Lord Banner - Syphers (ME) 1942 Flanders E
[From Flanders' Ancient Ballads; 1961. Notes from Coffin follow.
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 xxxlx,4ssf.,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.
E. Lord Banner - Sung by Miss Annie Syphers, Monticello, Maine. M. Olney, Collector; May B, 1942. Structure: A B A1 B1 (8,8,8,8); Rhythm B; Contour: undulating, pendulumlike; Scale: major t.c. C. For mel. rel. see BES, 150, 173, 186.
Four and twenty gay ladies,
A-being at a ball,
Lord Banner's lady, she came there,
The gayest of them all,
And John Magrue of Scotland, too,
As bright as the rising sun,
He looked at her and she winked at him,
The likes were never known.
"Oh, will you take a ride with me,
Oh, will you take a ride?
You shall have servants to wait on you
And a fair lady by your side."
"It's to take a ride, I dare not do it,
Oh, not for all my life,
For by that ring you wear on your finger,
You are Lord Banner's wife."
"Oh, what if I am Lord Banner's wife,
Sure, he is not at home.
He has gone to convention
To take King Henery's throne."
One of his foot-pages being standing by
Heard all was said and done.
He said, "My master shall hear the news
Before the rising sun."
He ran till he came to the river side.
There he jumped in and he swam;
He swam till he came to the other side;
He took to his heels and he run.
He run till he came to the cottage door;
He knocked both loud and shrill.
There's none so ready as Lord Banner
To let his fair page in.
Saying, "Are there any of my castles down,
Or any of my towers three,
Or has there anything happened
To my fair lady?"
"Oh, no, there's none of your castles down,
Nor none of your towers three,
But young Magrue from Scotland's
In bed with your fair lady."
"If this be a lie you tell to me,
As I suppose it to be,
I will rig a gallus
And hanged you shall be."
"If that be a lie I tell to you,
As you suppose it to be,
You need not rig any gallus;
You may hang me on a tree."
He called down his army men
By one, by two, by three,
Saying, "Let us go over to fair Scotland
Our fancies for to see."
"Oh, what is that," said John Magrue,
"That sounds so loud in my ear?
It is Lord Banner's bugle
That sounds so loud and clear."
"Lie down, lie down, and keep me warm,
Pray keep me from the cold.
It is Lord Banner's shepherd boy
A-driving their sheep to the fold."
They huddled and they cuddled,
And they both fell fast asleep,
When early the next morning
Lord Banner stood at their feet,
Saying, "How do you like my blankets fine.
And how do you like our sheets,
And how do you like your false lady
That lies in my arms and sleeps?"
"Full well I like your blankets fine
And well I like your sheets,
But best of all, it's young Magrue
Than you and all o' your kin."[1]
He caught this fair lady by the waist,
He gave her kisses three,
Saying, "Which of us do you like the best,
It's young Magrue or me?"
"Full well I like your rosy cheeks
And well your dimpled chin,
But best of all it's young Magrue
Than you and all of your kin."
He caught her by the hair of the head,
He split her brains in twain.
He threw her on the floor
Where she never rose again.
"Go dig my grave,
Dig it long, wide, and deep,
And place my fair lady by my side
And young Magrue at my feet."
1. Magrue's death stanzas are missing.