is also found twice in New England and is associated there with the Deming broadside Lexington Miller. Other versions like, One Saturday Night[79], are missing the first two stanzas and the "city of Lexington" and "cast my eye" identifiers. The first and only commercial recording of "The Lexington Murder" is titled, "Never Let the Devil Get The Upper Hand Of You" which was made by the Carter Family of Virginia in 1937 on Decca recording 5479, New York City, NY.
"The Lexington Murder" has the following identifiers:
A) "In the city of Lexington, they placed me in a mill." This agrees with Berkshire except the city is Lexington.
B) "on her I cast my eye;" is similar to Berkshire which has "Wanton eye" while Lexington Miller has "winning eye." This is different than the standard text similar to The Cruel Miller's "black (dark) and rolling eye."
C) When he asks her if she'd marry him she "believes the lie."
D) On a "Saturday night, a-curs-ed be the day" the devil puts it in his head to take her life away.
E) When he goes to see her at 'her sister's house" he thinks "little did that creature think," he owed her any spite. "Creature" is also found in Berkshire.
F) He takes her for a walk and they walk "side by side" to a "silent/lonely/lonesome/desert[ed] place" where he picks up a stick (not stake) or slab and hits her "in the face." The rhyme is place/face.
G) After he kills her he states: "I run my hand thru her cold black hair/ To cover up my sin/ I drug her to the river bank/ And there I throwed her in." which corresponds to stanza 16 of Berkshire. It's not clear that he is dragging her to the river-- by her hair-- so that he can dispose of the body to cover up his sin(murder). Running his hands through her hair does not cover up his sin (murder).
H) After returning home he states, "I met my servant John" who asks why he looks so pale and why he looks so "wan?" The word "wan" (which means pale" so the question is redundant) in almost every case is corrupt. The miller would address his apprentice named John as "my servant John" which has also been corrupted (see an explanation under Lexington Murder). Regardless, "my servant John" is an identifier.
I) I went upstairs to go to bed (or he lights a candle) /Expecting to take my rest/It felt to me that fires of hell/Were burning in my breast." Identified by "rest/breast" rhyme.
J) The nosebleed is sometimes found (Fields Ward/Chappell's "Nell Cropsey") and if it's there- it follows I.
K) Her body is not found a-floating down the river to Lexington town. Her murderer is not put in jail.
L) The Lexington Murder ends with this warning: Then all young men this warning take/And to your love be true/Don't ever let the devil get/ The upper hand of you." It corresponds to the devil's earlier role in the ballad when, on a Saturday night, the devil puts the thought in his head to take her life away.
Here's a standard older Lexington tradition text collected in the early 1900s:
Ie. 'The Lexington Murder.' Collected by Mrs. Zebulon Baird Vance near Black Mountain, Buncombe county, and received by the Society in April 1915[80].
I My tender parents brought me up,
Provided for me well,
And in the city of Lexington
They put me in a mill.
2 'Twas there I spied a bright young miss
On whom I cast my eye.
I asked her if she'd marry me,
And she believed a lie.
3 Last Saturday night three weeks ago,
Of course [A-curs-ed] would have been the day.
The devil put it in my head
To take her life away.
4 I went into her sister's house
Eleven o'clock last night.
But little did the creature know
For her I had a spite.
5 I asked her kind to take a walk
A little piece away
That we might have a joyful talk
About our wedding day.
6 We went upon a lonely road,
A dark and lonely place;
I took a stick from off the fence
And struck her in the face.
7 She fell upon her bended knee
And loud for mercy cried:
'For Heaven's sake don't murder me!
Fm unprepared to die.'
8 But little attention did I pay;
I only struck her more
Until I saw the innocent blood
That I could not restore.
9 I run my hand through her cold black hair;
To cover up my sin
I drug her to the river bank
And there I throwed her in.
10 And on returning to my home
I met my servant John.
He asked me why I was so pale
And why[I was so wan] so hurried on.
11 I went upstairs to go to bed.
Expecting to take my rest.
It felt to me that fires of hell
Were burning in my breast.
12 Then all young men this warning take
And to your love be true;
Don't ever let the devil get
The upper hand of you.
Ja, "Nell Cropsey,[81]" as sung by John Squire Chappell of Tyner, NC in 1912, is simply a version of "Lexington Murder" that has been attached to a similar murder in North Carolina: The beautiful 19 year-old Nellie Cropsey (see above) was murdered by rejected suitor Jim Wilcox in Elizabeth City on Nov. 29, 1901 and dumped in the river. Jb, "Nellie Crospie," was sent to Abrams on March 5, 1938 by Betty Bostic of Mooresboro, NC. She learned it from her grandmother, Mrs. G. L. Bostic, whose version in the Brown collection is curiously titled "Lexington Murder" and is missing the last stanzas[82]. For more details about this murder and versions associated with it see: US & Canada Headnotes.
North American Ballad Types: Standard Wexford Reduction (Wexford Girl/Waxford Girl etc.)
The Wexford Reduction has two archaic traditional versions that are evidence of an earlier unknown reduction presumably from Ireland. The common "standard" versions are written about by George Malcolm Laws on page 118 of his "American Balladry from British Broadsides (1957),"where he states, "Since the Oxford and Wexford texts are so similar, it would seem difficult to establish priority for either of them." Laws has suggested the Oxford texts are the only true derivative from America (i.e. not based on English broadsides-- even though Oxford is the location named in the original Berkshire Tragedy) and suggests it has "been recomposed here (in America)." In the early 1950s Laws could not be aware of the "Oxford Girl" sung by English traveller Phoebe Smith in 1956-- just one year before his "American Balladry" was published or that Lucy White's MS version has "Oxford" in it. Regardless of Laws assigning Wexford and Oxford equality-- the Wexford tradition is, in my opinion, more widely spread and better known. Evidence of the Wexford tradition in the UK has found in the "archaic" chapbook version, Wexford Tragedy, in a shared stanza with Butcher Boy and in the "Wexford town" found in Cruel Miller. A large number of "standard" variants are found in America and some of those are from Irish emigrants.
About the "Wexford Girl" Laws suggests that it "was derived from 'The Cruel Miller' (contains the word, Wexford) and from the Scottish variant, 'Butcher Boy' . . ." and suggests the Wexford variant was composed (I assume he means composed and printed)[83]. The recent discovery of the 1818 Wexford Tragedy in a chapbook proves him partially right. The Cruel Miller, however, was created from the archaic Berkshire (Oxford) reduction with text from Wexford and the town name is Wexford. Also the Butcher Boy and Wexford are not similar in many instances although the reductions have some shared text. Laws does not entertain the possibility that the Wexford ballad could have pre-dated The Cruel Miller and that source of the Wexford name in the Cruel Miller was from an earlier Wexford reduction of Berkshire that was reworked and became The Cruel Miller (c. 1820). Besides The Wexford Tragedy there are certainly other earlier unknown versions of Wexford Girl which ultimately come from an Irish source and may have been acquired from informants of Irish decent.
The lack of evidence in Ireland has prevented the Wexford texts to be proven Irish[84] but since no Irish versions with Wexford currently exist, only the Wexford Tragedy and versions from Irish descendants in North American can be used to recreate the presumed missing Irish versions. In the few Irish Wexford texts the murderer is usually named "John" or Johnny" and in North America the Wexford versions from the US south and mid-west use John or Johnny. The English broadsides use "John" while the traditional English and Scottish texts usually use "Willie" or "Billie" and in North America the Wexford versions from New England and Canada use "Willie." The Wexford texts have variant titles like Waxford, Waxweed which will all be included as Wexford as long as the identifiers are consistent.
Wexford titles are consistently found in Canada and New England. There's a sub-group titled "Wexford Lass," sung by the Miramichi in New Brunswick, Canada. The 16 stanza Wexford Lass has borrowed the first stanza from "The Maid I Left behind Me" songs. There are two versions collected in the UK that originated in Canada: Ethel Findlater's Orkney version from presumably Newfoundland and a version learned from Irish Canadians by an Englishman about 1900[85]. The Canadian/New England Wexford versions have a unity and in some cases differ from the standard US Wexford/Oxford texts. One example is when the murderer goes to visit the Wexford girl-- in Canada/New England it's at her father's house; while in the US it's at her sister's house.
The Scottish reduction connection is found in the stanza with the candle/handkerchief which is duplicated in North American Wexford, Oxford/Export versions and their derivatives (Knoxville, Vicksburg, Waco etc.). The standard Wexford and Oxford versions begin similarly-- they differ mainly at the end as many versions of Wexford have a two stanza ending. Although these texts are separated by Laws it's difficult to draw conclusions by comparing these mixed ballads-- since the titles and place-names are, at times, interchangeable. Laws, in his line of descent chart on page 119 of American Balladry, gives Wexford Girl as the originator of the Oxford Girl and the Butcher Boy along with Cruel Miller leading to Wexford Girl. As I've shown this is antiquated and even by Laws admission "The Cruel Miller has less influence on American tradition than The Lexinton Miller" which I have shown influenced only one extant version. The other problem is that Laws does not even mention "The Knoxville Girl" which has an outstanding tradition as well as a separate commercial one. The traditional Knoxville Girl is the same as the Wexford/Oxford texts with a different ending: "And now they're going to hang me, a dreadful death to die/And now they're going to hang me between the earth and sky." This ending is not confined to only the Knoxville Girl title. Besides the Knoxville Girl there are the Expert/Export titles which are variant titles of Wexford/Oxport. Other titles in the US include The Miller's Apprentice titles from Sharp collected mainly in Kentucky of which one is non-conforming, the Miller Boy/Prentice Boy titles- which do not show reduction to which they are aligned, the rare Hanged I Shall Be titles, and the Waco Girl titles from the southwest. Despite my reservations of assigning every ballad a reduction and the obvious flaws in Laws, I will group the remaining North American versions mainly by title, showing their associated reduction and when possible any consistent identifiers.
As mentioned earlier, several Wexford versions have adapted the first stanza from the "Maid/Girl I Left Behind Me" ballad. Many of the Canadian versions have taken additional text from the "Maid/Girl I Left Behind Me" as seen in the following "farmer and his daughter" introduction. It is found less commonly in the US and in this version from Kentucky [see: Waxford Girl by Nora Carpenter, 1972]:
It was down in Wexford city
Where a farmer he did dwell
He reared one only daughter
And I loved her quite well.
All the Wexford Lass versions sung by the Miramichi (New Brunswick) have borrowed this variant,
As I was born in Sheffield,
brought up to the high degree;
My parents reared me tenderly,
they had no child but me[86].
which is the standard opening stanza of "Girl I left Behind Me." Apparently this has occurred from the shared use of 'tender/tenderly' which is found in the opening of both ballads: "My parents reared me tenderly." Obviously the opening stanzas of these versions do not compare to the standard Wexford opening:
Twas in the town of Wickalow
Where I did live and dwell
Twas in the town of Waxford
I ran a flourin' mill [Waxford Girl, Lily Delorme, NY; dating back to the 1800s].
The identifiers of Wexford Girl are:
A. The ballad begins ideally with two cities-- the first where the murderer "did live and dwell" and the second where he "owned a flour mill." This example Ka, fulfills the intent[87]: " 'Twas in the town of [Idalo] where I did live and dwell/ 'Twas in the town of Wexford I owned a flour mill." The type of mill is a "flour" mill however, it's frequently "floury" and is spelled "flowery" in some versions.
B. There he courts a "Wexford girl" with the "dark and rolling" eye[s]. He states: "I asked if she'd marry me,[88]" and the oldest response seems to be "If she would comply" (ref. Lexington Miller) but a number of variants are common including "If she did not deny," and the Lexington Murder's "And she believed the lie." These replace the original "if she with me would lie."
C. When the murderer goes to visit the Wexford girl-- in Canada/New England it's at her father's house; while in the US south and mid-west it's at her sister's house. The house is not mentioned in Berkshire but in the Cruel Miller, it's her sister's house. The time he visits is usually eight o'clock. He asks her to take a walk to the "meadow's gay," so they may "appoint the wedding day." "Meadows gay" is also found in Cruel Miller.
D. They walk "hand in hand" or "side by side" (also "We walk-ed and we talk-ed") until they come to "level ground" when he picked up a "stick" or "stake" usually from the "hedge" and "knocked the fair girl(one/maid) down."
E. She "falls on her bending/bended knee[s]" and for mercy she cries; "Oh Johnny dear, don't kill me here/I am not prepared to die.[89]" The Canadian/New England versions have "Willie" which is found in Scotland. The US south versions usually have "Johnny." Notice the inner line rhyme of dear/here.
F. The end of the next stanza is very different than Lexington Murder which rhymes "more" with "never restore." Wexford has (Not paying no attention/I beat her more and more;/Until the ground around us/Was covered in bloody gore[90]) "bloody gore" which is a traditional rendering. The text is extremely varied between the more/gore rhyme and "gore" is also misheard.
G. This stanza is consistent: (I took her by those yellow locks/I drug her on the ground/I threw her in the river/That runs through Waxford town). We usually have "yellow/curly locks."
H. "Lie there, lie there you pretty young maid/To me you'll never be tied/Lie there, lie there you Wexford girl/You'll never be my bride." The rhyme is tied/bride.
I. He returns home to "his mother's house" usually at "twelve o'clock at night (midnight)" she has woken and is in "an awful fright." The rhyme is night/fright. The Wexford Lass and some Canadian version have again "father's house" with the night/sight rhyme.
J. This is the standard nosebleed stanza with the "clothes/nose" rhyme.
K. This is the candle/handkerchief stanza. The candle is found in Lexington Murder and the printed broadsides but not the "handkerchief" which is found only in the Scottish "Butcher Boy" versions and the Wexford/Oxford descent. Standard: "I asked her for a candle/ to light my way to bed/Likewise a handkerchief/ to wrap my aching head."
L. He goes to bed; "I rolled and kicked and tumbled/ but no rest could I find;/The flames(gates) of hell wide open/before my eyes did shine." The rhyme is find/shine. This stanza takes the ballad into the realm of the supernatural- a fact not usually mentioned[91] is that Wexford Girl is, in some versions, clearly a revenant ballad. Not only does he face "the flames of Hell" but in some southern and mid-west versions (see also: Knoxville Girl) have her ghost present: "An' the Waxweed girl behind." In a Kentucky version[92] her ghost is present at the beginning of the stanza: "The voice and the ghost of the Waxford girl/No comfort could I find."
M. Some time later (six months/next morning/ten days/) her body is found. "A-floating down the river/ that leads to (goes through) Wexford town." Rhyme is found/town.
N. He is taken on suspicion and put in jail. Rhyme is jail/bail. "So early next morning/I was lodged in jail,/No one to go my security,/No one to go my bail."
O. This stanza is very consistent also: "Her sister swore my life away,/But not a word of doubt/He had me for suspicion/For having this fair one out." Rhyme is doubt/out. More commonly "That I was the very man/ That took her sister out."
P. This is the Wexford ending which, according to Laws, is the difference between the Wexford and Oxford texts. All four of the Miramichi texts from New Brunswick have this ending- I've included just one. Usually the ending is two stanzas and it is found in less than one third of the complete versions and most are from Canada. There is one ending with the Expert title but the titles are sometimes interchangeable. Here are the Wexford endings in full:
Now all you gay young fellows
wherever you may be,
Never spite your own true love
with any cruelty,
For if you do you'll surely rue
until the day you die,
You will hang just like this murderer
upon the gallows high. [Church; 1900 Irish-Canada]
Now come, all you tender-hearted men,
and warning take in time;
Never murder a poor girl,
or your fate will be like mine. [Cox A, 1916 West Virginia]
Come, all young men goes courting
A warning take by me
Don't ever slight your first true love
No matter who she be.
For if you do, you’ll surely ruin[rue]
And come down to die like me
You will die a cowardly rascal
In the heights of jealousy. [Leach, 1951 Newfoundland]
Come. all you false true-lovers,
a warning take by me,
Don't never treat your own true love
to such severity.
For if you do, you sure will rue,
and be the same as I,
For hanged you'll be all on the tree,
and a murderer you will die. [Warner 1941, New York]
Come all you false-hearted lovers,
take warning now by me,
And never treat your own true love
in any severity,
For if you do you sure will rue
the day until you die,
And hanged you'll be upon the tree,
a murderer's death you'll die. ["Expert Girl" Lucile Morris, Springfield, Mo., Feb. 22, 1933. Randolph D.]
Now come all you young jolly fellows,
A warning take by me,
And never treat your own true love
with such cruelty
For if you do you'll surely rue,
Until the day you die,
You'll be hung like me, a murderer,
Upon the gallows high. [Lomax REC, 1938 Irish Michigan]
So come all you lads and lassies,
a warning take by me,
It's never murder your own true love,
Whoever whom she be.
But if you do you're sure to rue
until the day you die,
You'll hang a public scandal,
upon some gallows high. [Wexford Lass c.1960s Canada, Miramichi]
Come all ye royal true lovers,
a warning take by me,
And never treat your own true love
to any cruelty.
For if you do you'll rue like me
until the day you die;
You'll hang like me, a murderer,
all on the gallows high. [Waterford Town, 1929; Mackenzie, Nova Scotia]
At least two of the endings are from Irish emigrants and the rest from New Englanders or Canadians-- one is from mid-west and one stanza is found in West Virginia.
North American Ballad Types: Standard "Oxford Girl" Reduction
Versions with "Oxford" agree with the use of "Oxford" in the original Berkshire reduction and therefore are part of The Oxford/Bershire Reduction. There are two archaic reductions that were collected in the United States-- the Pollyanna Harmon text and the Jason Ritchie text. The standard Oxford reductions resemble the standard Wexford reductions just reviewed. Only one version by W.A. Ammons collected in West Virginia in 1951 has any archaic stanzas. The Ammons version is unique in providing two stanzas about the trial sentencing. See the Standard Oxford Ur-Ballad at the end of this study for more information. According to Laws[93] the symbiotic double of Wexford is Oxford, a town found in the original Berkshire broadside:
2. Near famous Oxford town,
I first did draw my breath,
and also;
4. By chance I met an Oxford lass,
I cast a wanton eye;
Despite its occurrence in the English broadside, Laws calls "Oxford Girl" an American ballad devoid of influences from the English broadsides[94]. In his line of descent chart, Laws lists "Oxford Girl" as derived from "Wexford Girl." Laws is close to being correct-- the standard reduction is popular in American[95] and very close to the other great American version Knoxville Girl, as well as the Export/Expert and Waco titles. The ballad mirrors the "Wexford girl" and is missing the two stanza ending[96]. "Oxford Girl" is a southern variant and mid-west variant and has not been found in New England or Canada. The Oxford title or inclusion in the text does not necessarily mean it's a version of Oxford Girl. A version titled Orphan Girl has the text "took her by the lily-white hand" which comes from Distressed Maid broadside and resulting traditional versions:
I took her by the lily-white hand
And led her to the place [Randolph G, Orphan Girl],
"Orphan Girl" could be a mondegreen for Oxford Girl but in this case it means nothing. The ballad is, at best, a hybrid song for it has stanzas from Lexington Murder and is closer to that version. Belden A has "Oxford Town" near the end: "Floating by her sister['s] house/That lived in Oxford town." This version however begins with stanzas from Lexington Miller and has other variant details that make it a "hybrid" version.
One noteworthy example of the ballad, although it's missing two stanzas, is "The Oxford Girl" as written down from memory by Mrs. G. V. Easley, Tula, Mississippi, who describes it as one of the most popular 'ballets' in Calhoun county in her girlhood. The Mississippi ballad's name is undoubtedly due to the prominence in North Mississippi of Oxford, seat of the State University and of the United States Court for the Northern District of Mississippi[97].
Laws does not list any ballads after Oxford Girl in his chart of descent. I propose that after four basic reductions (Oxford Girl/Lexington Murder/Wexford Girl/Butcher Boy) come the traditional (although print reductions are possible) reductions such as The Knoxville Girl (not the commercial recordings) which is very similar. The Knoxville Girl should be written beside Export/Expert Girl titles. The Waco Girl appears to be a late 1800s title derived from any of the Wexford/Oxford or Knoxville/Export titles. Here are the identifiers for Oxford Girl. They are the same as those found for Wexford Girl A-O with the following modifications:
A. begins the same but a different city is rarely found:
'Twas in the town of Vago
Where I did live and dwell,
'Twas in the town of Oxford
I owned a floury mill. [Belden B]
In this case it's Vago and Oxford, usually it's Oxford and Oxford. Floury or flowery are used instead of flour. This is true for the Wexford titles as well.
F. This is common in both the Oxford and Knoxville versions: "I pieked a piece of edgewood up/And knocked that fair one down." Edgewood is of course, derived from hedge wood, and it suffers other corruptions.
G. As mentioned earlier some versions have "I picked her up by her lily-white hands/I threw her round and round."
P. The 2 stanza ending of Wexford is missing except for one version from Oklahoma. Instead is the common Knoxville/Oxford ending which appears with variations:
O Lordy, they're going to hang me now
Between the earth and sky;
They're going to hang me by the neck,
What an awful death to die!
The Oxford versions are in general shorter and missing more of the standard A-O stanzas (15 stanzas).
North American Ballad Types: The Knoxville Girl (Traditional)
Under the Knoxville Girl title the ballad is one the best known murder ballads in the United States. What is not well-known is that there are over two dozen complete traditional versions of Knoxville that are different than the commercial recordings that are so popular and are identified with the title. The Knoxville identifiers are similar to the standard Wexford A-O identifiers which cover the first 15 stanzas. The Knoxville Girl texts are the same as the standard Oxford Girl texts and the Export/Expert/Waco Girl texts. The titles and place names are for practical purposes--interchangeable.
A number of versions have been collected that have turned out to be cover versions of commercial recordings. Some of them will be found under Knoxville Girl (Commercial Recordings) along with the four early influential commercial recordings. I'd guestimate the age age of the title to be mid-1800s as versions are documented in the early 1900s. The ballad text is much older and part of the standard Wexford or Oxford families that are from the early 1800s-- at least.
The Knoxville Girl tradition features the same ending as given for some versions of Oxford Girl. It is consistent and often repeated once at the end:
And now they're going to hang me,
A death I hate to die;
They're going to hang me up so high
Between the earth and sky.
One version, "The Knoxville Girl" as sung by Mrs. George Ripley, Milford, Missouri on November 21, 1959, is of an older "Wexford" tradition (has one ending stanza found in Wexford) and has lines from "The Distressed Maid" broadside. The stanza where he's "taken on suspicion/ and carried off to jail" is rare in tradition but is always found in the commercial Tanner recordings.
Here are the main identifiers of the Knoxville traditional ballad:
A. It opens the same as Wexford (see above) with two cities in the first stanza: "In the town of Boston/I used to live and dwell/And in that little Knoxville town/I owned a flour mill[Trusty sisters KY, 1937]." Also "In that little town of Knoxville" appears regularly for 3rd line. The other cities change and sometimes only Knoxville is used.
B. This is standard: "I fell in love with a Knoxville girl/with dark and rolling eyes,/I told her that I'd marry her,/If me she'd never deny." The last line varies including: "And she believed the lie" and also "If with me she'd comply."
C. He goes to "her sister's house" at "eight o'clock at night." "And little did that poor girl think/ I owed her any spite." Rhyme is standard night/spite. Usually "eight o'clock" but it varies.
D. Standard text follows Cruel Miller/Oxford Reduction: "I asked her to take a walk with me/ And over the meadows gay/That we may have a talk/And name (appoint) the wedding day." Common variant for last two lines: "That we might have a social talk/ And name our wedding day."
E. We walked along, we talked along/ Till we came to the "level ground,"/ And I picked up a hardwood stick/And knocked that fair girl down. The stick is a "hickory stick" or "hard wood" also "edgewood" (for "hedge wood") stick.
F. The murder's name is usually Willie, standard: "She fell upon her bending knee,/Lord, have mercy, she cried,/Oh, Willie, dear, don't murder me here/I'm unprepared to die!" The 3rd line has the internal rhyme of dear/here, also standard.
G. Standard: "Not minding(hearing) one word she said,/I beat her more and more./I beat her till the ground around/stood in a bloody gore." Again, "bloody gore" tends to be corrupt.
H. Standard with "still water deep"in third line: "I taken her by the yellow(curly) hair,/I drug her 'round and 'round;/I threw her in the still water deep,/That flows through Knoxville town." Rhyme is 'round/ground with town.
I. Usually goes to his "mother's house," rarely "father's house" Standard: "I called at my mother's house/ about twelve o'clock that night (midnight), And Mother, being worried/got up all in a fright."
J. Standard: Saying, "Son, oh son, what have you done/to bloody your hands and clothes?"/I answered to my mother's request (The answer that I gave to her),/"Been bleeding at the nose."
K. The handkerchief is standard: "I called for a candle/to light myself to bed,/And also for a handkerchief/to bind my aching head."
L. Standard are "rolled and tumbled" and "flames of hell" as "I rolled and tumbled the whole night long,/But slumber(rest) could not find,/For the flames of hell all around my bed,/And in my eyes did shine.
M. The amount of time varies before her body is discovered- "six" and "three" are most popular numbers of days/weeks/months. Again it's "still water deep." Standard: "And just about six days(weeks) later,/This Knoxville girl was found/Floating down the still water deep/That flows through Knoxville town."
N. The jail stanza is frequently missing: "They locked me up on suspicion;/they locked me up in jail/For one or two or three hours,/and no one to go my bail." [see: Gardner A, 1910]
O. Standard: Her sister swore my life away;/ she swore without a doubt/That I was the very lad(man)/ that led(took) her sister out.
P. The ending stanza is consistent and was also given above: "And now they're going to hang me,/A death I hate to die;/They're going to hang me up so high,/Between the earth and sky."
North American Ballad Types: Knoxville Girl (Commercial Recordings)
It was under the title, Knoxville, that the ballad became best known in the US and to the world. In 1791 the name of White's Fort, a settlement in Tennessee built by James White in 1786, was changed to Knoxville. There is little doubt that this city in Tennessee is the intended location of this ballad name. Curiously, the first two "Knoxville" commercial recordings were by musicians from Atlanta, Georgia. Six early country recordings were done of "Knoxville Girl" before 1940. First was Riley Puckett's in 1924 (unissed)[98], which was followed by Arthur Tanner's in 1925, then McFarland and Gardiner in 1926, then Doc Roberts and Asa Martin in 1928, then Asa Martin and James Roberts in 1931 and finally the Blue Sky Boys' in 1937. The Carter Family named their ballad, a version of The Lexington Murder, after the standard last verse: Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand of You and other versions were recorded under the well-know titles, Export Gal and Waco Girl.
The first released "Knoxville Girl" record was an up-tempo waltz made by Arthur Tanner (1903- 1972) during June, 1925 (Silvertone 3515) in Chicago, Illinois[99]. Arthur Tanner from Atlanta, Georgia was the brother of Gid Tanner of Skillet Lickers fame. Member of the Skillet Lickers had already made commercial recordings before 1925: guitarist and singer Riley Puckett first recorded solo for Columbia in 1924 and then Puckett and Gid Tanner recorded along with harmonica player Fate Norris. Puckett's 1924 version of "Knoxville Girl" was never issued. Arthur Tanner probably got his version from Puckett or at least it was a local version they all knew. Atlanta was one of the main hubs of early country music and besides Fiddlin' John Carson boasted other talented Skillet Licker performs like Clayton McMichen (fiddle), Lowe Stokes (fiddle), Bert Layne (fiddle- whose music notebook I still have), Ted Hawkins (Mandolin), Gordon Tanner (Gid's son- fiddle). Arthur recorded his version again in 1927 with renown fiddler Earl Johnson-- here's my transcription[100] of the 1925 version:
Knoxville Girl - recorded by Arthur Tanner (guitar and vocal), probably Earl Johnson on fiddle in Chicago, Illinois, during June, 1925.
I met a little girl in Knoxville
A town you all know well;
And every Sunday evening
Out in her home I’d dwell.
We went to take an evening walk
About one mile from town;
I picked a stick up from the ground
I knocked that fair girl down.
She fell upon on her bended knees
For mercy she did cry;
"Willie dear, don’t kill me here
I’m not prepared to die."
She never spoke another word,
Just beat her more her more;
Until the ground around her,
Within her blood did flow.
I taken her by her golden curls
And dragged her round and round
I throwed her into the river,
That flows from Knoxville Town.
“Go there, go there, you Knoxville Girl,
With the dark and rolling eyes,
Go there, go there, you Knoxville Girl,
You'll never be my bride.”
I started back to Knoxville,
Got there 'bout midnight;
And mama she was worried,
Woke up in a fright.
"My son, my son what have you done
To bloody your clothes so?"
The answer I gave mother,
"Was bleeding at my nose."
I called for me a candle,
To light myself to bed;
Also for me a handkerchief
To bind my aching head.
I rolled and tumbled the whole night long,
Was trouble there for me;
Flames of hell around my bed,
And in my eyes could see.
[They] carried me to the Knoxville jail,
They locked me in cell.
My friends all tried to help me
But none could pay my bail.
Her sister swore my life away,
She knew without a doubt;
Saying I was a same young man
That carried her sister out.
Tanner's rendition from Atlanta is instantly recognizable by the shortened opening which after an unusual first stanza where he visits her every "Sunday evening" skips to the 5th stanza where they take a walk then he picks up stick and "knocks that fair girl down." The rest of Tanner's version is standard traditional except for the "Knoxville jail" stanza which, although found in tradition, is rare. There is no ending stanza which is usually found in tradition. It's hard to tell if Tanner's recording established the standard commercial form or if it was the Blue Sky Boy's 1937 cover recording "The Story of the Knoxville Girl." Since the Blue Sky Boys left off Tanner's last stanza -- I believe because they couldn't understand what he was singing--it's my opinion that the Blue sky Boy's and a subsequent 1959 recording by the Lovin Brothers (plus their 1959 single) that cemented the Tanner text for all time. Following the Wilburn Brothers in 1966 was Ralph Stanley (Stanley Brothers) in 1967. By the late 1960s "The Knoxville Girl" was a early country and bluegrass standard. There are so many cover versions of the Tanner/Blue Sky Boys recording that I'll only mention a few in passing: Jeannie and Harry West; Jimmy Martin; J.E. Mainer; Hylo Brown, Jimmy Martin, Jim and Jesse, Country Gentlemen, and Mac Wiseman.
It's hard to assess the influence of other commercial recordings. Two blind musicians who met in Louisville, Kentucky, Lester McFarland and Robert A. Gardner, recorded 'Knoxville Girl' in December, 1926 in New York for the Brunswick/Vocallion label. Their recording is standard traditional-- in fact-- it's so similar to earlier traditional collected versions and the Kentucky recordings made by Lomax in 1937 that it's impossible to tell which traditional versions, if any, may have been based on McFarland and Gardner's recording. I've categorized this under traditional recordings. Here's their 11-stanza version; the last stanza is repeated:
Knoxville Girl- sung by Lester McFarland and Robert A. Gardner; Vocalion A5121, 1926
Oh in the town of Knoxville
I used to live and dwell
And in that little Knoxville town
I owned a flour mill.
I fell in love with a Knoxville girl
With dark and rolling eyes,
I promised her I'd marry me,
If me she'd never deny.
I called at her sister's house,
At nine o'clock that night.
And little did that fair girl think
I owed her any spite.
I asked her take a walk with me
Down to the meadows gay,
Where we could have a social talk,
And name our wedding day.
We walked along, we talked along,
Till I came to the level ground;
There I picked up an hedgewood stick
And I knocked that fair girl down.
She fell upon her bending knees,
Oh Lord have mercy she cried,
"Oh Willie my dear, don't murder me here,
For I'm not prepared to die."
The very, very word she said,
I beat her more and more,
I beat her til the ground around
Was in a bloody gore.
Then I took her by yellow hair
I drugged her 'round and' round
I drug her to the still water deep,
That flows through Knoxville town.
And just 'bout six weeks later
That Knoxville girl was found
A-floating down the still water deep,
That flows through Knoxville town.
Her sister swore my life away
She swore without a doubt
She swore that I was the very man,
That laid her sister out.
And now they're going to hang me,
A death I hate to die;
They're going to hang me up so high
Between the earth and sky.
And now they're going to hang me,
A death I hate to die;
They're going to hang me up so high,
Between the earth and sky.
Traditional versions that are close to this text that repeat the last stanza are suspect of being a cover of this song. The 1937 Carter Family version is part of The Lexington Murder group and I'm not aware of any covers of their version. A recording made in Chicago for Bluebird in 1933 by Louisiana Lou is titled "Export Girl" and is a variant of the standard Wexford/Oxford extended family (see Export/Expert Girl below).
Several collected versions, listed as "traditional" versions of Knoxville Girl with Tanner's opening stanzas, have been influenced by commercial recordings (see examples of cover versions in the Brown Collection- G[101], the Ozark Collection[102] or Robert's 1954 recording of Kentucky folksinger Frank Couch[103]) and are not traditional. The commercial recordings are identified by Tanner's opening and second stanzas (where stanzas 2-4 are missing). In these commercial records there is no motive for the murder-- he just brutally attacks her for no apparent reason, which makes the recordings even more disturbing. Another identifier for Tanner/Blue Sky Boys recorded versions not generally found in tradition is "golden curls"-- "I took her by her golden curls." Usually in tradition it's "curly locks." Even though the beginning stanzas are eliminated, two important traditional stanzas are included: 1) The "bloody clothes and nosebleed" stanza and 2) The "candle and handkerchief" stanza found in the standard Wexford/Oxford traditional versions in the North America and the "Butcher Boy" Scotland.
North American Ballad Types: Export/Expert Girl
Export/Expert titles are simply a corruption of Wexford/Oxford titles. Only one Expert title was a version of Wexford with the two stanza ending (Randolph[104]). These versions are part of the larger group of Oxford/Knoxville titles and the identifiers are the same for Knoxville Girl (see above). Charles Wolfe has reported that "The Export Girl," was "named for a town on the Arkansas-Louisiana line.[105]" The first recorded version of this ballad under any title by a woman was made by Louisiana Lou, the "Southern Songbird," in 1933. She recorded "The Export Girl" under her maiden name, Eva Mae Greenwood, and later became Eva Conn. Although she may well have been from Louisiana, the first historical trace of her was as a student at Clarke Memorial College near Jackson, MS, in the '20s. She began recording in the mid-'30s[106].
The Export Girl - Sung by Louisiana Lou, on 12-04-1933 Chicago, Illinois on Bluebird B5424, my transcription.
1. I fell in love with an Export girl
With brown and rolling eyes,
I asked her if she'd marry me,
She said she'd never deny.
2. Come on, come on unthinkables
And talk about it now;
And talk about our wedding day,
And when it's going to be.
3. They walked and talked, they walked and talked,
Till they came to the level ground;
There he picked up a seawood stick
And knocked that fair maid down.
4. "Oh Billy, oh Billy, don't you kill me now
For I'm not prepared to die."
Her beat on the fair maid more and more,
until she fell to the ground.
5. He took by her little-white hand
And flung her 'round and 'round;
And took her to some deep water sea,
And threw her in to drown.
6. He went to his mother's house
It was the middle of the night;
Where he found her sleeping sound
She about woke up in a fright.
7. "Billy, oh Billy, what have you done
To bloody your hands and clothes?"
He answered in a solemn tone,
"Been bleeding from my nose."
8. "Oh mother give me a towel,
For my aching head;
And mother give me a candlestick
To light me off to bed."
9. Two months, four months, six months from then,
That Export girl was found,
Floating down that little mill stream,
Right through that Export town.
10. They got me now in an Export jail,
An awful place to die;
They're going to hang me by my neck,
Between the earth and the sky.
Parts of Louisiana Lou's text are not standard and it's a close kin to Knoxville Girl texts. The following report from Randolph[107] is about The Expert Girl:
A very similar "Noel Girl" song contributed by Mr. Lewis Kelley, Cyclone, Mo., July 6, 1931, includes the following local reference:
I throwed her in old Cowskin River
Below the Rutledge dam.
The Cowskin River is the stream in which the body of the Noel girl was found, and Rutledge is the old name for the village now called Elk Springs, near the scene of the crime. Mr. Kelley is a "singin'-teacher," and has given some thought to the matter. He told me that, in his opinion, the song was "made up" from a still older piece called "The Expert Girl," about a lady who was murdered back in Tennessee.
None of my neighbors knew anything about "The Expert Girl," but a couple of years later the Springfield (Mo.) Leader (Feb. 18, 1933) described an amateur stunt at a local theater:
"Two little boys sang a blood-curdling song called 'My Expert Girl'-all about a man who murdered his sweetheart and threw her in the river because he didn't want to marry her."
The two little boys could not be located next morning, but I found several other persons in Springfield who were familiar with the song.
Other North American titles- Flora Dean
Cecil Sharp was apparently like his Devon friend, Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould. In 1888 Baring-Gould collected a version and when he published it in Songs of the West- changed his version entirely--preferring not to provided the details of this brutal murder. Sharp collected six versions in the Appalachians but only provided one text, an unusual version locally known as Flora Dean. It seems Sharp also didn't want to write out the bloody details which deprived us of five important early texts-- all of which have only one stanza with music.
This ballad variant[108], sung by two Kentucky women, Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Townsley for Sharp in 1917, is a hybrid. It's an old version which has "Johnny" apprenticed to a miller. He falls in love with a "Knoxville Girl" named Flora Dean. The implication is that she's pregnant and her father persuaded him to "take Flora for a wife" while as in Lexington Murder the "devil he persuaded me, to take Flora's life." Although similar to Berkshire stanza 7, Flora Dean's stanza 4, where her mother also tries to get him to take the pregnant Flora, is borrowed from another ballad. He goes to "her father's house" as found in Wexford tradition of Canada/New England to ask her to take a walk-- the next stanzas are standard except he goes to the "miller's house" where he is questioned about the blood on his clothes. The last stanza her body is found: "A-floating down by her father's house/Who lived in Knoxville town."
'Flora Dean' [local title]. Sung by Mrs. Mary Wilson and Mrs. Townsley at Pineville, Bell Co., Ky May 1, 1917.
1. Once there was a tie[little] tailor boy
About sixteen years of age
My father hired me to a miller
That I might learn the trade.
2 I fell in love with a Knoxville girl,
Her name was Flora Dean.
Her rosy cheeks, her curly hair,
I really did admire.
3 Her father he persuaded me
To take Flora for a wife;
The devil he persuaded me
To take Flora's life.
4 Up stepped her mother so bold and gay,
So boldly she did stand:
Johnny dear, go marry her
And take her off my hands.
5 I went unto her father's house
About nine o'clock at night,
A-asking her to take a walk
To do some prively[private] talk.
6 We had not got so very far
Till looking around and around,
He stooping down picked up a stick
And knocks little Flora down.
7 She fell upon her bended knees,
For mercy she did cry:
O Johnny dear, don't murder me,
For I'm not fit to die.
8 I took her by her lily-white hands
A-slung her around and around;
I drug her off to the river-side,
And plunged her in to drown.
9 I returned back to my miller's house
About nine o'clock at night,
But little did my miller know
What I had been about.
10 The miller turned around and about,
Said: Johnny, what blooded your clothes?
Me being so apt to take a hint:
By bleeding at the nose.
11 About nine or ten days after that,
Little Flora she was found,
A-floating down by her father's house
Who lived in Knoxville town.
"Flora Dean" was in the repertoire of Aunt Molly Jackson (1880-1960) of eastern Kentucky who was recorded by Alan Lomax in New York City in 1930. She added several unique stanzas at the end:
Then the sheriff he arrested me
And locked my up in jail
No one came here to save me
Or take me out on bail.
Then I sent for old man Dean,
And to him I confessed:
"Sir, I drowned your daughter,
And I hope her soul's at rest."
Now I'm going to end my life
And bid you all farewell
For drowning little Flory Dean
I'll send myself to hell.
The Legend- an amazing analogue
Amazing is the following story or legend was given by informant Betty Mace as a sequel to Berkshire. What is amazing is that Ebsworth (see his comments on Berkshire above) mentioned the similar ballad, "The Oxfordshire Tragedy; or, The Virgin's Advice" (Rosanna's Overthrow) in his introduction to Berkshire-- yet centuries after the ballad appeared and thousands of miles away-- an analogue of the ending of "The Oxfordshire Tragedy" is reported in Ohio by Betty Mace. According to Ebsworth "The Oxfordshire Tragedy" was written about the same time as The Berkshire Tragedy and was sung to the same tune. At the end (stanza 46) of part II of "The Oxfordshire Tragedy" an eternally-flowering rose grows over the murdered sweetheart's grave-- the crime is discovered and the murderer identified when the plant withers and dies after he picks a flower[109] from the rose bush. Compare "The Oxfordshire Tragedy" ending that reveals the murderer to the legend as told by Betty Mace in Mary Eddy's, "Ballads and Songs from Ohio," 1939:
"Mrs. Betty Mace, of Perrysville, Ohio, tells the following story as a sequel to the above song. Not long after the murder, a hunter found the new mound, and on it was growing a wonderful flower. He gathered it for his wife, and was surprised to see another blossom at once take its place. He pulled it, too, and a third flower at once appeared. When this story became known, people went to the scene. The murderer was asked to go, too, but declined on the ground of illness. His friends insisted, however, and he at length went with them to the grave in the wood. After each had gathered one of the mysterious flowers, the murderer broke one off. At once the plant withered and died."
Neither Eddy, nor her contemporaries who knew "Ballads and Songs from Ohio" discovered the source of this amazing "sequel" which is given to you now.
The Tristan da Cunha Variants
Two versions of the ballad have been found in a remote island in the south Atlantic Ocean named Tristan da Cunha. They were written down during the Norwegian scientific expedition to the island in 1938-9, by Peter Munch, who was the sociologist. On the Island they are named "Maria Martini" but are versions of our Berkshire ballad. The island became a British colony in 1816 and the ballad would have been brought to the Island after this. These Wexford variants are of the mid-1800s English tradition and have some text similar to, or based on, the c.1820 "Cruel Miller" (for example "Wexford," "blood of the innocent" and "master's house"). Both ballads are found in The Song Tradition of Tristan da Cunha, 1979. They were written down during the Norwegian scientific expedition to the island in 1938-9 by Peter Munch, who was the sociologist.
A. Maria Martini (Waxford Girl) as sung by by Frances Repetto.
1. I once did courted a waxford girl
with dark and roaming eyes.
Oh, the girl that I had courted
with dark and roaming eyes.
2. I went down to her father's house
about eight o'clock at night.
And asked her for to take a walk
across King William's Town.
3. I picked a stick from the riverside,
and I tap her on the head,
While the blood from this young innocent
went a-streaming on the ground.
4. Down on her bending knees she fell
and loud for mercy call,
Saying, "John, my dear, don't murder me,
for I'm not fit to die."
5. I take hold of her curly locks,
and I drag her cross the field,
Until I came to a riverside,
and there I threwed her in.
6. And I going down to my master's house
about ten o'clock at night.
My master being out of bed,
a-striking of the 'larm.
7. My master he asked me a request,
what had soil my hands and clothes;
I gave him an answer that I thought fit:
"I'm a-bleeding at the nose."
8. I take hold of the candle,
myself I lights to bed,
While the blazing flames of torment
around my eyes did shine.
9. I take hold of the candle,
myself I lights to bed,
But all that blessed long night
my true love she laid dead.
10. Not less than three days after,
my true love she was found
A-floating on a river
close by her sister's door.
11. Then I was taken on suspicion
and into prison was cast
For the murder of my own true love,
so 1 must die at last.
12. Come all you young and silly young men,
Take warning unto this,
And never do no murder
for to be hung like me.
B. Maria Martini (Waxen Girl) as sung by Lily Green; c. 1938
1. I have courted a waxen girl
with the dark and roving eye,
The girl that I have courted
with the dark and roving eye.
2. He came to my master's house
at eight o'clock one night,
And asked me to take a walk
through green and mellow fields.
3. And as we were a-walking,
he stopped to talk a while.
And he pulled a stick out of the hedge
and tapped her on the side.
4. Then on her bendening knees she fell.
crying, "Mercy, Lord, on me!"
Saying, "John, my dear, don't murder me,
for I'm not fit to die."
5. The blood from this young damsel's side
come streaming on the ground,
Oh, the blood from this young damsel's side
come a-streaming on the ground.
6. He took her by the curly head
and drew her over the field
Till he came by the riverside,
and there he threw her in.
7. My master being out of bed
and striking of a light,
My master being out of bed
at ten o'clock at night.
8. He asked me and questioned me,
what soiled my hand and clothes,
I gave him an answer I thought fit:
"I am bleeding from the nose."
9. And all the blessed long night through
the flames round my head,
And all the blessed long night through
the burning flames round my head.
10. Nine days after, this young damsel's body
came a-floating down,
Came a-floating pass her sister's house,
and that is the way she was found.
11. They took me up on [suspicion]
and into prison I was cast,
And there I stayed till I was tried
and now to be hung at last.
12. Come all you faithful sailor boys,
come take a warning from me,
And don't you do no murder
and now to be hung at last.
Waco Girl and the Ballad in the Southwest
In 1960 John Q. Anderson published an article, "The Waco Girl": Another Variant of a British Broadside Ballad" in Western Folklore, about a different version of our murder ballad. It is the ballad named "Waco Girl" which is a derivative of the Standard "Oxford Girl" Reduction. Anderson offers anecdotal evidence obtained from his sister and Aunt that a version of the ballad with the Waco Girl title was sung in the early 1900s in Oklahoma and Texas. Other early versions were also found: Alan Lomax recorded a version in Louisiana in 1934 and a version was collected in a California migrant camp in 1938 and recorded in 1940. Anderson (1941-1970) was president of the Texas Folklore Society and sang the family version at meetings. His version was recorded in 1960 in this collection: A treasury of field recordings. vol. 2 : regional and personalised [sic] song. Although Anderson did not understand the lineage of the ballad, he provided two new versions of The Waco Girl in his article.
The texts of all four extant versions of Waco Girl are in my collection-- the 1929 recording of "Waco Girl" by Herman Thacker for Victor was never issued and I'm sure was lost during the Great Depression. Here's the text of one version:
Waco Girl - sung by Fred Ross, Arvin, Calif., FSA Camp, on August 1, 1940. Learned from a migrant girl named Dorothy Ledford at Indio Camp in 1938.
It was down around bout Waco town
I used to live and dwell;
It was down around bout Waco town
I owned a flourin' mill.
I fell in love with a Waco girl
With dark and rolling eyes,
I asked her would she marry me
And me she would despise.
I called on her sister's house
At eight o'clock one night
I asked her if she'd walk with me
And view the meadows so bright.
We walked along and we talked along
'Till we came to the level ground,
I picking up a stick of hedge wood
I stoked that fair maid down.
And down she fell on her bending knees
"O mercy me," she cried;
"O Willie, my dear, don't murder me here;
I'm not prepared to die."
I paid no attention to what she said,
But stoked her as before
I stroked her 'till the ground around
Was covered in her gore.
Then picking her up by the yellow hair
I swung her round and round
And drug her to the waterside,
And threw her in to drown.
I went back to my mother's house
At twelve o'clock that night,
My mother was awoken
And in an awful fright.
"O son, O son what have you done
To dirty your hands and clothes?"
The answer that I gave her
Was bleeding at the nose.
I called out for a handkerchief
To bind my weary head.
And also for a candle
To light me off to bed.
I kicked, I rolled and I tumbled down,
No mercy could I find;
The fires of hell around me
Right in my eyes did shine.
'Bout three weeks or later
The Waco girl was found
A-floating down the waters
Which ran through Waco town.
They taken me on suspicion
They locked me up in jail;
I had no one to comfort me,
No one to go my bail.
Her sister swore against me,
She swore my life away,
She swore I was the very young lad
That'd taken her sister away.
O Lord, they're going to hang me;
It is the day to die;
O Lord, they're going to hang me
Between the earth and sky.
This version uses the standard Oxford Reduction text. The ending is also found in other reductions including the traditional Knoxville Girl. Anderson says[110], "I am sure that the singers of the ballad in the Texas Panhandle accepted it as an account of an actual murder in Waco, Texas." Located on the Chisholm Trail, the "Waco Village" was formed in 1849 and incorporated in 1856. It seems likely that a version titled "Oxford" or possibly "Wexford" was renamed "Waco" and another localized version was formed. Since these versions originated in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana and California, the Waco title is a mystery. Only Herman Thacker's unissued 1929 recording was from Texas.
The ballad, usually under the Oxford Girl or Export/Expert Girl titles, was very popular in the Southwest with over 50 versions collected. Randolph found over a dozen version in Missouri and Arkansas. His wife Mary Celestia Parler and other Ozark collectors rounded up 20 more versions that can be viewed and heard at the Ozark Folksong Collection online. The John Quincy Wolf Collection and The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection both have a number of versions. According to William Owens the ballad was well known in Texas and he gives a version from his childhood in Texas Folk Songs.
The Standard Oxford Reduction, however, is not the only ballad reduction found in the southwest. One the oldest reported versions, learned in Texas about 1890, came originally from Kentucky, and it resembles the North Carolina versions of The Lexington Murder:
The Old Mill- as sung by Mr. Lair to his daughter in Texas about 1890.
1 In a lonely spot by an old, old mill,
I spied a pretty fair maid;
The devil brought it in my mind
To take her life away.
The Lexington Reduction has also been found in the mid-west. Many of the Western and Ozark versions are varied and some feature unusual melodies in minor keys (see: Parler and Hunter Collections).
The Motive
The motive is established first by A, The Bloody Miller broadside of 1684. Then, B, Berkshire uses the same basic motive: John, a miller's apprentice, murders his pregnant lover to avoid marrying her and caring for their child. The older print reductions C, Wexford Tragedy and D, Cruel Miller continue this motive with variation. In The Cruel Miller, for example, he doesn't want to marry her because he, "was ashamed to marry her being so young a man"-- probably the flimsiest excuse in all balladry! Although rare, the pregnancy motive is found in some of the early traditional reductions including Worchester Tragedy(Canada), The Butcher Boy(Kininmonth, Scotland) Whittenham Miller(Tennessee) Oxfordshire Lass(Kentucky) and Lexington Girl(Ohio).
The motive is two parts: the marriage agreement (if with me she will lie) and pregnancy. The original marriage agreement is rare and various lines have been created which rhyme with "eye" that remove the obvious sexual connotation of "with me lie." One standard replacement is "My wishes she'll comply;" another is "If me she won't deny." Both substitutions effectively imply the overt sexual agreement with actually saying he will marry her if she sleeps(lies) with him. The pregnancy is rarely found in alter reductions.
The cause of the perpetrator's act of murder is-- the devil. In the Berkshire and Lexington Reductions the devil persuades him to kill her:
9 About a month since Christmas last,
oh! cursed be the day,
The devil then did me persuade,
to take her life away.
This stanza is found nearly exactly in the North Carolina version titled, Bloody Miller (not A), and is in most Lexington Murder versions when the time the devil comes is "last Saturday." The message is clear: the miller's apprentice is not to blame-- the devil made him do it. By implying the murderer was not responsible for his actions, he could be absolved from his crime. At least there is the possibility of sympathy for his horrific deed.
The change or removal of the marriage agreement and pregnancy has been standard in most reductions worldwide. The result is a violent unprovoked murder of a helpless girl by her lover for no apparent reason. This is particularly disturbing in the "Tanner" commercial recordings made in the US beginning in 1925 which are still popular today. In these versions he attacks her in the first two stanzas:
I met a little girl in Knoxville
A town you all know well
And every Sunday evening
Out in her home I’d dwell
We went to take an evening walk
About a mile from town;
I picked a stick up from the ground
I knocked that fair girl down.
In order to provide some reason for the murder, a few different "motive" stanzas have been recreated:
One version, The Jealous Lover sung by Miss Ruby Vass, with guitar, Fancy Gap, Virginia, June 20, 1959, blames the murder on jealously- which, mentioned only once (below), is not further supported in the text. It begins;
Come all you young lovers and listen to me,
A story to you I wilt tell;
How a jealous thought came into my mind
To murder a beautiful belle.
Another motive-- although rare-- is the implied refusal of the girl to marry him as found in The Banks of the Ohio. This is found in "The Knoxville Girl" sung by J.F. "Farmer" Collett of Marrowbone Creek; Gardner, KY:
I fell in love with a Knoxville girl,
With a dark and rolling eye
Thought I'd see if she would marry me
And she-- never replied.
The most common "alternative motive" is: he meets another girl and he, sometimes under the devil's influence, decides to kill his first love[111]:
2. And there I saw a pretty fair maid;
She pleased me in my mind.
I promised her I would marry her
If with me she would comply.
3. At length I saw another one
That pleased me fully as well;
The devil put it in my head
My first true-love to kill.
American Variants "Noel Girl" Lexington Reduction
Ta, The Noel Girl, was sung by Eva Shockley of Missouri in 1928. According to Randolph (1947), her ballad, an example of the Lexington Reduction, was sung about another murder: the murder of Lula Noel of Mcdonald County, Missouri in 1892. Randolph states, "Mrs. Shockley insists that this piece is called "The Noel Girl," and has never doubted that it referred to the murder of Lula Noel[112]." Randolph also lists all his versions under this title. I have listed just one since the text of the ballad was not changed in any way and Noel and the murder details are not part of the text. I've renamed his remaining versions by creating local titles. The versions are different types of reductions (Oxford/Expert/Lexington etc.). For more information about the Noel Murder see the headnotes for the US & Canada Versions.
Influence of Berkshire
Berkshire has been used for and associated with a number of murder ballads. In the United States, there are two murders that have borrowed a Berkshire reduction text to create a murder ballad: "The Noel Girl" in Missouri and "Nellie Cropsey" in North Carolina. In Canada there are also two: "The Moncton Tragedy" and “Benjamin Deane” which are loosely styled after the New Brunswick "Wexford" versions. The Canada versions are recreations and completely rewritten. There may be other murders still unknown that have used or modeled the Berkshire texts-- like the murder reported by Randolph in Tennessee that used the Expert Girl[113]. Of the many similar murder ballads, Berkshire clearly influenced one in the United States titled, "The Banks of the Ohio." Also known by an early title, "Banks of the Old Peedee," this American murder ballad has occasionally been grouped with Berkshire variants because the opening verse has been borrowed from a Berkshire variant stanza:
I asked my love, to take a walk,
Just a walk, a little ways;
And as we walked along we talked,
All about our wedding day. [Banks of the Ohio; standard opening stanza]
In "The Banks of the Ohio" the murder is done with a knife much as in the Scottish "Butcher Boy." The motive for murder, however, is different: he kills her because she refuses to marry him. "Banks" features an original chorus repeated after every stanza. "The Banks of the Ohio" is clearly fashioned after the American Berkshire reductions and could be be listed as an appendix.
In England several short ballads of the Distressed Maid/ Lily White Hand variety have been recorded from the same family and titled The Wexford Murder. The appropriate local title probably should be "Misfit Girl." The oldest recording is from Bill House, born in 1900 from Beaminster, Dorset, England, UK. The Item Notes are: Fragment, sung twice. from Mr Budlugh[?]. Roud Folk Song Index No. 1412. Laws Ballad No. P38. Performer notes: Retired hurdlemaker and thatcher.
[Misfit Girl]
My lover was a misfit girl,
I found she used to stray
With other men it is enough
That she's no use to me.
I took her by the lily-white hand
I kissed both check and chin
I took her down by the river side
And there I tossed her in.
There goes my love my own true love,
Floating away by the tide,
Instead of her being some breathless corpse,
She ought to have been my bride.
The last two stanzas are found similarly in four versions of the Berkshire tradition-- two in England and two in the US. According to Tom Pettitt[114], "The other two stanzas are from Roud 564, 'The Old Riverside,' some versions of which qualify as murdered sweetheart ballads (while in others he just ditches her and/or she throws herself into the river)." Roud 564 includes "The Distressed Maid," "Dublin Tragedy," and "Lily-White Hand" titles.
The single line, "I took her by the lily-white hand," is found in a large number of Berkshire versions. The last two lines of Misfit Girl are part of the Berkshire broadside and are also found a number of times in the Standard Wexford Reductions. The Misfit Girl fragment and "Banks of The Ohio" may be added as an Appendix at a later date.
One other American murder ballad has also shown a resemblance to the Berkshire reductions. It has also been suggested by Anne Gilchrist that "Omie Wise" (referring to a version titled, Poor Omie, which was collected by Sharp in North Carolina) has been modeled after a Berkshire reduction. Gilchrist commented[115] in a JAF article that Poor Omie is "possibly an American version of the same tale."
Another example of borrowing has occurred in some Berkshire reductions: the first stanza with "tender parents" has cross-fertilized with "The Girl/Maid I Left Behind Me" [Laws P1; Roud #4497]. In the Wexford Lass found in New Brunswick, the complete first stanza has consistently been borrowed from "The Girl I Left Behind Me." The Wexford Reductions that mention "farmer" and "his daughter" in the opening have also blended with "Girl I Left Behind Me." It may be argued that since Berkshire is older than the "Girl I Left" broadside, the Berkshire opening with "tender parents" may have been adapted to form "Girl" but clearly the first line, opening stanza and the "farmer" text are the only shared text.
Wexford Lass (New Brunswick tradition)
I was born in Boston,
but not of a high degree;
My parents reared me tenderly,
they had no child but me. [sung by Marie Hare of Strathadam, New Brunswick, Canada, 1964]
Conclusions:
Whether A, The Bloody Miller, a broadside of 1684, should be part of the descent chart is debatable since it is a different ballad. Early music researcher Bruce Olson and others following his example (for example, writer Paul Slade) felt Bloody Miller was a predecessor of Berkshire. There are similarities. Although it is possible that Berkshire was based on the theme of The Bloody Miller, Berkshire has been completely rewritten. In my opinion the 1684 Bloody Miller is therefore not related to any of the Berkshire reductions. Plot details and textual similarities are therefore coincidental and have occurred because both ballads describe similar murders. It does not follow then that the Bloody Miller is close to Knoxville Girl:
Bloody Miller> Berkshire broadside> a Berkshire reduction> Knoxville Girl
This line of descent does not work. Other similarities to Bloody Miller may be coincidental. The use of the knife for the murder in A is also found in E, the Scottish traditional versions. Whether the knife in the Scottish versions come from A is unknown but the similarity appears to be coincidental. A does have many similarities with B and it is possible The Bloody Miller could have been the originator of The Berkshire Tragedy although rewritten and used for a different murder. Whether The Bloody Miller was used as a basis for Berkshire is conjecture but because it is possible the information should be included and considered. Additional titles of Berkshire variants titled "Bloody Miller" appear to also be coincidental. If The Bloody Miller is used-- the descent should appear as so:
The Bloody Miller (1684)> THE BERKSHIRE TRAGEDY (Early 1700s)
No line of descent follows from the Bloody Miller to the Berkshire reductions. From the 44-stanza Berkshire broadside, print and traditional reductions were created. Since the four main reductions have been consistent, it's an indication that they were printed. I'm giving the approximate date of the original creation of these reductions as 1760 for the early reductions and as late as 1805 for the later reductions (Standard Wexford/Standard Oxford). It should be assumed however that the reductions started taking place shortly after the Berkshire broadside was printed and became popular. The print date of c.1700 by Ebsworth and the similar date attached to one broadside print in the Bodleian Library are both speculative and not verified. In the ballad text John, the murderer, places an ad in the Post Boy newspaper which was in circulation under that exact title from 1695 until 1728. Because Google Books gives an early printing date of 1720, a date of circa 1700-1720 seems to be appropriate.
Some of the early reductions are proven to exist by older traditional texts from North America[116], the chapbook print "Wexford Tragedy," the various Cruel Miller broadsides(England) and the Lexington Miller broadside(Boston). Additional early reductions were assumed to have been printed (see: Laws) but have since disappeared[117]. A similar instance is the missing original print of "The Bramble Briar" which has not yet been found.
The four main reductions or traditions of Berkshire are: 1) The Lexington tradition 2) The Wexford tradition 3) The Butcher Boy tradition 4) The Berkshire (Oxford) tradition. These traditions, which are based on unknown early print recreations, appear throughout this study as The Oxford or Berkshire Reduction, The Lexington Reduction, The Wexford Reduction and The Butcher Boy Reduction. Since more than one reduction of each of the four main types was made---the word reduction, although singular, should be considered to be also plural (reductions). Its plural use follows.
The Lexington Reductions are identified with The Lexington Murder and the broadside Lexington Miller and are American. The Oxford or Berkshire Reductions are identified with the archaic English reductions and the later reduction, the "Standard Oxford Girl," which is English and American. The Wexford Reductions are identified with the archaic missing Irish reduction and The Wexford Tragedy (chapbook print) as well as the Worcester Tragedy (Canadian) reduction and are Irish. The later "standard" Wexford Girl reductions are Irish-American, Irish-Scottish (Findlater) and Irish-English. The chapbook print "Wexford tragedy" is an intermediate reduction taken from oral tradition and represents some the missing Wexford tradition (Irish). The Butcher Boy Reductions are Scottish and also Scottish-Irish through the shared "handkerchief" stanza.
The English tradition by the mid to late 1800s was influenced by The Cruel Miller. Since the English and Irish traditions are more modern recreations (late 1800s, early 1900s) influenced by The Cruel Miller they have been grouped in this study by location (England, Ireland) instead of by the four main reductions. The only extant versions of the archaic Berkshire/Oxford Reduction have been discovered in America so the shortened versions of the English tradition would be formed by the largely unknown archaic Berkshire/Oxford Reduction[118], the later the Cruel Miller reduction (1820s) and other reductions and sources from the UK. The Lexington Reduction is American and would not have been an influence on these English traditional versions of the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The standard Wexford Girl (mainly found in United States, Canada, and New England) Reduction has a stanza in common with The Butcher Boy (Scotland) through the handkerchief stanza and other details. This suggests a common ancestor in the past.
Here is the line of descent from Berkshire showing the four main reductions:
THE BERKSHIRE TRAGEDY (Early 1700s)>
Oxford Girl (archaic Berkshire reduction)-- The Lexington Murder -- The Wexford Girl-- The Butcher Boy
Of the four main reductions (above) three print versions were made in the early 1800s. From The Wexford Reduction came the Wexford Tragedy chapbook print in 1818. From the Berkshire Tragedy/Oxford Reduction with text from the Wexford Reduction and other sources came The Cruel Miller broadsides by 1820. From the Berkshire Tragedy reduction and the Lexington Reduction (Lexington Murder) came The Lexington Miller in 1829. These print versions represent intermediate reductions.
The print versions show some cross-pollination between the reductions since the original Berkshire broadside may have been used for the print recreation. The Cruel Miller has borrowed from Berkshire but includes the Wexford text of the "black (dark) and rolling eye[s]" and the city name "Wexford." Nineteen stanzas of the original Berkshire text with four stanzas from The Lexington reduction (Lexington Murder) were used to create the broadside, The Lexington Miller about 1829. This descent shows the print sources:
The Wexford Girl> Wexford Tragedy (Archaic) 1818
Oxford (original Berkshire) Reduction> Wexford Girl> Cruel Miller c.1820
The Lexington Murder> Lexington Miller c.1829
Additionally there are a number of older traditional versions that represent early reductions that came from early unknown print reductions:
The Wexford Girl> Worcester Tragedy (Newfoundland)
Archaic Oxford (original Berkshire) Reduction> Whittenham Miller (Tennessee); Oxfordshire Girl (Kentucky); Bloody Miller (North Carolina).
Lexington Murder> Lexington Girl (Ohio);
From the archaic Wexford Girl (Irish) came the later North American standard reductions of The Wexford Girl (Canada; New England; US/America) which are and similar to, or used for, The Standard Oxford Girl (US/America); The Knoxville Girl (US/America); The Wexford Lass (New Brunswick); The Export/Expert Girl (US/America) and other titles. So:
The Archaic Wexford Reduction (Irish)> The Standard Wexford Girl (Canadian; New England; US/American)> The Wexford Lass (New Brunswick); and a few other titles.
The Cruel Miller was written from The Berkshire Reduction and borrowed text from the archaic Wexford reduction(s) and other sources. In turn, tradition in the UK borrowed back from The Cruel Miller by the mid to late 1800s. The influence may be seen in many of the versions from English tradition (Miller's Apprentice) which still have retained traces of an earlier tradition before The Cruel Miller.
Berkshire and Wexford Reductions> Cruel Miller> English tradition (late 1800s)
Berkshire/Whittingham Miller and Wexford tradition> Scottish tradition (late 1800s)
The influence of Cruel Miller broadsides of about 1815-1820 is not found in American versions which, in general, were brought to North America before it was printed in England.
The Irish tradition is not well documented but it is of the Wexford tradition. One stanza of the ballad was given by Petrie in 1837 and two traditional versions have been collected. The 1837 stanza proves an early tradition. A number of ballads that were collected from Irish emigrants in the US and Canada are of the Wexford tradition. Additional American titles in general conform to the two fundamental English-Irish ballad types Wexford Girl and Lexington Murder.
Additional titles in North America are derived from standard reductions:
Standard Wexford Reduction-- Standard Oxford Reduction>
Knoxville Girl-- Expert/Exporl Girl> Waco Girl-- Noel Girl
Lexington Reduction> Flora Dean--Nellie Cropsey
It should be noted that Flora Dean although it has some affinity with the Lexington Reduction, is a unique reduction and is independent of the four reductions.
* * * *
The Six Traditional Ur-ballad Reductions
Ur-ballads represent the complete or ideal original ballad which is usually unknown. To replicate the six ur-ballad reductions, composite ballads have been constructed out of known traditional texts. There are also three print reductions that can also be used. Ideally the ur-ballad represents the original ballad at creation before corruption from oral circulation. Listed in chronological order from the oldest, six possible reductions are: Oxford (archaic), Wexford (archaic), Wexford (standard), Lexington, Butcher Boy, and Oxford (standard). From the first reduction Oxford (archaic) sprang the other reductions: when the Oxford Reduction (archaic) was taken to Ireland, it became the Wexford reduction; when the Oxford Reduction (archaic) was taken to America it became the Lexington Reduction; &c.
The Oxford Reduction (archaic)- is the first reduction and derived exactly as found in the archaic ballads collected in the United States, that prove the existence of the reduction. Footnotes appear immediately after this composite text and aren't part of the footnotes found in body of the headnotes. Main texts: "Wittenham Miller" sung by Pollyanna Harmon, collected in Tennessee in 1930 learned in North Carolina before 1880. "The Oxfordshire Lass" sung by Jason Ritchie as learned from the Williams family in Knott County, Kentucky by the 1950s. "Lexington Girl" sung by Mary Boney of Perrysville, Ohio collected by Eddy probably in the 1920s. Stanza 7 was taken from "The Bloody Miller" by I. G. Greer. The last two stanzas from "The Oxfordshire Lass" correspond to stanzas 42 and 44 of Berkshire.
1. My parents raised me tenderly
And provided for me well,
It was in the town of Wittenham[1],
They placed me in a mill.
2. Twas there I met an Oxford lass
I cast my wanton eye,
I told her I would marry her
If she with me would lie.
3. To the world I reflected[2]
With sorrow, grief, and woe,
This folly brought us in snare
Which caused my overthrow."
4. A very few weeks and afterwards
Here came that lass again:
"I pray you, young John, you'd marry me;
You've got me with a child."
5. So early the next Monday,
As you may understand,
Her mother wanted me to marry her
A-Saturday off-hand.
6. Perplexed was I on every side;
No comfort I could find
But to take my darling's life from her
My wicked heart inclined.
7. One month ago since Christmas last,
That most unhappy day,
The devil, he persuaded me
To take her life away.
8. I went unto her sister's house,
At eight o'clock at night,
Poor creature little did she think
I owed her any spite.
9. I told her we would take a walk
But a little ways,
That her and I might well agree
Upon the wedding day.
10. I then deluded her away
To some convenient place;
I drew a stake all out of the fence,
And struck her across the face.
11. She fell upon her bended knees,
"For mercy's sake," she cried,
"For heaven's sake don't murder me,
For I'm not fit to die."
12. No mercy on her I did show
but wounded her full sore,
O there I put my love to death
whom I cannot restore.
13. Then I took her by the hair
To cover up my sin.
I dragged her down to the river side,
And there I plunged her in.
14. I then returned unto my mill
Like one who was amazed.
The miller he stepped up to me,
And on me he did gaze.
15. "What's the matter, young Johnny?" he says,
"You look as pale as death.
"You look like you've been running
And almost spent for breath."
16. Saying "What's this blood upon your hands,
likewise upon your clothes?"
I answered him immediately[3],
"A- bleeding from my nose."
17. I taken the candle right out of his hand,
Expecting to take a rest
It seemed as if the flames of hell
Were burning at my breast.
18. The very next morning by daylight
My wickedness to blind[4],
Ten guineas I offered any man,
This damsel they would find.
19. The very next morning by sunrise,
This damsel she were found,
Floating by her brother's door
In Harry Fairy Town.
20. Her sister swore against me,
She said she had no doubt,
She swore she thought I murdered her,
By me calling of her out.
21. O Lord, give me a praying heart
and time for to repent,
I soon will leave this wicked world,
so shamefully I am sent.
22. Lord wash, my sins and guilt away,
they are of the darkest fold;
O lord from heaven look down on me,
and Christ receive my soul.
1. originally "Wickedness" --Ritchie's version has "Oxfordshire" which also could be used. This name similarly appears in the version given by Ebsworth found in Roxburghe Ballads (see above near the beginning of the headnotes).
2. Reconstructed from the broadside- this stanza only appears in Mary Boney's version and is very corrupt.
3. Written "immediate-lie" in Harmon's version.
4. Reconstructed- this stanza only appears in the Harmon version, the second line was the same as the third so I substituted the original broadside text for the second line.
Wexford Tragedy, or, The Wexford (archaic) Reduction
There are only two extant archaic versions: "Wexford Tragedy" from 1818 chapbook and "Worcester Tragedy" from Newfoundland. I have dated this reduction in the late 1700s- early 1800s. It's likely that both "archaic" versions are based on an earlier missing Irish print. The last stanzas (9-17) of Wexford Tragedy appear to have been copied from another print as they change from the first person narrative. Tow additional ending stanzas may be taken from the Standard Wexford texts which I have not done- since this appears to be a later addition.
1. My parents rear'd me tenderly,
Endeavouring for me still,
And in the town of Wittham[1]
They brought me to a mill.
2. Where there I spied a Wexford girl,
That had a black and a rolling eye,
And I offered to marry her
If she would with me lie.
3. In six months after this,
This maid grew big with child,
Marry me, dear Johnny,
As you did me beguile.
4. I promised to marry her,
As she was big with child:
But little did this fair maid know
Her life I would beguile.
5. I took her from her sister's door,
At 8 o'clock at night,
But little did this fair maid know,
I her bore any spite.
6. I invited her to take a walk
To the fields a little way,
That we might conclude a while
And appoint a wedding day.
7. But as we were discoursing
Satan did me surround
I pulled a stick out of the hedge,
And knocked this fair maid down.
8. Down on bended knees she fell,
And for mercy she did cry;
I'm innocent, don't murder me,
For I'm not prepared to die.
9. I took her by the yellow hair
And dragged her along,
And threw her in the river,
That ran both deep and strong.
10. All in the blood of innocence
My hands and clothes were dyed
I was stained with the purple gore
Of my intended bride.
11. Then returning to my mother's[2] door,
At 12 o'clock at night
But little did my mother think
How I had spent the night.
12. "Come tell me dear Johnny
What dyed your hands and clothes?"
The answer I made her was,
"Bleeding at the nose."
13. I called for a candle
To light myself to bed,
And all the whole night over,
The damsel she lay dead.
14 And now with the blood of innocence
My hands and clothes are dyed,
Instead of being a breathless corpse
I wish she were my bride.
15. And all the whole night over,
Peace nor rest I could find,
For the burning flames of torment,
Before my breast did shine.
16 In three days after,
This fair maid she was missed,
I was taken up on suspicion,
And into jail was cast.
17. Her sister swore away my life,
Without either fear or doubt,
Her sister swore away my life,
Because I called her out.
18. In six weeks after that,
This fair maid was found,
Coming floating to her brother's door
That lived in Wexford town.
19. When I was taken prisoner
Both judge and jury agreed
For murdering of this fair maid
That hangèd I must be[3].
1. originally "Wagan"
2. Worcester has "master" in both places which may be an improvement.
3. The last stanza was taken from Worcester which agrees with some later (1900s) English traditional versions. See the "Standard" Wexford Reduction for a different two stanza Wexford ending.
The Lexington Murder
The Lexington ur-ballad is made up of one "archaic" version, "Lexington Girl" from Mrs. Mary Boney, Perrysville, Ohio as well as The Lexington Tragedy as sung by Alonzo Lewis at York, Maine and the various Lexington Murder/Bloody Miller ballads which I have dated as originally pre-1800. No extant versions have "the pregnancy stanza" and only two have the implied pregnancy "folly brought us into a snare/ And proved our overthrow" which is also in the original Berkshire broadside and The Lexington Miller.
1. My tender parents brought me up,
Provided for me well,
And in the town of Lexington,
Employed me in a mill.
2. There I spied a pretty fair maid,
And I cast a wanton eye;
I told her I would marry her
If she with me would lie.
3. I courted her about six months,
Which caused us pain and woe,
When folly brought us into a snare,
And proved our overthrow.
4. So early the next Monday,
As you may understand,
Her mother wanted me to marry her
A-Saturday off-hand.
5. Last Saturday night three weeks ago,
O curs-ed be that day;
The devil put it in my head
To take her life away.
6. I went unto her sister's house
About eight o'clock at night;
But little did the poor creature think,
I owed her any spite.
7. I told her we would take a walk
But just a little way,
That she and I might well agree
Upon the wedding day.
8. I then deluded her away
To a lonely desert place;
I drew a stake all out of the fence,
And struck her across the face.
9. She fell upon her bended knee
And loud for mercy cried:
"For Heaven's sake don't murder me!
Fm unprepared to die."
9. I never minded a word she said,
But pelted her the more,
Until I saw the innocent blood
That I could not restore.
10. I ran my hands through her cold black hair[1]
And I tried to cover my sin,
I drug her to the river's bank
And there I plunged her in.
11. Returning to my mill again,
Like one that was amazed;
The miller being at the door,
And strictly on me gazed.
12. "How come on this warm night[2],
You look as pale as death;
Where have you been running,
That put you out of breath?"
13. "Where have you been, Johnny," he said,
What has dyed your hands and clothes?"
I answered him immediately[3],
"Take a-bleeding at the nose.""
14. I lit my candle and went to bed
Expecting to take a rest
It seemed as if the flames of hell
Were burning at my breast.
15. The next morning she was searched for
And was not to be found,
And I was apprehended
And in my chamber bound.
16. Her sister swore her life against me,
Without doubt or fear,
Saying I was the last man
That conveyed her sister out.
17. Then back to Lexington,
Where first I drawed my breath,
And by my own confession
Condemned me there to death.
18. Young men, a warning take,
And to the girls prove true,
And never let the devil get,
The uppermost hand of you.
1. This is a more modern adaptation and is unclear in its meaning. He is dragging her to the river by the hair to throw her and hide the body in the water where presumably it won't be found. By hiding the body, he is covering up his sin (murder).
2. This replaces the standard corruption, "I met my servant John" stanza.
3. Sung "immediate-lie"
The "Standard" Wexford Reduction- This is the standard text (intermediate reduction) found in North America with a two stanza ending-- a number of traditional versions have these stanzas so there's no need for adding stanzas from other versions to make a composite- I've changed a line or two. The standard version's first stanza end: " 'Twas in the town of Waxford/I owned a flour mill" and it has the handkerchief stanza. There is an archaic version that is represented by two texts, C, "The Wexford Tragedy" from a chapbook, dated 1818, and also the traditional "The Worcester Tragedy" collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1959 from Mrs Charlotte Decker of Parson's Pond, Newfoundland. The first two stanzas of the standard text are sometimes corrupted with the opening of "Girl I Left Behind Me" a variation not included here. I've made the composite from these outstanding texts: "Waxford Girl," as sung by John Galusha of Minerva, New York, 1941 and "Wexford Gal" from Long Tom in Wisconsin before1901 as published by F. Dublin and "Waxford Girl" sung by Lily Delorme of Hardscrabble, Cadyville (NY) on June 18, 1942.
1. 'Twas in the town of Wicklow,
Where I did live and dwell;
'Twas in the town of Wexford
I owned a flour mill.
2. I fell in love with a Wexford girl
With a dark and rolling eye;
I asked her for to be my wife,
My wishes to comply.
3. I went down to her mother's house
About eight o'clock that night,
I asked her to walk out with me
Our wedding day to appoint[1].
4. We walked along and talked along
Till we came to level ground,
When from the hedge I drew a stake
And knocked this fair one down.
5. She fell all onto her bended knees,
for mercy she did cry.
"O Willie, do not kill me here
for I'm not prepared to die!"
6. I heeded not one word she said
but I beat her all the more,
Until the ground around her
was covered o'er with gore.
7. Then I took her by the yellow locks
and dragged her o'er the ground,
And threw her into the water
that runs through Waxford town.
8. Lie there, lie there, you Waxford girl
who thought to be my bride?
Lie there, lie there, you Waxford girl,
To me you'll never be tied.
9. Returning home that evening
About twelve o'clock at night,
My mother being nervous,
She woke all in a fright.
10. Saying, "Son, dear son, what have you done
To bloody your hands and clothes?"
And the answer that I made her
Was bleeding at the nose.
11. I called for a candle
to light myself to bed,
Likewise for a handkerchief
to tie my aching head.
12. I rolled and I tumbled,
No comfort could I find,
For the flames of hell was around me
And before my eyes did shine.
13. About three days after,
this fair one she was found,
A-floating in the river
that runs through Wicklow town.
14. And everyone who saw her said
she was a beauty bride,
Fit for any nobleman,
or any lord or knight.
15. I was taken on suspicion,
locked up in Wicklow jail.
There was none to intercede for me,
no one to go my bail.
16. Her sister swore my life away
without either fear or doubt,
She swore I was the same young man
who took her sister out.
17. Come. all you false true-lovers,
a warning take by me,
Don't never treat your own true love
to such severity.
18. For if you do, you sure will rue,
and be the same as I,
For hanged you'll be all on the tree,
and a murderer you will die.
1. sung "p'int" to rhyme with night.
"The Butcher Boy" Ur-Ballad
The foundation of this Scottish ur-ballad is a compilation by Gavin Greig found in his article, Folk-Song of the North-East; (article 137) which I've dated about August 1910. Other text comes from a number of full versions collected by Greig and the later recordings by Jeannie Robertson, John Arco and others. Unusual is the knife as the murder weapon, the girl's name of Mary or Mary Ann, and the beginning and ending stanzas.
1. My parents gave me good learning,
Good learning they gave unto me,
They sent me to a butcher's shop,
A butcher's boy to be.
2. I fell in love with a nice young girl,
She'd a dark and rolling eye;
I promised for to marry her
If she would with me lie[1].
3. This fair maid being with child by me,
Upon me she did cry,
"O Willie dear, you'll marry me,
Or else for you I'll die."
4. "To marry you, to marry you,
I never intended to do,
Go home and tell your parents dear
To do their best for you."
5. "To go home and tell my parents dear
Would bring them to distress,
I would rather go and run myself,
In some dark lonely place."
6. I went unto her mother's house,
'Twixt the hours of eight and nine,
And asked if she would take a walk
Down by yon river side.
7. Down by yon river side she said
Down by yon river side,
That we may walk and we may talk,
Down by yon river side.
8. They've walkèd up, and they've walkèd down,
And they've walkèd all along,
Till from his breast he drew a knife,
And stabbed her to the bone.
9. She fell upon her bended knees,
And for mercy she did cry,
O Willie dear, don't murder me,
And leave me here to die.
10. He's ta'en her by the lily white hand,
And dragged her all along,
Until be came to yon running stream,
And he plunged her body in.
11. He went into his mother's house,
"Twixt the hours of twelve and one;
But little did his poor mother think
What her only son had done.
12. The question she did put to him,
Why blood did stain his clothes?
But the only answer he gave to her,
'Twas a bleeding at the nose.
13. He asked her for a handkerchief
To roll around his head;
He asked her for a candle
To let him see to bed.
14. No rest nor peace could this young man get,
No rest nor peace could he find;
For he saw the burning flames of hell
Approaching in his mind.
15. The young man's crime it being found out,
The gallows was his doom,
For the murdering of sweet Mary Ann,
The flower that was in bloom.
1. This line has been sanitized in most versions and appears: In the month of sweet July.
The "Standard Oxford Girl" Ur-Ballad- is the last reduction and mirrors the "Standard" Wexford ur-ballad but does not have the two stanza Wexford ending. The "Oxford" name has been preserved in the Standard from the "archaic" Berkshire/Oxford Reduction. The W. A. Ammon's version from West Virginia has a three ending stanzas (I've used two as stanza 17 ans 18) not found in the standard version which are added with footnote. The ending stanza, no. 19, has commonly been found in Knoxville Girl which is closely related to this standard version without the Ammons' stanzas. Several Oxford versions were used to make this composite including 1) "Hang-ed I Shall Be" from the singing of Nellie S. Richardson, August, 1930 as remembered from the singing of Mr. James Simpson, born in 1830 and 2) "The Oxford Girl," as written down from memory by Mrs. G. V. Easley, Tula, Mississippi, who describes it as one of the most popular 'ballets' in Calhoun county in her girlhood and 3) "A Murder Scoundrel (Oxford Girl)," as sung by W. A. Ammons, of Fairview, W. Virginia; communicated by Estelle T. Ammons, 1951.
1. 'T was in the town of Oxford
Where I did live and dwell;
'T was in the town of Eaglewood
I run a flour mill.
2. I fell in love with an Oxford girl
With a dark and rolling eye,
I asked her for to marry me
If me she'd not deny.
3. I went unto her sister's house
About eight o'clock at night;
But little did her sister know,
I owed her any spite[1].
4. I asked her to take a walk with me
To view the meadows gay,
So we could have a pleasant talk
And 'point our wedding day.
5. We walked along and talked along
'Til we came to level ground.
I drew a club from out the hedge
And knocked the fair maid down.
6. She fell upon her bended knee
And for mercy she did cry.
"Oh, Willie , do not murder me,
For I'm not prepared to die.
7. I heeded not her weeping
But beat all the more.
Until the ground around us
Was in a bloody gore.
8. I seized her by the yellow hair
And dragged her o'er the ground
Until we came to the river,
That flows through Oxford town.
9. "Lie there, lie there, you Oxford girl,
You thought you would be my bride,
"Lie there, lie there, you Oxford girl,
To me you'll never be tied.
10. I then went home to my mother's house
About twelve o'clock at night.
My mother, who had been sleeping,
Woke up in a terrible fright.
11. "Oh, son, oh son, what have you done
That has bloodied all your clothes?''
The answer that I made to her
Was "bleeding from the nose."
12. In calling for a candle
To light me up to bed,
Likewise a pocket handkerchief
To tie my aching head.
13. I rolled and tumbled,
No comfort could I find,
For the flames of Hell before my eyes,
How brightly they did shine!
14. The marshall came and arrested me
And dragged me off to jail;
There was no one to pity me,
No one to go my bail.
15. Her sister threw my life away
Without a fear or doubt.
Her sister swore I was the man
Who led her sister out.
16. Six days, six weeks, six weeks or more,
This maiden's body was found,
Floating down the deep river stream
That flows through Oxford town.
17. The judge said to the jurymen[2],
"This murder is very plain,
We've got a prisoner at the bar
I'm sure he is to blame."
18. The jury found me guilty,
The judge to me did say,
"Upon this scaffold you must go,
To meet your fatal doom."
19. Oh, God, they're going to hang me now
A death I hate to die.
Oh, God, they're going to hang me,
Between the earth and sky.
1. Reworded from Ammons' version- has "mother".
2. Stanza 17 and 18 from Ammons' version and are unique to it.
[Special thanks to Steve Gardham, Tom Pettitt, Kevin Fredette and Gwilym Davies for providing their expertise and sharing versions and recordings from their collections.]
Richard L. Matteson Jr.
Port St. Lucie,
Florida, USA
___________________________
Footnotes:
1. Some controversy exists about the date which is given as 1683 by Paul Slade but appears in Phillip Henry's diary entry of Feb. 20, 1684 as Sunday, February 10, 1684. According to Slade, "This diary used the Julian calendar so the diary entry would actually be Feb. 20, 1683." Tom Pettitt has informed me in an email attachment (October, 2016) that Henry's 1684 date is actually correct and that the 1683 parish records references before March 25 are 1684 (the church began the New Year on March 25, 1684 so Jan. 1 until March 24 would have been written 1683). Pettitt also informed me that Hocstow near Shrewsbury is now Hogstow, Minsterley, Shropshire; 12 miles west of Shrewsbury and that the Hocstowmill is a listed building.
I am assuming this broadside, like many "event" songs and ballads of the 1920s and 1930s in the US, would be printed as soon as possible after the event took place-- in 1684. The sooner the ballad was printed after the murder the more likely it would be a current topic-- which increased sales. The inclusion of Bloody Miller as my A version is also somewhat controversial, since after all, it is a different ballad that has similarities to B, The Berkshire Tragedy, from which the other versions are all based. Whether B is based on A is unknown but it's certainly possible. My B version is the title of this study.
2. From Bruce Olson's More Scarce Songs (2003) online. The tune given by Ebsworth for "William Grismond" is "Where is my Love?" which is questionable-- it should be Alack for my Love I dye or more accurately, Alack for my Love I must dye.
3. Ibid
4. Paul Slade in "Unprepared to die: Knoxville Girl" online. His assumption that Bloody Miller is progenitor of Berkshire and its reductions is a stretch. It is possible that Bloody Miller was completely rewritten by a broadside writer to become The Berkshire Tragedy but they are still different ballads with similar plots. However, the postulation: Bloody Miller>Berkshire Tragedy>Knoxville Girl does not seem reasonable.
5. Posted in November, 2005 on Mudcat Discussion Forum.
6. The church calendar began the New Year on March 25-- the date mention would be in our year 1684.
7. Paul Slade's book is titled-- "Unprepared to die: America’s Greatest Murder Ballads and the true crime stories that inspired them," 2015.
8. This information is given by Slade on page 4 of Knoxville Girl in a blue box on right: http://www.planetslade.com/knoxville-girl4.html
9. The broadside, The downfall of William Grismond: or, A lamentable murder by him committed at Lainterdine in the county of Hereford, the 22 of March, 1650, with his woful lamentation, was printed about 1658. A sample, measure 4, follows:
"She claimed of me marriage, and said she was with child,
Saying, "Marry me, sweet William, now you have me defil'd:
If you do now forsake me, I utterly am spoyl'd.
And for mine offence must I dye."
10. In Publications, Volume 36 by Ballad Society; Ebsworth says, "This is a Berkshire variation of the tale (already reprinted, disjointedly, on pp. 68, 175) entitled, "The Oxfordshire Tragedy; or, The Virgin's Advice." Therein the seducer who murders his victim is an Oxford Student of theology, but here he is a Miller of Wittam, probably Wittenham. Both ballads were sung to the same tune, and of date near 1700." A similar date is given in "The Berkshire Trgedy(sic); Or, the Wittam Miller" in the Bodleian library online--reference ESTC: T204012; Antiq c. E9 (125). Broadside expert Steve Gardham has reported to me that the c.1700 dates are estimates and the dates are not documented. Google Books gives a printing dated 1720. A early date of 1744 has been assigned by some ballad scholars and collectors-- this date corresponds to the Edinburgh chapbook print with the John Mauge murder at Reading but clearly earliest print date is older than 1744. Cox, Belden and others refer (from a listing given by Halliwell) to the Edinburgh chapbook subtitle, "John Mauge, a Miller, who was executed at Reading in Berkshire, on Saturday the 20th of last month, for the barbarous murder of Anne Knite, his sweet-heart," for the names of the persons complicit in the 1744 murder. Tom Pettitt, an expert on the Murdered Sweetheart ballads gives a date of circa 1730, based on the publication dates of the newspaper, The Daily Post Boy, in which the murderer placed an ad to throw suspicion off himself. Pettitt's date of circa 1730 does not account for the first years, 1695–1728, "The Post Boy" was in circulation. I believe the date when the Post Boy was first in circulation is the most accurate date although it spans thirty years. Without more information I'm inclined to agree with Ebsworth (c.1700) who, despite his knowledge, tends to give exaggerated early dates.
11. The Bloody Miller with stanzas in quatrain form:
I was a Miller by my Trade, it plainly doth appear,
Pretending love unto a Maid, whose Father lived near,
But she for my acquaintance, poor soule, did pay full dear:
I for my transgression must dye.
12. Each line is divided in some editions, making 44 quatrians.
13. The 1744 chapbook version claims the ballad is about: “The last dying words and confession of John Mauge, a Miller, who was executed at Reading in Berkshire, on Saturday the 20th of last month, for the barbarous murder of Anne Knite, his sweet-heart.”
14. Publications, Volume 36 by Ballad Society. Ebsworth's date appears to be an approximation, however it is corroborated by Bodleian broadside Antiq c. E9 (125), dated c.1700. The earliest printing I've found is 1720 (Google book search) which is based on a real print- although no details are given.
15. Roxburghe Edition, edited.
16. Originally "birth."
17. Originally "Wittam." Pettitt and others suggest the location is "Wytham," located three miles North West of Oxford, on a branch of the Thames (the Seacourt Stream or Wytham Brook) where there is a building still known as Wytham Mill. Ebsworth gives the town as "Wittenham" and similarly the Scottish broadside has "Whittingham."
18. Boston Burgler similarly has the line, "My tender parents brought me up, provided for me well." Knoxville Girl is a US adaptation of this ballad from the Standard Oxford Reduction with many similarities which will be presented in detail later. The Knoxville Girl is mentioned here since it is the most popular reduction.
19. An example from Child ballad No. 216, Mother's Malison or, Clyde's Water:
Young Willie stands in his stable
And combing down his steed
And looking through his white fingers
His nose began to bleed.
Though it's not apparent in this stanza, Willie drowns on his ill-fated ride. There are many examples, for now, this will suffice.
20. Adapted from from The Murdered Sweetheart Ballads: Berkshire Tragedy, a Provisional Discursive Bibliography by Tom Pettitt-- Centre for Medieval Literature and Cultural Studies Institute, University of Southern Denmark.
21. "The tragical ballad of the miller of Whittingham Mill. Or, a warning to all young men and maidens" first appeared in chapbook, "The History, Witty Questions and Answers, of that noted Philosopher, the Miller of Whittingham Mill, and Betty Puslem his wife," published in Edinburgh, 1793. It was reprinted in 1805 and this latter edition appears online.
22. "The tragical ballad of the miller of Whittingham Mill. Or, a warning to all young men and maidens." Glasgow, printed by J. & M. Robertson, 1800.
23. The concept of evolution is complex in this case: After its early printings Berkshire was reduced to be more easily sung. It could have been sung for over 75 years before the first reductions were printed. The reductions were various unknown print reductions spread through oral circulation. The exact role of traditional singers is unknown but when an Oxford ballad reduction was taken to Ireland the original city "Oxford" became "Wexford." Because of the consistent texts collected from tradition it's assumed (see also Laws) that various early print versions were made-- many of which are still unknown. The original Berkshire or Oxford Reduction, known through two archaic versions collected in the US, was also altered to create the "Lexington Reduction," the "Butcher Boy Reduction" and the "Wexford Reduction." These four reductions I have dated 1760-1805 which were all a number of years before The Cruel Miller. Proof of the traditional reduction of the Berkshire/Oxford Reduction is found in the 18 stanza Hicks/Harmon version collected from Pollyanna Harmon by Mellinger Henry in Tennessee and the 15 stanza "Ofordhire Lass" given by Jason Ritchie to his niece Jean in 1949. Proof of the other reductions are also found in tradition. Laws suggests that these reductions and possibly others were printed and lost. The discovery of the 1818 print, The Wexford Tragedy shows Laws was right about the missing prints- even though Wexford Tragedy is not the earliest Wexford print- it's just the first to be discovered.
Broadsides are written about current events, in this case a murder, by printer's apprentices and outside ballad writers hawking their ballads to printers. Some of these broadside, like Berkshire, became popular and entered oral circulation. However, the reverse, although less frequent, is also true-- balladeers write about a murder or event and this is heard by a printer or professional broadside writer and captured then rewritten. In the case of Berkshire, for example, a number of reductions sprang from a single broadside.
The association of the traditional ballad with an unknown broadside or print can be confusing. The Bramble Briar was the result of a broadside written from an English translation of a story of Boccaccio's in the mid-1700s-- the broadside was lost and entered tradition where it was best preserved in the US in the early 1800s. George Brown, a London based broadside writer, heard the ballad and recreated it as "The Constant Farmer's Son" in the 1830s. The Constant Farmer's Son became mixed with The Bramble Briar so by the 1900s in England-- the Bramble Briar was about a "farmer" who had two sons and a daughter!!!
The broadside vs. the traditional ballad as originator can be described by the "chicken and the egg" metaphor: "Which came first: the ballad or the broadside?"
24. From Mellinger Henry's "Folk Songs from the Southern Highlands," J. J. Augustin, 1938. Henry's title "Lexington Girl" is clearly wrong. This is the only extant version of Berkshire known.
25. Adapted from The Murdered Sweetheart Ballads: Berkshire Tragedy, a Provisional Discursive Bibliography by Tom Pettitt-- Centre for Medieval Literature and Cultural Studies Institute, University of Southern Denmark.
26. "American Balladry" G. Malcolm Laws, Jr., 1957, p. 119. Laws further suggests this about the other traditional forms such as "Oxford Girl" and "Lexington Murder."
27. Wexford Town appears in different Cruel Miller broadsides except for "The Cruel Miller, or, love and Murder" where the city is left blank.
28. Memory, Print and Performance ('The Cruel Miller' Revisited) is a paper by Tom Pettitt of the Cultural Sciences Institute and Centre for Medieval Literature University of Southern Denmark, 2015. He is assisting with this study.
29. Detailed information and comparisons have been made by Tom Pettitt in "Worn by the Friction of Time" where he "offered an evasive scenario postulating the ‘traditionalisation’ of the 18th century long broadside through memoral transmission into something resembling the 19th century short broadside, the latter produced by the transcription of this song from performance rather than literate / literary revision. I was encouraged by the consideration that this scenario might be supported by the occurrence, in some few English and Scottish performances, of words or phrases which were not in the short broadside, but which evidently derived from the long broadside, in turn perhaps suggesting that it reflected, rather than accomplished, change. In the interim however their number dwindled, as I encountered short broadside variants in which those lines and phrases
do occur. . . " [Memory, Print and Performance (‘The Cruel Miller' Revisited) by Tom Pettitt, 2015].
30. The additional printings are from: The Murdered Sweetheart Ballads: Berkshire Tragedy, a Provisional Discursive Bibliography by Tom Pettitt-- Centre for Medieval Literature and Cultural Studies Institute, University of Southern Denmark.
31. From Fields Ward of Galax, Virginia collected Lomax 1937. This same text is found in dozens of versions.
32. Four version of "The Bloody Miller" are found in the Abrams, Greer and Brown collections of North Carolina. This text resembles Lexington Murder but has text from Berkshire that is very old. This is not related to The Bloody Miller broadside of 1684 or the variant of the Cruel Miller titled Bloody Miller.
33. Brown B, "Bloody Miller or Murdering Miller,' sung by I.G. Greer about 1915 also in both Abrams Collection and Greer Collection.
34. Eddy version C, Ballads and Songs from Ohio, 1939.
35. The Cruel Miller is not a direct reduction of Berkshire since it is mixed with some text from the Wexford tradition. Only Pollyanna Harmon's traditional ballad of 1930 is a reduction of Berkshire.
36. The dates are speculation on my part since evidence of the Wexford tradition is found later.
37. The identities of John Mauge and Ann Knite have not been corroborated as murderer and victim. The ballad appears to be based on a fictitious murder.
38. No informant named. From: Folk-Song of the North-East; article 137 dated about August 1910, by Gavin Greig.
39. Ibid
40. Ibid.
41. Malcolm Laws, Jr., American Balladry, 1957.
42. I could be agrued that all three all three areas were settled before Berkshire was printed about 1700. The Virginia colony's House of Burgesses was established in 1619.
43. The collector was Sabine Baring-Gould; the title, "I Went to my True Love's House" which was taken down from J. Woodrich, Thrushelton, c. 1880.
44. Beginning about 1903, versions were collected by Cecil Sharp, H.E, Hammond, George Gardiner and others.
45. A single stanza of text was collected in Londonderry in the summer of 1837 by Petrie.
46. From a tributary on the James River named by the native indians-- Tuckahoe Creek-- came the Samuel Hicks family whose members took their ballads and tales into the Beech Mountain, North Carolina area just before teh Revolutionary war. It's from the Hick/Harmon balladeers that the rarest version of Berkshire was collected by Mellinger Henry in 1930-- a short traditional version of Berkshire, proving that the tradition was alive in he UK before The Cruel Miller.
47. Some of the oldest version collected in America came from the Brown's Cove area-- see "Prentice Boy" by Marybird McAllister which was collected by Barry Foss, whose article about Brown's Cove is online.
48. The usual "The Butcher Boy" is Laws P24, Roud 409. The version by Sarah Makem begins:
In London city where I did dwell
A butcher boy, I loved right well
He courted me, and me heart away
And then with me, he would not stay.
49. Several of the informants were old when the ballad was collected in Scotland about 1906-1909 by Gavin Grieg. Since the borrowed handkerchief stanza comes from the older tradition of the Wexford Girl, I'm estimating it's origin to be late 1700s to early 1800s.
50. It has been suggested by Steve Gardham that since Orkney has a commercial fishing industry that Findlater's version was learned from Orkney sailors who frequented Newfoundland. Clearly it is not a UK version.
51. From: Folk-Song of the North-East; article 137 dated about August 1910, by Gavin Greig. From a reprint of articles contributed to the "Buchan Observer" from December 1907 to June 1911; 2 vols. Peterhead, 1909 & 1914; represented as one vol., Hatboro, 1963.
52. Ibid.
53. Stanza 3 of Folk-Song of the North-East; article 137 dated about August 1910, by Gavin Greig. From a reprint of articles contributed to the "Buchan Observer" from December 1907 to June 1911; 2 vols. Peterhead, 1909 & 1914; represented as one vol., Hatboro, 1963.
54. A School of Scottish Studies recording of Lizzie Higgins reports her as saying that this was one of her mother's favourite songs.
55. On School of Scottish Studies recording SA1953.247.A1, Robertson responds to Hamish Henderson's inquiry about where she learned the ballad by saying she learned this "from a woman friend around 25 years previously."
56. Lizzie learned ballads from her granny, Maria Higgins. Lizzie sings part of her granny's version on Socttish Studies Original Tape ID - SA1987.012.013
57. Edinburgh; School of Scottish Studies. SA1953.247.A1; Listen: http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/play/25352;jsessionid=188816C257A0E249BBC41B53806EFCD5. Listed: http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/fullrecord/25352/1
58. Gardham responded to my question on Mudcat Discussion Forum, November, 2016. It should be pointed out that the candle/handkerchief stanza is a floating stanza found also in other ballads and at least one in the US.
59. New York Folklore Quarterly, V, p. 95-96; 11 stanzas. 1949.
60. Titled "I Went to my True Love's House"-- this 1880 version was "taken down" from J. Woodrich, Thrushelton, and is from Sabine Baring-Gould MSS collection: SBG/1/1/302, labeled A. This is the earliest extant English "traditional" version- although it has possibly been rewritten and it's value is suspect since similar texts have not been recovered.
61. I'm not going to name the names of the collectors who have associated the two separate ballads- just read the songs notes for UK recordings. It's safe to say the the complex Berkshire family of ballads has not been understood, and has been lumped with those ballads partially because of the similar titles and similar plot lines.
62. This marks the main stanza that is borrowed from the "Distressed Maid/Lily-White Hand" songs.
63. Taken from an article on The Distressed Maid by Steve Gardham, see it online.
64. The Cruel Miller --Pitts' single-slip version (Madden Collection, London Printers 2, VWML microfilm 75, item 891)
65. "Whittenham Miller" (my title) collected from Pollyanna Harmon of Tennessee in 1930 by Mellinger Henry.
66. From "Waxford Girl" sung, played on banjo, and recorded by Nora Carpenter at her home in Salyersville, Maggoffin County, Kentucky on 07-07-72. The stanza appaers:
I asked her for a candlestick
To light me off to bed;
The voice and the ghost of the Waxford girl
Came rolling through my head.
67. The changes to The Cruel Miller not found in Berkshire or the Wexford Tragedy printed text can be traced to several older versions in the US which are older reductions.
68. In American Balladry, Laws states that The Lexington Miller broadside has had more effect on tradition in America than the Cruel Miller. Since only one version has been found that is based on Lexington Miller, the Cruel Miller has had almost no effect on American tradition.
69. From my personal email in November of 2016.
70. The Butcher Boy- John Argo of Ellon, Aberdeenshire. Recorded by Hamish Henderson in 1952. John Argo heard this song from his mother while she was nursing his baby brother. From Edinburgh; School of Scottish Studies; SA1952.21.A5.
71. The handkerchief is most commonly found in Child 272, The Suffolk Miracle where it plays an important role. Both the candle and handkerchief are found, for example, in "The Sailor Boy." The candle is already found in Berkshire-- only the handkerchief has been added, with no apparent significance to the plot. The stanza is a ballad commonplace or floating stanza.
72. In my opinion it was inappropriate for the collector Mellinger Henry to apply a title of Lexington when that word is not part of the text or it is not given as a local title-- the exception being the use of a generic title for all versions of a ballad. What Henry should have written was: no title given.
73. This and most of the following information come from my research on the Hicks/Harmon families of Beech Mountain, NC area. Anyone who dares to see this jumble of research (500 pages) can find it on my site: Roots>Hicks-Harmon Family.
74. See Betty Smith's book "Jane Hicks Gentry: A Singer Among Singers," 1998. I believe Big Sammy was Council Harmon's grandfather and it's unlikely that Pollyanna knew him. She was, however, raised with music of Big Sammy, since "Old Counce" grew up and absorbed the ballads and jack tales of Big Sammy and his son Little Sammy.
75. It's "Hindley Ferry Town" in the Berkshire Tragedy.
76. This is not "The Bloody Miller" broadside of 1684. I'm including two of the four versions Hc, is the oldest and Hd, "The Bloody Miller or Murdering Miller," sung by I.G. Greer, is the most complete.
77. "The Murdered Sweetheart" as sung by Mrs. Ollie Riggins of Fayetteville, Ark. on April, 1964; Parler G.
78. In general-- John is English (broadsides/ Lexington tradition) or Johnny is Irish tradition or Irish in the US from Irish-American emigrants. Willie/Billy is Scottish and also Irish/Canadian and Willie is part of Butcher Boy tradition and northern Wexford tradition. Her name is rarely given but in Scotland it is Mary or Mary Ann, in US her name has been Nell possibly a carry over from Nell Cropsey.
79. "One Saturday Night," sung by Colon Keel with guitar in Raiford, Florida on June 3, 1939 (recorded by John Avery Lomax, Ruby T. Lomax).
80. "The Lexington Murder." Collected by Mrs. Zebulon Baird Vance near Black Mountain, Buncombe county, and received by the Society in April 1915. From: Brown Collection of NC Folklore; volumes 2, 1952.
81. The Frank C. Brown Collection editors reported an account of the murder in Volume 4:
Nellie (Ella Maude) Cropsey was the daughter of a truck farmer who, in 1901, was living with his family at Elizabeth City in a house beside the Pasquotank River. Nineteen years of age and pretty, she had many admirers. Favored among these was James Wilcox, a shipyard worker, son of a former sheriff of the county. Early in November a lovers' quarrel between the two occurred, and for two weeks Wilcox stayed away from the Cropsey home. On the evening of the twentieth he called again and conversed with the family. As, shortly after eleven o'clock, he was taking his leave, he said, 'Nell, I want to see you in the hall for a minute.' She complied. Her family never again saw her alive. Missed before morning, she was sought in vain. Wilcox, not being able to give a satisfactory account of her whereabouts, was arrested next day. Nellie's disappearance aroused the interest of the whole Atlantic seaboard, and search for her was systematic and widespread. Not until December 24 was her body found, in the Pasquotank River, about 150 yards in front of her home. (Raleigh News and Observer, Nov. 22— Dec. 31, 1901.) A coroner's jury turned in a verdict of death by violence and recommended that Wilcox's probable guilt be investigated. Public feeling against him, aggravated by his cold and impassive attitude throughout the investigation, ran so high that the local naval reserve was called out to guard him. At the March 1902 term of Pasquotank court he was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged. From this judgment he appealed to the Supreme Court on the ground that in the course of the trial demonstrations within the courtroom and disorders outside occurred to influence the jury and prejudice his rights (North Carolina Reports, 131:490-92). Granted a new trial with change of venue, he was tried at the March 1903 term of Perquimans Superior Court, found guilty of murder in the second degree, and sentenced to thirty years in the state penitentiary. Losing a second appeal (ibid., 132:791 ff.), he began serving his sentence. On December 20, 1918, he was pardoned by Governor T. W. Bickett (letter from the office of the Governor of North Carolina). On December 4, 1934, Wilcox committed suicide (letter from W. G. Gaither, Elizabeth City, N. C, to his daughter, Bettie Gaither — letter given by Miss Gaither to A. P. Hudson).
82. Betty Bostic's full version titled Nellie Cropsey was learned from Mrs. G.L. Bostic her grandmother whose version was incomplete and had a different tile.
83. Malcolm Laws, Jr., American Balladry, 1957.
84. Curiously, many people unfamiliar with the ballad assume the ballads titled Wexford Girl have already been found in Ireland. Even The Wexford Tragedy print has not been directly associated with Ireland since the chapbook was printed in Falkirk, Scotland. My initial skepticism has been tempered and after considering the ballad in its entirety I now believe the origin of the Wexford tradition to be Ireland without any proof.
85. This has been mentioned elsewhere in my three headnotes: Findlater's version is not of the Scottish tradition but from the Maritime Canada tradition. Steve Garham has suggested that since Orkey's primary industry is fishing that the ballad was brought back to Orkney from Newfoundland by Orkey sailors and fisherman.
86. "Waxford Lass" as sung by Dellas Macdonald of Glenwood, NB in 1961. From: "How the Apples Got In?' by Ives.
87. "Wexford Murder," sung by Walter Church c.1900. From Garners Gay, EFDS Publications, 1967, p.40. This is an Irish-Canadian version learned by an Englishman.
88. Found in "Johnny McDowell," which was contributed by Miss Snoah McCourt, Orndoff, Webster County, May, 1916-- and is Cox A.
89. From "The Wexford Girl," sung by Irish-American emigrant John W. Green (1871-1963) of Saint James, Beaver Island, MI, in 1938 and recorded Alan Lomax.
90. From The Waxford Girl as sung by Lily Delorme of Hardscrabble, Cadyville (NY), dated June 18, 1942. The recording by Flanders is now available online at Internet Archive.
91. The fact that her ghost returns to haunt him was pointed out by Shearin and Combs in 1911.
92. See the text of "Waxford Girl" sung, played on banjo, and recorded by Nora Carpenter at her home in Salyersville, Maggoffin County, Kentucky on 07-07-72.
93. Malcolm Laws, Jr., American Balladry, 1957.
94 Ibid.
95. Certainly the early archaic Berkshire/Oxford reduction was once English and brought to America probably during the Colonial Period. The Oxford title is still found in England and although popular here-- calling the "Oxford" version American is not accurate. Even the standard Oxford Reduction was brought to America at some point.
96. See examples of the two-stanza Wexford ending (above the footnote) at the end of the standard Wexford identifiers.
97. From Ballads and Songs from Mississippi by Arthur Palmer Hudson, 1936.
98. See Guthrie Meade's "Country Music Sources."
99. Ibid.
100. Several places are difficult to understand-- especially the last stanza which was left off in subsequent cover versions by other groups probably because they couldn't make sense of it.
101. See: Oe. "The Knoxville Girl." One of two texts contributed by Mrs. Minnie Church of Heaton, Avery county, in 1930. Brown Collection- G
102. See: Og. "Notchville Girl." As sung by Betty Lou Copeland, Mountain View, Arkansas on May 26, 1969. From Max Hunter Folk Song Collection; Cat. #0767 (MFH #670). This is a cover of the Wilburn Brothers.
103. See: Of. "The Knoxville Girl," sung by Frank Couch (Jim' Couch's son) and recorded by Leonard Robert's in 1954. Couch's version has different last stanza but is clearly based on the Tanner commercial recording.
104. "The Expert Girl" was contributed by Miss Lucile Morris, Springfield, Mo., Feb. 22, 1933. On stanza appears in Randolph, Ozark Folksongs; 4 vols. 1946-50; reprinted Columbia, 1980, II, 92. The other stanzas are taken from a LOC recording.
105. See: Folk Songs of Middle Tennessee--George Bowell Collection with notes by Charles Wolfe.
106. Part of this info is from a bio by Eugene Chadbourne.
107. From: Randolph, Ozark Folksongs; 4 vols. 1946-50; reprinted Columbia, 1980, II, 92.
108. Flora Dean, see: English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians - I, by Cecil Sharp and Campbell edited with text by Maude Karpeles, 1932 edition.
109. See: Ballads and Broadsides in Britain, 1500-1800 - page 79 by Patricia Fumerton, Anita Guerrini, Kris McAbee - 2010.
110. From John Q. Anderson's article, "The Waco Girl": Another Variant of a British Broadside Ballad" in Western Folklore, 1960.
111. From "My Confession" Contributed by Miss Sylvia Vaughan, of Oakland City, Indiana. Gibson County. Secured from her mother, Mrs. Hiram Vaughan. March 5, 1935.
112. See excerpt above-- from: Randolph, Ozark Folksongs; 4 vols. 1946-50; reprinted Columbia, 1980, II, 92.
113. Also from: Randolph, Ozark Folksongs; 4 vols. 1946-50; reprinted Columbia, 1980, II, 92.
114. Pettitt's quote is from a personal email sent to me in November, 2016.
115. Poor Omie is a version collected by Sharp and Gilchrist's comments were taken from an issue of the JAF: Songs Collected in Norfolk by E. J. Moeran, A. G. Gilchrist, Frank Kidson, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Lucy E. Broadwood From Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Vol. 7, No. 26 (Dec., 1922), pp. 1-24.
116. For example, The Whittanham Miller (Pollyanna Harmon, NC-TN 1930) and Oxfordshire Lass (Jason Ritchie, KY 1949) have proven the early English Berkshire or Oxford Reduction, while Eddy's Lexington Girl has proven the early Lexington Murder which resulted in the broadside Lexington Miller.
117. The most notable early missing print is the Wexford Girl which is presumed to have originated in Ireland. A later print from that tradition is the 1818 chapbook print, "The Wexford Tragedy."
118. The Oxford/Berkshire Reduction is unknown in England, although to be brought to America it was once in circulation. Evidence of it is found for example in the title, "Ferry Hinksey Town," as sung by George Hicks of Glouchester in 1916.
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