Lord Arnold- Edwards (VT) 1933 Flanders A
[From Flanders' Ancient Ballads (Coffin) 1961 and Ballads Migrant to New England. Coffin's notes follow.
The issues surrounding this ballad are complicated. Two letters (see below) were sent by the informant, George Edwards of Vermont (not the George Edwards from NY, an informant for Cazden), who admits in the letters that he has changed the ballad, which he has titled, "Lord Arnold."
An Index to the Field Recordings in the Flanders Ballad Collection at Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vermont) reports: "It was Phillips Barry's practice to send copies of British and Maine song texts to Mr. Edwards, hoping to help him remember other songs." Clearly, Edwards has borrowed from these texts.
George Edwards is articulate, well educated and with Barry's help has studied print versions of this and other ballads. After studying the evidence, it seems that this ballad is a recreation by Edwards from print versions supplied to him and perhaps vague memories of the ballad many years before. I can only conclude that it is not traditional. Even though he sang a verse and his melody was recorded and published-- the melody also is not likely from tradition (the same as his "The Edwards Ballad").
Further, I know that the informant on more than one occasion recreated ballads from print-- the best example of this is "The Edwards Ballad" which Bronson callas a "too literary rifacimento of "The Two Brothers" and "Edward" combined-- in short: Bronson concludes it is a ballad recreation from print and not traditional.
There are other issues regarding the text. Because Edwards didn't like the word "little" before Musgrove- there is no justification for him removing the word. Because Edwards though Lord Arnold would not be carrying two swords there is no justification for his version having one sword--nor should Edwards add historical information he knew about King Henry into the ballad.
Why Flanders pandered to George Edwards "too literary rifacimento" of "Little Musgrave" is unknown-- perhaps it was done to create a working relationship with Edwards who we assume did know some rare traditional ballads. Flanders did publish as far as I know all of Edwards Child ballads. He received some notoriety and his versions were published in local papers as well by both Eckstorm and Flanders. It seems clear to me that these ballads were not something he knew from memory they were constructed from print based on vague childhood recollections. I take issue with Flanders publishing Edwards ballads without reservation just as I have taken issued with Davis for publishing the Smiths (Thomas Smith- More Trad. ballads 1960) ballad recreations.
Barry at this time (1933) was the editor of the BFSSNE and Flanders (as well as Eckstorm) surely informed Barry about the "Lord Arnold" ballad. Barry did not print it or comment on it -- why? I believe it was because he knew it was a ballad recreation and he knew he supplied some of the stanzas. It's obvious to me for example, that Edwards' last stanza is taken from Maine texts supplied by Barry. I do not have proof of Barry's knowledge of this-- however, it seems obvious to me. In my opinion there is very little that is traditional- from the first stanza (Edward has "fine" holiday) onward (the second he has "crew"). The whole text (consistent rhyme, etc.) smacks of recreation.
Because of this and some of Edwards other contributions we can't be certain that his ballads are traditional, a distinction he holds with a number of performers and collectors of traditional music. This is especially true of ballads sent to the collector instead taken from a live performance.
R. Matteson 2015]
Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
(Child 81)
This ballad has a vigorous American oral tradition but, in spite of the fact that Phillips Barry, British Ballads from Maine, 173, reports his H version to have been learned in Scotland, seems to have died out in Britain. Here it is known everywhere, from Nova Scotia to Jamaica and west. Barry, op. cit., 180 f., and Helen Pettigrew, University of West Virginia Studies, III philological papers, II, 8 f., both spent much effort on the American heritage of Child 81. Barry feels there-was a pre-American split in the tradition of the ballad, one form featuring the "away, Musgrave, away" lines and the "bugle-blowing" scene, the other retaining mention of King Henry. The Henry type he believes to date back to the time of Henry VIII and to be the progenitor of almost all the American texts. The "away, Musgrave" type, he feels, gave birth to the Anglo-Scottish texts and a few late American arrivals. Pettigrew attacks this thesis vigorously, among other things, attributing the visit to King Henry to romanticization and citing a host of American texts, such as the Flanders ones below, that retain "bugle-blowing" scenes. Whoever is right, one thing seems sure: Barry was nor far wrong in stating the song has been in America a long time and that the texts here are more vivid and generally better than those in Child, some of which are pretty old.
The Flanders texts demonstrate Barry's two types. Flanders A includes a strong "bugle-blowing" scene, the "away" lines (stanzas 18-20), and opt"s with a church-gathering like Child A, C, H, and many of the southern American texts. This version is similar to the one in Belden, 58 (also printed in British BaIIads from Maine, 177), but is unusual for the New World in its inclusion of Lady Barnard's effort to bribe the page as in Child C-F, H-L, and O. Edwards it should be noted, wanted to leave these lines and some of the "bugle" material out (see the letter below). The Flanders B-J series is more typical of the northern tradition of the ballad and starts like-Child D, E, K, L with a "ball-playing" scene. The "bugle-blowing" is presented, but briefly, and there are no "away, Musgrave" lines.
See Coffin, 84-86, for the bibliography of the American texts and summaries of the scholarship done on the song. It is interesting that American versions do not mention any past relationship between the lovers, although Musgrave needs no encouraging when the Lady flirts with him in one Southeastern text. He embraces her at once. PMLA XXXIX,455 f., contains a report on the Jamaican tradition of Child 81. The ballad as known in the West Indies is closer to Child A-C than it is to the American material. In Act V, scene 3, of Francis Beaumont's The Knight of the Burning Pestle, Merrythought quotes lines from the song.
The seven tunes given are related except for the Edwards tune, which seems separate. The rest fall into two related groups: 1) Colsie and Walker, and 2) Syphers, Merrill, Finnemore, and Burditt. The following runes show general relationship to the second of these related groups: Sharp I, 166 (D), 181 (L); and BES, 150. The New England tunes seem more closely related to the second group, while those in the collections from the southern United States seem largely to belong to another family exemplified by the majority of the tunes in Sharp I.
A. Lord Arnold. As printed in Ballads Migrant in New England, 86: George Edwards says, in giving this song, in typewritten form, that it is " just as I always used it, and as I always heard, it, with the one exception. I have omitted, the word, 'Little' immediately preceding the name 'Mottha Grow' wherever it occurs in the piece. It always seemed, to me that the words crowded, the music (if that is a proper way to express what I mean). I also did not like the impression the word, conveyed, as it seemed to me rather to belittle the person to whom it is attached and also to give a mental picture of a boy or youth, instead of a man." See also the letter from Edward; below.[1] H. H. F., Collector; July 27, 1933. Structure: A B Cb [?] D, E (2,2,2,2,2) Rhythm D; contour: arc; Scale: major; t.c. D-flat. For mel. rel. see Sharp I, l7B(K), 164 (distant), possibly 172(H); BP, 32 possibly FCB4, 53(B).
[music- not resembling any traditional versions]
Lord Arnold
It was on one fine, one fine holiday,
The finest day in the year,
That Mottha Grow to the church did go
The Holy Word to hear.
The Holy Word to hear.
(Repeat last line in each stanza.)
The ladies fine, they all came in,
In satin and in blue.
The last of them all was Lord Arnold's wife,
The finest of the whole crew.
She looked around, she looked around,
She look-ed him upon,
Saying, "Mottha Grow, to my home must go,
A:U along with me shall come."
"I dare not, I dare not," said Mottha Grow,
"I dare not for my life,
For I know by the rings on your fingers,
That you are Lord Arnold's wife."
"And what if I am Lord Arnold's wife,
And what is that to thee?
Lord Arnold has gone to the Hampshire Court,
King Henry for to see."
A little foot page, a-standing near,
Heard all they had to say,
Thought, "I will tell Lord Arnold of this
Before the break of day."
"O, gold your head shall crown," Lady Arnold said,
"And silver your feet shall be,
If you will not tell Lord Arnold of what was said
Between Mottha Grow and me." [1] (stanza added)
"O, gold will not crown my head," said he,
"Nor your silver will I take,
But I will tell Lord Arnold of this
Ere another day shall break." [1]
He had many long miles to go
And some of them he ran,
And when he came to a broken bridge,
He down on his breast and swarn'
And when he came to the Hampshire Court,
So loudly he did ring,
And none so ready as Lord Arnold himself
To arise and let him in.
"Are either of my towers burned,
Or is my castle won,
Or is my fair lady brought to bed,
With a daughter or a son?"
"'There are neither of your towers burned,
Nor is your castle won,
Neither is your fair lady brought to bed
With a daughter or a son."
"What news, what news, my little foot page,
What news have You brought to me?"
"I have brought you the news that Mottha Grow
Is at home with your fair lady."
"If this be a lie," Lord Arnold, he said,
"That you have told to me,
I will have a wooden gallows made,
And hanged you shall be."
"If this be a lie," said the little foot page,
"That I have brought to thee,
You need not have a wooden gallows made,
But hang me on a tree."
"If this be true," Lord Arnold said,
"That you have told to me,
I have an estate in Northumberland
Which thy reward shall be." [1]
Lord Arnold he surnmoned his merry men all,
By ones, by twos and by threes,
He ordered them not a drum should be beat,
Nor a bugle sounded be.
But there was one of Lord Arnold's men
Who loved his lady well,
He raised his bugle to his lips
And he sounded it loud and shrill.
"Hark, O hark!" said Mottha Grow,
"What's that I think I hear?
Methinks I hear Lord Arnold's bugle horn,
A-sounding in my ear.
"And ever as the bugle blows
It seems to me to say,
'Arise and dress ere its too late,
And away, Mottha Grow, away.' " [1]
Lie still, lie still, my Mottha Grow,
And keep me from the cold,
It is nothing but a shepherd boy
A-driving his sheep to the fold."
Lord Arnold he strode through the castle halls
And opened the door so wide.
They did not know Lord Arnold had come
Till he stood by their bedside.
"How do you like my bed," Lord Arnold said,
"And how do you like my sheets,
And how do you like my lady so fair
Who lies at your side so sweet."
"I like your bed very much," said he,
"I also like your sheets,
But much better do I like Lady Arnold so fair,
Who lies at my side so sweet." [1]
"Arise, arise, you Mottha Grow,
And put your clothing on,
For I'll never have it said in Old England
That I slew a naked man."
'"Must I arise?" said Mottha Grow,
"And fight you for my life,
While you have a glittering sword by your side
And I have not a knife?"
"Yes, I have a sword here at my side
And others in their place.
You shall have the best one of them
And I will take the worst.
"And you shall have the first full blow,
And strike it like a man.
I will have the next full blow
And I'll kill you if I can."
Mottha Grow he had the first full blow.
It wounded Lord Arnold sore.
Lord Arnold had the next full blow,
Mottha Grow could strike no more.
Lord Arnold then he looked around,
He look-ed him upon,
Saying, "I have killed the handsomest man
That ever the sun shone on."
Lord Arnold he took his lady by the hand
And sat her on his knee,
Saying, "Which do you like the very best now,
This Mottha Grow or me."
"Very well do I like your cherry cheeks,
Very well do I like your chin,
Better, much better do I like that Mottha Grow
Than Lord Arnold and his whole kin."
Lord Arnold he took his lady by the hand.
He led her o'er the plain,
She never spoke another full word,
For he split her head in twain.
Sing on, sing on, ye nightengale,
Sing on, sing on, ye sparrow,
Lord Arnold has slain his wife to-day
And he shall be hung to-morrow.
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[Letter 1 from George Edwards]
The song has been handed down from one to another in our family for nearly two hundred years as follows. My great grandfather, Henry W. Edwards, whose wife was Margaret Douglas of Scotland, was born in Westchester, England, in 1739 and died in 1820, my grandfather, William H. Edwards whose wife was Martha Bennings, a Northumberland girl, was born in the town of Seaton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, in 1785 and died on the second day of July 1881, the day that President Garfield was shot.
My father, Henry R. Edwards whose wife was an American woman, a native of Vermont, by the name of Wetherell, was also born in the town of Seaton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, in 1826 and died in 1895.
This song was passed down from my great grandfather, or grandmother, I do not know which, to my grandfather, who in turn taught it to my father, and also to me, as he did many other songs including several of the so-called “border songs.” This is a record for the song that I think few could equal.
Again, it is a matter of history that the royal court was held at Winchester, in the county of Hampshire, in the South of England, prior to the year one thousand, and was known and referred to as the Hampshire Court. It was, however, removed to Westminster by Edward the Confessor for a comparatively short time but was again restored to its former location in Hampshire by King William the Conqueror about 1068 and remained there some time, during the reign of Henry I and Henry II.
Referring to the verse that reads as follows: “Lord Arnold has gone to the Hampshire Court King Henry for to see” seems to me better and more appropriate than anything offered in the other versions. The description of the foot page’s journey to the court is much more natural and lucid than anything the other selections give. Again, as follows, when Lord Arnold arrived at his castle, “Lord Arnold he summoned his merry men all, by one’s, by two’s and by three’s, he ordered them not a drum should be beat, nor a bugle sounded be.” What could be more natural, or plainly stated than this? It seems to me the other versions suffer, in comparison with this.
Again, “Lord Arnold strode through the castle halls and opened the door so wide, they did not know that Lord Arnold had come, till he stood by their bed-side.” Or this, when Motta Grow answered Lord Arnold’s order to arise, “Must I arise, said Mottha Grow, and fight you for my life, while you have a glittering sword at your side and I have not a knife.” And Lord Arnold’s answer, “Yes, I have a sword, here at my side, and others in their place, and you shall have the best one of them and I will take the worst.” The other selections give it as two swords by his side. I never knew of heard of a man wearing two swords at one time, did you?
I never heard this piece sung by anybody outside of my own family and was greatly surprised to learn that it was so widely scattered.
November 1, 1933 /s/ George J. Edwards
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[Letter 2 from George Edwards]
1 This letter is revealing, as it demonstrates how and why an informant will change a song. The stanzas referred to are noted. Edwards' placing of them in the letter corresponds with their position in the text as he originally sent it. [footnote by Flanders]
Dear Mrs. Flanders:
Burlington, Vermont
December 9, 1933
About fifteen minutes ago I received a letter from Mrs. Fannie H. Eckstorm and containing a proof sheet of the "Lord Arnold" ballad that I sent to you, and which she has just had published in the Bangor Daily News. She informs me that you requested her to do this and I want you to know how much I appreciate your thoughtfulness for this pleasure to me, also for her kindness in acceding to your request.
You will recollect that the copy I sent to you was as I used it many years ago. There are, however, six other verses that belong to this ballad as I learned it from my grandfather and which I have omitted for various reasons as follows:
There is a verse between the thirteenth and fourteenth stanzas, as your copy reads, that I sent to you, dealing with a promised reward. from Lord Arnold to the foot page, if what he said was true, and which I thought altogether too generous for the services rendered and so left it out.
Again between the sixteenth and seventeenth verses a stanza that has to do with the bugle call, which I noticed that Mrs. Eckstorm misses and asks about, and which I thought superfluous and hence did not use it. Then again, between the eighteenth and nineteenth verses, there are two stanzas missing which, owing to the sentiment expressed in them, I did not like to use in a mixed audience, the reason for which you will readily see when you read them.
The above missing verses I am sending to you with this letter, but the last two, which should come between the sixth and seventh verses, well, perhaps I will include them, but I am quite sure that you will think as I do that they are incongruous, and to me they seem to disrupt or at least to detract from the even progression of the theme of the ballad that runs so nicely from the beginning to its culmination.
In recording ballads on dictaphone, do you want the entire ballad or a verse from each?
Cordially,
/s/ Geo. Edwards.
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