Lord Bakeman- Kennison (Vermont) 1930 Flanders
[From Flanders; Ancient Ballads, 1966; also Vermont Ballads and Songs; 1932. Notes by Coffin follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
Young Beichan
(Child 53)
This ballad has an extensive Anglo-American tradition and still is well known on both sides of the Atlantic. The American songs all trace back to early broadsides[1] and song books and quite generally refer to the hero as Lord Bateman or Bakeman. These texts vary somewhat in minor detail, but follow the Child L pattern as to plot outline, significant facts, and length. Nevertheless, a good many scholars have devoted a good bit of time to the minor variations of the American versions and more particularly to identifying the printed sources of the ballad in the New World. George L. Kittredge JAF, XXX, 295-97) used "the hole bored in the hero's shoulder" as a means of distinguishing texts closely akin to Child L from those related to the Coverly broadside in the Isaiah Thomas Collection, Worcester, Massachusetts, and Phillips Barry, British Ballads from Maine, 106 f., continues the probings and points out the "hole in the shoulder" stanza is characteristic of the South. There is also a good bit of information along similar lines in Jane Zielonko's Master's thesis, "Some American Variants of Child Ballads" (Columbia University, 1945), 83 f.
The Flanders versions below have been divided according to the findings of these researchers. Texts A-J seem to be similar to the Coverly broadside or to the version printed in the J. S. Locke of Boston Forget-Me-Not Songster (See A particularly) that goes back to an earlier broadside Coverly may have used. K-S are close to the text printed by Lucy E. Broadwood and J. A. F. Maitland in English Country Songs (London, 1893) and cited by Barry, op. cit., 116. This is a form of the song still known in Britain that evidently found its way into print in New England. In this series (see K-O) the hero's shoulder is not bored through as in many Child texts, but Bateman is tied to a tree[2]. T, it will be noted, contains further modifications and a compression
of the narrative. But, all in all, the Flanders texts are pretty typical of the northern findings for this ballad. Child, I,455 f., discusses the affinities of this song and the legend associated with Gilbert a Becket in the Middle Ages. However, analogous stories are known about Henry of Brunswick, Alexander von Metz, and a host of other heroes in Scandinavian and southern European balladry. A start on a bibliography can be had in Coffin, 63-65 (American); Dean-Smith, 5 (English) ; Greig and Keith, 40-43 (Scottish) ; and the notes in Child. Kittredge's JAF article contains a number of references, not easily available elsewhere, to printed American texts of "Lord Bateman" and its relative "The Turkish Lady." The latter, listed by Laws as O 26 and possibly derived from "Lord Bateman," is also immensely popular in America. Laws, AEBB,238, and Coffin, 65, give a
good many references for it.
The eight tunes for Child 53 are all related, and all correspond to tune group A in BC1. Two subfamilies appear: 1) the Davis, Kennison, Pierce, and Burke tunes, characterized by a triad at the beginning, this group corresponds to BCI group Aa. The other tunes together fit in with BCI group Ab, the Morton tune being relatively divergent from the others, however.
1. In my opinion, this statement is simply inaccurate, "the American songs all trace back to early broadsides." Consider, for example, the Hick/Harmon version (Susan Price/Young Behan) which was collected from three different family members which they brought from Virginia (circa late 1600s) to the Carolina mountains probably around 1770 and has been passed strictly through oral tradition since then. [R. Matteson 2014]
2. It's likely that the "tied to a tree" reference is, in fact, derived by faulty oral transmission from of the "hole in the shoulder" texts. After all, there aren't many prisoners tied to a tree in a jail cell. [R. Matteson 2014]
H. "Lord Bakeman." Sung by Josiah Samuel Kennison of Townshend, Vermont. Learned from the singer's mother, Mrs. Sophronia (Codding Kennison, in Johnson, Vermont. Mr. Kennison's grandfather, Russell Codding, came from England with
three brothers and settled Codding's Hollow in Johnson. On November 27, 1942, Mr. Kennison sang this ballad for Miss Marguerite Olney in practically identical form. Printed in Vermont Folk-Songs & Ballads, 204. The last two lines of each stanza are repeated. George Brown, Collector; August 23, 1930. Structure: A B Cb A Cb A (2,2,2,2,2,2); Rhythm E; Contour: arc; Scale: Mixolydian
[music]
1. Lord Bakeman he was a noble lord,
And had riches of a high degree,
But never could he be contented,
Until a voyage he had been to sea.
But never could he be contented,
Until a voyage he had been to sea.
2. He sailed east, and he sailed west,
Until he came to the Turkey shore,
And then he was taken and put in prison,
Where he could neither see nor hear.
And then he was taken and put in prison,
Where he could neither see nor hear.
3. For seven long months he lie lamenting,[1]
He lie lamenting in iron bonds,
Until he spied a calm-eyed [2] damsel,
Who set him free from his iron bonds.
Until he spied a calm-eyed damsel,
Who set him free from his iron bonds.
4. She was walking across the floor,
She chanced Lord Bakeman for to see.
She stole the keys of her father's prison,
Saying, "Now Lord Bakeman, I'll set free."
She stole the keys of her father's prison,
Saying, "Now Lord Bakeman, I'll set free."
5. "Have you got gold, have you got silver?
Have you got houses of high degree?
And what will you give to this fair lady,
If she from bondage will set you free?
And what will you give to this fair lady,
If she from bondage will set you free?
6. Yes, I've got gold, and I've got silver,
And I've got houses of high degree,
I'll give them all to this fair lady,
If she from bondage will set me free.
I'll give them all to this fair lady,
If she from bondage will set me free.
7. I want none of your silver nor your gold,
Nor none your houses of high degree,
But all I ask to make me happy,
For all I crave is your fair body.
But all I ask to make me happy,
For all I crave is your fair body.
8. Let us make a bargain, and make it strong,
For seven long years that it shall stand,
For you shan't wed no other woman,
Nor I shan't wed no other man.
For you shan't wed no other woman,
Nor I shan't wed no other man.
9. When seven long years were gone and passed,
And seven long months were at an end,
She then picked up her richest clothing,
Saying, "Now I'll go and seek my friend."
She then picked up her richest clothing,
Saying, "Now I'll go and seek my friend."
10. She sail-ed east,and she sail-ed west,
Until she came to the Indee shore,
And there she enquired for Lord Bakeman's palace
In every corner of the street.
And there she enquired for Lord Bakeman's palace
To every person she chanced to meet.
11. "Is this Lord Bakeman's palace,
Or is the Lord himself within?"
"Yes, yes, oh yes," cries the brisk young porter,
"He and his new bride has just entered in."
"Yes, yes, oh yes," cries the brisk young porter,
"He and his new bride has just entered in."
12. Then she did wring her lily-white hands,
And she did weep most bitterly,
Saying, "I wish I was back across the ocean
To my own country for to stay.
Saying, "I wish I was back across the ocean
To my own country for to stay.
13. "Go ask Lord Bakeman to send me one ounce of bread
And a bottle of his wine so strong,
And ask it he has forgotten the lady,
Who set him free from his iron bonds."
And ask it he has forgotten the lady,
Who set him free from his iron bonds."
14. Away, away ran the brisk young Porter
And down upon his bended knees,
"Arise, arise, my brisk young Porter,
And tell me what the matter is."
"Arise, arise, my brisk young Porter,
And tell me what the matter is."
15. "There stands a lady at Your gate
And she doth weep most bitterly,
I think she is the fairest lady
That ever my eyes could wish to see.
I think she is the fairest lady
That ever my eyes could wish to see."
16. "She has a ring on every finger
And on her forefinger she has three;
She's got more gold about her clothing
Than Your new bride and all her kin.
She's got more gold about her clothing
Than Your new bride and all her kin."
17. "She sent me for an ounce of bread
And a bottle of Your wine so strong'
And to ask if you'd forgotten the lady
Who set you free from your iron bonds.[3]
And to ask if you'd forgotten the lady
Who set you free from your iron bonds."
18. He stamped his foot on the marble floor;
He split the table in pieces three.
Saying, "Adieu, adieu, to the wedded bride, [4]
And this fair lady I'll go to see.
Saying, "Adieu, adieu, to the wedded bride,
And this fair lady I'll go to see."
19. Then up steps the new bride's mother,
She being a lady of high degree.
Saying, "You've married my only daughter
And she's a lady of high degree,
I wish to God that Silky Friar[5]
Had died before she'd crossed the sea."
"Yes, I married your only daughter
But she is none the worse for me;
She came to me on a horse and saddle;
She shall go back in a coach so free,
She came to me on a horse and saddle;
She shall go back in a coach so free." [5]
He took her by her lily-white hand
And led her across the marble floor.
He changed her name from Silky Friar;
She's now the wife of Lord Bakeman,
He changed her name from Silky Friar;
She's now the wife of Lord Bakeman.
1. lamented (1930)
2. comely (sung: com-lie)
3. In 1942 this line was "who from bondage has set you free."
4. In 1942 this line was "saying, 'Adieu, adieu to the new wedded bride ."
5. Susy Pye= Susy Fry = Silky Friar
6. In 1942 this line was "She shall go back in a coach and three."