British and other Versions 11. The Cruel Brother (My Headnotes) Roud 26 ("The Cruel Brother, or the Bride's Testament; There Waur Three Ladies; Fine Flowers of the Valley; There Were Three Sisters; The Bride's Testamen;
List of All Extant Versions (Child's letter designations have been changed to approximate chronological order. Child D has been listed under Child 10; Christie's manufacture, 1876, is listed but not included as well as several recreations from the US.)
A. "The Cruel Brother, or the Bride's Testament," sung by Mrs. Anna Brown, learned about 1760. Collected in 1800 from Alex. Fraser Tytler's Brown Manuscript
a. "The Cruel Brother, or the Bride's Testament," sung by Mrs. Anna Gordon Brown of Aberdeenshire, learned about 1760 and collected in 1800 by Alexander Fraser Tytler.
b1. "The Cruel Brother, or the Bride's Testament," from Jamieson's Popular Ballads, I, 66, purporting to be from the recitation of Mrs. Arrot of Aberbrothick.
b2. "Tragical ballad of Lord John's murder, Together with The cruel brother. Glasgow: Printed for the booksellers," a chapbook from National Library of Scotland dated 1840-1850.
b3. "Cruel Brother" from "Traditional Ballad Airs," Volume 1, 1876 by William Christie who gives the air of "The Cruel Mother" wed to “The Cruel Brother“ text epitomized from Robert Jamieson.
B. "Fine Flowers of the Valley" Edinburgh, David Herd, 1776.
a1. "Fine Flowers of the Valley," no informant named, from Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, Etc, Volume 2, edited by David Herd, 1776. Herd's Manuscripts, I, 41; Child G.
a2. Chapbook print: "Fine flowers of the valley. To which are added, Frennet Hall, and My Nanny O." dated 1795, sm. 16°. pp.8. Wdct on t.p.
b. "Fine Flowers of the Valley," two stanza fragment added to Child G in Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, Etc, Volume 2, edited by David Herd, 1776. Herd's Manuscripts, I, 41; Child H.
C. "The Cruel Brother," as sung by Mary Barr of Lesmahago, Clydesdale (Lanarkshire) in May, 1827, Child B, as learned about 1777. From Kinloch's Manuscripts, I, 21.
D. "Three Ladies Playing at Ball," my date, this variant is barely related; sent by T.W. and published in Notes and Queries, 4th S., IV, 517, 1869, as "sung in Cheshire amongst the people" in the last century, Child K.
E. "There Waur Three Ladies," learned by Amelia Harris in her childhood from an old nurse in Perthshire (the last years of the 18th century) 1798 as taken down by her daughter, who has added a few of her own collecting Child C. Harris Manuscript, p. 11 b, No 7; Harvard College Library.
F. "The Cruel Brother" In the handwriting of William Laidlaw (1780-1845); “from Jean Scott.” My location and date (I assume this was collected around the time of Scott's Minstrelsy). From: “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 22a.
G. "The Three Knights," as remembered by the editor, Davies Gilbert, West of England (Cornwall); published in 1823. Child F
H. "The Cruel Brother," John Clare's MS from Helpston area, Northamptonshire c. 1824. Text is from Peterborough MS. 87 p. 34, the words in brackets are those which Clare has deleted. Original text kept. Stanza 6 is the controversial stanza with "lover John."
I. "The Rose Smells Sae Sweetly," sung by Meg Walker (Mrs. Caldwell, born about 1762) of Lochwinnoch about 1827. From Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs: Volume 1 by E. B. Lyle.
J. "The Rosie Smell'd Sae Sweetlie," sung by Mary O'Meally of Kilbirnie spring of 1827; collected by Thomas Macqueen. From Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs: Volume 1 by E. B. Lyle.
K. "Fine Flowers in the Vale, O," sung by Peggy MacGregor of an old woman of Kilbirnie, N. Ayrshire about 1827. Collected by Sloan for Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs: Volume 1 by E. B. Lyle. Kilbirnie is a small town situated in the Garnock Valley area of North Ayrshire.
L. "There War Three Bonnie Boys" from Mrs. Bouchart, an old lady native of Forfarshire. Kinloch's Manuscripts, I, 27. From The Kinloch Manuscripts, i, 27 dated c. 1828 or later, Child Version I.
M. "The King of Fairies," Anon informant from Campbell Manuscripts, II, 19. "To Sir Hugh Hume Campbell, for the use of two considerable manuscript volumes of Scottish ballads." This was added in ESPB, Volume 2, Child L.
N. "The Roses Grow Sweet Aye," no informant named from Campbell Manuscripts, II, 26, about 1830. "Sweet Aye" appears to be a corruption of "Sweetlie," Child M.
O. "The Bride's Testamen[sic]." Single stanza from Dr. Joseph Robertson's Note-Book, January 1, 1830, No 4; English and Scottish Popular Ballads, my location- Child N.
P. "The Cruel Brother." From Miss Margaret Reburn, as current in County Meath, Ireland, about 1860. From English and Scottish Popular Ballads, vol. 1, 1884; Child J.
Q. "The Cruel Brother," sung by Miss Bell Duncan of Insch, Aberdeenshire. Learned from her mother Jean. My date, from: James Madison Carpenter Collection, JMC/1/2/2/D, pp. 04600-04601.
R. "The Cruel Brother," given from an unknown source probably an arrangement from William Allingham of Donegal, 1865. From: The Ballad Book: a selection of the choicest British Ballads.
S. "There Were Three Sisters," given by W.F. of Forfarshire. Single stanza from Notes and Queries, 4th S., v, 105; 1870. The response to an earlier query. Child E.
T. "Flowers in the Valley," from two fragmented texts collected by Sabine Baring Gould in Cornwall, and set by him to a tune that he had heard Mr. Gilbert of The Falcon Inn at Mawgan in Pyder, Cornwall sing about 1880 (source Mr. Williams Cornwall). The text published in A Garland of Country Song English Folk Songs with their Traditional Melodies was collected and arranged by S. Baring Gould and H. Fleetwood Sheppard (1895). Three stanzas are from Mr. Old and one from Williams.
U. "The Cruel Brother." Given to Katherine Tompkins (KY) c. 1900; 1957 by Sylvia Hall. From: In the Pine, Roberts, 1978. MS obtained in 1957 from Katherine Tompkins who lived in Virginia before moving to Harlan County. She heard it as a little girl (early 1900s).
V. "The Cruel Bother" the text was from E.S. Porter's MS which was borrowed from Mrs. Dorothy Fuller Irving of Sturminster, Dorset. The melody was noted from Rosalind Fuller of Dorset, in Boston, MA. It was published by Phillips Barry in his 1908 book, Folk Songs of the North Atlantic States. Also in The Ballad of the Cruel Brother by Phillips Barry; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 28, No. 109 (Jul. - Sep., 1915), pp. 300-301.
W. "Three Ladies Played at Ball." As sung by Miss Edith Ballenger (ballinger) Price at Newport, Rhode Island; learned, from an old lady from Massachusetts about 1914. M. Olney, Collector; October 25, 1945. From Flanders, Ancient Ballads, 1966.
X. "The Cruel Bother." Sung by Mrs. Hester House at Hot Springs, N. C, Sept. 15, 1916. From Sharp's EFSSA, 1917 and 1932.
Y. "The Cruel Brother," fragment sung by Mrs. Julie Williams; Hot Springs, NC; July 27, 1917. From English Folk Songs From the Southern Appalachian Mountains; Sharp Karpeles, version B, 1932, two stanzas only w/music.
Z. "Oh Lily O." From the singing of "Granny" Houston of Bushy Creek in Avery county, "a doctor-woman as well as a ballad singer," says Mrs. Sutton. Dated c. 1921 from Brown Collection of NC Folklore, 1952.
AA. "Lily O.'" From the singing of Mrs. Becky Gordon, Saluda Mountain, Henderson county, July 1928; from Brown Collection of NC Folklore, 1952.
BB. "The Three Maids," sung by Polly Johnson. Recorded in Wise [Wise County], Virginia, March 24, 1939, by Herbert Halpert, from the Virginia WPA Collection as collected by Emory Hamilton and recorded by Herbert Halpert. Text and notes from the LP Virgina Traditions; Ballads from the British Tradition- recording BRI-002.
CC. "Cruel Brother." From Archie Fisher's recording, 'The Man With A Rhyme' 1976: Learned from the singing of a fine young Aberdeenshire fiddler called Tam Spiers. This version was collated by Duncan McLellan of Inverness. This is a revival version.
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[The opening stanza of Child A and many of the Child 11 variants is similar to the opening lines of a nursery rhyme from the Sloane MS, 1489, fol. 16 (without refrains) which was compiled in the time of Charles I (early 1600s). It begins[1]:
There were three sisters in a hall,
There came a knight amongst them all
A similar courting stanza is found in the opening of some versions of Child 10 (usually with "two sisters") and other ballads. Child does not give titles for many of the Child 11 ballads so, when missing, I've supplied them. For the two ballads from Herd's collection I've twice kept the title adding a -2 to the second:
Fine Flowers of the Valley- Herd 1776; Child G
Fine Flowers of the Valley 2- Herd 1776; Child H
Child D is a fragment, but seems rather to be a version of Child 10 and I've listed it there. The refrain, however, matches neither Child 10 nor 11. D is taken second hand in America from a lady who was a native of County Kerry, Ireland. Child K was taken from Notes and Queries (1869) "heard in Cheshire in the last century" but hardly qualifies as a version. After a similar "three ladies playing at ball" opening stanza, three knights propose to the ladies who reject them-- there is no wedding and therefore no murder.
In Traditional Ballad Airs, Volume 1, 1876 William Christie gives the air of "The Cruel Mother" which was wed to “The Cruel Brother“ text epitomized from Robert Jamieson (Child Ab, see below). Christie's version of Child 11, lacking a proper melody representing Cruel Brother and a previously printed text, is therefore not given.
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The most controversial question of the ballad story is: Why does brother John mortally wound his sister at her wedding? The obvious answer is provided by Child in his headnotes[2]: "Dr. Prior remarks that the offense given by not asking a brother's assent to his sister's marriage was in ballad: times regarded as unpardonable." Although this motive is corroborated by most of the complete texts, the cruel brother's action seems excessive and wholly unwarranted-- regardless of custom. Alternative motives imply there's some family dynamic[3] which may exist but is not mentioned. These questions remain unanswered: Why is Brother John not asked to the wedding? Why doesn't brother John request an invitation or complain that he wasn't invited? If brother John was not asked-- why is he there at the wedding and why does he then stab her? Why does the dying bride harbor ill will towards Brother John's wife and children-- after all they can hardly be held accountable?
The ballad story that includes brother John appears, as follows: The groom is to ask the bride's family members permission to marry and asks her father, mother and sister but "forgets" to ask Brother John or "he is not home." After the wedding brother John helps his sister, the bride, on her horse and as she bends to kiss him he stabs her to the heart. She rides off but looks pane and wan-- the bridal party stops and she is bleeding and will soon die. She makes a will bequeathing her belongs to her father, mother and sister but to brother John she leaves a gallows for him to hang on. In the next stanza she bid's John's wife "sorrow and trouble all her life" and this is often followed by a stanza wishing John's children a variety of similar unhappy fates. Although an attack on John's wife and children may be the bride's retribution for his deed, John's wife and children are not responsible for John's actions.
Several ballad experts have pointed out that John may have been jealous of the new bride's relationship suggesting that perhaps an incestuous relationship was the underlying motive. In "The English Traditional Ballad: Theory, Method, and Practice (2017)" David Atkinson writes, "'The Cruel Brother' admits, if it does not demand, the possibility of incest as a motive." As evidence he presents John Clare's version written down about 1820 which has these stanzas:
5 O you must ask my father dear
Likewise my mother that did me bare
6 & you must ask my lover John
Likewise my sisters every one
7 O I have asked your father dear
Likewise your mother that did you bear
8 O I have asked your brother John
Likewise your sisters every one
Although stanza 6 may just be a mishearing of "brother" since it's not repeated in stanza 8 as it was written the first time-- the incest implication as printed cannot be denied. It's also clear that Brother John was asked permission for the marriage so the "forgot to ask" motive is no longer present. John Jacob Niles, a collector and ballad authority who says he collected a version of Child 11 in Kentucky in 1932 wrote in his Ballad Book[4], "Thus, jealousy may have been the motive, but this seems unlikely. The facts behind the ballad of the Cruel Brother may include incest." Although Niles is known for his recreated ballads[5] which have been justifiably ingnored, he was an astute academic and knew the Child ballads well.
John Clare's ballad is not the only one where Brother John was asked permission by the bridegroom. The first version of Child 11 published in the US (1908) from Massachusetts via Dorset, England, also had the marriage permission granted Brother John:
4. And one of them was dressed in red,-
He asked me with him to wed.
5. "But you must ask my father the King,
And you must ask my mother the Queen,
6. "And you must ask my sister Anne,
And you must ask my brother John."
7. "Oh, I have asked your father the King,
And I have asked your mother the Queen,
8. "And I have asked your sister Anne,
And I have asked your brother John."
The last two stanzas appear:
16. "And what will you leave to your brother John?"
"A pair of gallows to hang him on."
17. "And what will you leave to your brother John's wife?"
"Grief and misfortune all her life."
Barry commented[5]: The texts hitherto known--excluding, of course, those obviously defective--agree, in that the bride is killed by her brother because his consent to the wedding has not been sought. In the present version the situation is unique, the brother acting as the agent of his wife's ill will. A motive for the curse in the final stanza is thus clear.
Barry's cryptic comment seems to insinuate that a relationship, which he later called an intra-familial fixation, had formed between brother and sister that created the dying sister to leave a curse on brother John's wife, and in some versions their children too. Later in 1934 Barry's commented in his notes to a version of Lizzie Wan (BFSSNE VII, p. 8, 1934) that the motive of Child 11 was was "perhaps" an intra-familial fixation. A nearly identical text to Barry's was recorded in Massachusetts by Helen Flanders in 1945 from Edith Ballinger Price, of Rhode Island, who learned it from an old lady of Massachusetts c.1914. To listen: https://soundcloud.com/user-860765554/edith-ballinger-price-three-ladies-played-
After an examination of the preponderous texts above, my conclusion and that of Bronson is: the ballad is about the slighting of Brother John because of the bridegroom's failure to offer the expected invitation to his sister's wedding. There is not enough evidence to conclusively conclude the motive is an intra-familial fixation or incest. It may be assumed that when this custom disappeared the once popular ballad[6] made little sense anymore to the ballad singers of the mid-1800s so it died out. The curse given to Brother john also extended to his wife and children.
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Rather than giving Child Aa by Mrs. Brown, which can be dated back to the c.1760, the time when Anna Brown learned most of her ballads[7], version Ab is given by Robert Jamieson from his "Popular Ballads and Songs from Tradition, Manuscripts and Scarce Editions," Volume 1, 1806. Jamieson attributes the ballad to Mrs. W. Arrott of Aberbrothick, the " same authority as the preceding" ballad in his book. He writes:
This ballad, and that which follows it, are given verbatim, upon the same authority as the preceding. It is very popular in Scotland; and an edition of it, differing materially from that here given, has appeared in the Edinburgh Collection, in two volumes.
THE CRUEL BROTHER, OR, THE BRIDE'S TESTAMENT.
There was three ladies play’d at the ba'
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
There came a knight, and play’d o’er them a’,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
The eldest was baith tall and fair,
W ith a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
But the youngest was beyond compare,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
The midmost had a gracefu’ mien,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
But the youngest look’d like beauty’s queen.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
The knight bow’d low to a’ the three.
With a heigh-ho ! and a lily gay;
But to the youngest he bent his knee.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
The lady turned her head aside,
With a heigh-ho: and a lily gay;
The knight he woo’d her to be his bride.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
The lady blush’d a rosy red,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
And said, “Sir knight, I’m o’er young to wed,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.”
“O, lady fair, give me your hand,
With a heigh ho! and a lily gay;
And I’ll mak’ you lady of a’ my land,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.”
"Sir knight, ere you my favour win,
With a heigh ho! and a lily gay;
Ye maun get consent frae a’ my kin’,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.”
He has got consent frae her parents dear,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
And likewise frae her sisters fair,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
He has got consent frae her kin each one,
With a heigh ho! and a lily gay;
But forgot to spear at her brother John,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
Now, when the wedding-day was come,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
The knight would take his bonnie bride home,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
And many a lord and many a knight,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
Came to behold that lady bright,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
And there was nae man that did her see.
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
But wished himself bridegroom to be.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
Her father dear led her down the stair.
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
And her sisters twain thev kiss’d her there
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
Her mother dear led her through the close.
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
And her brother John set her on the horse.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
She lean’d her o’er the saddle bow,
W ith a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
To give him a kiss ere she did go,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
He has ta’en a knife, baith lang and sharp,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
And stabb’d the bonnie bride to the heart
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
She hadna ridden half through the town.
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay.
Until her heart’s blood stained her gown.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
“Ride saftly on,” said the best young man,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
For I think our bonnie bride looks pale and wan,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.”
“0, lead me gently up yon hill,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
And I’ll there sit down, and make my will,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.”
”O, what will you leave to your father dear,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay?”
The silver shod steed that brought me here.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.”
“What will you leave to your mother dear,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay?”
“My velvet pall and silken gear.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.”
“And what will you leave to your sister Ann,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay?”
“My silken scarf and my golden fan.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.”
“What will you leave to your sister Grace,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay?”
“My bloody cloaths to wash and dress.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.”
“What will you leave to your brother John,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay?”
“The gallows-tree to hang him on,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.”
“What will ye leave to your brother John’s wife,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay?”
“The wilderness to end her life.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.”
This fair lady in her grave was laid,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
And a mass was o’er her said,
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
But it would have made your heart right sair,
With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;
To see the bridegroom rive his hair.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly.
Jamieson's text differs but slightly from Child Aa. Child thought it was from Mrs. Brown and that Jamieson's attribution "must have been a slip of memory." Jamieson's ballad tho is not part of the original ballad collection he received from Mrs. Brown that was written in 1783. One of the very few print versions, a chapbook from National Library of Scotland, used Jamieson's text-- it's titled: "Tragical ballad of Lord John's murder, Together with The cruel brother. Glasgow: Printed for the booksellers," and is dated 1840-1850.
The version (see excerpts above) by English poet John Clare (1793-1864) I've dated c. 1820 and has the apparent corruption in stanza 6 which has caused some controversy about the real motive of the murder. Because "lover John" is not repeated in stanza 8 (and elsewhere) it's more than likely stanza 6 is a corruption. Text is from Peterborough MS. 87 p.34, the words in brackets are those which Clare has deleted (no title given):
As three maidens played at ball
Aye & the lily aye
There came three knights among them all
And the roseys sweet in mary
The first gay knight was cloathed in green (white)
And he asked one maid to be his queen
The next good knight was cloathed in white
And he asked the maid to be his bride
The next good [k]night was cloathed in red
And he asked the maid if she woud wed
O you must ask my father dear
Likewise my mother that did me bare
And you must ask my lover John
Likewise my sisters everyone
O I have asked your father dear
Likewise your mother that did you bear
O I have asked your brother John
Likewise your sisters everyone
Her father gave her at the door
Her mother swooned upon the floor
Her father gave her at the stile
And her mother swoonded for her child
Her father gave her at the cross
And her brother helped her on the horse
He had a penknife long and sharp
And prickt his sister to the heart
Ride on ride on you fast good man
I think your bride looks pale and wan
Ride on ride on you next good man (knight)
I think your bride goes bleeding on
Ride on ride on you jolly bridegroom
I think your bride is almost dumb
She rode till she came to yonder hill
And there she lit and made her will
What will you leave your father dear
My wedding steed that brought me here
What will you give your mother dear
My wedding dress
That she may long upon the grief
And see she has a daughter less
What will you leave your sister ann
All I do wear on my right hand
What will you give your sister Jane
My cambric cap and gown of green
What will you give your sister Sue
My wedding hat with ribbons blue
What will you give your brother Johns wife
Sorrow and trouble all her life
What will you give your brother Johns child
A father only a little wild
What will you give your brother John
The gallows mother to hang upon
Also corrupt is the line, "O I have asked your brother John," which is found in two versions collected in Massachusetts, one of which originated in Dorset, England.
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Several older complete versions have surfaced in recent years from manuscripts. There are three versions from Andrew Crawfurd, the John Clare version and the version from Carpenter's MS from Bell Duncan of Insch, Aberdeenshire. All these versions date back to the early 1800s. The longest of the three Crawfurd versions is "The Rosie Smell'd Sae Sweetlie" sung by Mary O'Meally of Kilbirnie in the spring of 1827 which was collected by Thomas Macqueen. From Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs: Volume 1 by E. B. Lyle:
1. There was three ladies playin at the ba'
Hey ho an' a lily gay
An' up cam' a king amang them a',
An' the rosie smellit sae sweetlie.
2. The auldest she was drest in white
An' he spierit her gin she'd be his bride
3. The second she was drest in yellow
An' he spierit her gin she'd be his marrow
4. The youngest she was drest in green
An' he spierit her gin she'd be his queen
5. O ye maun speir my father king
An' ye maun speir my mither queen
6. O ye maun speir my sister Ann
An' ye maun speir my brither John"
7. Oh, I hae speirit your father king
An' likewise your mither queen
8. O I hae speirit your sister Ann
An' your brither John is not at hame.
9. Her mother led her doun the stair
Her sirter led her thro' the ha'
10. Her father led her thro' the street
An' her brither helpit her on her steed
11. Sin' ye are high an' I am low
Gie me a kiss before ye go
12. She stooit tae gaie him a kiss
An' she gied her an oun an a vera deep oun
13. Ride on ride on said the formost man
For I think our bride comes slowlie on
14. Does the rain rain on your yellow hair
Or does the rain rain in your shoon
15 Is your saddle gane tae the side
Or is your steed gane aff his ride
16. It rainsna on my yellow hair
Norr does it rain into my shoon
17. My saddle's no gane tae the side
Nor my steed is no aff his ride
18. Ride on ride on tae yonner well
There I'll lye doun an' drink my fill
19. Tae yonner green richt rathlie hie
An' there I will lye doun an' die
20. What will ye lea tae your father king
The same portion he gied tae me
21. What will ye gie tae your mither queen
The bluidie claise that I hae on
22. What will ye lea' tae your sister Ann
My gooden bible an' siller fan
23. What will ye lea' tae your brither John
The fatal gallows tae hing on
24 What will ye lea' tae your brither's wife
The wide warl tae mourn in for life
25. What will you lea' tae your brither's wean
The wide warl for tae beg in.
About 1931 one of the last remaining complete Scottish versions of Child 11 was recorded by James Carpenter of Harvard during his ballad collecting trip to the UK. This is transcribed from James Madison Carpenter Collection, JMC/1/2/2/D, pp. 04600-04601:
The Cruel Brother- sung by Miss Bell Duncan of Insch, Aberdeenshire; learned from her mother, Jane Duncan.
There cam a man to my bedside
o'er the hills an' far awa',
He wis askin' me tae be his bride,
For the wind blaws aye my plaid away'.
My father he gaen his consent,
An' my mother she wis weel content,
My sister she was well pleased
But my brother said she sudna reased,
The weddin' was set and the weddin' came,
An' the steed cam there to tak her hame,
Her mother led her through the room,
An' her sister dear she brocht her doon,
Her father led her through the close,
An' her brother set her on her horse,
Below his cloak he wore a brand,
He concealed it weel wi' his left hand,
he has slipped it through a strae,
An' through her body made it gae,
They hadna ridden a mile bet ane;
"Stop, stop! My bonnie bride's pale an' wan,
Frae her steed she then was ta'en,
An' her vera heairts bleed rin on the green,
"Fat will ye leave tee yer father dear?"
"The guid grey steed that brocht me here."
"Fat will ye leave tee yer mother dear?"
"Three long tits o my yellow hair,"
"Fat will ye leave tee yer sister dear?"
"my marriage goon and the weed I wear,"
"Fat will ye leave tee yer Brother John?"
"A high gallows tree for to hang on,"
"Fat will ye leave tee yer bother's wife?"
"A vera sad an unhappy life,"
"Fat will ye leave tee yer brother's bairns?"
"That they may die in each other's arms."
That a ballad that supposedly died out in the UK around the mid-1800s was still found in Aberdeenshire eighty years later is almost a miracle. Since Bell was born in 1847 and since her mother, Bell's source, was born in 1807 it's easy to understand that the ballad was learned during the time when it was still popular.
Nine versions have been collected in US in the 1900s and none from Canada. The ballad has been collected in New England and Appalachia. Versions by Woofter, Niles and Gainer are certainly ballad recreations and are not considered to be authentic.
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Some conclusions
Child 11 is about an old custom that the bridegroom must ask permission of the members of the bride's family, especially the male members who are the lineage bearers. When the vestiges of this archaic custom died out, the ballad singers stopped singing about the brother who murdered his sister because he was not invited to the wedding. This started to happen in the mid-1800s in the UK. The few versions that were collected in the US in the 1900s are remnants of this earlier time.
The several versions where the groom asks permission of her brother[8] seem to simply have got the story wrong. The single instance (see John Clare's text above) that implies incest appears to be a corruption. Although it seems the cruel brother's action is excessive and wholly unwarranted, the penalties for breaking some archaic customs were excessive and unwarranted. Child gives some examples and analogues in his headnotes.
Ballad story motives and actions are not always logical. Brother John could request an invitation or complain that he wasn't invited and settle the insult before the wedding. Since Brother John was not asked he could skip the wedding and excommunicate them instead of stabbing her. The dying bride does not need to extend the curse expressed in her "will" to her brother's wife and children but she does.
R. Matteson 2011, 2018]
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Footnotes:
1. From "The Nursery Rhymes of England: Obtained Principally from Oral Tradition" by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, 1843 the rhyme appears:
CLXXXII.
[From MS. Sloane, 1480, M. 16, written about the year 1600.J
There were three sisters in a hall,
There came a knight amongst them all;
Good morrow, aunt, to the one,
Good morrow, aunt, to the other,
Good morrow, gentwoman, to the third,
If you were my aunt,
As the other two be,
I would say good morrow,
Then, aunts all three.
2. From headnotes of "English and Scottish Popular Ballads," volume 1, 1884 by Francis James Child.
3. Barry called it an "intra-familial fixation."
4. The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, page 57 by John Jacob Niles, 1964.
5. The Ballad of the Cruel Brother by Phillips Barry; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 28, No. 109 (Jul. - Sep., 1915), pp. 300-301.
6. Aytoun remarked in 1858: "This is, perhaps, the most popular of all the Scottish ballads, being commonly recited and sung even at the present day."
7. According her Mrs. Brown's letters [ref. Bronson] she "learned her repertory as a child from the singing of three persons: an aunt, her mother, and an old nurse of the family." Assuming that Cruel Brother was one of these, it would be dated c. 1760.
8. These versions are by: John Clare; Edith Ballinger Price, and Barry, whose 1908 version was from Massachusetts via Dorset.
CONTENTS: (British ballads only. To access individual versions click on the highlighted title below on on the title attached to this page on the left hand column)
1) The Cruel Brother- Mrs. Brown (Aber) c1760 Child Aa
2) Fine Flowers o the Valley (Edin) 1776 Herd Child G
Fine Flowers o the Valley (Edin) 1776 Herd Child H
Cruel Brother- Mary Barr (Lan) c.1777 Child B
Three Ladies Playing Ball- T.W.(Ches) 1790 Child K
Ther Waur Three Ladies- Harris(Perth) 1798 Child C
Cruel Brother- Jean Scott (Selk) c.1805, Child O
Three Knights- (W. Eng) 1823 D. Gilbert, Child F
Cruel Brother- John Clare (Northamp) c.1824 MS
Rose Smells Sae Sweetly- Meg Walker (Renf) 1827 Crawfurd
Rosie Smell'd Sae Sweetlie- O'Meally (Ayr) 1827 Crawfurd
Fine Flowers- Peggy MacGregor (Ayr) 1827 Macqueen, Crawfurd
Three Bonnie Boys- (Forf) c.1828 Kinloch, Child I
King of Fairies- Anon (Ber) 1830 Campbell, Child L
Roses Grow Sweet Aye- (Ber) 1830 Campbell Child M
Bride's Testamen- Robertson (Aber) 1830 Child N
There Were Three Ladies- Uneda (Ire) 1852 Child D
The Cruel Brother- Reburn (Meath) 1860 Child J
Cruel Brother- Bell Duncan (Aber) c.1860 Carpenter
The Cruel Brother- William Allingham (Don) 1865
There Were Three Sisters- W.F. (Forf) 1870 Child E
Flowers in the Valley- Gilbert (Corn) 1880 Baring-Gould (composite of two texts)
Cruel Brother- Tam Spiers(Aber) 1976 Archie Fisher (revival version)
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Frank Sidwick: Popular Ballads of the Olden Time: Ballads of romance and chivalry - Page 76
The Text is that obtained in 1800 by Alexander Fraser Tytler from Mrs. Brown of Falkland, and by him committed to writing. The first ten and the last two stanzas show corruption, but the rest of the ballad is in the best style.
The Story emphasizes the necessity of asking the consent of a brother to the marriage of his sister, and therefore the title The Cruel Brother is a misnomer. In ballad-times, the brother would have been well within his rights; it was rather a fatal oversight of the bridegroom that caused the tragedy.
Danish and German ballads echo the story, though in the commonest German ballad, Graf , Friedrich, the bride receives an accidental wound, and that from the bridegroom's own hand.
The testament of the bride, by which she benefits her friends and leaves curses on her enemies, is very characteristic of the ballad-style, and is found in other ballads, as Lord Ronald and Edward, Edward. In the present case, 'sister Grace' obtains what would seem to be a very doubtful benefit.
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