British and other Versions- 12. Lord Randal, Roud 10 ("Lord Donald," "Lord Ronald (Lord Ronald My Son)," "Lord Randall," "Tiranti, My Son," "Billy Randal," "Lord Rendle," Terence, My Son," "Sweet William," "Dirandel, My Son," "Willie Ransom," "Durango," "Lorendo," "Tyranty, My Son," "Johnny Randolph," "Sweet Nelson," "Uriar My Son," "Jo Reynard, My Son,"
"Henry My Son," "Willie Doo," "The Croodlin Doo, or, The Croodin Doo," "Bonnie Wee Croodlin Doo," My Bonnie Wee Cruidland Dou," "Tiranti, My Love," "Henry, My Son," "Oh Mak' My Bed Easy," "Mother, Make My Bed Soon," "John Willow, My Son," "Johnny Rillus," "Johnny Rilla," "La Garcon Empoisonne," "A Rope and Gallows," "Dear Willie," "Fair Nelson, My Son," "Jimmie Randall (Randolph, etc.)," "John Elzie," "Johnny Randall (Rilla, Reeler, Ramsay, Riller, Reynolds, Ramble, Rillus, Randolph, etc.)," "Johnnie Randolph My Son," "Lord Lantoun," "McDonald," "Poor Anzo," "Randall (Ransel, etc.) My Son," "Sweet William," "Terence," "The Cup of Cold Poison," "Three Cups of Cold Poison," "The Jealous Lover," The Poisoned Child," "Tyranty (many spellings)," "Where Have You Been to My Dear Son?" "Wooing and Death of John Randal," "King Henry my son,")
List of All Texts of Child 12 in this Collection Including some Foreign Versions
A. "L'Avvelenato" (The Poisoned") dated 1629 from a fragment printed in Verona, Italy, 1656 from stanzas quoted by Lorenzo Panciatichi.
a. ["L'Avvelenato"] no title given, the opening three lines of "L'Avvelenato" from a blind singer named Camillo called "il Bianchino." The lines and four introductory lines were printed in Veronese broadside dated 1629.
b. ["L'Avvelenato"] no title given, from Lorenzo Panciatichi who refered to the ballad in a "Cicalata in lode della Padella e della Frittura," recited at the Crusca, September 24, 1656, and in such manner as shows that it was well known. He quotes the first question of the mother, "Dove andastù a cena," etc. To this the son answered, he says, that he had been poisoned with a roast eel: and the mother asking what the lady had cooked it in, the reply was, In the oil pot.
B. "Lord Randal" ("Randle" "Randal, my son") standard English, c. 1775 Suffolk- Parsons; Child A, Child D (Scott) also Scottish; American. Includes variant names.
C. "Lord Ronald (Lord Donald)." Scottish, Scots Musical Museum, 1793, No. 327, from Bums' MS.
D. "Tiranti, my Son" American, the "Soper" versions c. 1790s but earlier. Barry claims that the assorted "Tiranti" titles came from a corruption of Tyrannus.
a. "Tiranti, my Son." Dated c. 1797, from "Soper" family member Elizabeth Foster. Communicated by Mrs. L.F. Wesselhoeft, of Boston, as sung to her when a child by her grandmother, Elizabeth Foster, born in Maine, who appears to have learned the ballad of her mother. Child Ia
b. "Tiranti, my Son." By a daughter of Elizabeth Foster, as learned about 1820. Variant of Ia which is date 1797 and is older proably through the "Soper" family.
E. "Croodlin' Doo" Scottish late 1700s [ref. Walter Scott 1803, see Child M] documented 1820s Child J, K, L, M, N, O, R, U, and X.
a.
F. "Grossmutter Schlangenköchin," ("Grandmother Snakecook") late 1700s, 1802 in Clem. Brentano's novel "Godwi" see also "Schlangenköchin" titles.
a. "Grossmutter Schlangenköchin." From oral transmission in Clem. Brentano's novel "Godwi" Bremen, 1802." B. 2, p.
b. "Die Schlangenköchin," from Hessen, N. Germany, published in 1838 by Kretzschmer in From: Deutsche Volkslieder mit ihren Original-Weisen. Reprinted many times including Broadwood, JFSS.
c. "Schlangenköchin" from the neighborhood of Wilsnack, Brandenburg, from Deutscher Liederhort by Ludwig Christian Erk, 1856.
G. "Den Lillas Testamente" (The Child's Will") Swedish late 1700s early 1800s.
a. "Den Lillas Testamente" no informant named, from "Svenska folkvisor" Erik Gustaf Geijer och Arvid August Afzelius, 1816.
H. "King Henry, My Son," Scottish and English; 1827 from Motherwell's MS but older.
Dear Lord Duke- Brown (NB) 1900 JAF Newell C
I. "My Pretty Boy" Irish, then American c. 1836
a. "Oh, where were you all day?" single stanza from "Poems" by Mary Boddington, 1836, p. 313.
J. "Tif fy mab anwyl " (My Dear Son) Welsh early 1800s, c. 1831
a. "Ple buost ti neithiwr?" ("Where were you last night?"). Sung by Miss Davies, Aberystwyth, January, 1911. "Her mother used to sing it when a child about 80 years ago, — she had in all probability learnt it from her grandmother," reported by Miss Jennie Williams, Aberystwyth.
b. "O fy Mab Anwyl" ("My Dear Son") from Mrs. John Davies of Liverpool, who had heard it sung at Talysarn, Carnarvonshire, nearly half a century ago, by her eldest sister.
K. "Amhrán na hEascainne" (Song of the Eel) Gaelic early date 1868 sung in Gaelic only
a. [no title ] Dr. Hyde informs from taken down in 1881 from a woman named Ellen Healy, who learned it from a Kerry girl in 1868 publish in "Eriu" 1907.
b. "Amhrán na hEascainne" (Song of the Eel) sung by Joe Heaney dated. c. 1940
L. "Henry, my son" ("Henery, my Son") modern early 1900s variants Irish, English dated 1904 Sharp, 1926 Collinson.
M. "Le Testament du garçon empoisonné." French Arcadian version, early 1900s.
a. "Le Testament du garçon empoisonné." from collection Bouthillier-Labrie No. 1460. Sung by M. Onsime Brideau and his wife Alvina (nee Saint-Pierre), respectively 63 and 53 years old; Saint-Ime, county Gloucester, N.B., summer 1976.
N. Non-Conforming Versions
a. "Oh Mak' My Bed Easy." Sung by George Riddell, shoemaker and fiddler from Rosehearty, Aberdeenshire. Collected Greig about 1907, version C.
b. "O Son, Dear Son" a composite sung by Kathleen Ward of Kilconnell, County Galway, Ireland in May 2016, known for 60 years (c.1956).
[The ballad Child called "Lord Randal," after a popular version by Sir Walter Scott[1] (1803), has adhered to a consistent form and ballad story despite a variety of names and titles for the poisoned youth or child found in a number of disparate locations. This very similar ballad story and dialogue form have been found independently in a number of different countries with ballad versions collected from four countries (Italy, Germany, Great Britain and through Britain-- the United States) which date back to at least the 1700s. What's most unusual is that this ballad has been transmitted almost entirely by word-of-mouth instead of print and when it spread-- in most cases the content has not been drastically altered:
A youth or child comes home sick and is questioned by the mother or another family member who asks "Where were you last night?" to which the youth answers, "I was at my sweetheart's (grandmother's or brother's, etc.), mother make my bed I'm sick to my heart and I want to lie down." After the mother asks what the youth has eaten and his response is "black (speckled) fish" or "eels in brew" it is clear that the youth has been poisoned and is dying. The youth then is asked "What will you leave your Father?" and verbally bequeaths possessions to various family members. To the poisoner the youth "a rope to hang her" or "torment in hell." Some versions have an ending burial stanza where the youth wishes to be buried in the churchyard. The entire song is in dialogue form-- usually between the poisoned one and the mother.
The similarity of the ballad story and form indicate a common ancestor or ur-form which logically points to Italy-- the earliest documented location of dissemination. The path of dissemination from Italy does not appear to be by land [Gerould, 1932] but rather by sea[2]. As Barry et all point out in British Ballads from Maine (1929) quoting Countess Martinengo-Cesaresco[3]: "There was a steady migration into England of Italian literature, literate, and probably also illiterate, from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century. The English ballad- singers may have been as much on the lookout for a new orally communicated song from foreign parts as Chaucer was for a poem of Petrarch's, or a tale of Boccaccio's (Edition in Everyman's Library pp. 179-180)."
The first extant appearance of the Lord Randal ballad was three lines printed in the "incatenatura of the Cieco Fiorentino", a broadside published at Verona in 1629 which was a collection of lines sung by a blind singer named Camillo (who was called "il Bianchino") from various songs in his repertoire[4]:
'Dov' andastu iersera, ["Where did you go last night]
Figliuol mio ricco, savio e gentile? [My son, rich, wise and kind?]
Dov' andastu iersera'?" [Where did you go last night?"]
It's prefaced by these four lines which reveal some of the story:
"lo vo' finire con questa d'un amante [I want to end this with a lover]
Tradito dall' amata. [Betrayed by the beloved.]
Oh che l'è si garbata [Oh that is it is the kind]
A cantarla in ischiera: [To be sung altogether:]
The fragment is the first three lines of a version known as "L'Avvelenato" (literally: "The Poisoned") in Italy. Complete versions of "L'Avvelenato" date back to 1865[5] and include stanzas of the "will" of the poisoned. In his notes Child says of the following version(see translation below) by Dr. G. B. Bolza (c. 1867)[6]: "A, 'L'Avvelenato,' Bolza, Canzoni popolari comasche, No 49, Sitzungsberichte of the Vienna Academy (philos. histor. class), LIII, 668, is of seventeen stanzas, of seven short lines, all of which repeat but two: the 8th and 10th stanzas are imperfect." It's taken from Alessandro D'Ancona: La Poesia Popolare Italiana (Livorno, 1878), pp. 108-111. The translation which follows is from "Folk-ballads of Southern Europe" edited by Sophie Jewett, Katharine Lee Bates, 1913[7]:
THE POISONED LOVER ("L'Avvelenato" translation, from Como, 1867)
1. "Where were you yesterevening[8],
Dear son so fair and noble?
Where were you yesterevening?
"I have been with my sweetheart;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
I have been with my sweetheart;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
2. "What supper did she give you,
Dear son so fair and noble?
What supper did she give you?"
"A little eel a-roasted;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
A little eel a-roasted;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
3. "And did you eat the whole, then,
Dear son so fair and noble?
And did you eat the whole, then?"
"Only the half I've eaten;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
Only the half I've eaten;
O woe is me! 0 woe is me! I die!"
4. "What did you with the leavings,
Dear son so fair and noble?
What did you with the leavings?"
"I gave them to my good hound;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
I gave them to my good hound;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
5. "Where have you left your good hound,
Dear son so fair and noble?
Where have you left your good hound?"
"It fell dead in the roadway;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
It fell dead in the roadway;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
6. "Oh, she has given you poison,
Dear son so fair and noble!
Oh, she has given you poison!"
"Now call to me the doctor;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
Now call to me the doctor;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
7. "Why do you want the doctor,
Dear son so fair and noble?
Why do you want the doctor?"
"That he may see what ails me;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
That he may see what ails me;
O woe is me! 0 woe is me! I die!
8. "Now call to me the curate;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
Now call to me the curate;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
9. "Why do you want the curate,
Dear son so fair and noble?
Why do you want the curate?"
"That I may make confession;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
That I may make confession;
O woe is me! 0 woe is me! I die!
10. "Now call to me a lawyer;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
Now call to me a lawyer;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
11. "Why do you want a lawyer[9],
Dear son so fair and noble?
Why do you want a lawyer?"
"My will to draw and witness;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
My will to draw and witness;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
12. "What will you leave your mother,
Dear son so fair and noble?
What will you leave your mother?"
"I leave to her my palace;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
I leave to her my palace;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
13. "What will you leave your brothers,
Dear son so fair and noble?
What will you leave your brothers?"
"My carriage and my horses;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
My carriage and my horses;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
14. "What will you leave your sisters,
Dear son so fair and noble?
What will you leave your sisters?"
"A dowry for their marriage;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
A dowry for their marriage;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
15. "What will you leave your servants,
Dear son so fair and noble?
What will you leave your servants?"
"The road to go to mass on;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
The road to go to mass on;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
16. "What will you leave for your funeral,
Dear son so fair and noble?
What will you leave for your funeral?"
"A hundred and fifty masses;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
A hundred and fifty masses;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
17. "What will you leave your sweetheart,
Dear son so fair and noble?
What will you leave your sweetheart?"
"The gallows-tree to hang her;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
The gallows-tree to hang her;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"
According to D'Ancona[10] a few lines of this dialogue ballad were included in an allusion in the "Cicalata in lode della Padella e della Frittura" which was recited before the Accademia della Crusca by Lorenzo Panciatichi in 1656. Child provided details in Additions and Corrections (Volume 1): "The Canon Lorenzo Panciatichi refers to the ballad in a 'Cicalata in lode della Padella e della Frittura,' recited at the Crusca, September 24, 1656, and in such manner as shows that it was well known. He quotes the first question of the mother, "Dove andastù a cena," etc. To this the son answered, he says, that he had been poisoned with a roast eel: and the mother asking what the lady had cooked it in, the reply was, In the oil pot."
In Germany the Randal ballad was collected and published in 1802 in the romance novel, Godwi, by Clemens Brentano. It's a conversation between a mother and her daughter Maria. Since the novel was published in 1802, the version collected and published by Brentano dates back to the late 1700s at least. Child gives German versions A-F, while the 1802 version usually titled, "Grossmutter Schlangenköchin," was translated by Robert Jamieson in 1814[11]:
GRANDMOTHER ADDER-COOK.
"Maria, what room have you been in,
Maria, my only child?"
"I have been with my grandmother;
— Alas! lady mother, what pain!"
"What then has she given thee to eat,
Maria, my only child?"
"She has given me fried fishes ;
— Alas! lady mother, what pain!"
"Where did she catch the little fishes,
Maria, my only child?"
"She caught them in the kitchen-garden ;
— Alas! lady mother, what pain!"
"With what did she catch the little fishes,
Maria, my only child?"
"She caught them with rods and little sticks;
Alas! lady mother, what pain!"
"What did she do with the rest of the fishes;
Maria, my only child?"
"She gave it to her little dark-brown dog:
Alas! lady mother, what pain!"
"And what became of the dark-brown dog,
Maria, my only child?"
"It burst into a thousand pieces:
Alas! lady mother, what pain!"
"Maria, where shall I make thy bed,
Maria, my only child?"
"In the church-yard shalt thou make my bed,
Alas! lady mother, what pain!"
A similar text was print in 1838 with an additional line of intercalcated refrain. A single stanza with melody was reprinted in "Songs from Scotland and the North Country" by Lucy E. Broadwood, Cecil J. Sharp, A. G. Gilchrist; Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Vol. 5, No. 19 (Jun., 1915), pp. 104-121 The other ballads I've briefly studied are the Swedish which are usually titled, Den Lallas Testemente." They too date back to the late 1700s and early 1800s.
This Swedish version is from Svenska fornsånger, en samling utg. af A.I. Arwidsson. 3 deler by Svenska fornsånger, 1837. The translation which follows the Swedish text is mostly mine.
88. Den Lillas Testamente
1. "Hvar har du va't sä länge?" —
Lilla dotter kind!
"Jag har va't i bänne,
"Hos broderen min!"
Aj, aj, ondt hafver jag, jag!
2. "Hvad fick du der att äta?" --
Lilla dotter kind!
"Slekter äl och peppar,
"Styfmoder min!"
Aj, aj, ondt bafver jag, jag!
3."Hvad gjorde du af benen!" —
Lilla dotter kind!
Kasta dem for hundarne,
Styfmoder min!"
Aj, aj, m, m.
4. "Hvart kommo de hundarne?" —
"Remna i femton stycken,
Hundarne smä, m, m.
5. "Hvad ger du dä din fader?" —
"Godt korn i lador,
Faderen min!"
6. "Hyad ger du dä din broder?" —
"Vida skepp i floder,
"Broderen min!"
7. "Hvad ger du dä din syster?" —
"Guldskrin och kistor,
"Systeren min!"
8. "Hvad ger du din styfmoder?" —
"Helvetes bojor,
"Styfmoder min!"
9. "Hvad ger du da din amma?" —
Lilla dotter kind!
"Helvetet samma,
"Amman min!'
Aj, aj, ondt hafver jag, jag!
Translation: Swedish songs, a collection of A.I. Arwidsson. 3 parts
by Swedish singers, 1837
88. The Child's Testament (Will)
1. "Where have you been so long now
Little daughter child?"
"I've been to Banne[],
"With brother mine!"
Oh, oh, sore pains have I, I!
2. "What did you get there to eat,
Little daughter child?"
"Roasted eels and pepper,
"Stepmother mine!"
Oh, oh, sore pains have I, I!
3. "What did you do with the legs,
Little daughter child?"
"Threw them to the dogs,
Stepmother mine!"
Oh, Oh, m, m.
4. "What became of the dogs?"
"Bursted in fifteen pieces,
The dogs are small, m, m.
5. "What do you give your father there?" -
"Good grain in barns,
Father mine!"
6. "What are you giving your brother?"
"Big ship in the river,
Brother mine!"
7. "What do you give your sister there?" -
"Gold boxes and chests,
"Sister mine!"
8. "What do you give your stepmother?" -
"The bowels of hell,
"Stepmother mine!"
9. "What do you give your nurse?" -
Little daughter child!
"Hell the same,
"Nurse mine!"
Oh, oh, sore pains have I, I!
* * * *
This collection includes some foreign versions but is focused primarily on the English speaking versions. Child has 21 "English" versions[10] (A-U) of Lord Randal with a variety of titles in his English and Scottish Popular Ballads (volume 1, 1884), of which 3 are with tunes. Three of Cunningham's stanzas[12] are given in Child's ballad narrative(headnotes) plus there are 3 more versions found in later editions of Additions and Corrections. Version I and its variants (the "Tiranti variants" primarily from New England) were collected in the US. The eight additional variants (a-i) of I were given in Child's End-notes except two which were found in later editions of Additions and Corrections. The changes provided by Child to make 8 complete versions were reconstructed from version Ia. Note that the changes for Ii are mistakenly given as Ik. It's important to recognize that the total number of Child versions is 21 (A-U)+1 (Cunningham) +2 (Additions and Corrections) +8 (variants of I) or 32 total versions. The Lairde Rowlande text (Child E from Hailliwell) is given again with an early source in Additions and Corrections which cannot count as a different versions. Child also quotes three Italian versions (two in his footnotes) but fails to give translations (instead Child gives summations of the ballad story of the important foreign texts). The number of different "English" versions given by Child-- which total 32-- has not been presented by ballad scholars. Bronson has 103 texts with tunes in his Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads, a further 9 in the Addenda (volume IV), and 29 tunes for the appendix ballad, Billie Boy. A number of Scottish "nursery" variants titled "Croodlin' Dou" (Cooing Dove) use the same form as Lord Randal but lack the "will" stanzas at the end.
There is an indication that Child A, dated early 1800s by Child, was manufactured from two versions. In stanza 6 the repeated last line changes to: "For I'm sick at the heart," whereas the first 5 stanzas it was "For I'm wearied wi huntin'." Usually a singer will not change a refrain after 5 stanzas and then keep it changed-- it rarely happens and indicates Child A is a composite. Since there is no documentation about the source of A and it's in a "later hand" in an MS book found by Macmath. Child A appears to be a Scottish composite, made from two traditional variants which cannot be accurately dated.
['Lord Randal']- Child A. From a small manuscript volume lent me by Mr William Macmath, of Edinburgh, containing four pieces written in or about 1710 and this ballad in a later hand. Charles Mackie, August, 1808, is scratched upon the binding.
1 'O WHERE ha you been, Lord Randal, my son?
And where ha you been, my handsome young man?'
'I ha been at the greenwood; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi hunting, and fain wad lie down.'
2 'An wha met ye there, Lord Randal, my son?
An wha met you there, my handsome young man?'
'O I met wi my true-love; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin, an fain wad lie down.'
3 'And what did she give you, Lord Randal, my son?
And what did she give you, my handsome young man?'
'Eels fried in a pan; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin, and fain wad lie down.'
4 'And wha gat your leavins, Lord Randal, my son?
And wha gat your leavins, my handsome young man?'
'My hawks and my hounds; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi hunting and fain wad lie down.'
5 'And what becam of them, Lord Randal, my son?
And what becam of them, my handsome young man?'
'They stretched their legs out an died; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin, and fain wad lie down'
6 'O I fear you are poisoned, Lord Randal, my son!
I fear you are poisoned, my handsome young man.'
'O yes, I am poisoned; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.'
7 'What d'ye leave to your mother, Lord Randal, my son?
What d'ye leave to your mother, my handsome young man?'
'Four and twenty milk kye; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.'
8 'What d'ye leave to your sister, Lord Randal, my son?
What d'ye leave to your sister, my handsome young man?'
'My gold and my silver; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, an I fain wad lie down.'
9 'What d'ye leave to your brother, Lord Randal, my son?
What d'ye leave to your brother, my handsome young man?'
'My houses and my lands; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.'
10 'What d'ye leave to your true-love, Lord Randal my son?
What d'ye leave to your true-love, my handsome young man?'
'I leave her hell and fire; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.'
The contradiction in the ballad story in this and other Scottish/English versions occurs in the first stanzas when Randal is in the greenwoods hunting and meets his sweetheart there. Although it's possible she was in the greenwoods and cooked him "eels fried in a pan" it a story-line incongruity that cannot logically be explained. Child A has been dated 1710[] but Child says it's from the early 1800s. The name "Lord Randal" was used by Sir Walter Scott for his version in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, 1803, III, 292. Although Scott acknowledged common name title to be "Lord Ronald" he perhaps chose Randal because of the history associated with the Randal name. Here are Gilchrist's comments on the Randal name published in 1907 in the JFSS[]:
While the poisoning story itself was probably current in Europe at an early period, the following suggestions may be offered as to the reason why the name "Lord Rendal" should be traditionally connected with the ballad in England and Scotland:
(1). - Randal III, sixth Earl of Chester, 1181, (died 1232) divorced his first wife, Constance, widow of Geoffrey Plantagenet, and married again, "for which sin, as many men suppose, this Ranulph [Randal] deserved to dye without issue and to relinquish his honors unto the sonne of his sister." [The quotation is taken from The Catalogue of Hontor, 1610, an old peerage in the writer's possession].
(2). - He was succeeded by his nephew John, whose wife "was infamous for plotting to take away the life of her husband John by poison."-[Ibid.]
(a). - Following upon a contemporary belief that Randal left no heir because of his sin in divorcing his first wife and re-marrying, may there not have arisen the story that a young son and heir, child of the second wife, was poisoned by his "stepmother" (i.e. the divorced Constance) at her own house, returning to his mother to die? (This would explain the "Wee Croodlin' Doo" form of the story, with its conjunction of "stepmother " and "nammy," though, at the same time, the "mammy" of the nursery version may simply have been the child's foster-mother or nurse).
If, when the real circumstances had somewhat faded from memory, people wished to find a romantic reason for the fact of Randal III's leaving no heir and the earldom thus passing to his nephew, a divine judgment might be the explanation offered by the priest and the scholar, but the common folk would, I think, be much more likely to seek a human agent in the first wife, dishonoured, jealous, and revengeful, and thus to attach to Randal an already existing ballad-story. (It will be remembered that Constance's own son, Prince Arthur, had been done to death).
(b). - The fact, or story, that Randal's nephew and successor to the title was poisoned by his own wife may later have become attached to Randal himself by confusion with the (presumptive) poisoning legend about Randal's young son and heir. These suggestions do not, of course, interfere with the circumstance of the Lord Randal story being current in Italy or other countries at a much earlier date. They merely aim at explaining why the hero should be called Lord Randal in the English form of the ballad. (See Chappell's Popular Music, p. 10, for an account of the services English minstrels rendered to Randal, when besieged in 12I2. This (or another) Randal seems to have been early a popular hero, for Longland describes his Friar as much better acquainted with the "rimes of Robinhode and of Randal, erle of Chester," than with his Paternoster).
The first documented version with the Randall (Randal) name was collected in Suffolk and later sent in a letter dated April 19, 1775 written by Rev. P. Parsons of Wye to Percy. Child did not have the Percy Papers when he wrote Volume 1 and the headnotes to Lord Randal so it was added in a later Volume and Child version S. Child took the Randal title from Scott who said that the common Scottish title was "Lord Ronald" as was further documented by the 1930s Carpenter versions. I've taken the text directly from a copy of Parsons' letter to Percy. It's titled simply, "Ballad," by Parsons and was added in ESPB in Additions and Corrections in the second volume. Parsons commented: "All the Songs that I have enclosed are Original, at least to me – That one on the other side [Randall my Son], a Friend took from the Spinning Wheel in Suffolk-"
There are some minor differences to the version Child published:
lines 13 and 16 Child inserts "the," has "sick at the heart"
line 23 Child has "I have"
line 41 Child has "colour"
There are no hyphens in Child's transcription-- all taken out and the incorrect capital letters have been changed:
Ballad
1. Where have you been to-day, Randall my Son?
Where have you been to-day, my Only Man?
“I have been hunting, Mother; - make my bed soon
“For I am Sick at heart,- fain wou’d lie down
“Dear Sister, hold my head, Dear Mother make my bed
“For I am Sick at heart, - fain wou’d lie down
2. What have you eat to-day, Randall my Son?
What have you eat to-day, my only man?
“I’ve eat an Eel, Mother; - make my Bed soon
“For I am sick at heart – fain wou’d lie down
“Dear Sister, hold &c
3. Who gave you Eels to-day, Randall my Son?
Who gave you Eels to-day, my Only Man?
“My own Sweetheart, Mother, - make my bed soon
“For I am Sick at heart – fain wou’d lie down
“Dear Sister, hold &c
4. What was the Color of it, Randall my Son?
What was the Color of it, my only man?
“It was neither green, grey, blue, nor black
“But speckled on the Back – make my bed soon
“For I am Sick at heart – fain would lie down
“Dear Sister, hold &c
5. Where Shall I make your Bed, Randall my Son?
Where shall I make your Bed, my Only Man?
“In the Church-yard, Mother, make my bed soon
“For I am Sick at heart – fain would lie down
“Dear Sister, hold &c
6. What will you leave her then, Randall my Son?
What will you leave her then, my only man?
“A Halter to hang her, Mother – make my bed soon
“For I am Sick at heart – fain would lie down
“Dear Sister, hold &c
Randal (English, Scottish) and Ronald/Donald (Scottish) are not the only common names. Versions titled, "Henry my Son," became popular in the UK in the 1900s which feature a specific ballad type, form and melody. This new version became a popular street ballad in Ireland in the 1960s and is still sung in Ireland today. After listening to Frank Harte's 1967 recording of "Henry my son (sung: Henery)" and comparing to George Dunn's version which is a much slower version-- they have the same text (with variations), phrasing, form etc-- so I'd say they are both from the same source. This source can be traced at least to the early 1900s (see Sharp, 1904 and Collinson 1926). Another important version is the 1941 Wiltshire version was sung as a march by WWII soldiers and further disseminated from there.
"Henry my Son," Irish street ballad adapted by Frank Harte, 1967.
1. "Where have you been all day, Henery me son?
Where have you been all day, my beloved one?"
"Away on the meadow, away on the meadow,
Make my bed I’ve a pain in me head and I want to lie down."
2. And what did you have to eat?
Poison beans,
3. And what will you leave your mother?
A woolen vest,
4. And what will you leave your father?
A watch and chain,
5. And what will you leave your brother?
A blue suit,
6. And what will you leave your children?
The key of heaven,
7. And what will you leave your sweetheart?
A rope to hang her,
The street ballad is almost a parody of itself and in some versions sometime titled "Green and Yellow" has become comic. Here a comic variant learned in a London pub in 1962:
"Henry my Son," comic street ballad learned in London by John David Goulder of Greenwich, later settled in Scotland, recorded in 1962 by Hamlish Henderson.
1. "Where have you been all day, Henery me son?
Where have you been all day, my current one?"
"In the woods dear mother, in the woods dear mother,
Mother be quick, cause I'm gonna be sick and lay me down to die."
2. What did you do in woods all day, [sim.]
Et [Ate] dear mother,
3. What did you eat in the woods all day?
Eels dear mother,
4. What color was them eels,
Green and yellow,
5 Let me hold the snakes
Blpt [imitates throwing up] dear mother,
6. What color flowers would you like?
Green and yellow.
This comic version is still sung today as is the modern version similar to those sung by Frank Harte. The name Henry also appeared in other Irish/Scotch versions and the Henry (Heinerich) also dates back to the late 1700s and early 1800s in Germany. These "Henry" versions are closer to the standard English/Scotch. However, several German versions have Henry. Here's the opening of the A version in Deutscher Liederhort by Ludwig Christian Erk, 1856, it begins:
A. Schlangenköchin. [Snake-cook]
"Wo bist du denn so lang gewesn, Heinerich, mein lieber Sohn?"
["Where have you been for so long, Henry, my dear son?"]
"Ich bin bei meinem Feinslieb chen gewesn, Frau Mutter mein, o weh!"
["I've been to my sweetheart's, my mother, oh my!"]
It's "King Henry" in Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 69 (c. 1827). From the recitation of Margaret Bain, in the parish of Blackford, Perthshire.
1 'What's become of your hounds, King Henrie, my son?
What's become of your hounds, my pretty little one?'
The possibility of an Irish origin is suggested in Motherwell's version by the gift to the father of "The keys of Old Ireland." Of the Henry name Gilchrist comments (1907 JFSS): "The occurrence of the name "King Henry" in the ballad more commonly known as "Lord Rendal" is perhaps due to a reminiscence of Henry I's death from eating a dish of lanmpreys, on his return from a hunting expedition. It seems quite possible that a story arose that the dish had been tampered with, or that the "lampreys" were euphemistically named, and hence that the king died of poison, not simple gluttony. A somewhat similar poisoning circumstance in connection with the death of King John is recorded in the old chronicle which relates that a certain monk poisoned, with the venom from a toad, a wassail-cup, of which the king drank and thereafter swelled and died. See Scott's Bordler Minstrelsy, note to "Lord Rendal."
It is also imaginable that the "King Henry" referred to may have been the "Young King Henry" who was crowned in the lifetime of his father, Henry II, and died of "a violent fever and flix" while fighting against him, in France. There is a possibility that poison was suspected in his case, also; but it seems much more likely that the person who first introduced the name of Henry into the ballad had in mind the monarch who succumbed to the dish of lampreys."
Similar to the modern "Henry my son" titled versions are the "pretty boy" versions which are predominantly Irish. One of the earliest collected verses of the Irish-Scotch "pretty boy" versions appears in "Poems" by Mary Boddington, 1836, p. 313. She gives only one traditional stanza and writes several more. According to Boddington:
"The first verse belongs to an old ballad, of which I could never find any more; the air, without being of remarkable beauty, is soft and characteristic: I do not know its Irish name."
"Oh, where were you all day?"
Irish--Air
"Oh, where were you all day,
My own pretty boy?
Oh, where were you all day,
My comfort and joy?
Fishing and fowling, mother: make my bed soon,
I've a pain in my heart, and I fain would lie down."
This "pretty boy" Irish text is from 1848 collected from "Peggy Cudmore, a little peasant girl of twelve or thirteen years of age." It's included in the following complete text with notes from Joyce 1909 in his Old Irish Folk Music and Songs. After Cudmore's version Joyce also translates a stanza of the 1881 Gaelic version published by Dr. Douglas Hyde, in "Eriu."
"Where were you all the day, my own pretty boy?
Where were you all the day, my truelove and joy?"
"I was fishing and fowling: mother, dress my bed soon;
There's a pain in my heart, and I want to lie down."
"What did you get for dinner, my own pretty boy?
What did you get for dinner, my truelove and joy?"
"Bread, mutton, and poison : mother, dress my bed soon;
There's a pain in my heart, and I want to lie down."
"What will you leave your mother, my own pretty boy?
What will you leave your mother, my truelove and joy?"
"A coach and four horses : mother, dress my bed soon;
There's a pain in my heart, and I want to lie down."
(He goes on— as questioned by his mother— leaving various bequests to his relations, till, in the last verse, he comes to his wife, who had given him the poisoned mutton.)
" What will you leave your married wife, my own pretty boy?
What will you leave your married wife, my truelove and joy?"
"A long rope to hang her: mother, dress my bed soon;
There's a pain in my heart, and I want to lie down."
The translation of the first verse of the Irish version, as given by Dr. Hyde in "Eriu," is:—
"What was in the dinner you got, my fair-haired heart-pulse and my treasure?
What was in the dinner you got, thou flower of young men?"
"An eel that Nuala[] gave me with deadly poison in it;
Oh, my head! — it is paining me, and I want to lie down."
These Irish "pretty boy" versions constitute a specific ballad type and are found occasionally elsewhere in the UK and America.
* * * *
A nursery variant of the Scottish Lord Ronald versions titled the "Croodlin' Doo" or "Croodin' Doo" emerged in the late 1700s. The first mention of this children's variant was from Walter Scott who in his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (Vol. III, 1803) wrote: "there is a very similar song, in which, apparently to excite greater interest in the nursery, the handsome young hunter is exchanged for a little child, poisoned by a false step-mother." The probable version to which he referred was taken from Scott's daughter, Sophia Scott Lockhart (1799-1837) and published in Robert Chambers' Popular Rhymes of Scotland, 1870, p. 51:
The Croodin Doo (Cooing Dove)
1 'Where hae ye been a' the day, my bonny wee croodin doo?'
'O I hae been at my stepmother's house;
Make my bed, mammie, now, now, now,
Make my bed, mammie, now!'
2 'Where did ye get your dinner?' my, etc.
'I got it at my stepmother's;' make, etc.
3 'What did she gie ye to your dinner?'
'She gae me a little four-footed fish.'
4 'Where got she the four-footed fish?'
'She got it down in yon well strand;' O make, etc.
5 'What did she do with the banes o't?'
'She gae them to the little dog.'
6 'O what became o' the little dog?'
'O it shot out its feet and died;' O make, etc.
Sophia sang her version (Child M) when the Scott's lived in Abbotsford (c. 1811) and it's likely the same version Walter Scott knew in 1803 which dates the nursery version back to the late 1700s. There is no "will" made out in these nursery version probably because it's impractical that a young child, not of age, would be able to bequeath possessions. Besides Child M, Child gives eight other versions: J, K, L, N, O, R, U, and X. About 1827 Crawfurd obtained a version from Nannie Orr of Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire. In the 1915 article "Songs from Scotland and the North Country," Lucy Broadwood publsihed her father's version which dated back to c. 1820 proving that the nursery versions was not exclusively Scottish. By the late 1800s "Croodlin' Doo" only rarely was collected and it has been found only once in North America.
* * * *
Because the ballad was not printed, dating the British versions is very speculative. Child G, "Billy, My Son" from a clergyman's daughter, in Suffolk probably dates to the 1760s while Child S, taken from a friend of Parson's who got it from “from the spinning-wheel, in Suffolk,” was sent by letter to Percy in 1775. The ballad was know in Scotland in the late 1700s as Robert Burns gave a fragment titled, "Lord Ronald, my Son," to Johnson's Museum in 1793 (Child F). The collector of the Welsh version, J. Glyn Davies, dates the ballad to the early 1600s in the UK based on an an archaic Welsh phrase. In The Randal Ballad" Karl Goller dates the ballad in the UK to the 1500s with very little corroboration. Speculation by both Sir Walter Scott and later Gilchrist (Piers plowman's rhymes) of the ballad dating to Randall III who died in 1232 have little authority. In the UK the ballad cannot be dated much earlier than the mid-1700s-- over one hundred years later than the Italian versions.
Child I is a group of American texts dating back to the late 1700s. The Child I versions, the "Soper" versions-- titled Tyranty, Tiranti and the like, are found in New England (Maine, Massachusetts) have been traced back to Justus Soper, born 1760, who married Elizabeth Viles of Orland. Their third child, Elizabeth, born in 1789, went when young to Massachusetts, where she was brought up by her aunt Esther Soper. It was from Elizabeth Soper Foster that Child's I version is derived c. late 1790s but clearly it dates back earlier in the 1700s. (See Barry's extensive notes in BBM). Linscott points out (p.191) that the Soper family descendants arrived in Boston in 1656. While there's no indication that the ballad dates to the 1600s in America, a date of mid-to-late 1700s seems reasonable.
Conclusions
Some characteristics of the Irish versions include the "my pretty boy" or "my own pretty boy" identifiers (rhymes with "pride and joy/comfort and joy"). Another Irish identifier is the "What die ye eat for breakfast" line. Many Irish versions have the "burial" stanza as the final stanza. Some of the modern Irish versions (see: Irish street ballad adapted by Frank Harte, 1967) have the "Henry my son" line.
The Lord Ronald (Randal) Carpenter versions are not unusual-- they confirm however, that at least in Scotland, "Lord Ronald/Donald" is the main Scottish branch-- this contradicts Child's opening remark: "Scott says that the hero was more generally termed Lord Ronald: but in the versions that have come down to us this is not so."
R. Matteson 2011, 2018]
____________________________
Footnotes:
1. From Scott's "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," 1803, III, 292.
2. Since the ballad is not popular or known in France, it's presumed to have been disseminated more directly by fisherman, traders and merchants. See also British Ballads and their Continental Relations p. 17-20, by Gerould, 1932.
3. Barry quotes lines from "Lord Ronald in Italy," 1886.
4. Child calls it a "pot-pourri or quodlibet," and takes it from a reprint in Wolff's Egeria, p. 53.
5. According to Child, "The ballad was first recovered in 1865, by Dr. G. B. Bolza, who took it down from the singing of very young girls at Loveno."
6. This version is from Cumo and dated by one source 1867.
7. The Italian text may be viewed on line at google books: Folk-ballads of Southern Europe
edited by Sophie Jewett, Katharine Lee Bates
8. Also translated, "Where were you last night"
9. Some translations have "notary" instead of "lawyer"
10. D' Ancona, op. cit. p. 106.
11. Jamieson, "Illustrations of Northern Antiquities," p. 319.
CONTENTS:
1) Lord Randal- Mackie 1808; Child A
2) Lord Donald- Mrs. Comie; Kinloch 1827; Child B
3) King Henry- Margaret Bain; c.1820s; Child C
4) Lord Randal- Sir Walter Scott 1803; Child D
5) Lairde Rowlande- Halliwell 1849 Child E
6) Lord Ronald, My Son- Robert Burns 1793 Child F
7) Billy, My Son- (Suffolk) 1814 Child G
8) My Own Pretty Boy- Healy, 1868; Child H
9) Bonnie Wee Croodlin Dow- Maxwell c.1820 Child J
10) Croodlin' Doo- Chambers 1829; Child K
11) Willie Doo- Buchan 1828; Child L
12) The Croodin Doo- Lockhart 1870 Child M
13) My Little Wee Croudlin Doo- Burton; c.1827 Child N
14) The Croodlin Doo- Tytler c. 1840 Child O
15) Lord Ronald My Son- Webster, c.1833; Child P
16) Lord Randal- Robertson; pre-1845; Child Q
17) Little Wee Toorin Dow- Pitcairn; c.1820; Child R
18) Randall, My Son- Parsons; 1775; Child S
19) Lord Randal- Laidlaw; early 1800s; Child T
20) My Wee Crooding Doo- Archibald; 1830; Child U
21) Lairde Rowlande- Philodice; 1805; Child App. 1
22) Jacky, My Son- Adams; c. 1830; Child App. 2
23) The Croodin Doo- Findlay; c. 1865; Child App. 3
24) Die Schlangenkochin- (Germany) 1840 (includes music and translation from and earlier text)
25) King Henry, My Son- Lattimer (Carlisle) 1800s
26) The Little Wee Croodin' Doo-(2) Broadwood pre-1893
Rendal, My Son- Hooper (Hambridge) 1904 Sharp A
Henery My Son- Perry (Langport) 1904 Sharp B
Henery My Son- Pond (S. B.) 1904 Sharp C
Rendal, My Son- Wyatt (W. Harptree) 1904 Sharp D
Rendal, My Son- Brown (Clevedon) 1904 Sharp E
Three Drops of Poison- Kemp (Surry) 1907
The Little Wee Croodin' Doo- Cremer (Lan.) 1908
Lord Ronald- MaCrae (London) 1908
Where Were You All Day- Cochlain (Cork) 1914
Lord Randal- MacSweeney (Ireland) c. 1918
Henry, My Son- George Dunn (Staffordshire) c. 1920
Lord Randal My Son- Hole (Birmingham) c. 1924
Lord Randal My Son- Sellars (Bristol) 1941
The Song of the Eel- Heaney (Ireland) pre-1964
The Wild, Wild Berry- H. Civil (Shropshire) 1989
__________________
In his article A Contamination in "Lord Randal" published by Modern Philology, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Aug., 1931), pp. 105-107, Archer Taylor points out the weakness of Child A:
It seems scarcely probable that the hero should have met his truelove while he was hunting and have dined with her. Our suspicion that the text is disordered in some way is confirmed by the examination of the parallels. Both the B text and the G text regularize the situation by declaring that the hero has been courting or wooing, but they fail to supply an explanation for the presence of the dogs. We cannot suppose that the A text represents a corruption of the B and G texts. Rather the reverse is true: B and G endeavor to bring order into the confused situation.
We can then ask ourselves: Is the confusion in A the survival of something which the singers have not fully remembered or does this confusion arise from the contamination of two themes? If the confusion in A is a survival, we may find somewhere sufficient traces of the original situation to set things right.
For we have an abundance of texts of "Lord Randal" in many languages- Italian, German, Hungarian, Danish, Swedish, and what not. A few texts, moreover, are even older than English A of 1710. Somewhere, then, we should find an indication of the original situation of which, ex hypothesi, the incongruity in English A might be a survival. Now, whatever the differences in all these texts in the various languages may be, the texts agree on one point:
there is no meeting with the truelove in the greenwood. There are therefore two conceivable explanations of the greenwood in English A:
(1) the greenwood has vanished from every text but English A and its congeners or
(2) English A has borrowed the greenwood from some other ballad. Thus far all indications favor the second explanation, but they are negative rather than positive.
We must look for some reason to believe that English A is a contaminated ballad. Mention of the greenwood is a commonplace of English balladry.[2] Many of the Robin Hood ballads begin with conventional introductions, as for example:
In summer time, when leaves grow green,
And flowers are fresh and gay,
Robin Hood and his merry men
Were disposed to play.[3]
As is well known, we find the origin of this convention in medieval art poetry, conspicuously illustrated by the French reverdie. It enjoyed high favor in the ballads which circulated before 1700, but has now fallen into disuse and persists only in ballads of the older sort. Mention of visiting the greenwood occurs likewise in such ballads with a long history as "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight," "Tam Lin," and "Hind Etin." A striking parallel to "Lord Randal" is found in the extremely corrupt ballad of "The King's Dochter Lady Jean." Here we have the visit to the greenwood, the command to make the bed-
O sister, sister, mak my bed,
O the clean sheets and strae,
O sister, sister, mak my bed,
Down in the parlour below [4] -
and the death of the chief actor. The texts are so few and so corrupted that we cannot hope to bring order into them. But we can safely deduce that the visit to the greenwood was a conventional formula, capable of uniting with a theme very similar to that of "Lord Randal." In the chaotic state of "The King's Dochter Lady Jean" we dare not say that it was the source of the contamination of "Lord Randal." It does prove that contamination must be reckoned with in interpreting "Lord Randal."
There is a certain interest and value in thus demonstrating the presence of a contamination in the oldest text of "Lord Randal." A much greater importance, I think, attaches to the fact as an evidence of the condition of all our ballad texts. What is true of "Lord Randal" is true, mutatis mutandis, of other ballads. Contamination is no new factor in ballad study, but it is unusually interesting and significant to find it in so old and important a ballad.
----------------------
Mary Humphreys
Date: 15 Jul 03 - 12:52 PM
Here is a Welsh version of the same song, which goes straight from the 'speckled fish' answer to the living will bits of the song.
The last bequest is the same as the English version. Interestingly, it can be dated to post-1850 as the sister gets a sewing machine as her legacy!I will translate for those as wants it. PM me. Sang it at Sutton ( Biggleswade ) Folk Club last week - with props operated by Anahata and translation flash cards by Jan Lane. Went down a treat.
Ple buost ti neithiwr mab annwyl dy fam ( x 2 )
Pysgota mam annwyl, O ch'weiriwch fy ngwely
R'wy'n glaf, r'wy'n glaf
A'm calon ar fyned i'r bedd
Pa liw oedd dy bysgod, mab annwyl dy fam
Rhai brithion, mam annwyl
Be' roi di i'th tad,mab annwyl dy fam
Wel,pum punt mam annwyl
Be' roi di i'th chwaer,
Wel.injian i wnio,o'ch'weiriwch fy ngwely
Be' roi di i'th fam
Wel, ffortiwn, mam annwyl
Be' roi di i'th gariad
Wel' cortyn i'w chrogi o'ch'weiriwch fy ngwely
R'wy'n glaf, r'wy'n glaf
A'm calon ar fyned i'r bedd
---------------------
EM: Does the form of that, Joe, is it the same as the non-Gaelic version, do you know? In the - well, translate the first verse.
JH: Cé raibh tú ó mhaidin - where were you all day. A dheartháirín ó means brother. Well, of course, in Gaelic you see, dheartháirín can refer to anybody you're fond of. Doesn't have to be brother although it is the Gaelic word for brother, deartháir, you could call a dheartháirín somebody you see out coming up the road there. And that's the nice way you speak to him. A dheartháirín, céard a tharla dhuit? - what happened to you? You see it doesn't have to be a brother or a son. A mother can call it her son, they often do that at home 'deartháirín'. It's something to tell you that you're very fond of a person. Affectionate. And that's what it says in that - where were you all day dheartháirín ó - brother, my son. Where were you all day my phlúr, the flower of all men. Ag iascach 's ag foghléireacht - fishing and fowling. Cóirigh mo leaba dhom - that's make my bed. Tá mé tinn fó mo chroí - I'm sick in my heart and I'm ready to die.
EM: Oh, it's exactly the same …
JH: Ó eascainn a raibh lúb uirthi, Nimh fuinte brúite uirthi - that's an eel dipped in poison.
EM: Oh, it's an eel in this one, is it?
------------------
2. Amhrán na Eascainne
Song of the Eel
sung by Liam O Maonlai
https://playertube.org/watch?v=ARfc9Ayv9D4
The story we had … [was] that his newly-married wife… gave him an eel full of poison for his dinner. And that his sister was sitting by his bedside, asking him questions. ‘Where were you all day? Cé raibh tú ó mhaidin, a dhriotháirín-ó?’ And then, ‘What will you leave your father? What will you leave your mother? What will you leave your brother? You know. What will you leave your wife?’ And he said, ‘Ifreann mar dhúiche aice. Hell may be her destiny. Flaithis a bheith dúinte uirthe. Heaven may be shut against her.’
And then he had two sons, according to this story, too, and she asked him, ‘What will you leave your little sons?’ ‘Hopping,’ he said ‘from place to place, begging their food,’ he said, ‘and ending up with the same way’ he said ‘I’m dying now.’ He was bitter, and who wouldn’t be? And this is the way they used to sing it at home.’
Caro e p'o pagpar cu ag vo macain?
A curlin geal 'r a rtoin,
Cé raibh tú ó mhaidin, a dhriotháirín-ó?
Cé raibh tú ó mhaidin, a phlúir na bhfear óg?
Ag iasgach ‘s a foghlaéaracht,
Cóirigh mo leaba dhom
Tá mé tinn fó mo chroí, agus ligí dhomh luí.
Céard a d’ith tú ar do dhinnéar, a dhriotháirín-ó?
Céard a d’ith tú ar do dhinnéar, a phlúir na bhfear óg?
Eascann a raibh lúib uirthe,
Nimh fuinte brúite uirthi.
Tá mé tinn fó mo chroí, agus ligí dhomh luí.
Céard a fhágfas tú ag do daddy, a dhriotháirín-ó?
Céard a fhágfas tú ag do daddy, a phlúir na bhfear óg?
Eochair mo stábla aige
Sin is mo láir aige
Tá mé tinn fó mo chroí, agus ligí dhomh luí.
Céard a fhágfas tú ag do bhean phósta, a dhriotháirín-ó?
Céard a fhágfas tú ag do bhean phósta, a phlúir na bhfear óg?
Ifreann mar dhúiche aice,
Na Flaithis a bheith dúinte uirthi.
Tá mé tinn fó mo chroí, agus ligí dhomh luí.
Céard a fhágfas tú ag do mháithrín, a dhriotháirín-ó?
Céard a fhágfas tú ag do mháithrín, a phlúir na bhfear óg?
Dhá bhfágfainn saol brách aice
D’fhágfainn croí cráite aice.
Tá mé tinn fó mo chroí, agus béad go deo deo.
Translation
Where have you been all day, little brother?
Where have you been all day, flower of young men?
Fishing and hunting,
Make my bed for me,
I am sick to my heart, and I want to lie down.
What had you for your dinner, little brother?
What had you for your dinner, flower of young men?
An eel cooked in herbs
With poison pressed into it
I am sick to my heart, and I want to lie down.
What will you leave your daddy, little brother?
What will you leave your daddy, flower of young men?
The key to my stable
And my mare for him
I am sick to my heart, and I want to lie down.
What will you leave your wife, little brother?
What will you leave your wife, flower of young men?
Hell for her dwelling-place
Heaven being closed to her
I am sick to my heart, and I want to lie down.
What will you leave your mother, little brother?
What will you leave your mother, flower of young men?
If I were to leave her eternal life
I would only leave her a broken heart
I am sick to my heart, and always will be.
-----------
Missing versions
Green and Yeller
Child 12
Source Gwilym Davies Collection
Performer Menteith, Charles
Place England : Gloucestershire : Cheltenham
Collector Davies, Gwilym
Date collected 1993 (Oct)
---------------
Fred Jordan sang Henry My Son on the 2004 Musical Traditions anthology of songs from the Mike Yates Collection, The Birds Upon the Tree.
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S237686)
17 of approx 925 results
First Line
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Gwilym Davies Collection
Performer
Jordan, Fred
Place
England : Shropshire (Bromyard Folk Festival)
Collector
Davies, Gwilym
Date collected
1994 (18 Sep)
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
Audio
---------------
The Croodin Doo
Roud Folksong Index (S172652)
20 of approx 925 results
First Line
Whaur hae ye been a the day
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Montgomerie, Scottish Nursery Rhymes (1946) pp.140-141
Performer
Place
Scotland
-------------
King Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S181016)
25 of approx 925 results
First Line
Oh where have you been wandering, Henry my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Frank Warriner Collection (VWML)
Performer
Place
England : Cumberland
Collector
Warriner, Frank
Date collected
1930c
Format
Manuscript
Src Contents
Text
-----------
Lord Rendal Elizabeth Cronin,
Roud Folksong Index (S182619)
35 of approx 925 results
First Line
What did you have for your breakfast
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
BBC recording 21996
The Songs of Elizabeth Cronin, Irish Traditional Singer: The Complete Song Collection, Volume 1
Front Cover
Dáibhí Ó Cróinín
Performer
Cronin, Elizabeth
Place
Ireland : Co. Cork : Ballyvourney
Collector
Ennis, Seamus
Date collected
1954 (Aug)
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
Audio
----------
Lord Randal
Roud Folksong Index (S153011)
48 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have ye been a-hunting, Lord Randal, my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Ord, Bothy Songs & Ballads (1930) pp.458-459
Performer
Place
Scotland
Collector
Ord, John
-----------
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S182618)
50 of approx 925 results
First Line
Oh where have you been, Rendal my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
BBC recording 4015
Performer
Hooper, Louisa
Place
England : Somerset : Hambridge
Collector
Cleverdon, Douglas
Date collected
1942 (7 Feb)
----------
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S182620)
51 of approx 925 results
First Line
Oh what had you for breakfast, my love
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
BBC recording 22015
Performer
Moran, Thomas
Place
Ireland : Co. Leitrim : Mohill
Collector
Ennis, Seamus
Date collected
1954 (Dec)
-------------
Lord Randal
Roud Folksong Index (S243519)
57 of approx 925 results
First Line
Oh where have you been Lord Randal my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Country Branch CBCD 095 ('Good Times Enough')
Performer
Hall, Gordon
Place
England : Sussex : Horsham
Collector
Date collected
Format
Sound recording
Lord Randall
Roud Folksong Index (S243536)
66 of approx 925 results
First Line
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Gwilym Davies Collection
Performer
Driscoll, Ray
Place
England : London : Dulwich
Collector
Davies, Gwilym
Date collected
1993 (27 Oct)
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
Audio
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S208024)
72 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where has you been all day, Henry my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Folktracks FSA 043 (`Blackdog & Sheepcrook')
Performer
Hughes, Carrie
Place
England : Dorset : Blandford
Collector
Kennedy, Peter
Date collected
1968
----------
Lord Ronald
Lucy Broadwood Manuscript Collection (LEB/5/121/2)
76 of approx 925 results
First Line
Oh where have you been, Lord Ronald my son
Performer
[Chidell, Miss]
Date collected
[c. Dec 1902]
Place
[England : Dorset : Bournemouth]
Collector
[Vaughan Williams, Ralph]
[written out for Ralph Vaughan Williams by Miss Chidell, daughter of Mrs Chidell]
---------
ord Randal
Roud Folksong Index (S182602)
82 of approx 925 results
First Line
O whaur hae ye been, Lord Randal my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Douglas, Come Gie's a Sang (1995) p.15
Performer
Skelton, Mabel
Place
Scotland : Forfarshire : Arbroath
-------
Henry My Boy
Roud Folksong Index (S208023)
94 of approx 925 results
First Line
What did you eat for supper, Henry my boy
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Davenport, South Yorkshire Garland
Performer
Booth, Jodie
Place
England : Yorkshire : Maltby
Collector
Davenport, Paul
Date collected
1992
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text; Music
-------
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S329267)
95 of approx 925 results
First Line
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Percy Grainger Phonograph (Cylinder) Collection (VWML CDA Tape Collection No.11)
Performer
Leaning, Joseph
Place
England : Lincolnshire : Brigg
Collector
Grainger, Percy
Date collected
1908 (26 May)
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
Audio
--------
Little Wee Croodlin' Doo
Roud Folksong Index (S404943)
120 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where hae ye been this live-long day
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Clive Carey MSS (VWML) Mi 350 / nb 3/27
Performer
Cumberland, General
Place
Scotland
Collector
Carey, Clive
Date collected
Format
Manuscript
Src Contents
Text; Music
King Henry Me Son
Roud Folksong Index (S181015)
132 of approx 925 results
First Line
Oh where have you been wand'ring
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Jones, Miss Broadwood's Delight (1998) p.36
Performer
Scott, Margaret
Place
England : Cumberland : Wigton
Collector
Broadwood, Lucy E.
Date collected
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text
Lord Ronald
Roud Folksong Index (S213911)
136 of approx 925 results
First Line
O where hae ye been, lord Ronald my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Campbell, Albyn's Anthology (1816/1818) 2 pp.44-45
Performer
Scott, Miss Sophia Charlotte
Place
Scotland : Roxburghshire : Abbotsford
Collector
Date collected
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text; Music
Lord Randal My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S303353)
140 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been all day, Henery my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Folk-Lore 63 (1952) p.181
Performer
Place
England : Birmingham
Collector
Silver, Miss
Date collected
1924 / 1925
Format
Printed : Journal / Serial
Src Contents
Text
---------
ittle Wee Croodin' Doo
Roud Folksong Index (S325275)
141 of approx 925 results
First Line
Oh where have you been this livelong day
Roud No
10. [Search for 10. in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Anne Gilchrist MSS Collection (Vaughan Williams Memorial Library) AGG/8/45
Performer
Place
Collector
Gilchrist, Anne G.
Date collected
Format
Manuscript Collection
Src Contents
Text
Lord Ronald
Roud Folksong Index (S213896)
168 of approx 925 results
First Line
What leave to your mother, Lord Ronald my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Folktracks 60-501 (`Bonny Barbara Allen')
Performer
Laurensen, James
Place
Scotland : Shetland : Fetla
Collector
Shaw, Pat
Date collected
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
Audio
Lord Donald
Roud Folksong Index (S401892)
195 of approx 925 results
First Line
O whare hae ye been a' day, Lord Donald, my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Niles, Anglo-American Ballad Study Book (1945) pp.4-7 (version a)
Performer
Place
Scotland
Collector
Date collected
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S147677)
199 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been to Henry my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Folkways FE 38553 (`English Folk Music Anthology')
Performer
Bricknell, Alison
Place
England : Devon : Exeter
Collector
Richards, Sam / Tish Stubbs
Date collected
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
Audio; Text in booklet
_____________________-
Versions from the Singing Tradition; Springthyme (online)
1: Rundle My Son
Versions from the Singing Tradition
1: Rundle My Son
As sung by John Stewart, Peat Inn, Fife
2: Lord Donald
As sung by Archie Webster, Strathkiness, Fife
3: Rundle My Son
As sung by Mary Reid, Peat Inn, Fife
[ HOME ] [ Numbered List ]
As sung by John Stewart (age 46 at the time) at Well Cottage, Peat Inn on 2 April 1967. Learned from his father and mother (67.2.12). John Stewart and his wife Mary Reid were travellers of the old style - they had few possessions - a pram and sometimes a bicycle with a waterproof sheet to make a 'bow tent'. They called at the door for hot water to make a can of tea. I invited them in and we spent the afternoon singing songs and ballads in the kitchen. Mary Reid also had a version of the ballad but in a rather fragmentary form and with three line stanzas (see Version 3).
'Oh where have you been oh Rundle my son,
Where have you been my jolly young man?'
'I've been away huntin mother make my bed soon,
For I'm wearied, wearied wandrin an' fain would lie doun.'
'Have you had any supper, oh Rundle my son,
Have you had any supper, my jolly young man?'
'Oh yes mother I haed supper do make my bed soon,
For I'm wearied, wearied wandrin an' fain would lie doun.'
'What had you for supper, oh Rundle my son,
What had you for supper, my jolly young man?'
'A plate o fresh fishes mother make my bed soon,
For I'm wearied, wearied wandrin an' fain would lie doun.'
'What colour was yer fishes, oh Rundle my son,
What colour was yer fishes, my jolly young man?'
'Black backs and white bellies mother make my bed soon,
For I'm wearied, wearied wandrin an' fain would lie doun.'
'Oh I doubt ye've been poisoned, oh Rundle my son,
Oh I doubt ye've been poisoned, my jolly young man.'
'Oh yes mother I've been poisoned do make my bed soon,
For I'm wearied, wearied wandrin an' fain would lie doun.'
'What will you leave to your father, oh Rundle my son,
What will you leave to your father, my jolly young man?'
'My horse an' my saddle for him to ride on,
For I'm wearied, wearied wandrin an' fain would lie doun.'
'What will you leave to your mother, oh Rundle my son,
What will you leave to your mother, my jolly young man?'
'My purse an' my sovereigns mother make my bed soon,
For I'm wearied, wearied wandrin an' fain would lie doun.'
'What'll you leave to your sweetheart, oh Rundle my son,
What'll you leave to your sweetheart, my jolly young man?'
'A rope and a halter to hang herself on,
For she is the cause of the poisonin of me.'
-------------
Versions from the Singing Tradition; Springthyme (online)
2: Lord Donald
As sung by Archie Webster, Strathkiness, Fife
As sung by Archie Webster at his house in Strathkinness, Fife in 1969 (69.2.16) and at an informal ceilidh in the bar at Peat Inn 13 Sept 1971 (71.3.71). Archie was brought up on the farms of North East Fife working as a horseman from the age of around 14 through to the 1950s when he was one of the last horse ploughman on the farm of Denbrae near Strathkiness. He had many songs and ballads learned within his family and in the farm bothies.
'Oh where hae ye been
Lord Donald my son?
Where hae ye been
My handsome young man?'
'I have been to the wildwood,
Mother make my bed soon;
For I'm wearied wi huntin,
An' fain would lie doun.'
'Oh have you had supper
Lord Donald my son?
Oh have you had supper
My handsome young man?'
'Oh yes I've had supper,
Mither, make my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin
And I fain wid lie doun.'
'Oh what had you for supper,
Lord Donald my son;
What had you for supper,
My handsome young man?'
'I had eels boiled in broo,
Mither, make my bed soon;
For I'm wearied wi huntin,
An' fain would lie doun.'
'Then I fear ye are poisoned,
Lord Donald my son;
Then I fear ye are poisoned
My handsome young man?'
'Oh yes I am poisoned,
Mither, make my bed soon;
For I'm wearied wi huntin,
An' fain would lie doun.'
'What will you leave to your father
Lord Donald my son?
'What will you leave to your father
My handsome young man?'
'My land and my horses,
Mither, make my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin,
An' fain would lie doun.'
'What will you leave to your mother
Lord Donald my son?
'What will you leave to your mother
My handsome young man?'
'My gold and my silver,
Mither, make my bed soon;
For I'm wearied wi huntin,
An' fain would lie doun.'
'What will you leave to your sweethert
Lord Donald my son?
'What will you leave to your sweethert
My handsome young man?'
'The tow and the halter
That hangs on yon tree,
That's what she'll get
For the poisonin o me.'
-----------
3: Rundle My Son
Versions from the Singing Tradition
1: Rundle My Son
As sung by John Stewart, Peat Inn, Fife
2: Lord Donald
As sung by Archie Webster, Strathkiness, Fife
3: Rundle My Son
As sung by Mary Reid, Peat Inn, Fife
- Greentrax CDTRAX 9024 ('Songs & Ballads from Perthshire Field Recordings')
- Performer Reid, Martha
- recorded by Fleming, Maurice
- Date 1955
As sung by Mary Reid at Well Cottage, Peat Inn on 2 April 1967 (67.2.11). Learned within her family. John Stewart and his wife Mary Reid were travellers of the old style - they had few possessions - a pram and sometimes a bicycle with a waterproof sheet to make a 'bow tent'. They called at my door at Peat Inn where I was living at the time for hot water to make a can of tea. I invited them in and we spent the afternoon singing songs and ballads in the kitchen. Mary Reid sang her rather fragmentary version of the ballad (with three line stanzas) before the fuller version (Version 1) sung by John Stewart.
'O where have you been O Rundle my son?'
'I been away huntin mother make my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi wandred an' fain could lie doun.'
'Have you eaten any supper, O Rundle my son?'
'Black backs and white bellies mother make my bed soon,
For I'm wearied, wearied wandrin an' fain could lie doun.'
'What will you leave to your father, O Rundle my son?'
'My purse an' my sovereigns mother make my bed soon,
For I'm wearied, wearied wandrin an' fain could lie doun.'
'What'll you leave to your sweetheart, O Rundle my son?'
'A rope and a ladder behind thon gallus tree,
For it's she's been the cause o pooshin o me.'
____-
Who gave you poison berries, Henry my boy?
Father gave them to me sweet mother
So make my bed, I've got a pain in my head
And I want to lie down and die
So goodbye, dear mother, goodbye
Coll. 1994, Maltby, South Yorkshire UK
from 12 yr old Jodie Booth who learned it from her grandfather
Pub. South Riding Song Book - 1996
-------------
Musical Traditions CD, The Birds Upon the Tree:
5. Henry my Son (Roud 10, Child 12, Greig 209, Sharp 4)
Fred Jordan. Washwell Cottage, Corve Dale, Shropshire, 1964.
'Where have you been all day, Henry my son?
Where have you been all day, my beloved one?'
'In the meadow, in the meadow.
Oh, make my bed, I've a pain in my head,
And I want to lie down.'
'Who gave you poison berries, Henry my son?
Who gave you poisoned berries, my beloved one?'
'Sister, mother. Sister, mother.
Make my bed, I've a pain in my head,
And I want to lie down.'
'What will you give your father, Henry my son?
'What will you give your father, my beloved one?'
A rope to hang him, a rope to hang him.
Make my bed, I've a pain in my head,
And I want to lie down.'
'What will you give your mother, Henry my son?
'What will you give your mother, my beloved one?'
'All my jewels, all my jewels.
Make my bed, I've a pain in my head,
And I want to lie down.'
'How will you have your grave, Henry my son?
How will you have your grave, my beloved one?'
'Deep and narrow, deep and narrow.
Oh, make my bed, I've a pain in my head,
And I want to lie down.'
Professor Child called this Lord Randal and gives over a dozen examples. Attempts have been made in the past to try to tie this ballad to an actual event, usually to the family of Ranulf, sixth Earl of Chester (d.1232), but as it is known in one form or another all over Europe, this has never been successful. Child noted that the ballad was popular in Italy c.1629, so it is probably quite an old story. Like the ballad Edward (Roud 200. Child 13), we have little idea of what actually lies behind this apparently motiveless murder. Not that this has bothered singers, who continue to enjoy the piece. Usually we find that the ballad's victim has been poisoned by eating either 'sma fish', snakes or eels. But Fred's version, with its 'poison berries', reminds us of another Shropshire version, Ray Driscoll's The Wild, Wild Berry (EFDSS CD02 A Century of Song). There are quite a number of other versions available at the moment, including those by George Spicer (MTCD 311-2), George Dunn (MTCD 317-8), Gordon Hall (Country Branch CBCD095) and Joe Heaney (Topic TSCD518D - this latter being sung in Irish). Jeannie Robertson's superb version, Lord Donald, is regretfully only available in a truncated form (along with similar versions from Elizabeth Cronin, Thomas Moran, Colm McDonagh and Eirlys & Eddis Thomas) on the CD Classic Ballads of Britain & Ireland - volume 1 (Rounder CD 1775).
--------------
The Little Wee Croodlin' Doo
Clive Carey Manuscript Collection (CC/1/350)
347 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where hae ye been this live-long day
Performer
[Cumberland, General]
Date collected
[Aug 1911]
Place
[Scotland]
Collector
Carey, Clive
------
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S208028)
201 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where has you been all day, Henery my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Folktracks 60-501 (`Bonny Barbara Allen')
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4A05hjHIogcgxrWcq6s1Nr
Performer
Warren, Carrie
Place
England : Dorset : Blandford
Collector
Kennedy, Peter
Date collected
Format
Sound recording
Carrie Warren: Henry My Son
Where has you been all day Henry my son?
Where has you been all day my beloved sone (one)
[ ] dear mother
I have a pain in my head and I want's to go to bed
And I want's to go to bed
what have you had to eat
Snakes dear mother
what have you had to eat
Poison dear mother
How many blankets
None
How many pillows
One, dear
-----------
Jacky My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S209925)
202 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where hast thou been today, Jacky my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Child, Vol.5 (Additions & Corrections) pp.208-209 (No.12)
Performer
Adams, Miss F.J.
Place
England : Devon
Collector
Baring Gould, Sabine
Date collected
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S321055)
203 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been all day
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Scott, A Collector's Songbook (1993) p.5
Performer
Ball, D.
Place
Australia
Collector
Scott, Alan
Date collected
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text; Music
--------------
Lord Randal
Roud Folksong Index (S182614)
211 of approx 925 results
First Line
Oh where have you been roaming
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes p.2873
Performer
Place
England : Yorkshire : Stockton-on-Tees
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J. / Kate Buchanan
Date collected
1913 (6 Feb)
Format
Manuscript collection
Src Contents
Frag. Text; Music
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S182627)
212 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been to all the day
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes p.350
Performer
Perry, Mrs.
Place
England : Somerset : Langport
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (23 Aug)
Format
Manuscript collection
Src Contents
Frag. Text; Music
Lord Ronald
Roud Folksong Index (S213909)
221 of approx 925 results
First Line
Oh where have you been to, Lord Ronald my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Lyle, Scottish Ballads pp.257-258
Performer
Haman, Mrs.
Place
Scotland
Collector
Lyle, Emily
Date collected
1974
Format
Printed : Book
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S237684)
237 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been all day
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Jim Carroll / Pat Mackenzie Collection
Performer
Cash, Andy
Place
Ireland : Co. Wexford / England : London
Collector
Carroll, Jim / Pat Mackenzie
Date collected
1973 (Jul / Aug)
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S336179)
240 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been all the day, Henry my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Musical Traditions MTCD 351 ('A Country Life')
Performer
Smith, Bill
Place
England : Shropshire : Bridgnorth
Collector
Smith, Andrew
Date collected
1979 (27 May)
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
Audio
Folk songs from Somerset gathered and edited with pianoforte ...
https://books.google.com/books?id=YogWAQAAMAAJ
Cecil James Sharp, Charles Latimer Marson - 1904 - Read - More editions
My cows and horses, mother, make my bed soon, For I'm sick to my heart and I fain would lie dow^i. 8 What will you leave your lover, Rendal, my son ? What will you leave your lover, my pretty one ? A rope to hang her, mother, make my bed .
Lord Randal
Roud Folksong Index (S182609)
251 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been today Henry my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes p.755
Performer
Pike, Mrs. Betsy
Place
England : Somerset : Somerton
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1906 (5 Jan)
Format
Manuscript collection
Src Contents
Frag. Text; Music
Lord Randal
Roud Folksong Index (S182610)
252 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where will you be buried my own darling boy
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes p.792
Performer
Coles, Grace
Place
England : Somerset : Enmore
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1906 (17 Jan)
Format
Manuscript collection
Src Contents
Frag. Text; Music
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S182625)
253 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been Rendal my fair one
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes p.458
Performer
Hill, Caroline
Place
England : Somerset : Huish Episcopi
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (27 Dec)
Format
Manuscript collection
Src Contents
Frag. Text; Music
-----
Lord Ronald
Roud Folksong Index (S324719)
269 of approx 925 results
First Line
Oh where have you been, Lord Ronald my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Lucy Broadwood MSS (Vaughan Williams Memorial Library) LEB/5/119, 121
Performer
Chiddell, Mrs.
Place
England : Dorset : Bournemouth
Collector
Vaughan Williams, Ralph
Date collected
1902 (Dec)
Format
Manuscript collection
Src Contents
Text; Music
Lord Randal
Roud Folksong Index (S213826)
337 of approx 925 results
First Line
Whaur hae ye been aa the day, Lord Ronald my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Munro: Scottish Studies 14 (1970) pp.162-163
Performer
Higgins, Lizzie
Place
Scotland : Aberdeen
Collector
Munro, Ailie
Date collected
1970
Format
Printed : Journal / Serial
Src Contents
Tex
--------
Lord Rendle
Roud Folksong Index (S182632)
363 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been my fair pretty one
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Words p.465 / Folk Tunes p.335
Performer
Hutchings, Eliza
Place
England : Somerset : Langport
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (19 Aug)
Format
Manuscript collection
Src Contents
----------
Lord Randal
Roud Folksong Index (S312090)
377 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been all the day, Henery my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Morrish, Folk Handbook (2007) pp.158-160
Performer
Bond, Mrs.
Place
England : Somerset : Barrington
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (23 Aug)
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Te
Where have you been to
Ken Stubbs Collection - VWML Song Index (SN2287)
381 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been to, my own darling boy
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Ken Stubbs Field Collection, KS/1/3, 24
Performer
Stubbs, Ken
Place
England : Kent : Edenbridge
Collector
Stubbs, Ken
Date collected
1965c
Format
Sound recording Digital computer file
Src Contents
Audio
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S147670)
383 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been all day, Henry my son?
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Palmer, Songs of the Midlands (1972) p.64 (Version a)
Performer
Marshall, Elsie
Place
England : Birmingham
Collector
Thompson, Katharine
Date collected
1966 (Nov)
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text; Music
-------------
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S237682)
385 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been all day Henry my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Jim Carroll / Pat Mackenzie Collection
Performer
Connors, (Pop's) Johnny
Place
Ireland : Co. Wexford / England : London
Collector
Carroll, Jim / Pat Mackenzie
Date collected
1973 (Jul / Aug)
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
Audio
-------------
[Jimmy Randolph / Lord Randal / John Randolph] 'according to R.V.W. [Ralph Vaughan Williams]'
Maud Karpeles Manuscript Collection (MK/3/181/7)
Title
[Jimmy Randolph / Lord Randal / John Randolph] 'according to R.V.W. [Ralph Vaughan Williams]'
First Line
Performer
Date collected
Place
Collector
Vaughan Williams, Ralph
---------------
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S208034)
418 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been all day
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Folkways FG 3565 / XTRA 1091 (`The Elliotts of Birtley')
Performer
Elliott, Em & Doreen
Place
England : Co. Durham : Birtley
Collector
Seeger, Peggy / MacColl. Ewan
Date collected
1961
Format
Sound Recording
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S182623)
435 of approx 925 results
First Line
O where have you been to Rendal my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Words p.545 / Folk Tunes p.420
Performer
Doveton-Brown, Miss
Place
England : Somerset : Clevedon
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (11 Sep)
Format
Manuscript collection
Src Contents
Text; Music
----------
Lord Rendle
Roud Folksong Index (S182630)
436 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been to all this day
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Words pp.524-525 / Folk Tunes p.393
Performer
Pond, Anna
Place
England : Somerset : Shepton Beauchamp
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (3 Sep)
Format
Manuscript collection
Src Contents
Text; Music
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S153066)
470 of approx 925 results
First Line
O where have you been, Rendal my son?
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Journal of the Folk-Song Society 2 (1905) pp.29-32 (version a)
Performer
Hooper, Louie
Place
England : Somerset : Hambridge
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (18 Aug)
Format
Printed : Journal / Serial
Src Contents
Text; Music
-------------
Lord Rendle
Roud Folksong Index (S182628)
505 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been to all the day Henery my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Words pp.480-481 / Folk Tunes p.353
Performer
Bond, Ellen
Place
England : Somerset : Barrington
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (23 Aug)
Format
Manuscript collection
Src Contents
Text; Music
\
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S237683)
527 of approx 925 results
First Line
What have you been-of, Hen-er-y, my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Musical Traditions MT CD 311-2 ('Up in the North and Down in the South')
Performer
Spicer, George
Place
England : Sussex : Selsfield
Collector
Yates, Mike
Date collected
1973
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
Audio; Text in bookle
Lord Rendal
Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/350)
529 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been to all the day
Performer
Perry, Mrs.
Date collected
23 Aug 1904
Place
England : Somerset : Langport
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
-----
Lord Randal
Roud Folksong Index (S153005)
531 of approx 925 results
First Line
What colour was the fish, Rendal my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Karpeles, Cecil Sharp Collection 1 p.22 (Version f)
Performer
Wyatt, George
Place
England : Somerset : West Harptree
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (16 Aug)
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Frag. Text; Music
-------------
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S147669)
560 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been all day, Henry my son?
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Hamer, Garners Gay pp.76-77
Performer
Holden, Mrs.
Place
England : Worcestershire
Collector
Hamer, Fred
Date collected
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text; Music
----------------
Lord Rendal
Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/792)
568 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where will you be buried my own darling boy
Performer
Coles, Grace
Date collected
17 Jan 1906
Place
England : Somerset : Enmore
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
-=----
Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/363)
569 of approx 925 results
First Line
What colour was the fish Rendle my son
Performer
Wyatt, George
Date collected
26 Aug 1904
Place
England : Somerset : West Harptree
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
-------------
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S182621)
575 of approx 925 results
First Line
When have you been courting Henry my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Words pp.1430-1431 / Folk Tunes p.1584
Performer
Davy, Alice
Place
England : Somerset : Dunster
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J. / Wyatt-Edgell, L. Priscilla
Date collected
1908 (12 Feb)
Format
Manuscript collection
Src Contents
Text; Music
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S213878)
576 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been Rendal my fair one
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Bronson, Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads 1 pp.191-225 (version 79)
Performer
Hill, Caroline
Place
England : Somerset : Huish Episcopi
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (27 Dec)
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Frag. Text; Music
-=--------------
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S213880)
577 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been courting, Henry my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Bronson, Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads 1 pp.191-225 (version 83)
Performer
Davy, Alice
Place
England : Somerset : Dunster
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1908 (12 Feb)
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text; Music
--------------
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S213885)
578 of approx 925 results
First Line
O where have you been this livelong day
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Bronson, Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads 1 pp.191-225 (version 102)
Performer
Aylmin, Fanny S.
Place
England : Surrey : Farnham
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1909 (11 Jun)
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Frag. Text; Music
-----------------
Lord Rendle
Roud Folksong Index (S213888)
579 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been, my fair pretty one
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Bronson, Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads 1 pp.191-225 (version 15)
Performer
Hutching,
Place
England : Somerset : Langport
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (19 Aug)
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text; Music
-------------
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S213877)
620 of approx 925 results
First Line
What will you have for supper John Riley my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Bronson, Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads 1 pp.191-225 (version 67)
Performer
Darling, John
Place
England : Cambridgeshire : Ely
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1911 (8 Sep)
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text; Music
------------
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S213881)
621 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been to day Henery my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Bronson, Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads 1 pp.191-225 (version 84)
Performer
Pike, Mrs.
Place
England : Somerset : Somerton
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1906 (5 Jan)
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
-------------
Lord Donald
Roud Folksong Index (S337071)
659 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where hae ye been Lord Donald, my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Peter Hall Sound Collection (copy in School of Scottish Studies and Vaughan Williams Memorial Library)
Performer
Lochead, Arthur
Place
Scotland
Collector
McIntyre, Geordie
Date collected
1960s - 1980s (?)
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
Audio
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S153062)
734 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been all the day, Rendal my son?
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Sharp, Folk Songs from Somerset 1 pp.46-47, 68-69 (Version a)
Performer
Place
England : Somerset
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
Format
Printed : Book
Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/1584)
821 of approx 925 results
First Line
When have you been courting Henry my son
Performer
Davy, Alice
Date collected
12 Feb 1908
Place
England : Somerset : Dunster
Collector
Wyatt Edgell, Miss [Wyatt-Edgell, L. Priscilla]
----------
Lord Donald
Roud Folksong Index (S182538)
81 of approx 925 results
First Line
Whar ha'e ye bin all the day, Lord Donal' my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
BBC recording 27810
Performer
Higgins (Robertson), Jeannie
Place
Scotland : Aberdeenshire : Aberdeen
Collector
Date collected
1963
Lord Randal
Roud Folksong Index (S243506)
339 of approx 925 results
First Line
Whaur hae ye been all the day, Lord Donald my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Rounder CD 1775 ('Classic Ballads 1')
Performer
Robertson, Jeannie
Place
Scotland : Aberdeen
Collector
Lomax, Alan / Peter Kennedy
Date collected
1953
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
=--------
ce
Folktracks 60-186 (`The Gipsy Lady')
Performer
Robertson, Jeannie
Place
Scotland : Aberdeen
Collector
Kennedy, Peter
Date collected
1953
-------------
Lord Rendle
Roud Folksong Index (S182629)
160 of approx 925 results
First Line
What colour the fish my pretty one
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Words p.492
Performer
Stevens, John
Place
England : Somerset : Compton Martin
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (26 Aug)
Format
Manuscript collection
Src Contents
Text
Whaur hae ye been all the day, Lord Donald, my son?
“Lord Donald” Archive, School of Scottish Studies, rec. No. 1957/44/B2. Sung by Jeannie Robertson, Aberdeen. Collected by Hamish Henderson. Transcribed by James Porter. 1. “Whaur hae ye been all the day, Lord Donald, my son? Whaur
-----------------
O Where Are You Going (Lord Randal)
Ralph Vaughan Williams Manuscript Collection (at British Library) (RVW2/1/102)
840 of approx 925 results
First Line
O where are you going to my darling boy
Performer
Miles, ?
Date collected
13 Aug 1908
Place
England : Sussex : Rusper
Collector
Vaughan Williams, Ralph
---------------
Bill Smith
A country life
Songs and stories of a Shropshire man
(MTCD351)
A few years before Bill was born, a major event occurred in the life of his family; a collector of folk songs came to visit Bill's grandfather and noted down a number of songs. It was an event that became part of the family's identity.1. I have never been able to identify the collector. If such a meeting ever did take place it would appear that John Smith's contribution wasn't considered significant enough to warrant publication.1 Bill's mother, Emily Elizabeth (1877 - 1977), still talked about it in the 1960s; an important man had come all the way from London, just to meet Bill's grandfather and hear him sing. Bill's younger brother Harry 1913 - 2009 remembered hearing all about it in his youth.
Bill's grandfather, John Smith, had a legendary repertoire. Stories were told of competitions where two singers would take turns to sing songs, the winner being the one who kept going longest without repeating or forgetting a song. Bill's grandfather could sing all day without repeating a song. But when my mother asked Emily to name the songs that John Smith had known, she could only remember Barbree Alling: "Oh, do you mean Barbara Allen?" "No, Barbree Alling."
John Smith was born in 1835 in Clee St Margaret, a village some seven miles north-east of Ludlow, near the Brown Clee Hill, in Shropshire. By 1861 he was married to Sarah, from Stanton Long, with three children, and had moved about three miles to the village of Peaton, and there he remained until the census of 1891. By 1901 he was in Diddlebury, a mile from Peaton. His occupation listed as 'agricultural labourer' throughout. (This is in stark contrast to the story Harry told of their grandfather; that he travelled and made money financing other farmers.)
Bill's parents. Frank and Emily. Wedding photo, 1897. Bill's father, Frank, was born in 1868, married Emily Jones from the same village in 1897 and is recorded as having held various agricultural jobs; 'pig butcher', 'shepherd', and 'cowman on farm'. On Bill's birth certificate he is listed as 'farm labourer'.
Bill was born in 1909, one of ten children, nine of whom survived into adulthood. The family lived in the village of Diddlebury, about five miles from Ludlow in the area known as Corve Dale.
5 - Henry My Son (Roud 10, Child 12)
Recorded 27th May 1979
Where have you been all the day, Henry my son?
Where have you been all the day, my beloved one?
In the meadow, in the meadow
Make my bed; I've a pain in my head
And I want to lie down.
What have you been eating, Henry my son?
What have you been eating, my beloved one?
Poisonous berries, poisonous berries
Make my bed; I've a pain in my head
And I want to lie down.
Who gave you poisonous berries, Henry my son?
Who gave you poisonous berries, my beloved one?
Sister Mary, Sister Mary
(My sister, Mother, it was my sister, Mother)
Make my bed; I've a pain in my head
And I want to lie down.
What will you leave your mother, Henry my son?
What will you leave your mother, my beloved one?
Love and kisses, love and kisses
Make my bed; I've a pain in my head
And I want to lie down.
What will you leave your father, Henry my son?
What will you leave your father, my beloved one?
Gold and silver, gold and silver
Make my bed; I've a pain in my head
And I want to lie down.
What will you leave your sister, Henry my son?
What will you leave your sister, my beloved one?
A rope to hang her, a rope to hang her
Make my bed; I've a pain in my head
And I want to lie down.
Bill sings "Sister Mary" on this recording, but later thought this to be a mistake. Even so he refused to record it again.
Another very well-known ballad, with 587 entries in Roud's Index - half of which are from North America. Professor Child called this Lord Randal, and gives over a dozen examples. It is known in one form or another all over Europe; Child noted that the ballad was popular in Italy c.1629, so it is probably quite an old story.
Like the ballad Edward (Roud 200, Child 13), we have little idea of what actually lies behind this apparently motiveless murder. Not that this has bothered singers, who continue to enjoy the piece. Usually we find that the ballad's victim has been poisoned by eating either small fish, snakes or eels. But Bill's version, with its 'poisonous berries', reminds us of two other Shropshire versions: from Fred Jordan (MTCD333); and Ray Driscoll's curious The Wild, Wild Berry (EFDSS CD02).
There are quite a number of other versions available on CD, including those by: George Spicer (MTCD311-2); George Dunn (MTCD317-8); Paddy Reily (MTCD325-6); Gordon Hall (Country Branch CBCD095); Mary Delaney (TSCD667) and Joe Heaney (TSCD518D - this latter being sung in Irish). Jeannie Robertson's superb version, Lord Donald, is regrettably only available in a truncated form (along with similar versions from Elizabeth Cronin, Thomas Moran, Colm McDonagh and Eirlys & Eddis Thomas) on Rounder CD 1775.
---------------
19 - Buried in Kilkenny (Roud 10, Child 12) Paddy Reilly
"Oh, what had you for your dinner now,
My own darling boy?
Oh, what had you for your dinner,
My comfort and my joy?"
"I had bread, beef and cold poison,
Mother, dress my bed soon,
I have a pain in my heart and
Wouldn’t I long to lie down."
"What will you leave your father now,
My own darling boy?
Oh, what will you leave your father,
My comfort and my joy?"
"I will leave him a coach and four horses,
Oh, mother dress my bed soon,
I have a pain in my heart and
Wouldn’t I long to lie down."
"What would you leave your mother now,
My own darling boy?
Oh, what would you leave your mother,
My comfort and my joy?"
"I will leave her the keys of all treasure,
Mother, dress my bed soon,
I have a pain in my heart and
Wouldn’t I long to lie down."
"What will you leave your children,
My own darling boy?
Oh, what will you leave your children,
My comfort and my joy?"
"Oh, they can follow their mother,
Oh, mother dress my bed soon,
I have a pain in my heart and
Wouldn’t I long to lie down."
"Where will you now be buried now,
My own darling boy?
Oh, where will you now be buried,
My comfort and my joy?"
"I will be buried in Kilkenny
Where I will take a long night’s sleep,
With a stone to my head
And a scraith* to my feet."
[* scraith = scraw, sod of turf - Irish]
Although popular in England, Scotland and America, the ballad of Lord Randal is not often found in Ireland except in fragmentary form or in the children’s version, Henry My Son. According to the collector, Tom Munnelly, it is more common among traditional singers in Irish than in English and is one of the few Child ballads to be found in the Irish language.
The handful of versions found in Ireland include an 11 verse set taken down by ballad scholar, Francis James Child, from the reciting of Ellen Healy ‘as repeated to her by a young girl in ‘Lackabairn, Co Kerry, who had heard it from a young girl around 1868. A version from Conchubhar Ó Cochláin, a labourer of Ballyvourney, Co Cork, in 1914, like Paddy’s, places the action of the ballad in Kilkenny:
"Where will you be buried, my own purtee boy,
Where will you be buried, my true loving joy?"
"In the church of Kilkenny and make my hole deep,
A stone at my head and a flag to my feet,
And lave me down easy and I’ll take a long sleep."
We also got it from fiddle player, storyteller and singer, Martin ‘Junior’ Crehan, a farmer from Co Clare in 1992.
Mary Delaney sang it to us the first time we met her, saying "You probably won’t like this one, it’s too old."
Ref: The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads, B H Bronson, Princeton Univ Press, 1959.
Other CDs: Mary Delaney - Topic TSCD 667; John MacDonald - Topic TSCD 653; Ray Driscoll - EFDSS CD 002; Frank Proffitt - Folk-Legacy CD1; George Spicer - MTCD 311-2; Jeannie Robertson, Thomas Moran, Elizabeth Cronin - Rounder CD 1775; Gordon Hall - Country Branch CBCD 095.
-[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
John MacDonald, Henderson 1954.
Quotations are from Lyle's version, which she recorded for the School of Scottish Studies in 1974 from Mrs. Minnie Haman (nee Duncan), who "got it from her mother who came from Perthshire" (Lyle 284).
Tocher, No 14 (1974), pp. 222-223, with tune, recorded by Emily Lyle in 1974 from Mrs Haman, nee Minnie Duncan, who got it from her mother who came from Perthshire.
--------------------
Lord Randal (lord Ronald)
Roud Folksong Index (S387029)
554 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have ye been, Lord Ronald, my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (American Folklife Center, Library of Congress / VWML, London) p.05615
Performer
Barnett, Peter
Place
Scotland : Aberdeenshire : Tories
Collector
Carpenter, James Madison
Date collected
1929c-1935c
Format
Manuscript
Src Contents
Text
ord Ronald
Roud Folksong Index (S418466)
557 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been hunting Lord Ronald my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o Riches (website)
Performer
Hay, George
Place
Scotland : Banffshire : Portsoy
Collector
Henderson, Hamish
Date collected
1952 (Jan)
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
Audio
--------------
Lord Rendal
Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/458)
570 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been Rendal my fair one
Performer
Hill, Caroline
Date collected
27 Dec 1904
Place
England : Somerset : Huish Episcopi
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
--------------
Lord Ronald
Roud Folksong Index (S153074)
610 of approx 925 results
First Line
What will ye leave for your brother
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Journal of the Folk-Song Society 5 (1915) pp.119-120
Performer
MacRae, Farquhar
Place
Scotland / London
Collector
Broadwood, Lucy E.
Date collected
1908 (14 May)
Format
Printed : Journal / Serial
Src Contents
Frag. Text; Music
https://www.vwml.org/search?q=RN10%20%20&is=1#
-----------
Lord Ronald
Roud Folksong Index (S213897)
623 of approx 925 results
First Line
What had you for supper Lord Ronald my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Bronson, Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads 1 pp.191-225 (version 24)
Performer
Laurenson, James
Place
Scotland : Shetland : Fetlar
Collector
Shuldham-Shaw, Patrick
Date collected
1947 (4 Sep)
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text; Music
What Will You Have For Supper
Roud Folksong Index (S407311)
630 of approx 925 results
First Line
What will you have supper, King Henry my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 2
Source
Notes & Queries 8S:6 (1894) p.427
Performer
[Lady]
Place
England : Lincolnshire : Winterton
Collector
Peacock, Mabel
Date collected
1894
Format
Printed : Journal / Serial
Src Contents
Frag. text
----------------
Where hast thou been today?
Sabine Baring-Gould Manuscript Collection (SBG/1/8/39)
Title
Where hast thou been today?
First Line
Where has thou been today, Jacky my son?
Lord Rendal
Roud Folksong Index (S213882)
656 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been to all the day, Henery my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Bronson, Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads 1 pp.191-225 (version 90)
Performer
Perry, Mrs.
Place
England : Somerset : Langport
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1904 (23 Aug)
Format
Printed : Book
Src Contents
Text; Music
----------
Lord Roland
James Madison Carpenter Collection - VWML Song Index (SN17089)
671 of approx 925 results
First Line
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
James Madison Carpenter Collection, JMC/1/11/163, Disc Side 157, 03:35
Performer
Young Man
Place
Near Forgue
Collector
Carpenter, James Madison
Date collected
Format
Sound recording Sound recording - Record - Other
--------------
Henry My Son
Roud Folksong Index (S417582)
710 of approx 925 results
First Line
Where have you been all day, Henry my son
Roud No
10 [Search for 10 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Child 12
Source
Peter Kennedy Collection: British Library Sound Archive: C604/207 (time 03:20 - 05:55)
Performer
Small, Jim
Place
England : Somerset : Cheddar
Collector
Kennedy, Peter (?)
Date collected
1949
---------------
AmhrÁn na hEascainne- by Lorcan MacMathuna
"Cá raibh tú ó mhaidin a dheartháirín ó?
Cá raibh tú ó mhaidin a phlúir na bhfear óg?"
" Ag iascach 's ag foghlaereacht, cóirigh mo leaba dhom,
Tá mé tinn fá mo chroí agus caithfidh mé luí."
"Céard a d'ith tú ag do bhricfeasta a dheartháirín ó?
Céard a d'ith tú ag do bhricfeasta a phlúir na bhfear óg?"
" Eascann a raibh lúb uirthi, nimh fuinte brúite uirthi,
Tá mé tinn fá mo chroí agus caithfidh mé luí."
"Céard a fhágfas tú ag do dheartháir a dheartháirín ó?
Céard a fhágfas tú ag do dheartháir a phlúir na bhfear óg?"
" Muise, cúig mhíle punt aige, gunna agus cú aige,
Tá mé tinn fá mo chroí agus caithfidh mé luí."
"Céard a fhágfas tú ag do dheirfiúr a dheartháirín ó?
Céard a fhágfas tú ag do dheifiúr a phlúir na bhfear óg?"
" Caoirigh beaga bána aici, na beithigh le bleán aici,
Tá mé tinn fá mo chroí agus caithfidh mé luí."
"Céard a fhágfas tú ag t'athair a dheartháirín ó?
Céard a fhágfas tú ag t'athair a phlúir na bhfear óg?"
" Eochair mo stábla aige, cuig mile púnt aige,
Tá mé tinn fá mo chroí agus caithfidh mé luí."
"Céard a fhágfas tú ag do mháithrín a dheartháirín ó?
Céard a fhágfas tú ag do mháithrín a phlúir na bhfear óg?"
" Má fhágaim an saol go brách aici, fágfad croí cráite aici,
Tá mé tinn fá mo chroí agus caithfidh mé luí."
"Céard a fhágfas tú ag do chuid páistí a dheartháirín ó?
Céard a fhágfas tú ag do chuid páistí a phlúir na bhfear óg?"
" Muise fuacht fada 'gus seachrán, agus oíche ar gach bothán,
Tá mé tinn fá mo chroí agus caithfidh mé luí."
"Céard a fhágfas tú ag do bhean phósta a dheartháirín ó?
Céard a fhágfas tú ag do bhean phósta a phlúir na bhfear óg?"
" Ifreann mar dhúiche aici, na Flaithis a bheith dúinte uirthi,
Tá mé tinn fá mo chroí agus bead go deo deo."
The Song of the eel (Lord Randall)
"Where have you been since morning, my pet?
Where have you been since morning, oh flower of young men?"
" Fishing and fowling. Make my bed for me.
I'm sick in/to my heart and I'll have to lie down."
"What did you eat at your breakfast, my pet?
What did you eat at your breakfast, oh flower of young men?"
" An eel with a twist in her, poison kneaded and mixed into her.
I'm sick in/to my heart and I'll have to lie down."
"What will you leave your brother, my pet?
What will you leave your brother, oh flower of young men?"
" Five thousand pounds, a gun and a hound.
I'm sick in/to my heart and I'll have to lie down."
"What will you leave your sister, my pet?
What will you leave your sister, oh flower of young men?"
" Little white sheep and the cattle to milk.
I'm sick in/to my heart and I'll have to lie down."
"What will you leave your father, my pet?
What will you leave your father, oh flower of young men?"
" The key to my stable, that and my mare.
I'm sick in/to my heart and I'll have to lie down."
"What will you leave your mother, my pet?
What will you leave your mother, oh flower of young men?"
" If I leave life forever to her I'll leave her a broken heart.
I'm sick in/to my heart and I'll have to lie down."
"What will you leave your children, my pet?
What will you leave your children, oh flower of young men?"
" A long time wandering in the cold, and each night a different shelter.
I'm sick in/to my heart and I'll have to lie down."
"What will you leave your wedded wife, my pet?
What will you leave your wedded wife, oh flower of young men?"
" Hell as her surroundings and Heaven to be closed on her.
I'm sick in/to my heart and will be for ever and ever."
_____________-
"English Folk-Songs for Schools" (Curwen Edition 6051)
collected and arranged by S Baring Gould, M.A. and Cecil J. Sharp, B.A.
LORD RENDAL
O where have you been to, Rendal my son?
O where have you been, my sweet pretty one?
I've been to my sweetheart; O make my bed soon,
I'm sick to my heart and fain would lie down.
O what did she give you, Rendal my son?
O what did she give you, my pretty one?
She gave me some eels; O make my bed soon,
I'm sick to my heart and fain would lie down.
O what colour were they, Rendal my son?
O what colour were they, my pretty one?
They were speckled and blotched; O make my bed soon,
I'm sick to my heart and fain would lie down.
O where did she get them, Rendal my son?
O where did she get them, my pretty one?
From hedges and ditches; O make my bed soon,
I'm sick to my heart and fain would lie down.
O where are your bloodhounds, Rendal my son?
O where are your bloodhounds, my pretty one?
They swelled and they died; O make my bed soon,
I'm sick to my heart and fain would lie down.
O that was strong poison, Rendal my son?
O that was strong poison, my pretty one!
You'll die, you'll die, Rendal my son,
You'll die, you'll die, my sweet pretty one.
----------------
The Literature and Romance of Northern Europe: Constituting a ..., Volume 1
By William Howitt, Mary Botham Howitt, 1852
Thh following is the ballad referred to in our introductory remarks, as a parallel of Lord Randal in the tch ballad. The reader will observe that in these ads the frequent want of rhymes, and the incomplete mes, are in accordance with the ancient rudeness of originals.
The Child's Last Will.
"So long where hast thou tarried,
Little daughter dear "
"I have tarried with my old nurse,
Sweet step-mother mine."
For ah, ah !—I am so ill—ah!
"What gave she thee for dinner,
Little daughter dear?"
"A few small speckled fishes,
Sweet step-mother mine."
For ah, ah !—I am so ill—ah!
"What didst thou with the fish-bones,
Little daughter dear?"
"Gave them to the beagle,
Sweet step-mother mine."
For ah, ah !—I am so ill—ah!
"What wish leav'st thou thy father,
Little daughter dear?"
"The blessedness of heaven,
Sweet step-mother mine."
For ah, ah!—I am so ill—ah!
"What wish leav'st thou thy mother,
Little daughter dear?"
"All the joys of heaven,
Sweet step-mother mine."
For ah, ah !—I am so ill—ah!
"What wish leav'st thou thy brother,
Little daughter dear?"
"A fleet ship on the waters,
Sweet step-mother mine."
For ah, ah!—I am so ill—ah!
"What wish leav'st thou thy sister,
Little daughter dear"
"Golden chests and caskets,
Sweet step-mother mine."
For ah, ah !—I am so ill—ah!
"What wish leav'st thou thy step-mother,
Little daughter dear?"
"Of hell the bitter sorrow,
Sweet step-mother mine."
For ah, ah !—I am so ill—ah!
"What wish leav'st thou thy old nurse,
Little daughter dear?"
"For her I wish the same pangs,
Sweet step-mother mine."
For ah, ah !—I am so ill—ah!
"But now the time is over
When I with you can stay;
The little bells of heaven
Are ringing me away."
For ah, ah !—I am so ill—ah!
--------------
Anáil an Bhéil Bheo: Orality and Modern Irish Culture - Page 46
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1443803871
Nessa Cronin, Seán Crosson, John Eastlake - 2009 - Preview - More editions
Much more colourfully, one Irish variant describes the meal as “eascainn a raibh lúb uirthi/Nimh fuinte brúite uirthi” (“a coiled eel,/with kneaded and mashed poison on it” [Heaney 2000, 24-25]), and another as “sicíní nimhe ar phláitíní óir” ..
John Clare: Poems of the Middle Period, 1822-1837 - Page 809
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0198123868
John Clare, Eric Robinson, David Powell - 1996 - Preview - More editions
332 Where have you been to John Randall my son
John Clare: Collector of Ballads - Page 20
https://books.google.com/books?id=LGLhAAAAMAAJ
Margaret Grainger - 1964 - Snippet view - More editions
Some songs and ballads collected by Clare are still unpublished: 1 "Where have you been too John Randall my son"; this version of Lord Randal occurs in MS. 98, pp. 3-5 with the heading: "John Randall an old Ballad Copied from my Father
Colm McDonald, Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 4. The Child Ballads, I, Caedmon TC 1145, LP (1961), trk# A.05d [1950s]
Folk magazine vol. 1, no. 5 (Dublin, 1968) Henry my son, very similar to Frank Harte's
Lizzie Higgins sang Lord Donald at the Blairgowrie Folk Festival in between 1986 and 1995. This recording was included in 2000 on the festival anthology The Blair Tapes.
Le garçon empoisonné
French-Canadian - after:John Wright & Catherine Perrier
(Traditional Music of France, Ireland + England, LP, 1978)
mp3
Où qu't'as été hier au soir, Honoré mon enfant (2x)
J'ai été voir les filles
Maman faisez mon lit
Car j'ai grand mal au coeur et je veux aller me coucher
Quoi donneras-tu à ton père, Honoré mon enfant
Mon char et ma charrue
Maman etc. ...
Quoi donneras-tu à ton frère, Honoré mon enfant
Mon ch'val et mon buggy
Maman etc. ...
Quoi donneras-tu à ta soeur, Honoré mon enfant
Ma montre et mon bracelet
Maman etc. ...
Quoi donneras-tu à ta blonde, Honoré mon enfant
Un petit bout de corde
Pour la pendre après un arbre
Car elle l'a mérité c'est elle qui m'a empoisonné
'It is a folk translation of the Child ballad Lord Randall, of which, to ourknowledge,
no version has ever been found in France.'
(John Wright)
Monroe County Folklife - Page 14
https://books.google.com/books?id=4WXYAAAAMAAJ
1975 - Snippet view - More editions
What had you for supper Lord Randal my son What had you for supper my handsome young man Eels fried in butter; Mother make my bed soon I'm weary from hunting and fain would lie down. Who got your scraps, Lord Randal my son Who
Scottish Tinker Songs
Author(s): Peter A. Hall
Source:
Folk Music Journal,
Vol. 3, No. 1, Music of the Travelling People (1975), pp. 41-62
Published by: English Folk Dance + Song Society
Lord Randal (Child 12) is already known from the superb
version recorded by Jeannie Robertson as Lord Donald. Here is
Lord Ronald as collected by Helen Fullarton from John McDonald
in Glasgow. Dr Fullarton is one of a number of part time collec-
tors who have recorded extensively from tinkers in recent years.
LORD RONALD
Where have you been hunt-ing, Lord Ron-ald, my son, I've been
hunt -ing wild geese, mo-ther make my bed soon, For I'm
wea - ry wea - ry hunt - ing, aye and fain wid lie doon.
2. "What had ye for your supper, Lord Ronald, my son?"
"I'd a cup full of honey, mother make my bed soon,
For I'm weary, weary huntin', and fain wid lie doon."
3. "What brought ye to your mother, Lord Ronald, my son?"
"All my household and furniture, mother make my bed soon,
For I'm weary, weary huntin', and fain wid lie doon,"
4. "What brought ye to your sweetheart, Lord Ronald, my son?"
"I brought a rope for to hang her, mother make my bed soon,
For I'm weary, weary huntin', and fain wid lie doon."
The four songs from this section of the Child canon all show
extensive incremental repetition, often cited as a general charac-
teristic of the ballad although in fact appearing in rather few
pieces.
------------
Henry my Son
is an Irish adaptation of
Lord Randal
.
Characters:
Henry, Henry's mother.
Setting:
Home.
«Where have you been all day,
Henry my son?
Where have you been all day, my beloved one?»
«Away in the meadow, away in the meadow.
Make my bed I’ve a pain in my head and I want to lie down.»
«And what did you have to eat?»
«Poison beads.»
«And what colour were them beads?»
«Green an’ yellow.»
«And what will you leave your mother?»
«A woollen blanket.»
«And what will you leave your children?»
«The keys of heaven.»
«And what will you leave your sweetheart?»
«A rope to hang her.»
(Version from the booklet
100 Irish Songs
, Soodlum, vol. 2
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Ray Driscoll - EFDSS CD 002;
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Biographies of the Evening of the Eighteenth Century Gardens (needs cookies) (No.149 page 387)
Blodeugerdd Barddas o Gerddi Rhydd y Ddeunawfed Ganrif (needs cookies) (No.149 page 387)