Bluegrass Messengers

Recordings & Info 7. Butcher Boy, or, Died for Love

Recordings & Info 7. Butcher Boy, or, Died for Love

[See print sources ck "Picking Lilies" "The Wheel of Fortune"

R. Matteson 2016]

CONTENTS:

1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Mudcat posts
4) Roud Index

ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 409, 60, 18830, 18832 (Listings, not attached yet)
2) Laws P24

Alternative Titles: "The Alehouse," "Betsy Watson," "A (The) Bold (Brisk) Young Cropper (Farmer) (Lover) (Sailor) (Courted Me)," "Dearest Billie," "The Deceased Maiden Lover," "Died for (of) Love," "Down in Yon Meadows," "I Wish, I Wish," "In

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Sheffield Park, sung by Frank Hinchliffe, 1976 recorded by Mike Yates and Ruairidh Greig

Ben Butcher sang In Sheffield Park

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Roud No: 87

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Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/535)

Waly Waly

First Line: Down in the meadows the other day

Performer: Cox, Caroline

Date: 8 Aug 1905

Place: England : Somerset : High Ham

Collector: Sharp, Cecil J.

Roud No: 87
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Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/4530)

Sweet William
“A Forsaken Lover's Complaint”
First Line: Away low down on the riverside

Performer: Shelor, Bill

Date: 29 Aug 1918

Place: USA : Virginia : Meadows of Dan

Collector: Sharp, Cecil J.

Roud No: 16607

[pitts Sheffield Park]

Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/1412)

Brisk Young Lover / Bessie Watson / Roses In Her Apron / Down In The Meadows

First Line: Then she went home and went to bed

Performer: Snow, Mrs. [Snow, Nell] Pike, Mrs [Pike, Betsy]

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Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/9/989)

Waly Waly

First Line: Down in the meadows the other day

Performer: Thomas, James

Date: 20 Apr 1906

Place: England : Somerset : Cannington

Collector: Sharp, Cecil J.

Roud No: 87

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Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/923)

Waly Waly

First Line: O down in the meadows the other day

Performer: Thomas, James

Date: 20 Apr 1906

Place: England : Somerset : Cannington

Collector: Sharp, Cecil J.

Date: 16 Aug 1907

Place: England : Somerset : Somerton

Collector: Sharp, Cecil J.

Roud No: 18829

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BUTCHER('S) BOY, THE - "In Jersey/ London city where I did dwell" - finds note and hanging from a beam - LAWS #P-24 ABBB 1957 p260 - ROUD#409 - SHARP-KARPELES 1974 #157 p606-8 "Sheffield Park" - JFSS 2:8 1906 pp159-60 RVW Ingrave or Chigwell, Essex "In Jessie's City" - JFSS 9 1906 [also] p293 "Early early" mixed with "Sweet William" coll Kidson Lincs - JFSS 7 1905 p74 Hammond Dorset 1905 "In Yorkshire Park" - MUNCH Tristan da Cunha 1970 p80 from Lily Green & Alice Swain - PURSLOW CL 1972 p105 - HAMER 1973 p18 "A Sailor comes home late" Bedfordsh - McCOLL-SEEGER TSES 1977 p2327-9 Carolyne Hughes - PORTER-GOWER 1995 pp236-8 11v from Jeannie Robertson --- SHARP FSSA 1917 #101 "The Brisk Young Lover" - SANDBURG ASB 1927 p324 "London City" - SPAETH 2 WSM 1927 pp128-9 "In Jersey City" - McKENZIE BSSNS 1928 #59 pp157-160 & p398 Ellen Bigney, NS/ Mrs Willard Thompson (w/o) - CREIGHTON SBNS 1932 pp33-4 Edward Hartley, NS 1929+- HUDSON FSM 1936 pp160-161 Mrs Easley, Mi (w/o) - HENRY FSSH 1938 pp195-199 Rachel Tucker, Ga 1930 (w/o)/ Mrs Mary King, Tenn (w/o)/ Nancy Gianmotti, Jersey City, NJ (w/o)/ Thaddeus Napiorski, Jersey City 1929 (w/o)/ Elizabeth Albers, Jersey City 2v (w/o)/ Mrs Henry Gray, Ind 1v (w/o)- LEACH 1955 p737 - BELDEN Mo 1940 p201-7 - RANDOLPH OFS 1946 1 pp226-230 Mrs Bessie Anderson Mo 1928/ Mrs Violet Savory Justis (w/o)/ Mrs Ruth Hains (w/o)/ Otto Rayburn 1v (w/o)/ Mrs Lilian Short 1941/ Mrs Gladys McCarty, Ark 1941 1v (w/o)/ Mrs Wasson, Ark 1v (w/o)/ Ms Ark 1v (w/o) - MORRIS FSOF 1950 pp334-6 Mrs Hornbeak, Fla "A Railroad Boy" - LEACH 1955 p737 - BROWN NC 1952 2 p271 - COX (2) p430 - THOMPSON PS 1958 p387 - HUBBARD BSFU 1961 p65 Mrs Salley Hubbard, Utah (w/o) - CAREY ASS 1976 pp72-3 Timothy O Connor Songbook c1778 (w/o) "In Woodstock town in Oxford shore" - PETERS FSOW 1977 p204 Mabel Hawkins, Wis 1923 - ROBERTS-AGEY ITP 1978 pp106-8 Buell Kazee, Magoffin Co, Ky 1954 - WARNER TAFS 1984 #86 pp218-9 Buna Hicks, NC "A Rude and Rambling Boy" - EDWARDS (Australia) p180-1 - Cf DIED FOR LOVE (Tavern in the town) - CRUEL MILLER - SHEFFIELD PARK -- Mrs Julia Barnes, rec by PK, Chideock, Dorset 1952: RPL 18694 "Jersey City" - "Kirsty" Susan Hutchison (cousin of Davie Stewart?) rec by PK (see Davie STEWART) - Jack LE FEUVRE rec by PK, Sark 1957: RPL LP 23842/ FTX-245 "O mother dear" - Tommy MAKEM (with whistle) & Eric WEISBERG (gtr/ banjo): TRADITION TLP-1044 1961 - May BRADLEY, rec byFred Hamer, Ludlow, Salop: EFDSS VWML-003 1989 cass "The Willow Tree" - UNION FOLK: TRADITIONAL SOUND TSR-007 1971 - Carolyne HUGHES (gypsy) rec by PK, nr Blandford, Dorset 19/4/68: 7" RTR0120/ FTX-143 - Jasper SMITH (gypsy): TOPIC 12-TS-304 1977 - Ruth BURDON of Sandwich, Kent rec herself on cassette Feb 1982: CASS-90-0626 (frag) "Hanging by a rope" - Caitriona Ni Cheannabhain (unacc) Galway CIC 013 CASS-0900 --- Buell KAZEE (voc/5-str banjo) 1928 (BRUNSWICK 213A 1928)/ FOLKWAYS FP253/ 7"RTR- 0306: FTX-911 "The B's Boy" - Buna HICKS rec Warners, Beech Mountain, NC 1941: FTX-923 "A Rude and Rambling Boy" - Ed McCURDY (with gtr) rec Jac Holzman, NY USA: RIVERSIDE RLP-12-601 1955 from Ohio - Frank PROFFITT (v/gtr) rec by Frank & Anne Warner, Beech Mt, Watauga Co., NC 1959: FTX-932/ FOLK LEGACY FSA-1 1962/ TOPIC 12-T-162 1966"One Morning Fair" - Hedy WEST: TOPIC 12-T-163 1967 "Down in Adairsville" - Joan BAEZ (v/gtr) nd CASS 60-0813 "The Railway Boy" - Almeda RIDDLE of Arkansas, USA: ROUNDER 0017 rec 1972 - Melcena SMITH & Elias FAZER rec by John Storm Roberts, Tortola, Virgin Islands 1982: ROOT & BRANCH #1 EFDSS 1999 - Garnett & Norah ARWOOD (unacc with fid bef & aft) Pigeon Roost, Mitchell Co, NC 21/5/83 VWML-007 d/CASS-1026 1992 "Crazy about Song" rec by Mike Yates - Frank PROFITT Jr (voc/banjo): CLOUDLANDS (Tenn) CLC-008 1992 CASS-1356 "Morning Fair"

RADOO RADOO RADOO (Adieu) Or May this World go well with you.
Words from a Creole Song, Music by Bessie O’Connor. Arranged for the Guitar by Walter Redmond. Pub. Francis, Day and Hunter, 195, Oxford St, London. New York, T B Harms & Co. 18 east 22nd St.
Looking at the song list on the back it appears to be dated 1893. Explanation inside of the word Radoo. ‘The word ‘Radoo’ meaning ‘adieu’ is used by the Negroes of South America.’

Radoo, Radoo, kind friends, Radoo, Radooo, Radoo ,
And if I never more see you, you ,you,
I’ll hang my harp on a weeping willow tree,
And may this world go well with you, you, you.

Shall I be bound, shall I be free, free, free,
And many is de girl dat don’t love me, me ,me,
Or shall I act a foolish part,
And die for de girl dat broke my heart, heart, heart.

Give me a chair and I’ll sit down, down ,down,
Give me a pen, I’ll write it down, down, down,
And every word that I shall write,
A tear will trickle from my eye, eye, eye.

Repeat 1.

Same tune as ‘There is a Tavern’

Butcher Boy, The [Laws P24]

DESCRIPTION: The butcher boy has "courted [the girl's] life away," but now has left her (for a richer girl?). She writes a letter expressing her grief, then hangs herself. Her father finds her body and the note asking that her grave show that she died for love
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1865 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 18(72))
KEYWORDS: seduction suicide pregnancy betrayal abandonment
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South)) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Australia
REFERENCES (46 citations):
Laws P24, "The Butcher Boy"
Belden, pp. 201-207, "The Butcher Boy" (3 texts plus excerpts from 2 more and references to 3 more, 3 tunes); see also pp. 478-480, "The Blue-Eyed Boy" (4 texts, though "D" is a fragment, probably of "Tavern in the Town" or "The Butcher Boy" or some such)
Randolph 45, "The Butcher Boy" (4 texts plus 4 excerpts, 2 tunes)
Eddy 41, "The Butcher Boy" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 37, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text plus 2 excerpts and mention of 4 more, 2 tunes); also 25, "The Sailor Boy" (1 short text; the first 6 lines are "The Sailor Boy" [Laws K12]; the last twelve are perhaps "The Butcher Boy")
Peters, p. 204, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Stout 26, pp. 37-41, "The Butcher Boy" (4 texts pus 5 fragments)
Neely, pp. 145-149, "The Butcher Boy" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 115-116, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 179-181, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 737-738, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text)
ThompsonNewYork, pp. 387-388, "The Butcher's Boy/In Jersey City" (1 text plus an excerpt)
BrownII 81, "The Butcher Boy" (6 texts plus 5 excerpts and mention of 3 others; although most are clearly Laws P24, Renwick believes the "M" text is "Beam of Oak (Rambling Boy, Oh Willie)")
BrownIII 254, "Little Sparrow" (4 texts plus 1 excerpt and 1 fragment; the "F" text, however, is primarily "The Butcher Boy" or an "I Wish I Wish" piece of some sort)
BrownSchinhanIV 81, "The Butcher Boy" (3 excerpts, 3 tunes)
Morris, #179, "The Butcher Boy" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 282-288, "The Butcher Boy" (8 texts, with local titles "The Butcher Boy" (a single stanza), "Butcher Boy," "The Butcher Boy," "Jersey City," (E has no title and is a single-sentence fragment about Polly Perkins), "In Johnson City" (this short might be "Tavern in the Town" or similar), "Butcher's Boy," "The Girl Who Died For Love" (this version too might be a simple "Died for Love" piece); 3 tunes on pp. 431-433)
Brewster 34, "The Butcher's Boy" (3 texts plus mention of 6 more)
SharpAp 101, "The Brisk Young Lover" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Friedman, p. 110, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text)
Hudson 45, pp. 160-161, "The Butcher's Boy" (1 text plus mention of 11 more)
Owens-1ed, pp. 89-90, "The Butcher's Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Owens-2ed, p. 68, "The Butcher's Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hubbard, #29, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text)
Boswell/Wolfe 21, pp. 40-42, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shellans, p. 28, "The Farmer's Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 267-268, "The Maiden's Prayer" (1 text, 1 tune, with an unusual introduction in which the false lover is a soldier)
Sandburg, p. 324, "Go Bring Me Back My Blue-Eyed Boy" and "London City" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 230-231, "In Sheffield Park" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 339, "In Sheffield Park" (1 text)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 28 "The Butcher's Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 160, "In Sheffield Park" (1 text plus a second in the notes, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 60-62, "Snow Dove" (1 text, 1 tune)
WolfAmericanSongSheets, #229, p. 17, "The Butcher Boy" (1 reference)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 128-129, "In Jersey City" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHJohnson, p. 77, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 24, pp.60-62, "The Butcher's Boy" (1 text; the "B" text is "Tavern in the Town")
JHCox 145, "The Butcher Boy" (2 texts plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 73, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 707-708, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 16, "Butcher Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 59, "The Butcher Boy" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 139-140, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text); also pp. 141-142, "Morning Fair" (a complex text, with all sorts of floating elements, but with the final stanzas of this song)
Silber-FSWB, p. 178, "The Butcher's Boy" (1 text)
DT 320, BUTCHBOY*
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 207, "(The Butcher's Boy)" (1 fragment)
Roud #409
RECORDINGS:
Blue Sky Boys, "The Butcher's Boy" (Bluebird B-8482/Montgomery Ward M-8668, 1940)
Vernon Dalhart, "The Butcher's Boy" (Perfect 12330, 1927)
Kelly Harrell, "Butcher's Boy" (Victor 19563, 1925; on KHarrell01) (Victor 20242, 1926; on KHarrell01)
Buell Kazee, "The Butcher's Boy" (Brunswick 213A, 1928; Brunswick 437, 1930; on AAFM1, KMM); "Butcher Boy" (on Kazee01)
Jean Ritchie & Doc Watson, "Go Dig My Grave (Railroad Boy)" (on RitchieWatson1, RitchieWatsonCD1)
Henry Whitter, "The Butcher Boy" (OKeh 40375, 1925)
Ephraim Woodie & the Henpecked Husbands, "The Fatal Courtship" [uses tune of "Banks of the Ohio"] (Columbia 15564-D, 1930; rec. 1929; on LostProv1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(72), "The Butcher Boy" ("In Jersey city where I did dwell"), H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also Harding B 18(71), "The Butcher Boy"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "My Blue-Eyed Boy" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "Must I Go Bound" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "The Sailor Boy (I)" [Laws K12] (lyrics)
cf. "Betsy, My Darling Girl" (lyrics)
cf. "Died for Love (I)"
cf. "Tavern in the Town"
cf. "Love Has Brought Me to Despair" [Laws P25] (lyrics)
cf. "Waly Waly (The Water is Wide)"
cf. "Careless Love" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Ye Mariners All" (tune)
cf. "Dink's Song" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Every Night When the Sun Goes In" (lyrics, plot)
cf. "Farewell, Sweetheart (The Parting Lovers, The Slighted Sweetheart)" (lyrics)
cf. "Beam of Oak (Rambling Boy, Oh Willie)" (theme, lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jersey City
The Wild Goose Grasses
NOTES: Most scholars hold that this song is a combination of two others (Randolph follows Cox in claiming *four*). The primary evidence is the shift in narrative style: The first part of the ballad is in first person, the rest (affiliated with "There is an Alehouse in Yonder Town/Tavern in the Town") is in the third person. Leach, on the other hand, considers it to be a single song of American origin. Given the extreme variations in the form of this ballad (e.g. a significant number of versions omit the fact that the butcher boy left to marry a richer girl; some of the most poignant imply that the butcher boy rather than the father found her body) and the amount of floating material it contains, any theories of dependence must be examined carefully.
The two songs, "My Blue-Eyed Boy" and "Must I Go Bound," are clearly related (probably decayed offshoots of this song), now so damaged as to force separate listing. But there are, as so often, intermediate versions; one should check the references for those songs.
"Died for Love (I)" is perhaps a worn-down fragment of this piece, consisting of the lament without the suicide. Similarly the Brown collection's piece "My Little Dear, So Fare You Well."
MacColl and Seeger have classified related texts under fully seven heads:
* "Deep in Love," corresponding roughly to "Must I Go Bound" in the Ballad Index. Generally lyric.
* The Butcher Boy. Characterized by the story of betrayal and eventual suicide (informal translation: If the girl kills herself, file the song here no matter *what* the rest of it looks like. If she dies but doesn't kill herself, it's something else, perhaps "Died for Love (I)"). If there is a core to this family, this is it.
* Love Has Brought Me To Despair. (Laws P25). This shares lyrics with this family, notably those concerning the girl's burial, but has a slighly distinct plot.
* Waly Waly/The Water Is Wide. Related primarily by theme, it seems to me.
* The Tavern in the Town. Shares lyrics, but a distinct song (or at least recension) by our standards.
* Careless Love. Clearly distinct.
* Died for Love (I). This shares the stanzas of lamentation with "The Butcher Boy," but is distinct in that the girl is certainly pregnant (the girl in "The Butcher Boy" may be, but not all versions show this), she laments her folly, but she does *not* kill herself. It's much more lyric than "The Butcher Boy." - RBW
Broadside Bodleian Harding B 18(72): H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS

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Died for Love (I)

DESCRIPTION: A song of a woman in pain. The woman says that the man loved her when her apron was low, but now it's high. She may wish she were a maid again, recall the alehouse where she drinks, or wish her parents had never met
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (OShaughnessy-Grainger)
KEYWORDS: seduction pregnancy betrayal abandonment floatingverses
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
OShaughnessy-Grainger 5, "Died for Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 53, "I Wish, I Wish" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 55, "Died for Love" (2 texts, 2 tunes, the second having a wide variety of imported verses not usually associated with this family)
SharpAp 273, "I wish I was a Child again" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Hammond-Belfast, p. 56, "I Wish I Was a Maid Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #495
RECORDINGS:
Isla Cameron, "Died For Love" (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
Walter Pardon, "I Wish, I Wish" (on Voice15)
Pete Seeger, "Tarrytown" (on PeteSeeger46)
Pete Seeger & Sonny Terry, "In Tarrytown" (on SeegerTerry)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Butcher Boy" [Laws P24] and references there
cf. "My Blue-Eyed Boy" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "Must I Go Bound" (theme)
cf. "Love Has Brought Me To Despair" [Laws P25] (lyrics)
cf. "The Effects of Love" (theme)
NOTES: This piece is almost "The Butcher Boy" [Laws P24] without the suicide. The mention of the apron riding high is a strong indicator; the girl is definitely pregnant and regrets her folly.
For further details on the family, see the notes to "The Butcher Boy." - RBW
Yates, Musical Traditions site Voice of the People suite "Notes - Volume 15" - 13.9.02, cite as a possible source "song 'The Effects of Love - A New Song' which was issued by an anonymous broadside printer in the 18th century." The note quotes the text, which includes the "when my apron it hung low" and "I wish that my dear babe was born" verses. The reference seems to be to "The effects of love. A new song. [London]. [1780?]. 1 sheet; 1/80. British Library 11621.k.4(158). A slip song. "O! Love is hot, and Love is cold,." REFERENCE: ESTCT32452 x." (source: Eighteenth Century (1701-1790) Cheap Print: A Finding Aid produced by Richard C. Simmons, University of Birmingham, Dec 2000, on the University of Birmingham site); this is not at all the Bodleian broadside set "The Effects of Love [by a young lady who drowned herself]" ("Young lovers all I pray draw near").
Also collected and sung by David Hammond, "I Wish I Was a Maid Again" (on David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland," Tradition TCD1052 CD (1997) reissue of Tradition LP TLP 1028 (1959)) - BS
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Tavern in the Town

DESCRIPTION: Singer laments her lover, who courted her ardently but now goes to a tavern and courts others while leaving her pining. She hopefully anticipates dying and being buried.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1883 (sheet music published by Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. of New York)
KEYWORDS: loneliness courting infidelity rejection abandonment
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,South,West),(Scotland(Aber)) US Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (21 citations):
Sharp-100E 94, "A Brisk Young Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leather, pp. 205-206, "A Brisk Young Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 497, "There Is a Tavern in the Town"; Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 424, "When I Wore My Apron Low" (2 texts)
Belden, pp. 478-480, "The Blue-Eyed Boy" (4 texts, though "D" is a fragment, probably of "Tavern in the Town" or "The Butcher Boy" or some such)
BrownIII 259, "I'll Hang My Harp on a Willow Tree" (2 fragments, named for that key line from "Tavern in the Town" which occurs in both fragments, but the "A" text is mostly "Pretty Little Foot")
GreigDuncan6 1169, "Died for Love" (11 texts, 8 tunes); 1171, "There Is a Tavern in the Town" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
SHenry H683, p. 393, "The Apron of Flowers" (1 text, 1 tune -- apparently a collection of floating verses including one that goes here)
Reeves-Sharp 20, "A Brisk Young Lover" (5 texts)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 210-213, "There Is a Tavern in the Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 84-85, "There Is a Tavern in the Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 180, "There Is A Tavern In The Town" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 572-573, "There Is a Tavern in the Town"
LPound-ABS, 23, p. 62, "There Is a Tavern in the Town" (1 text; the "A" text is "The Butcher Boy")
Peacock, pp. 705-706, "She Died in Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 140-141, "The Tavern in the Town" (1 text, filed under "The Butcher Boy")
DT, TAVTOWN*
ADDITIONAL: Henry Randall Waite, _College Songs: A Collection of New and Popular Songs of the American Colleges_, new and enlarged edition, Oliver Ditson & Co., 1887, pp. 4-5, "There Is a Tavern in the Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
SEE ALSO:
Lomax-FSNA 229, "Hard, Ain't It Hard" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 185, "Hard, Ain't It Hard" (1 text)
DT, TAVTOWN AINTHARD*
ST ShH94 (Full)
Roud #60
RECORDINGS:
Amy Birch, "Over Yonder's Hill" (on Voice11)
"Pops" Johnny Connors, "There is an Alehouse" (on IRTravellers01)
Geoff Ling, "Died for Love" (on Voice10)
Rudy Vallee, "Tavern in the Town" (Victor 24739, 1934)
Mrs. Thomas Walters, "She Died in Love" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
SEE ALSO:
Almanac Singers, "Hard, Ain't It Hard" (General 5019A, 1941; on Almanac01, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Woody Guthrie, "Hard Ain't It Hard" (Folk Tunes 150, n.d., probably mid-1940s)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(6a/b) View 7 of 8, "There Is A Tavern In The Town," R. March and Co. (London), 1877-1884
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Butcher Boy" [Laws P24] (plot)
cf. "The Sailor Boy (I)" [Laws K12] (lyrics)
cf. "Love Has Brought Me to Despair" [Laws P25]
cf. "I Know My Love" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Oh, Johnny, Johnny" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Rashy Muir" (tune, per GreigDuncan6)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
There Is an Alehouse in Yonder Town
There's a Tavern in the Town
Up The Green Meadow
Adieu, Adieu, Adieu!
NOTES: The overlap between this song and the "Butcher Boy" cluster is obvious; whether they're the same song is a Talmudic question. -PJS
The 1891 sheet music credits this piece to F. J. Adams. The earliest known printing of "Tavern" (as opposed to the presumably related Cornish miners' song "There is an Alehouse in Yonder Town"), however, does not give the author's name. The printing in the 1887 edition of College Songs lists it as copyright by Wm. H. Hills but lists no author.
Alan Lomax calls "Hard Ain't It Hard" a reworking of this piece, and I'm going along on the principle that it certainly isn't a traditional song (given that it's by Woody Guthrie). I don't think it's that simple, though; the "Hard ain't it hard" chorus clearly derives from "Ever After On." - RBW
Yes, Rudy Vallee recorded it too. And blew the lyrics, I might add [My understanding is that the people around him were trying, with great success, to crack him up - RBW]. But clearly the song remained current in pop culture as well as folk culture. It was also reputed to have been popular among collegiates. - PJS
"Hang my harp on a willow tree" may be taken from Psalms 137.2 [King James] via Thomas Haynes Bayly. Cf. "I'll Hang My Harp on a Willow Tree."
Broadside Bodleian Firth b.28(6a/b) View 7 of 8 ascribes "There Is A Tavern In The Town" to W.H. Hills. - BS
Somewhere in my youth, someone (probably school authorities) forced upon us a game, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Thirty-odd years later, I recalled it for some reason, and realize that the tune is an up-tempo version of this. If the song was inflicted upon other classes than mine, it may be that the song has had some sort of horrid second life. - RBW
Amy Birch's version on Voice11 has a first line "Over yonder's hill there is an old house" but continues to be enough like "Tavern in the Town" that I put it here rather than Laws P25 or any of the other songs in this cluster.
GreigDuncan6 [on #1169]: "Noted by George F. Duncan from mother's singing in 1875."
The Reeves-Sharp "complete" text is a composite of eight English texts: "The composite text I have printed contains seventeen stanzas, and omits none of the elements in Sharp's twelve English versions. Full as this composite text is, however, it does not contain all the elements noted by other collectors, nor would it be possible to make a satisfactory synthesis which includes *every* element." The result is a collection of floating verses that includes the usual "Tavern in the Town" verses.
The count of texts for Reeves-Sharp includes four fragments from other collections. - BS

--------------------------

Beam of Oak (Rambling Boy, Oh Willie)

DESCRIPTION: A farmer's daughter loves a servant man. Her father has him sent to sea. He is killed in battle. His ghost visits the father. The daughter hears about it. She hangs herself. Father finds her hanging. Her note blames the father, who goes mad
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (Lomax, Cowboy Songs)
KEYWORDS: battle navy death suicide father lover ghost
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Leach-Labrador 15, "Beam of Oak" (1 text, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 173-174, "I Am A Rambling Rowdy Boy" (1 text, short enough that it might be a "Butcher Boy" version, but the first verse tentatively puts it here)
Warner 86, "A Rude and Rambling Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Owens-2ed, pp. 61-62, "Oh, Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 81, "The Butcher Boy" (6 texts plus 5 excerpts and mention of 3 others; although most are clearly Laws P24, Renwick believes the "M" text is "Beam of Oak (Rambling Boy, Oh Willie)")
Darling-NAS, pp. 106-107, "The Rambling Boy" (1 text) {filed here based on the title}
ADDITIONAL: Renwick: Roger deV. Renwick, _Recentering Anglo/American Folksong: Sea Crabs and Wicked Youths_, University Press of Mississippi, 2001, pp. 94-95, "Rambling Boy" (1 text, from Lomax's _Cowboy Songs_); also, on pp. 108-109, a broadside, "The Rambling Boy," from Pitts, which he considers to have influenced the song; p. 113, "(William, William, I Love You Well")" (1 text, of another related text)
ST LLab015 (Partial)
Roud #18830
BROADSIDES:
cf. Bodleian, Harding B 25(1597), "The Rambling Boy" ("I an a wild and rambling boy"), J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819 [barely legible]; also Harding B 11(4216), "The Rambling Boy," T. Birt, London, 1833-1841 [This is the related broadside cited by Renwick, not the true "Beam of Oak/Oh Willie" song]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Butcher Boy" [Laws P24] (theme)
cf. "The Isle of Cloy" (Roud #23272) (location in the "Isle of Cloy," mentioned in the Bodleian "Rambling Boy" broadsides)
NOTES: This is not "The Butcher Boy" [Laws P24] in spite of the suicide by hanging, the father finding the body and the suicide note. Consider the differences: the lover is faithful, the father causes the separation, the lover is killed and his ghost returns, and the suicide note blames the father. - BS
Roud used to lump this with "Love Has Brought Me to Despair" [Laws P25], but this is a much more detailed song than that. At most, it might be the inspiration, but even that seems forced. The feeling seems very different -- more like "The Suffolk Miracle" than "The Butcher Boy." In more recent editions, Roud has moved it to #18830, a much more obscure song although related to "The Butcher Boy." It may be that he did this on the basis of Roger deV. Renwick, Recentering Anglo/American Folksong: Sea Crabs and Wicked Youths, University Press of Mississippi, 2001. Renwick, pp. 92-115 is an essay, "'Oh, Willie': An Unrecognized Anglo-American Ballad," which makes a case for this song's independence. Roud's list of versions doesn't correspond precisely with van Renwick's. And the suicide at the end means that fragmentary versions can hardly be classified; readers should surely check both.
Renwick considers the family to include not just this song and "The Butcher Boy" but also "Love Has Brought Me to Despair," plus lyric pieces he calls "Deep in Love" and "Died for Love," which are almost beyond classification; "Waly Waly" is probably one of them.
The description of this version is based mostly on Leach. Renwick, pp. 100-101, notes the usual differences between this song and "The Butcher Boy": This is told from the man's point of view, it usually opens with him describing himself as some sort of rambler, and it continues with the man's fate after the girl's suicide. Also, the father threatens Willie, and the mother generally does not make an appearance in this song. He also says on p. 107 that it oftan the woman, not the man, who was unfaithful. In broad summary, Renwick calls this a song of Family Opposition to Lovers, whereas "The Butcher Boy" is a song about an unfaithful lover. Thus, in theme, the two are quite different; it is the suicide that pulls them together.- RBW

-----------

Died for Love - I [Laws P25/Sh 273]

    Rt - Butcher/Butcher's Boy ; Foolish Young Girl ; I Wish I Was a Maid Again ; There Is a Tavern in the Town ; Down in Adairsville

    Uf - Love Has Brought Me to Despair

    Cameron, Isla. World Library of Folk and Primitive Music. Vol 1. England, Rounder 1741, CD (1998), trk# 21 [1951]
    Collins, Shirley. False True Lovers, Folkways FG 3564, LP (1959), trk# B.10
    Heywood, Heather. Some Kind of Love, Greentrax 010, CD (1994/1987), trk# 9 (Wid Ye Gang Love)
    Ling Family. Ling Family. Singing Traditions of a Suffolk Family, Topic 12TS 292, LP (1977), trk# A.04
    Lloyd, A. L. (Bert). Street Songs of England, Washington VM/WLP 737, LP (1960s), trk# 12
    Roberts, Robin. Fair and Tender Ladies, Tradition TLP 1033, LP (1959), trk# B.03
    Smith, Jasper. Hidden English. A Celebration of English Traditional Music, Topic TSCD 600, CD (200?), trk# 12 [1975-76]

Died for Love - II [Laws M 1/Sh 125/Me I-A27]

    Uf - Early, Early in the Spring/Morning
-------------

Down in Adairsville [Laws P24]

    Rt - Died for Love - I

    West, Hedy. Ballads, Topic 12T 163, LP (1967), trk# A.05
--------------
The Butcher/Butcher's Boy [Laws P24/Sh 101/Me I-A43]

    Rt - There Is a Tavern in the Town ; Died for Love - I ; Wild Goose Grasses (Tarrytown) ; Squire's Daughter ; There Is an Alehouse (in Yonder/the Town) ; Brisk Young Lover ; In Tarrytown ; London City Where I Did Dwell ; Betsy, My Darling Girl ; Go Dig My Grave ; Bring Back My Blue/Brown Eyed Boy

    At - In Jessie/Jersey City ; In Sheffield Park

    Rm - Rake and Rambling Boy

    Mf - Ladies Auxiliary ; Clean-O ; My Goddess Woman

    Laws, G. Malcolm / American Balladry from British Broadsides, Amer. Folklore Soc., Bk (1957), p260
    Dunson, Josh; & Ethel Raim (eds) / Anthology of American Folk Music, Oak, Sof (1973), p 28
    Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p110 [1920s]
    Shay, Frank (ed.) / My Pious Friends and Drunken Companions and More ..., Dover, Sof (1961/1927), p 12
    Kennedy, Charles O'Brien (ed.) / Treasury of American Ballads; Gay, Naug, McBride, Bk (1954), p368 (Jersey City Maiden)
    Spaeth, Sigmund G. / Weep Some More My Lady, Doubleday, Bk (1927), p128 (In Jessie/Jersey City)
    Leisy, James F. (ed.) / Folk Song Abecedary, Bonanza, Bk (1966), p 47
    Seeger, Pete; with Jo Metcalf Schwartz / Incompleat Folksinger, Simon & Schuster, Bk (1972), p 50
    Silverman, Jerry / How to Play Guitar, Doubleday, Sof (1968), p 83
    Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p737
    Aaron, Tossi. Tossi Sings Folk Songs and Ballads, Prestige International INT 13027, LP (196?), trk# B.05
    Anderson, Bessie. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p226/# 45A [1928/08/28]
    Andersen, Eric. Okun, Milt (ed.) / Something to Sing About, MacMillan, Bk (1968), p211
    Baez, Joan. Joan Baez, Volume 2, Vanguard VSD 2097, LP (1961), trk# 13 (Railroad Boy - I)
    Baez, Joan. Siegmeister, Elie (arr.) / Joan Baez Song Book, Ryerson Music, Sof (1971/1964), p 94 (Railroad Boy - I)
    Baker, Bob; and the Pike County Boys. Mountain Music Bluegrass Syle, Folkways FA 2318, LP (1959), trk# B.10 (Snow Dove)
    Blue Sky Boys. Original and Great: Early Authentic Country Recordings, Camden CAL 797, LP (1964), trk# 6 [1940/02/05]
    Blue Sky Boys. Bluegrass Mountain Music, Camden ADL2 0726, LP (1964), trk# 7 [1940/02/05]
    Boswell, Lillian Gear. Pound, Louise (ed.) / American Ballads and Songs, Scribner, Sof (1972/1922), p 60/# 24A [1914]
    Brady, Mrs. L. B.. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Sof (1990/1950), p335/#179B [1934-39]
    Camacho, Steve. Folk and Other Songs, Cook 1127, LP (1962), trk# B.06
    Cohen, David. How to Play Folk Guitar, Kicking Mule KM 119, LP (1976), trk# A.02
    Conway, Pat. Conway, Pat / Soodlum's Irish Tin Whistle Tutor. Vol. 2, Soodlum, Sof (1980), p19
    Corbin, Lillian. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p287b [1930]
    Cox, John Harrington. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p530/#145 [1920ca]
    Devlin, Jennie Hess. Newman, Katharine D. / Never Without a Song, U. Illinois, Sof (1995), p141 [1937ca]
    Edwards, Jay. Edwards, Jay; and Robert Kelley / Coffee House Songbook, Oak, Sof (1966), P 59
    Freeman, Mrs. Arlie. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p230/# 45H [1942/01/04]
    Goon, Jane. Tolman, Albert H. / Some Songs Traditional in the United States, Amer. Folklore Soc. JAF, Bk (1916), p169 [1910ca]
    Haddix, Nellie. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p430/#145A [1917]
    Hains, Ruth. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p228/# 45C [1928/01/16]
    Hanna, Bettina. Thompson, Harold W.(ed.) / Body, Boots & Britches, Dover, Bk (1962/1939), p387 [1930s] (In Jessie/Jersey City)
    Harrington, Mrs. Ralph. Flanders, Helen H. & George Brown / Vermont Folk Songs and Ballads, Folklore Associates, Bk (1968/1931), p115 [1930/09/15]
    Hartley, Edward. Creighton, Helen / Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia, Dover, sof (1996/1933), p 33/# 16 [1927-32]
    Hicks, Buna. Warner, Anne & Frank / Traditional American Folk Songs, Syracuse Univ. Press, Bk (1984), p218/# 86 [1941] (Rude and Rambling Boy)
    Hinton, Sam. Wandering Folk Song, Folkways FA 2401, LP (1967), trk# 1
    Hornbeak, Mrs. J. F.. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Sof (1990/1950), p334/#179A [1934-39] (Railroad Boy - I)
    Hubbard, Salley A.. Hubbard, Lester A. / Ballads and Songs from Utah, Univ. of Utah, Bk (1961), p 65/# 29 [1947/01/04]
    Johnson, Ora. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p283,432 [1930]
    Justis, Violet Savory. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p227/# 45B [1928/07/01]
    Kazee, Buell. Anthology of American Folk Music, Smithsonian/Folkways SFW 40090, CD( (1997), trk# 6 [1928/01/16]
    Kazee, Buell. Rosenbaum, Art (ed.) / Old-Time Mountain Banjo, Oak, sof (1968), p44
    Kazee, Buell. Buell Kazee Sings and Plays, Folkways FS 3810, LP (196?/1956), trk# A.02
    Kazee, Buell. Mountain Frolic. Rare Old Timey Classics; 1924-37, JSP 77100, CD (2007), trk# B.14 [1928/01/16] (Railroad Boy - I)
    Kelley, Ada F.. Linscott, Eloise Hubbard (ed.) / Folk Songs of Old New England, Dover, Bk (1993/1939), p179 [1920-30s]
    Landon and Lundy. Remember I Love You, Old Homestead OHS 90173, LP (1985), trk# A.04 (Railroad Boy - I)
    Lilly Brothers. Country Songs, Rounder SS -02, LP (197?/1962), trk# 5
    Lipscomb, Leona DuBois. Wolfe, Charles K.(ed.) / Folk Songs of Middle Tennessee. George Boswell, Univ. Tennesse, Sof (1997), p 40/# 21 [1953/11/21]
    Lovingood, Charity. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p288 [1930ca] (Girl Died for Love)
    Mabus, Joel. Flatpick and Clawhammer, Fossil 793CD, CD (1993/1991), trk# 5 ()
    Makem, Tommy. Songs of Tommy Makem, Tradition TLP 1044, LP (1961), trk# A.02
    Martin, Bessie. Gardner, Emelyn E. & Geraldine Chickering / Ballads and Songs of Souther, Folklore Associates, Bk (1967/1939), p117/# 37A [1930]
    McCarty, Gladys. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p230/# 45F [1941/12/13]
    McCord, May Kennedy. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p 68 [1939]
    McCurdy, Ed. Ballad Record, Riverside RLP 12-601, LP (1955), trk# B.03
    McCurry, Grace. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p287a [1930] (In Johnson City)
    Miller, Mrs. Peter. Gardner, Emelyn E. & Geraldine Chickering / Ballads and Songs of Souther, Folklore Associates, Bk (1967/1939), p118/# 37B [1931]
    Moonlighters. Moonlighters Sing Irish Folk Hits, Shamrock HARP 2, LP (1968), trk# A.06
    Musick, Bessie. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p284 [1930]
    New Lost City Ramblers. Cohen, John, Mike Seeger & Hally Wood / Old Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1976/1964), p 60 (Snow Dove)
    O'Bryant, Joan. Folksongs and Ballads of Kansas, Folkways FA 2134, LP (1957), trk# A.02
    Pitt, Everett. Up Agin the Mountain, Marimac 9200, Cas (1987/1944), trk# 15 [1949/06/28]
    Presley, Mary N.. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p285,432 [1930] (Jersey City)
    Proffitt, Frank. Frank Proffitt of Reese, North Carolina, Folk Legacy FSA 001, Cas (1962), trk# A.03 (Morning Fair)
    Rabidue, William. Gardner, Emelyn E. & Geraldine Chickering / Ballads and Songs of Souther, Folklore Associates, Bk (1967/1939), p119/# 37C [1935]
    Ransom, Virginia. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p431/#145B [1917]
    Rayburn, Otto Ernest. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p228/# 45D [1932/09/16]
    Reed, Bud and David. Music of Kentucky; 3rd Annual Brandywine ... Convention, 1976, Heritage (Galax) 018, LP (1977), trk# A.05
    Reed, Ola Belle; and Family. Ola Belle Reed & Family, Rounder 0077, LP (1977), trk# B.05
    Riddle, Almeda. Ballads and Hymns from the Ozarks, Rounder 0017, LP (1972), trk# 10
    Robertson, Jeannie. Songs of a Scots Tinker Lady, Riverside RLP 12-633, LP (1956), trk# A.03
    Rogers, Grant. Songmaker of the Catskills, Folk Legacy FSA 027, LP (1965), trk# 20
    Schwartz, Hank. Room at the Top, JHU, LP (197?), trk# B.05
    Seeger, Peggy. Sing Out Reprints, Sing Out, Sof, 6, p35 (1964)
    Seeger, Peggy. Asch, Moses (ed.) / 124 Folk Songs as Sung and Recorded on Folkways Reco, Robbins, fol (1965), p 34
    Seeger, Peggy. Seeger, Peggy / Folk Songs of Peggy Seeger, Oak, Sof (1964), p12
    Short, Lillian. Emrich, Duncan / Folklore on the American Land, Little, Brown, sof (1972), p526 [1941]
    Short, Lillian. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p229/# 45E [1941/09/11]
    Smith, Betty. Continuing Tradition. Volume 1: Ballads. A Folk Legacy Sampler, Folk Legacy FSI 075, LP (1981), trk# B.01
    Truelove, Alice. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p282b,431 [1930ca]
    Ungar, Jay; and Lynn Hardy. Songs, Ballads and Fiddle Tunes, Philo 1023, LP (1975), trk# 14 (Snow Dove)
    Vass, J. Ralph. Shellans, Herbert (ed.) / Folk Songs of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Oak, Sof (1968), p28 [1959/03/27] (Farmer's Boy - II)
    Wallace, Robert. Arnold, Byron, and Halli, Robert W.(ed.) / An Alabama Songbook, U. Alabama, Bk (2004), p 29 [1948/06/18] (Johnson City)
    Wasson, Mrs. J. C.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p230/# 45G [1941/12/22]
    White, Enos. Kennedy, Peter (ed.) / Folksongs of Britain and Ireland, Oak, Sof (1984/1975), #160, p360 [1955] (In Sheffield Park)
--------------

There Is a Tavern in the Town [Laws P24] - Hills, William H.

    Rt - Butcher/Butcher's Boy ; Grieve, Oh Grieve ; Alehouse ; Foolish Young Girl ; Died for Love - I ; I Know My Love ; Hard, Ain't It Hard ; Butcher/Butcher's Boy

    Pound, Louise (ed.) / American Ballads and Songs, Scribner, Sof (1972/1922), p 62/# 24B [1916]
    Spaeth, Sigmund / Read 'Em and Weep, Arco, Sof (1959/1926), p 84
    Snyder, Jerry (arr.) / Golden Guitar Folk Sing Book, Hansen, fol (1972), p114
    Leisy, James / Songs for Pickin' and Singin', Gold Medal Books, sof (1962), p120
    Lynn, Frank (ed.) / Songs for Swingin' Housemothers, Fearon, Sof (1963/1961), p201
    Best, Dick & Beth (eds.) / New Song Fest Deluxe, Hansen, Sof (1971/1948), p 37
    Kennedy, Charles O'Brien (ed.) / American Ballads - Naughty, Ribald and, Premier Book, sof (1956/1952), p 84
    Kennedy, Charles O'Brien (ed.) / Treasury of American Ballads; Gay, Naug, McBride, Bk (1954), p277
    Blood, Peter; and Annie Patterson (eds.) / Rise Up Singing, Sing Out, Sof (1992/1989), p 90
    Hughes, Thomas J.(ed.) / Fireside Memories of 1909 - 1939, Shapiro-Bernstein, Fol (1939), p56 [1936] (Drunkard Song)
    Lorenz, Ellen J.(ed.) / Men's Get-Together Songs, Lorenz, fol (1938), p 44/# 58
    Jackson, Richard (ed.) / Popular Songs of Nineteenth Century America, Dover, Sof (1976), p210 [1891]
    Frey, Hugo(ed.) / Bill Hardey's Songs of the Gay Nineties, Robbins, Fol (1942/1938), p66 (Fare Thee Well, for I Must leave Thee)
    Herder, Ronald (ed.) / 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics, Dover, Sof (1998), p342
    Bill Hardey's Songs of the Good Old Days, Robbins, Fol (1946), p20
    Agay, Denes / Best Loved Songs of the American People, Doubleday, fol (1975), p180
    Silverman, Jerry / How to Play Guitar, Doubleday, Sof (1968), p 91
    Baglole, Sidney. Fiddlers of Western Prince Edwards Island, Rounder 7014, CD (1997), trk# 30 (Tavern in the Town)
    Geddes, Ralph. Shay, Frank (ed.) / My Pious Friends and Drunken Companions and More ..., Dover, Sof (1961/1927), p 62
    Gotch, Lee;'s Ivy Barflies. To the Tables Down at Mory's, Somerset SF 7600, LP (1956ca), trk# B.01 (There's a Tavern in the Town)
    Hinton, Sam. Wandering Folk Song, Folkways FA 2401, LP (1967), trk# 2 (Tavern in the Town)
    Singer, Joey; and the Fraternity Chorus. Required Singing, Epic LN 3282, LP (1959), trk# B.01c
    Six Fat Dutchmen. 25 Polka Greats. Vol 1, K-Tel NC420, LP (1971), trk# 12
    Swift Current Old Time Fiddlers. Lasting Memories, Swift C SC 8104, LP (1981), trk# A.09
    Vickers, Mrs. Emma. Hamer, Fred (ed.) / Garners Gay. English Folk Songs Collected by ..., EFDS, Sof (1967), p61 [1950s?]
------------

A Foolish Young Girl

    Rt - Died for Love - I ; There Is a Tavern in the Town ; Water Is Wide ; I Wish, I Wish ; Careless Love

    At - Rashy Moor ; What a Voice

    Buchan, Norman (ed.) / 101 Scottish Songs, Collins, poc (1962), p115 (Rashy Moor)
    Fisher, Archie. Will Ye Gang, Love, Green Linnet CSIF 3076, Cas (1993/1976), trk# A.05 (Will Ye Gang Love)
    McMorland, Alison. Belt wi' Colours Three. Scots Songs and Ballads, Tangent TGS 125, LP (1977), trk# B.02
    Robbir, Andrew. Buchan, Norman (ed.) / 101 Scottish Songs, Collins, poc (1962), p 61 (Will Ye Gang Love)
    Robertson, Jeannie. Songs of a Scots Tinker Lady, Riverside RLP 12-633, LP (1956), trk# B.06 (What a Voice)

------------------

Rake and Rambling Boy [Laws L12/Me I-A25]

    Rt - Rambling Boy (trad.) ; I Am a Poor and a Ramblin' Boy ; Newlyn Town ; Flash Lad

    Rm - Butcher/Butcher's Boy

    Silverman, Jerry / Folk Guitar - Folk Song, Scarborough Book, Sof (1983/1977), p136
    Baez, Joan. Joan Baez, Vanguard VRS 9078, CD/ (1960), trk# 9
    Baez, Joan. Siegmeister, Elie (arr.) / Joan Baez Song Book, Ryerson Music, Sof (1971/1964), p 84
    Blake, Norman. Directions, Takoma D 1064, LP (1978), trk# 10 (Rake and a Rambling Blade)
    Brown, Fleming. Fleming Brown, Folk Legacy FSI 004, LP (1962), trk# 1 (Reek and Rambling Blade)
    Brown, Fleming. Folk Music of the Newport Folk Festival 1959-60. Vol 2, Folkways FA 2432, LP (1961), trk# B.01 (Rake and a Rambling Boy)
    Carolina Tar Heels. Carolina Tar Heels, Old Homestead OHCS 113, LP (1978), trk# 11 [1929/04/03] (Rude and Rambling Man)
    Carolina Tar Heels. Mountain Frolic. Rare Old Timey Classics; 1924-37, JSP 77100, CD (2007), trk# D.17 [1929/04/03] (Rude and Rambling Man)
    Clapp, June. Buttermilk Hill, Butterfly CP 1992, Cas (1992), trk# B.06 (Rake and a Rambling Boy)
    Dusenberry, Emma L.. Lomax, John A. & Alan Lomax / Our Singing Country, Dover, Sof (2000/1941), p314 [1936] (Reek and the Rambling Blade)
    Elliott, Jack; and Derroll Adams. Roll On Buddy, Topic 12T 105, LP (1964/1957), trk# 1 (Rich and Rambling Boy/Boys)
    Elliott, Jack; and Derroll Adams. Raim, Ethel and Josh Duncan (eds.) / Grass Roots Harmony, Oak, Sof (1968), p60 (Rich and a Rambling Boy)
    Elliott, Jack; and Derroll Adams. Sing Out Reprints, Sing Out, Sof, 11, p61 (1969) (Rich and Rambling Boy/Boys)
    Forbes, Walter. Ballads and Bluegrass, RCA (Victor) LPM 2472, LP (1962), trk# 12 (Rake and a Rambling Boy)
    Hash, Albert; and the Whitetop Mountain Band. Albert Hash and the Whitetop Mountain Band, Heritage (Galax) 025, LP (1979), trk# 7
    Hotmud Family. Till We Meet Here Again, or Above, Vetco LP 501, LP (1974), trk# 13 (Rich and a Rambling Boy)
    Maura & Maria. Songs Made Famous by Joan Baez, Wyncote W 9075, LP (1964), trk# A.05 (Rake a Rambling Boy)
    McMichen-Layne Orchestra. Kickapoo Medicine Show, Rounder 1023, LP( (197?), trk# B.06 [1928/10/26]
    Ramsey, Obray. Obray Ramsey Sings Folksongs from the Three Laurels, Prestige International INT 13020, LP (196?), trk# A.07 (Rich and Rambling Boy/Boys)
    Saletan, Tony and Irene. Tony and Irene Saletan, Folk Legacy FSI 037, LP (1970), trk# A.04
    Stecher, Jody; and Kate Brislin. Stay Awhile, Rounder 0334, CD (1995), trk# 9 (Rude and Rambling Man)
    The Group. 'The Group' Visits Puget Sound, Golden Crest CR 3056, LP (1950c), trk# B.06 (I Am a Rake)
    West, Hedy. Pretty Saro, Topic 12T 146, LP (1966), trk# B.01

--------------------

I Am a Poor and a Ramblin' Boy

    SLoane, W.. Bunting, Edward (ed.) / The Ancient Music of Ireland, Dover, Sof (2000/1840), # 96/p 71 [1799]

---------------------------

I Am a Rover (and That's Well Known) [Me I-B 95]

    Rt - I Wish, I Wish

    Dibble, Robert. Reeves, James (ed.) / Idiom of the People, Norton, Sof (1958), p185/# 83 [1905] (Rover)
    Holgate, Benjamin. Kidson, Frank (ed.) / Traditional Tunes. A Collection of Ballad Airs, S.R. Publishers, Bk (1970/1891), p147 [1880s]
    Lolley, Charles. Kidson, Frank (ed.) / Traditional Tunes. A Collection of Ballad Airs, S.R. Publishers, Bk (1970/1891), p148 [1880s]
    McBride, Owen. Owen McBride, Philo 1005, LP (1973), trk# 7
-------------

I Am a Wild Young Irish Boy [Laws L19]

    Laws, G. Malcolm / American Balladry from British Broadsides, Amer. Folklore Soc., Bk (1957), p177
    Tayluer, Patrick (Capt.). Doerflinger, William. M. / Shantymen and Shantyboys: Songs of the Sai..., MacMillan, Bk (1951), p270 [1942ca]
-------------

I Am a Poor and a Ramblin' Boy

    Rt - Rake and Rambling Boy

    Journeymen. Coming Attraction - Live, Capitol ST 1770, LP (196?), trk# A.01
----------------

Newlyn Town [Laws L12]

    Rt - Rake and Rambling Boy

    At - In Newry Town

    Nicholson, Roger. Nonesuch for Dulcimer, Leader/Trailer LER-3 034, LP (1972), trk# A.05
    Nicholson, Roger. Nicholson, Roger / Nonesuch for Dulcimer, Scratchwood Music, Sof (1972), p22
    Presnell, Lee Monroe ("Uncle Monroe"). Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, NC, Vol II, Folk Legacy FSA 023, LP (1965), trk# 14 [1961/10ca] (In Dublin City)
    Rogers, D. John. Hubbard, Lester A. / Ballads and Songs from Utah, Univ. of Utah, Bk (1961), p262/#140 [1949/08/17] (In Steven's Green)
    Scarce, Bob. Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 7. Fair Game and Fowl, Caedmon TC 1163, LP (1962), trk# B.10 [1957/09]
    Scarce, Bob. Kennedy, Peter (ed.) / Folksongs of Britain and Ireland, Oak, Sof (1984/1975), #326, p712 [1955]
    Seeger, Peggy. Folk Songs with the Seegers, Prestige PR 7375, LP (1965), trk# 8
    Seeger, Peggy. Three Sisters, Prestige International 13029, LP (1960s), trk# A.05
    Seeger, Peggy. Seeger, Peggy / Folk Songs of Peggy Seeger, Oak, Sof (1964), p58
    Seeger, Peggy. Bring Me Home, Appleseed APR-CD 1106, CD (2008), 7
    Wright, John; and Catherine Perrier. John Wright and Catherine Perrier, Green Linnet SIF 1011, LP (1978), trk# A.03

-------------

The Flash Lad [Laws L12]

    Rt - Rake and Rambling Boy

    Lloyd, A. L. / Folk Song in England, International, sof (1967), p217 [1905ca] (Robber - I)
    Fairport Convention. Bonny Bunch of Roses, Vertigo 512988, CD (1992), trk# 3 [1977] (Adieu, Adieu)
    Watersons. For Pence and Spicy Ale, Antilles AN 7020, LP (1975), trk# 6 (Adieu, Adieu)

-------------

Died for Love - II [Laws M 1/Sh 125/Me I-A27]

Early, Early, All in the Spring [Laws M 1/Sh 125/Me I-A27]

    Us - Early, Early in the Spring/Morning

Early, Early in the Spring/Morning [Laws M 1/Sh 125/Me I-A27]

    Rt - Midnight on the Stormy Deep/Sea ; Trail to Mexico

    At - Died for Love - II ; Sailor Deceived ; Early in the Spring ; Early, Early, All in the Spring

    Rm - Cassville Prisoner

    Laws, G. Malcolm / American Balladry from British Broadsides, Amer. Folklore Soc., Bk (1957), p180
    Palmer, Roy (ed.) / Oxford Book of Sea Songs, Oxford, Bk (1986), p 93/# 39 [1869] (Disapointed Sailor)
    Fife, Austin E. & Alta S. / Cowboy and Western Songs, Bramhall House, Bk (1982/1969), p180/# 66C-D
    Ball, Noah. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p330,444 [1930]
    Beers, Evelyne Anderson. Gentle Art, Prestige International INT 13053, LP (196?), trk# A.02 (So Early (Early) in the Spring)
    Bostwick, Ed. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p328 [1930]
    Bostwick, G. W.. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p329,444 [1930]
    Bradley, Eunice B.. Wolfe, Charles K.(ed.) / Folk Songs of Middle Tennessee. George Boswell, Univ. Tennesse, Sof (1997), p 67/# 38 [1950/01/02]
    Coffey, Fanny. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p154/# 125E [1918/05/08]
    Collins, Judy. Folksong '65, Elektra S 8, LP (1965), trk# 2 (So Early (Early) in the Spring)
    Collins, Judy. Fifth Album, Elektra EKS-7 300, LP (1965), trk# A.03 (So Early (Early) in the Spring)
    Dobson, Bonnie. For the Love of Him, Mercury SR 60987, LP (1964), trk# B.05 (So Early (Early) in the Spring)
    Essick, Nellie May. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p335/# 81B [1934/04/20]
    Fortney, Belle. Cox, John Harrington(ed.) / Traditional Ballads Mainly from West Virgini, WPA, Bk (1939), 18 [1914] (Twas Early in the Spring)
    Gentry, Jane Hicks. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p153/# 125D [1916/09/14]
    Gentry, Jane Hicks. Smith, Betty N. / Jane Hicks Gentry. A Singer Among Singers, U. Ky, Sof (1998), p178/#38 [1916/09/14]
    Greer, Tina. Doc Watson Family Tradition, Rounder 0129, CD (2005/1977), trk# 17 [1965/05]
    Hammond, David. I Am the Wee Falorie Man. Folk Songs of Ireland, Tradition TLP 1028, LP (1959), trk# B.07
    Hammond, David. Belfast Street Songs, Request RLP 8059, LP (196?), trk# B.04
    Hammontree, Doney. McNeil, W. K. (ed.) / Southern Folk Ballads, Vol 1, August House, Sof (1987), p144 [1951/03/11] (Disapointed Lover - I)
    Hembree, Wiley. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p337/# 81E [1941/12/12]
    Henigan, Julie. American Stranger, Waterbug WBG 0035, CD (1997), trk# 2 (Cowboy's Girl)
    Henson, Jim. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p333/# 81A [1928/11/23]
    House, Hester. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p152/# 125B [1916/09/14]
    Hunt, Mrs. E. A.. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p359/#111B [1916/01/12] (Early in the Spring)
    Ingenthron, Charles. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p336/# 81D [1941/09/04]
    Kinnaird, Cinderella. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p335/# 81C [1937/04/07]
    Norton, Dellie. High Atmosphere, Rounder 0028, LP (1974), trk# 15 [1965/11]
    Penner, Elizabeth. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p334/# 81B [1922/09/03] (Where the Bullets Fly)
    Pentangle. Sweet Child, Reprise 8002, LP (1969), trk# 11 (So Early (Early) in the Spring)
    Postum, Mrs. James. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p207/# 94 [1930s] (Early in One Spring)
    Rice, David. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), P335/# 81B [1934/04/18]
    Seeger, Mike. True Vine, Smithsonian/Folkways SFW 40136, CD (2003), trk# 14 (Early in the Spring)
    Seeger, Peggy. Folksongs and Ballads, Riverside RLP 12-655, LP (1959), trk# 10 (So Early (Early) in the Spring)
    Seeger, Peggy. Seeger, Peggy / Five String Banjo American Folk Styles, Hargail, sof (1960), p47/#20
    Seeger, Peggy. Seeger, Peggy / Folk Songs of Peggy Seeger, Oak, Sof (1964), p25
    Shelton, W. Riley. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p153/# 125C [1916/08/29]
    Snider, Mrs. Charles. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p360/#111C [1915] (Early in the Spring)
    Stanley, Peter; and Judy Weston. Greenland No More, Talkeetna 25002, CD (1999), trk# 6 [1960] (So Early (Early) in the Spring)
    Toney, Decker. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p358/#111A [1916/01/20] (Early in the Spring)
    Wallin, Mitchell. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p151/# 125A [1916/08/04]

Early in One Spring [Laws M 1/Sh 125]

    Us - Early, Early in the Spring/Morning
\-------------

I Wish I Was a Maid Again [Sh 273]

    Rt - Died for Love - I

    Hammond, David. I Am the Wee Falorie Man. Folk Songs of Ireland, Tradition TLP 1028, LP (1959), trk# B.05
    Hammond, David. Hammond, David (ed.) / Songs of Belfast, Mercier, poc (1986/1978), p56
-------------

I Wish, I Wish

    Rt - Water Is Wide ; I Am a Rover (and That's Well Known) ; Foolish Young Girl

    Costello, Cecilia. Williams, R. Vaughan; & A. L. Lloyd (eds.) / Penguin Book of English Fol, Penguin, Sof (1959), p 53 [1951]
    Kennedy, Norman. Ballads and Songs of Scotland, Folk Legacy FSS 034, LP (1968), trk# 3 (Student Boy Cam' Courting Me)
    Langstaff, John. Langstaff, John / Lark in the Morn, Revels CD 2004, CD (2004), trk# 3 [1949-56] (I Wish I Was a Child Again)
    Provance, F. P. (Fillmore Peter). Korson, George (ed.) / Pennsylvania Songs and Legends, Univ. of Penna., Bk (1949), p 48 [1943] (I Wish in Vain)
    Robertson, Jeannie. Queen Among the Heather, Rounder 1720, CD (1998), trk# 2 [1953/11] (When My Apron Hung Low)
    Sowder, Jake. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p383/# 273 [1918/08/17] (I Wish I Was a Child Again)

----------

I Wish My Baby Was Born

    Rt - Every Night When the Sun Goes Down/In

    Chandler, Dillard. High Atmosphere, Rounder 0028, LP (1974), trk# 18 [1965/11]
    Chandler, Dillard. Dark Holler; Old Love Songs and Ballads, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40159, CD/ (2005), trk# 1.26 [1965]

-------------

Every Night When the Sun Goes Down/In [Sh 189]

    Rt - I Wish My Baby Was Born ; Careless Love

    Lomax, J. A. & A. Lomax / American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p149
    Leisy, James / Songs for Pickin' and Singin', Gold Medal Books, sof (1962), p127
    Silverman, Jerry (ed.) / Folksingers Guitar Guide, Advanced, Oak, Sof (1964), p82
    Lloyd, A. L. & Isabel Arete de Ramon y Rivera (eds.) / Folk Songs of the, Oak, Sof (1966), # 39
    Winds of the People, Sing Out, Sof (1982), p 43
    Sing Out Reprints, Sing Out, Sof, 2, p21 (1960)
    Gearhart, Livingston (ed.) / Gentlemen Songsters, Shawnee, sof (1959), p64 (Ev'ry Night When the Sun Goes In)
    Blood, Peter; and Annie Patterson (eds.) / Rise Up Singing, Sing Out, Sof (1992/1989), p100
    Lift Every Voice. The Second People's Song Book, Sing Out, Fol (1953), p74
    Boni, Margaret Bradford (ed.) / Fireside Book of Folk Songs, Simon & Schuster, Bk (1947), p120
    Silverman, Jerry / Folksingers Guide to Note Reading and Music Theory, Oak, Sof (1966), p57
    Leisy, James F. (ed.) / Folk Song Abecedary, Bonanza, Bk (1966), p 96
    Sing Together. A Girl Scout Songbook, Girl Scouts 3rd ed., Sof (1973), p 92
    Abe and Malka. Mandelblatt, Abe & Malka A. / 100 Guitar Accompanyments, Amsco, Sof (1974), p178
    Baez, Joan. Joan Baez in San Francisco, Fantasy 5015, LP (1964), trk# 12 (Every Night)
    Belafonte, Harry. Belafonte, RCA (Victor) LPM 1150, LP (1956), trk# A.03 (Suzanne - I)
    Bugg, June. Hootenanny Folk Festival, Palace 757, LP (1964), trk# B.05
    Gaslight Singers. Gaslight Singers, Mercury SR 60846, LP (1963), trk# B.01 (Every Night)
    Ian and Sylvia. Four Strong Winds, Vanguard VSD 2149, LP (1963), trk# B.06
    Joe & Eddie. Joe & Eddie, GNP Crescendo GNP 75, LP (196?), trk# A.03
    Knight, Elizabeth. Hootenanny Tonight, Folkways FN 2511, LP (1963/1954), trk# B.08
    McCutcheon, John; and Tom Chapin. Doing Our Job, Rounder 0411, CD (1997), trk# 6 (Every Night)
    Mitchell, Effie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p268/# 189 [1918/10/06]
    Mitchell, Effie. Clayre, Alasdair (ed.) / 100 Folk Songs and New Songs, Wolfe, Sof (1968), p115
    Okun, Milt. Folk Music Scene, M. Witmark, Sof (1967), p 82 (Every Night)
    Okun, Milt; and Ellen Stekert. Traditional American Love Songs, Riverside RLP 12-634, LP (1956), trk# 15
    Schwartz, Sunny. Sunny's Gallery of Folk Ballads, Cameo C 1030, LP (1960), trk# A.04 (Every Night)
    Weavers. Gilbert, Ronnie, et.al (ed.) / Weavers' Song Book, Harper & Row, Sof (1960), p110
    Weavers. The Weavers at Home, Vanguard VRS 9024, LP (1958), trk# B.03 (Every Night)
    White, Josh; Jr.. I'm on My Own Way, Mercury MG 21022, LP (1965?), trk# A.05 (Ev'ry Night When the Sun Goes In)

--------------

Love Has Brought Me to Despair [Laws P25]

    Rt - Died for Love - I ; There Is an Alehouse (in Yonder/the Town) ; Carter's Blues

    At - Bold Young Farmer

    Laws, G. Malcolm / American Balladry from British Broadsides, Amer. Folklore Soc., Bk (1957), p261
    Hotmud Family. Live, As We Know It, Flying Fish FF 087, LP (1979), trk# A.02
    Knudsen, Carolyn W.. Hubbard, Lester A. / Ballads and Songs from Utah, Univ. of Utah, Bk (1961), p 63/# 28 [1947/09/02]
    Norton, Dellie. Dark Holler; Old Love Songs and Ballads, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40159, CD/ (2005), trk# 1.06 [1967] (When I Wore My Apron Low)
    Wallin, Berzilla. Dark Holler; Old Love Songs and Ballads, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40159, CD/ (2005), trk# 1.19 [1963]
    Welch, Robert B.. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p427/#144 [1916/07/29]
-------------

In Tarrytown

    Rt - Butcher/Butcher's Boy ; There Is an Alehouse (in Yonder/the Town) ; Brisk Young Sailor (Courted Me)

    Sing Out Reprints, Sing Out, Sof, 2, p44 (1960)
    Seeger, Pete. Sing Out Reprints, Sing Out, Sof, 1, p59 (1959)
    Seeger, Pete. Pete Seeger and Sonny Terry, Folkways FA 2412, LP (1958), trk# B.01b
-----------

The Brisk Young Lad/Lads [OND 142]

    At - Brisk Irish Lad

    Rm - Lannigan's/Lanigans Ball ; Bung Your Eye

    One Thousand Fiddle Tunes, Cole, fol (1940), p 74
    Johnson, James & Robert Burns (eds) / Scots Musical Museum, Amadeus, Bk (1991/1853), #219 [1790]
    Doyle, Tom. O'Neill, Francis and James / Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems, Waltons, Fol (1965/1907), # 142 (Jolly Old Man)
    F & W String Band. F & W String Band, Vol 2, F & W FW 2, LP (197?), trk# 9
    MacColl, Ewan. Scotch/Scots Drinking Songs, Offbeat OLP 4023, LP (196?), trk# 16
    O'Neill, F.. O'Neill, Francis / O'Neill's Music of Ireland, Collins, fol (1964/1903), # 895 (Jolly Old Man)
    Tolman, Newton F.. Tolman, Newton F. / Nelson Music Collection, Tolman, fol (1969), p 1a
    Yankee Ingenuity. Kitchen Junket, Fretless 200A, LP (1977), trk# 2b (There Came a Young Man)

Brisk Young Lover [Laws P24/Sh 101]

    Rt - Butcher/Butcher's Boy

    Boone, Sina. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 78/# 101D [1918/09/28]
    Coffey, Fanny. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 77/# 101C [1918/05/08]
    Gentry, Jane Hicks. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 77/# 101B [1916/08/25]
    Gentry, Jane Hicks. Smith, Betty N. / Jane Hicks Gentry. A Singer Among Singers, U. Ky, Sof (1998), p175/#35 [1916/08/25] (Butcher/Butcher's Boy)
    Moore, Della. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 76/# 101A [1909/05/02]
    Overd, Mrs.. Reeves, James (ed.) / Idiom of the People, Norton, Sof (1958), p 90/# 20 [1904]
-----------------

Brisk Young Ploughing Boy

    Cox, Harry. Lloyd, A. L. / Folk Song in England, International, sof (1967), p226 [1930s]

A Brisk Young Sailor (Courted Me) [Laws P25]

    Rt - In Tarrytown

    Mf - Bold Archer

    Sharp, Cecil J. / One Hundred English Folksongs, Dover, Sof (1975/1916), p220/# 94
    Jones, Bill (Belinda). Turn to Me, Compass 7 4338 2, CD (2002), trk# 6
-----------

The Wild Goose Grasses (Tarrytown) [Laws P24] - Allison, John

    Rt - Butcher/Butcher's Boy ; Careless Love

    Allison, John. Heroes, Heroines and Mishaps, Ficker C 10001, LP (1957), trk# A.06
    Weavers. Gilbert, Ronnie, et.al (ed.) / Weavers' Song Book, Harper & Row, Sof (1960), p102
    Weavers. The Weavers at Home, Vanguard VRS 9024, LP (1958), trk# A.03
--------------

London City Where I Did Dwell [Laws P24]

    Rt - Butcher/Butcher's Boy

    Sandburg, Carl (ed.) / American Songbag, Harcourt, Sof (1955/1928), p324 (London City)
    Sexton, Morgan. Shady Grove, June Appal JA 066C, Cas (1992), trk# 9
    Sexton, Morgan. Rock Dust, June Appal JA 055, LP (1989), trk# 18
--------

Betsy, My Darling Girl

    Rt - Butcher/Butcher's Boy

    Griffin, Mrs. G. A.. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Sof (1990/1950), p136/# 67 [1937/03/18]
-------------

Go Dig My Grave [Laws P24]

    Rt - Butcher/Butcher's Boy

    Ritchie, Jean. Precious Memories, Folkways FA 2427, LP (1962), trk# B.08
    Ritchie, Jean; and Doc Watson. Jean Ritchie and Doc Watson At Folk City, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40005, CD/ (1990/1963), trk# 2 (Railroad Boy - I)

--------------

Bring Back My Blue/Brown Eyed Boy [Me II-E38]

    Rt - Butcher/Butcher's Boy

    Pound, Louise (ed.) / American Ballads and Songs, Scribner, Sof (1972/1922), p212/#102 [1905] (My Blue Eyed Boy)
    Bluegrass Intentions. Old As Dirt, Native & Fine 906-4, CD (2002), trk# 7
    Brayman, Elizabeth. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religous Songs and Others, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p261/#759A [1933/07/05] (My Blue Eyed Boy)
    Carter Family. Carter Family, Vol. 1, Country Music CMH 107, LP (197?), trk# 5 [1929/02/15]
    Clifton, Bill. Carter Family Album, London SLH 101, Cas (1990/1961), trk# 9
    Davis, Karl. Lair, John (ed.) / 100 WLS Barn Dance Favorites, Cole, fol (1935), p15 (Go Bring Me Back My Blue-Eyed Boy)
    Haigood, Mrs. Willie. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p 93 [1939] (My Blue Eyed Boy)
    Hotmud Family. Years in the Making, Vetco LP 513, LP (1978), trk# 12
    Jones, Mrs. W. E.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religous Songs and Others, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p261/#759B [1928/02/14]
    Lilly Brothers. Lilly Brothers: Early Recordings, County 729, LP (1971), trk# 1 [1957]
    McDonald, Reba. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religous Songs and Others, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p262/#759C [1942/01/10]
    Ries, Frances. Sandburg, Carl (ed.) / American Songbag, Harcourt, Sof (1955/1928), p324 (Go Bring Me Back My Blue-Eyed Boy)

------------------------

------------------------------------------

Died for Love
[GIF Score]

(This score available as ABC, SongWright, PostScript, PNG, or PMW, or a MIDI file)
Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

Died for Love

I wish my baby it was born
And smiling on his daddy's knee
And I poor girl was in my grave
With the long green grass a-growing all over me

O grieve, o grieve and I'll tell you why
Because that young girl has more gold than I
He takes this young girl on his knees
And he tells her tales that he won't tell me

I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain
I wish I was a sweet maid again
But a maid again I never shall be
Till apples grow on an orange tree

Dig me my grave long wide and deep
Put a marble stone on my head and feet
And on my breast place a white snow dove
For to let the world know that I died for love

-------------------------------------------------------
recorded by Carthy/Swarbrick on "Prince Heathen" (1969)

"It has been suggested that this is a fragment of a much longer
ballad but it's really immaterial when what you have stands
perfectly well on its own. Taken from the Grainger collection
of Lincolnshire songs, from the singing of Joseph Taylor." MJ

Note: Isla Cameron sang two initial verses:

A poor young farmer courted me
He gained my heart and my liberty
He gained my heart with a free good will
And I must confess that I love him still.

I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain
I wish I was a maid again
But a maid again, that never can be
Since that young farmer lay still with me.

see also Butcher's Boy There is a Tavern in the Town Waly Waly (Jamie Douglas) Water is Wide
tune transcribed by Karen Myers from singing of Isla Cameron
MJ, RG
------------------

--------------------

Died for Love / There Is a Tavern / A Brisk Young Sailor

[ Roud 60 ; Laws P25 ; G/D 6:1169 , 6:1170 ; Ballad Index LP25 , ShH94 ; Full English LEB/2/65/3 ; trad.]

Joseph Taylor sang Died for Love on a wax cylinder recording made by Percy Grainger in 1908; this was published in 1972 on the LP Unto Brigg Fair. It was also sung unaccompanied and with an additional verse by Martin Carthy on his 1969 album with Dave Swarbrick, Prince Heathen. Martin Carthy commented in their record's sleeve notes:

    It has been suggested that this is a fragment of a much longer ballad but this is really immaterial when what you have stands perfectly well on its own. Taken from the Grainger collection of Lincolnshire songs, from the singing of Joseph Taylor.

Isla Cameron's version of Died for Love on the Alan Lomax Collection album of 1955, World Library of Folk and Primitive Music: England, and Martin Carthy's version both have one verse the other is missing and a different verse order.

Emily Sparks sang Died for Love in a recording made in Rattlesden 1958/59 that was included on the Veteran CD Many a Good Horseman: Traditional Music Making from Mid-Suffolk.

Shirley Collins sang Died for Love on her 1960 album False True Lovers. Strangely, she left out the Died for Love stanza. Alan Lomax commented in the album's sleeve notes:

    From Traditional Tunes by Frank Kidson. Died for Love is perhaps the most beautiful of the many variants of the important British folk song, most familiar to us as The Butcher's Boy or There Is a Tavern in the Town, or in Woody Guthrie's Hard, Ain't It Hard. This Northern English variant points to one of the most important differences between British and American love-songs. Typically in the English love song there is an amorous encounter between a young man and the young woman, and though the girl is often betrayed, she expresses in her song a trace of the real pleasure that she experienced. Even more importantly, she has a baby; and, through her melancholy, there lingers note of procreative joy. Very frequently in these songs the boy returns to marry her when he discovers that she is about to bear him a child. American singers were more prudish; they censored out the pregnancy theme; and the betrayed girl was left to brood over the transiency of love and sigh for death to heal her heartbreak.

A recording of Elizabeth Cronin of Macroom, Co. Cork, singing this song as The Alehouse was included on the anthology Sailormen and Servingmaids (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 6; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1970).

Tom Willett sang Died for Love in 1962 at the age of 84 on the Willett Family's album The Roving Journeymen. The album's notes commented:

    This favourite lyrical song has been often collected and is still sung in many parts of the countryside. The flower symbolism is sexual and may be compared with that found in such songs as The Seeds of Love; for instance, ‘rose’ in verse one or Mr Willett's song clearly refers to virginity.

    The country poet John Clare re-made the text of this song into his handsome poem A Faithless Shepherd. A student re-make is There Is a Tavern in the Town.

    The tune used by Mr Willett—one of many tunes attached to this song—is related to the melody used by (perhaps adapted by) the mid-19th century stage comedian Sam Cowell in his burlesque version of the ballad of Lord Lovel. Several of Cowell's tunes gained enormous currency in the towns and villages (e.g. Villikins and His Dinah).

Emma Vickers sang this song as There Is a Tavern in a recording made by Fred Hamer in Autumn 1963. This recording was included in 1989 on the EFDSS cassette The Leaves of Life: The Field Recordings of Fred Hamer and in 1998 on the EFDSS anthology A Century of Song.

A recording of Queen Caroline Hughes singing Died for Love made by Peter Kennedy in her caravan near Blandford, Dorset, on April 19, 1968 was included in 2012 on the Topic anthology of Southern English gypsy traditional singers, I'm a Romany Rai (The Voice of the People Volume 22).

Isla St Clair sang Will Ye Gang Love in 1972 on her Tangent album Isla St Clair Sings Traditional Scottish Songs. Hamish Henderson commented in the album's sleeve notes:

    An enchanting variation of the ubiquitous Died for Love theme. Gavin Greig dubbed this song-family I Wish, I Wish, because of the stanza which almost invariably appears in individual members of the wide-scattered clan. From her mother, who got it from her mother.

Geoff Ling sang Died for Love in a recording made by Keith Summers in 1974-5. This was published in 1977 on the Ling Family's Topic album Singing Traditions of a Suffolk Family. It was also included in 1998 on the Topic anthology Who's That at My Bed Window? (The Voice of the People Volume 10).

Amy Birch sang this song as Up the Green Meadows in a recording made by Sam Richards, Paul Wilson and Tish Stubbs in her trailer at Exebridge, Devon, November 1976. This was published in 1979 on the Topic album Devon Tradition: An Anthology from Traditional Singers. It was also included with the title Over Yonder's Hill in 1998 on the Topic anthology of English and Welsh travellers and gypsies, My Father's the King of the Gypsies (The Voice of the People Volume 11).

Archie Fisher sang Will Ye Gang, Love in 1976 as the title track of his Topic album Will Ye Gang, Love. His album's liner notes commented:

    A beautiful variant of the universal “I Wish I Wish“ theme. Relations of this song appear under many different titles, including The Foolish Young Girl, Died for Love, What a Voice, Rashy Moor and The Water Is Wide.

John Roberts & Tony Barrand sang Died for Love in 1998 on their CD Heartoutbursts: English Folksongs collected by Percy Grainger.

Linda and Susan Adams sang this song as A Brisk Young Sailor on the 2001 Fellside anthology Voices in Harmony. The sleeve notes commented:

    A very widespread song with a number of titles: I Wish I Wish; Died for Love; The Alehouse in the Town. There is a school of thought which believes that this is a fragment of another song. It is worth noting, but loses importance at it makes a good song on its own. This version was collected by Ann Gilchrist from a 70 year old carpenter, Mr James Bayliff of Bardon, Westmorland in 1909. It possesses a fine Dorian Mode tune.

Rachel Unthank & The Winterset recorded this song as I Wish in 2007 for their second CD, The Bairns.

Hannah James and Sam Sweeney recorded Died for Love in 2009 for their first duo CD, Catches & Glees.

Grace Notes sang A Brisk Young Sailor in 2012 on their anniversary album 20. Helen Hockenhull commented in their liner notes:

    I found the song A Brisk Young Sailor in a collection of folk songs compiled by Cecil Sharp entitled One Hundred English Folk Songs. In his notes Sharp explains that there are many variants of this song and he has compiled this version from several texts.

Lyrics
Joseph Taylor sings Died for Love     Martin Carthy sings Died for Love

I wish my baby it-e-was born
Lying smiling on its father's knee
And I was dead and in my grave
And green grass growing all over me


I wish my baby it was born
And smiling on his daddy's knee
And I poor girl was in my grave
With the long green grass a-growing all over me

O grief, o grief and I'll tell you why
Because she has more gold than I
He takes this young girl on his knee
And he tells her tales that he won't tell me

I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain
I wish I was a maid again
But a maid again that never can be
Since that-e-young farmer sat wooing me


I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain
I wish I was a sweet maid again
But a maid again I never shall be
Till apples grow on an orange tree

Dig me my grave long wide and deep
Put a marble stone at my head and feet
But a turtle dove put over above
For to let the world know that I died for love

Dig me my grave long wide and deep
Put a marble stone at my head and feet
And at my breast place a white snow dove
For to let the world know that I died for love

Isla Cameron sings Died for Love

Shirley Collins sings Died for Love

A bold young farmer courted me
He gained my heart and my liberty.
He's gained my heart with a free good will
And I must confess that I love him still.


Oh, once my true love courted me
And stole away my liberty.
He gained my heart with a free good will
And I'll confess I love him still.

Oh, there's an ale-house in this town,
Where my love goes and sits him down;
He takes this strange girl on his knee
And isn't that a grief to me.

Oh, there's a bird in yon churchyard,
They say he's blind and cannot see;
I wish it had been the same with me
Before I kept my love's company.

I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain,
I wish I was a maid again.
But a maid again, that never can be
Since that young farmer lay still with me.


I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain,
I wish I was but free again.
But free again I'll never be
Since I have kept my love's company.

I wish my baby little was born
And smiling on his father's knee;
And I was dead and in my grave
And the green grass growing all over me.

Dig me my grave long wide and deep,
Put a marble stone at my head and feet.
But a turtle white dove put over above
For to let the world know that I died for love.

Linda & Susan Adams sing A Brisk Young Sailor     Tom Willett sings Died for Love


It's down the green meadow where the poor girls they roam
A-gathering flowers just as they grow
She gathered her flowers and way she came
But she left the sweetest rose behind

A brisk young sailor courted me,
He robbed me of my liberty,
My liberty and my right good will
I must confess I love him still.


There is a flower that I've heard say
That never dies nor fades away
But if that flower I could only find
I'd ease my heart and torment his mind

There's an ale-house in the town,
Where my love goes and sits him down;
And he pulls a strange girl all on his knee
And isn't that a grief to me.


There is an alehouse where my love goes
Where my love goes and sits himself down
He takes a strange girl on his knee
Now don't you think that's a grief to me

A grief to me, and I'll tell you why:
Because she has more gold than I,
But the gold it will waste and the beauty blast
And he'll come to a poor girl like me at last.


A grief and a grief, I'll tell you for why
Because she's got more gold than I
But her gold will glitter, her silver will fly
And in a short time she'll be as poor as I

I wish my baby it was born
Sat smiling on its nurse's knee;
And I myself was in my grave
With the green grass growing over me.


My love he is tall and handsome too
My love he is tall and slender too
But carries two hearts in the room of one
Won't he be a rogue when I'm dead and gone

I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain,
I wish I was a maid again.
But a maid again I never will be
Till an apple grows on an orange tree.


Now dig my grave both long and deep
A marble stone, both head and feet
And in the middle a turtle dove
To show the wide world I died for love
Acknowledgements

The verses sung by Joseph Taylor and Martin Carthy were transcribed by Garry Gillard, Isla Cameron's and Shirley Collins' version by Rinhard Zierke.

-----------------------------

Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music

> Folk Music > Songs > Died for Love
Died for Love

[ Roud 18828 ; trad.]

Jasper Smith sang Died for Love to Mike Yates in Epsom, Surrey, in 1975. This recording was published two years later on the Topic anthology of Gypsy singers, The Travelling Songster. It was also included in 2000 on the Topic CD Hidden English. Mike Yates commented in the original album's booklet:

Some songs and ballads are extremely difficult to identify with any degree of accuracy. Many are closely related with verses floating freely between whatever form the singer chooses to sing. It would seem that Jasper's song comes initially from the 18th century ballad The Cruel Father, with additions from an early 19th century song The Squire's Daughter. Other songs from this parentage are The Alehouse and There is a Tavern in the Town. Jasper's version of this well-loved piece appears to be a relatively late form and, so he tells me, one that was popular with servicemen during World War II.

Geoff Ling sang this song as Change the Old Love for the New in a recording made by John Howson that was published on the Veteran Tapes cassette Songs Sung in Suffolk 4: Those Sentimental Songs. This track was also included in 1993 on the Veteran CD of “traditional folk music, songs and dances from England”, Stepping It Out.

Stephanie Hladowski learned Died for Love from Jasper Smith's recording and sang it accompanied by Chris Joynes on their 2012 CD The Wild Wild Berry.
Lyrics
Jasper Smith sings Died for Love

A man came walking home one night,
He found his house without a light.
He walked upstairs to go to bed
Then the second thought came in his head.

He walked into his daughter's room
And found her hanging by the beam.
He drawed a knife and cut her down
And on her breast this is what he found:

“My love is for a sailor boy
Who sails across the deep blue sea.
So all you maidens good and true
Never change the old love for the new.

“Oh Lord I wish my child was born
And all my troubles could be gone.
So all you maidens good and true
Never change the old love for the new.”
--------------

Died for Love (III) (Early, Early)
DESCRIPTION: The singer hears a girl sighing, "The lad I love is gone far away." "He's gone and left me now in grief and woe, And where to find him I do not know. I'll search these green fields and valleys low." She wishes she had wings to hunt Willie
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation floatingverses
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H89, p. 287, "Early, Early" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3817
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Early, Early, by the Break of Day" (on IRRCinnamond03)
NOTES: This is one of those songs where you simply cannot tell if it's the remnant of something else (it reminds me of Jean Redpath's "When I Look tae Yon High Hills") or a collection of floating lines or just a short piece on a commonplace theme. - RBW

------------------------
The Railroad Boy, US title

The Brisk Young Sailor Roud 60

Died for Love 18828 The English song that derives in the short term from the American Butcher Boy

Deep in Love/Down in the Meadows 18829. Not really related but a little overlap of commonplaces (so avoid for now)

The Rambling Boy 18830, Irish that contributed the suicide verses.

The Blue-eyed Boy. 18831 probably an American commercial spin-off from Butcher Boy and related pieces, some crossover with all sorts of laments.

The Butcher Boy 18832 American only.

The Tavern in the Town 18834, American commercial short version. Difficult to tell how it originated (c1880s college piece) but probably has more in common with 60.

I know my love. 18835 Irish/American short piece possibly related to previous.

She's Like the Swallow 2306, some overlap of commonplaces.

The main ones with long print and oral histories are 60, 18830, 18832. the rest are all probably relatively recent.

Laments are notoriously difficult to pin down as they often swap stanzas. My evolution charts look like a tangled fishing net. It was already a complicated affair by the end of the 17thc.

An Excellent New Song call'd Nelly's Constancy Pepys..unique. 17thc

A Forsaken Lover's complaint..Pills, 3, p52..17thc

The Constant Lady and false-hearted Squire pepys 5, p285, 17thc

Sheffield Park, common broadside 19thc

The Lady's Lamentation for the loss of her Swetheart..18thc Manchester Central Library.

Brisk Young Sailor...common broadside 19thc

A New song call'd Th Distress'd maid...madden Colln. 18thc

The Darling Rose, Glasgow Poet's Box..1851

The Maid's tragedy ...St Bride's Printing Museum, S447 18thc

The Irish Boy, Glasgow Poet's Box...1872

The Rambling Boy...various broadsides c1800

The Cruel father or Deceived Maid, Madden Coll. c1800

The Squire's daughter,..Harvard, Manchester, c1800

Diseased Maiden Lover
1663; F. Coles, T. Vere, and J. Wright

Constant Lady and false-hearted Squire
[Roxburghe 1686]

The Young Man of Sheffield Park,
printed by Evans of 42 Long Lane, London, c1794.

Brisk Young Lad/Sailor

Your side to be going on with...Cox 428, 430

FSUS Combs ...176

Penguin canadian 146

Belden 478 and all the Butcher Boy many versions. All that can be definitely said about Butcher Boy is that the 3 suicide verses pretty definitely derive from the Irish 'Rambling Boy' broadsides.

----------------------------------

See broadside print

American Old Time Song Lyrics: 49 The Butcher Boy
Theater, Music-Hall, Nostalgic, Irish & Historic Old Songs, Volume 49

From Wehman's Universal Songster - a unique collection of 61 volumes of Music Hall, Theater, Irish, Sentimental, Comic, Nostalgic, Inspirational & Historic Old Songs.
THE BUTCHER BOY.

In Jersey City, where I did dwell,
A butcher boy I loved so well;
He courted me my heart away,
And now with me he will not stay.
There is an inn in the same town,
Where my love goes and sits him down;
He takes a strange girl on his knee
And tells to her what he don't tell me.

It's a grief for me; I'll tell you why:
I Because she has more gold than I;
But her gold will melt, and her silver fly;
In time of need she'll be poor as I.
I go up-stairs to make my bed,
But nothing to my mother said:
My mother comes up-stairs to me,
Saying, "What's the matter, my daughter dear!"

"Oh, mother, mother! you do not know
What, grief and pain and sorrow, woe-
Go get a chair to sit me down,
And a pen And ink to write it down."
On every line she dropped a tear,
While calling home her Willie dear;
And when her father he came home,
He said, "Where is my daughter gone?

He went up-stairs, the door he broke-
He found her hanging upon a rope.
He took his knife and he cut her down.
And in her breast those lines were found:
"Oh, what a silly innid am I,
To hang myself for a butcher boy!
Go dig my grave, both long And deep;
Place a marble-stone at my head and feet,
And on my breast a turtle dove,
To show the world I died for love."

------------------------

The Butcher Boy (Kenneth Peacock) MIDI
See also: The Butcher Boy (Ryan's Fancy)
And also: Butcher Boy (Sons of Erin)
And also: She Died In Love (Kenneth Peacock)
midi1 alt: midi2

In Jersey city where I did dwell,
A butcher boy I loved so well;
He courted me my heart away,
And now with me he will not stay.

There is a girl all in this town,
Where my love goes and sits right down;
He takes a strange girl upon his knee,
And he tells to her what he don't tell me.

A grief to me, I'll tell you why,
Because she has more gold than I;
Her gold will waste and her silver fly,
In times of need, she'll be as poor as I.

Go and get a chair and sit me down,
And pen and ink for to write it down;
On every line, she dropped a tear,
On every verse crying, "Willie dear!"

He went upstairs and the door he broke,
He found her hanging all from a rope;
He took his knife and cut her down,
And in her bosom those lines were found:

"Oh, what a silly girl am I,
To hang myself for a butcher boy."
And on her breast those lines were found,
To show the world that she died for love.
####.... Author unknown. Variant of a 19th-century British broadside ballad, The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] American Balladry From British Broadsides (G Malcolm Laws, 1957). Also a variant of the broadside ballad, The Butcher Boy, published by H De Marsan (New York, NY) circa 1860, and archived at the Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, shelfmark: Harding B 18(72) ....####
Collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1959 from Mrs Wallace (Amelia J) Kinslow [1903-1985] of Isle aux Morts, NL, and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.707-708, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.

A very similar variant was collected in 1951 from Albert (Bert) Fitzgerald [1918-?] of Trepassey, NL, and published as The Butcher Boy in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).

A variant was also collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1959 from Mrs Thomas (Annie) Walters [1896-1986] of Rocky Harbour, NL, and published as She Died In Love in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.705-706, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.

Kenneth Peacock noted that some of the most beautiful lyric verse in the English language is to be found in this traditional ballad and its relations. The relationships and cross-influences among all these songs are so complex that it is doubtful if the "original" will ever be discovered.

A variant was arranged and recorded as Butcher Boy by Sons of Erin, featuring bandleader Ralph O'Brien, Johnnie Lynn, "Wee" John Cameron, and Denis Ryan on their self-titled album, Sons Of Erin, ca.1970.

See more songs by Sons of Erin.

A variant was also recorded as The Butcher Boy by Ryan's Fancy (Newfoundland Drinking Songs, ©1973, Audat Records).

---------------

Journal of American Folklore, Volume 29- 1916

THE BUTCHER'S BOY.

The following was obtained by Miss Mary 0. Eddy from Miss Jane Goon, both of Perrysville, O. Shearin's text (p. 24) lays the scene in New York; Barry's (No. 41), "in London city;" Belden's (No. 21), as here. Pound, p. 18.1

There is an English version in the Journal of the Folk-Song Society, ii, 159. It seems strange that this should begin, "In Jessie's city, oh, there did dwell."

I. New Jersey cit[y] where I did dwell,
A butcher's boy I loved so well;
He courted me my heart away,
And then with me he would not stay.

2. There is a man in this same town,
Where my love goes and sits him down,
And there he takes strange girls on his knee,
And tells to them what he did to me.

3. It's grief and pain to tell you why:
   Because they had more gold than I.

But in time of need she will be as poor as I.

4. I went upstairs to make my bed,
And nothing to my mother said.

<. My mother she came up to me;

"Oh, what['s] the matter, my daughter dear?"

5. 0 mother dear, it's, don't you know,
    It's grief and pain and sorrow, woe.
Go get me a chair to sit me on,

A pen and ink to write it down;
And every line she dropped a tear,
Calling home her Willie dear.

6. And when her father he came home,
He says: "Where's my daughter gone?"
He went up stairs, the door he broke;
And there she hung upon a rope.

7. He took his knife and cut her down,
And in her breast these words he found:
"Oh! what a silly maid was I,
To hang myself for a butcher's boy!

8. "Go dig my grave both wide and deep,
   Place marble stone at my head and feet,
And on my breast a turtle dove,
To show this world that I died for love."

1 [Barry prints the tune in this Journal, xxii, 78. See also Belden, this Journal, xxv, 13. A Virginian version of the words was published by Mr. W. H. Babcoclc in Folk-Lorc, vii, 32.]

["The Butcher Boy," almost word for word identical with the text here printed, is found in an American broadside of about i860 (H. de Marsan, New York, Harvard College, 25242.5.5 [138]). It was No. 8 in de Marsan's list No. 7,2 and also in a New York broadside of 1880-90 ("Henry J. Wehman, Song Publisher," No. 302, Harvard College, 25241.29). The same piece is in "Journal of Folk-Song Society," 11, 159-160. For the last four stanzas see "Early, Early all in the Spring" (" Journal of Folk-Song Society," II, 293-294).

The piece appears to be an amalgamation of "The Squire's Daughter "3 (also known as "The Cruel Father, or, Deceived Maid"4) with "There is an Alehouse in Yonder Town" (well known as a student song in this country under the title "There is a Tavern in the Town").6

An absurdly confused (but quite singable) piece, "The Rambling Boy,"6 concludes as follows:1—

My father coming home at night,
And asked for his heart's delight,
He ran up stairs the door he broke
And found her hanging in a rope.

He took a knife and cut her down,
And in her bosom a note was found,
Dig me a grave both wide and deep,
And a marble stone to cover it.7]

1 These last four lines also conclude other English songs. See Journal of Folk-Song Society, ii, 158-159; iii, 188.

1 The Brown University collection of Andrews and de Marsan broadsides has the list, from which the number can be ascertained.

3 [Early nineteenth-century English broadside in Harvard College Library, 25242.5.5 (147), no. 7 ("W. Shelmerdine & Co. Printers, Manchester").]

4 [Early nineteenth-century slip in Harvard College Library, 25242.2, fol. 65.)

6 [Journal of the Folk-Song Society, i, 252-253; ii, 168-169; Leather, Folk-Lore of Herefordshire, pp. 205-206 ("A Brisk Young Sailor"); cf. Kidson, Traditional Tunes, pp. 4446; Broadwood, Traditional Songs, pp. 92-95.J

[Pitt's broadside (Harvard College Library, 25242.2, fol. 120); cf. "I am a Rover" (Kidson, pp. 147-148). For the last stanza of "The Butcher Boy" see also Journal of the Folk-Song Society, ii, 158; iii, 188.]

7 [Cf. a somewhat similar stanza (6) in " The Sailor's Tragedy" (this Journal, xxvi, 177). To the references there given add: The Universal Songster, London. 1834, ii, 273; The Lover's Harmony, London, {ca. 1840), p. 278; Gavin Greig, Folk-Song of the North-East, Peterhead, 1914, no. cxxx,]

---------------

She Died In Love (Kenneth Peacock) MIDI
See also: The Butcher Boy (Kenneth Peacock)
And also: Butcher Boy (Sons Of Erin)
And also: The Butcher Boy (Ryan's Fancy)
midi1   alt: midi2

There is an ale-house in this town
Where my love goes in and sits himself down,
He takes some strange girl on his knee,
And don't you think it's a grief to me.

A grief to me and I'll tell you why,
Because she has more gold than I,
But her gold will waste and silver fly,
There's a time she'll have no more than I.

When I carried my apron low,
My love followed me through frost and snow,
But now my apron is to my chin,
My love passes by and won't call in.

Down in yon meadow I hear people say,
There grows a flower so costly and gay,
If I could chance one of them to find
'Twould cure my heart and ease my mind.

Down in the valley this fair one did go,
Picking those flowers so fast as they'd grow,
Some she plucked and more she pulled,
Until she gathered her apron full.

She carried them home and she made a bed,
A stony pillow for her head,
She laid herself down and never more spoke
Because, poor girl, her heart was broke.

When she was dead and her corpse was cold
This sad news to her true love was told,
"I'm sorry for her, poor girl," said he,
"How could she be so fond of me?"

Dig her a grave wide, long, and deep,
A tombstone at her head and feet,
And on her breast lay a turtle dove
So the world may know that she died in love.

####.... Variant of a British broadside ballad, authored by W H Hills, The Butcher Boy, published in a songbook by R March and Company (London) sometime between 1877 and 1884, and archived at the Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, shelfmark: Firth B.18(72) View 7 of 8 ....####
Collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1959 from Mrs Thomas (Anastasia Ryan) Ghaney [1883-1959] of Fermeuse, NL, and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.705-706, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved. Also selected for recording in a compilation album of various artists (Songs of the Newfoundland Outports and Labrador/Chansons de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador: Annie Walters, trk#3, 2003 CD, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Quebec).

A variant of this plot was also collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1959 from Mrs Wallace (Amelia J) Kinslow [1903-1985] of Isle aux Morts, NL, and published as The Butcher Boy in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.707-708, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.

Kenneth Peacock noted that some of the most beautiful lyric verse in the English language is to be found in this traditional ballad and its relations. Many readers will have already noticed the similarity to There Is An Alehouse In Yonder Town, an English song from which the American college song There Is A Tavern In The Town is derived. The relationships and cross-influences among all these songs is so complex that it is doubtful if the "original" will ever be discovered.

Another variant of this plot was collected in 1951 from Albert (Bert) Fitzgerald of Trepassey, NL, and published as The Butcher Boy in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).

A variant was arranged and recorded as The Butcher Boy by Ryan's Fancy (Newfoundland Drinking Songs, ©1973, Audat Records).
-------------

The Butcher Boy

Time: 2:20
Listen (.mp3@128 kbps)

Song Metadata


Lyrics
In Jersey City where I did dwell
Lived a butcher boy I loved so well;
He courted me, my heart away
And then with me he would not stay.

There is an inn in that same town,
Where my love goes and sits him down;
He takes a strange girl on his knee,
And tells her things that he won't tell me

It's grief for me, I'll tell you why,
Because she has more gold than I,
But her gold will melt and her silver fly,
And someday she'll be as poor as I.

She went upstairs to make her bed,
And nothing to her mother said,
Her mother she went up to see,
Saying, "Where, oh, where can my daughter be."

Her father he at length came home
Saying, "Where, oh, where has my daughter gone."
He went upstairs, the door he broke,
And found her hanging by a rope.

He took a knife and cut her down,
And on her breast these words he found,
"Oh, what a silly young girl am I,
To hang myself for the Butcher Boy."

Go dig my grave both wide and deep,
Place a marble stone at my head and feet,
And on my breast a turtle dove,
To show this world that I died for love.

Note from E.L. Simons (1952): Both my grandfather and grandmother Simons are acquainted with this version, and I suspect that it was learned from my great-grandmother Raburn. She was from Indiana and this text [is] fairly close to those listed in Brewster, Ballads and Songs of Indiana (1940), pp. 198-201.

This song has often had other settings such as London city or New York. Brewster considers his versions garbled and he is seconded by Creighton, who says, in Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia (1933), pp. 33-34, that the song is compounded from several British broadsides including "The Cruel Father," "Sheffield Park," and "There is an Alehouse in Yonder Town." The song also has obvious affinities with the popular song "There is a Tavern in the Town."

Sheffield Park

In Sheffield Park, oh there did dwell
A brisk young lad, I loved him well
He courted me my heart to gain
He's gone and left me full of pain

There is an alehouse in this town
There my love goes and sits him down
And takes a strange girl on his knee
And tells her what he don't tell me

I went upstairs to make the bed
I laid me down and nothing said
My mistress came to me and said
What is the matter with you, my maid?

0 mistress mistress you little know
The pain and sorrow I undergo
It's put your hand on my left breast
My fainting heart can take no rest

So take this letter to him with speed
And give it to him if he can read
And bring me an answer without delay
For he has stole my heart away

She took the letter immediately
He read it through while she stood by
As soon as he had the letter read
Into the fire he threw it with speed

How can she think so fond I'd be
That I could fancy none but she
Man was not made for one alone
I take delight to hear her mourn

Green leaves they gathered for her bed
And a flowery pillow for her head
The leaves that blow from tree to tree
Shall be a covering for thee

from Sedley, Seeds of Love
collated from broadsides in Dorset and Essex
see also Died for Love, There is a Tavern in the Town, Butcher's Boy
SOF

--------------

“The Cruel Father, or, Deceived Maid”

-------------

The Butcher's Boy (folk song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the festive Italian-American tarantella, see Oh! Ma-Ma! (The Butcher Boy).
"The Butcher's Boy"
Broadside printing of The Butcher's Boy.jpg
A broadside print of the song published in New York City during the 1890s.
Song
Form     Broadside ballad and folksong
Writer(s)     Traditional
Language     English

"The Butcher’s Boy" or "The Butcher Boy" (Laws P24, Roud 409) is an American folk song derived from traditional English ballads.[1][2] Folklorists of the early 20th century considered it to be a conglomeration of several English broadside ballads, tracing its stanzas to "Sheffield Park", "The Squire's Daughter", "A Brisk Young Soldier", "A Brisk Young Sailor" and "Sweet William (The Sailor Boy)".[3][4]

Steve Roud describes it as

    "One of the most widely-known 'forsaken girl' songs in the American tradition, which is often particularly moving in its stark telling of an age-old story."[5]

In the song, a butcher’s apprentice abandons his lover, or is unfaithful toward her. The lover hangs herself and is discovered by her father. She leaves a suicide note, which prescribes that she be buried with a turtle dove placed upon her breast, to show the world she died for love. This narrative use of the turtle dove is derived from Old World symbolism; it is analogous to the folksong interment motif of a rose, briar, or lily growing out of the neighboring graves of deceased lovers. In this respect, "Butcher's Boy" is related to the ballads "Earl Brand", "Fair Margaret and Sweet William", "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet", "Barbara Allen", and "Lord Lovel".[6]

Commercial recordings have been made by Kelly Harrell, by Buell Kazee (frequently re-issued, notably in the Anthology of American Folk Music) and by The Blue Sky Boys.

Contents

    1 Variations
    2 Recordings
    3 External links
    4 References

Variations

In some versions of the story, the heroine is impregnated by her lover before being abandoned. In others, he leaves her for a woman who is wealthier than she.

The final line of the song often differs between some versions. For example, some lyrics include "till cherries grow on an apple tree." The location of the song also varies in certain versions; some set the song in More Street, or London City.

Recently, the ballad has been popularly covered by commercially successful artists. Joan Baez followed the text of Buell Kazee, and therefore changed the title to "The Railroad Boy". Tommy Makem learned the version sung by his mother Sarah Makem and recorded it both on a solo album and with The Clancy Brothers. Kirsty Maccoll also recorded the song, and Sinéad O'Connor recorded it for the soundtrack of the film also called The Butcher Boy.[citation needed].

The tune of The Butcher Boy is used for the American song Ballad of the Green Berets by Barry Sadler.
Recordings

    Kelly Harrell "Butcher's Boy" 1925.
    Henry Whitter "Butcher Boy" 1925.
    Vernon Dalhart "The Butcher's Boy" 1927. As Jeff Calhoun "The Butcher Boy" 1927.
    Carson Robison "The Butcher Boy" 1928.
    Bradley Kincaid "Butcher Boy" 1928.
    Buell Kazee "The Butcher's Boy (The Railroad Boy)" 1928.
    Ephraim Woodie & The Henpecked Husbands "The Fatal Courtship" 1929.
    The Blue Sky Boys "The Butcher's Boy" 1940.
    Peggy Seeger "The Butcher Boy" on Songs of Courting and Complaint 1955.
    Joan Baez "The Railroad Boy" on Joan Baez Volume 2 1961.
    Tommy Makem "The Butcher Boy" on Songs of Tommy Makem 1961.
    Vern Smeiser "The Butcher's Boy" 1963 on Art of Field Recording Volume 2.
    The Goldebriars "The Railroad Boy" 1964 on The Goldebriars.
    Tommy Makem with The Clancy Brothers "The Butcher Boy" on Recorded Live in Ireland.1965.
    Sarah Makem "The Butcher Boy" 1967 on The Voice of the People: Sarah Makem: The Heart Is True.
    Caroline Hughes "The Butcher Boy" 1968 on The Voice of the People: I'm A Romany Rai.
    Ryan's Fancy "The Butcher Boy" on Newfoundland Drinking Songs 1973.[7]
    Kirsty MacColl "The Butcher Boy" on Caroline 1995.
    Sinead O'Connor "The Butcher Boy" on The Butcher Boy (soundtrack) 1997.
    Dave Van Ronk "The Butcher Boy" on Dave Van Ronk: The Mayor of MacDougal Street 2005.
    Lau "Butcher Boy" on Lightweights and Gentlemen 2007.
-----------------

Sheffield Park

England.
The words are collated from Dorset and Essex versions.
The tune is from Puddletown, Dorset.
This tune is unusual, in that it is written in 5/4 timing.

    In Sheffield Park o there did dwell
    A brisk young lad, I loved him well,
    He courted me, my heart to gain,
    He's gone and left me full of pain.

    There is an alehouse in this town
    Where my love goes and sits him down,
    And takes a strange girl on his knee,
    And tells her what he don't tell me.

    I went upstairs to make the bed,
    I laid me down and nothing said,
    My mistress came to me and said,
    What is the matter with you, my maid ?

    O mistress, mistress, you little know
    The pain and sorrow I undergo.
    It's put your hand on my left breast,
    My fainting heart can take no rest.

    So take this letter to him with speed,
    And give it to him, if he can read,
    And bring me an answer without delay,
    For he has stole my heart away.

    She took the letter immediately,
    He read it through while she stood by,
    As soon as he had the letter read
    Into the fire he threw it with speed.

    How can she think so fond I'd be,
    That I could fancy none but she ?
    Man was not made for one alone,
    I take delight to hear her mourn.

    Green leaves they gathered for her bed,
    And a flowery pillow for her head.
    The leaves that blow from tree to tree
    Shall be a covering for thee.
---------------------------

Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4,

Americanized versions of this song:

"Wild Goose Grasses" - The Weavers, on various of their records and re-releases.
"Tarrytown" - Pete Seeger, on his Carnegie Hall Concert album.

Neither of these songs are as long and rich as the version linked above, but fun. The Kingston Trio used the basic tune for "When I Was Young," a sappy, not so tragic story.

Also, Tommy Makem has a wonderful version of "The Butcher Boy" on his album, 'The Bard of Armagh.'---John

------------------

What a Voice / I Wish My Love / The Pitman's Love Song

[ Roud 495 ; G/D 6:1189 ; Ballad Index McST055 ; trad.]

Jeannie Robertson sang What a Voice, in a recording made in 1955, on her 1957 Riverside album Songs of a Scots Tinker Lady. Another recording, made by Bill Leader in 1959, was released on her eponymous Topic album Jeannie Robertson. An earlier recording, made by Alan Lomax in London in November 1953, was included in 1998 as When My Apron Hung Low on her Rounder CD The Queen Among the Heather. Hamish Henderson commented in both the Riverside and the Topic album's sleeve notes:

    The lament of the forsaken sweetheart whose baby is not yet born is found in various songs throughout the British Isles and America. The Scottish collector Gavin Greig called this song I Wish, I Wish, from the opening line of one of the verses which usually appears in it. The version current in Scotland seems to be descended from The Marchioness of Douglas’ Lament, otherwise known as O, Waly, Waly. Many of the lines are also commonly found in the Appalachian pregnancy ballad Careless Love.

Lizzie Higgins sang What a Voice, What a Voice as the title track of her 1985 Lismor album What a Voice. Another version, recorded by Peter Hall at the Jeannie Robertson Memorial Concert in 1977, was included on her Musical Traditions anthology of 2006, In Memory of Lizzie Higgins. Rod Stradling commented in the booklet:

    A song found mostly in England, where it is generally known as I Wish, I Wish. Only Lizzie and her mother Jeannie have been recorded singing it in Scotland, and only they begin the song with the words “What a voice …” This was the first time Lizzie sang this—her mother's song—in public.

Cecilia Costello sang I Wish, I Wish on November 30, 1951 in Birmingham for a BBC recording made by Maria Slocombe and Patrick Shuldham-Shaw. It was released in 1975 on her eponymous Leader album Cecilia Costello.

A.L. Lloyd sang I Wish My Love unaccompanied in 1966 on his Topic album First Person. The track was reissued in 1994 as I Wish, I Wish on the CD Classic A.L. Lloyd. A.L. Lloyd commented in the former album's sleeve notes:

    A lost song re-found. It resides among the manuscript papers of eccentric old John Bell of Newcastle, a great pioneer collector of the folk songs of the English North-east, unjustly neglected. Many of his songs found their way, unacknowledged, into the celebrated Northumbrian Minstrelsy, but this one was not among them. The song is something of a masterpiece, but it seems to have dropped right out of tradition after Bell noted it, apparently in the opening years of the nineteenth century. In Bell's manuscript the piece is entitled A Pitman's Love Song. There's nothing in the text of the song that attaches to the miner's calling. Bell gives no tune for it, so I have fitted one. There's another verse to this piece, passionate and scatological. Rather to my own surprise I find myself too prudish to sing it, though I'm impressed by its intensity.

George Dunn sang a fragment I Wish, I Wish to Roy Palmer on September 21, 1971. This recording was included in 2002 on his Musical Traditions anthology Chainmaker.

Walter Pardon sang I Wish, I Wish on June 25, 1978 at his home in Knapton, Norfolk, to Mike Yates. This recording was released in 1982 on his Topic album A Country Life and was included in 1998 on the Topic anthology As Me and My Love Sat Courting (The Voice of the People Volume 15). Mike Yates noted:

    Most commentators appear to have linked I Wish, I Wish with the song Died for Love or else have noted that it simply comprises a number of so-called ‘floating’ verses. I would suggest, however, that this is partly incorrect. At least two other English singers had almost identical texts to Walter’s, so that it seems to me that there may, at one time, have been a printed broadside version of the song, which is the indirect source of not only Walter’s song but also of the similar versions sung by Ben Baxter of Norfolk (BBC recording) and Cecilia Costello of Birmingham (BBC recording).

    Similar texts have also been recorded in North America and Dillard Chandler of North Carolina sings a particularly fine version on the record High Atmosphere. One possible contender could be based on the song The Effects of Love—A New Song which was issued by an anonymous broadside printer in the 18th century.

Emily Smith sang What a Voice in 2011 on her CD Traiveller's Joy.
Lyrics
Jeannie Robertson sings What a Voice

What a voice, what a voice, what a voice I hear,
For it's like the voice of my Willy dear.
But if I had wings like that swallow fly
For I would clasp in the dear arms of my Billy boy.

When my apron it hung low
My true love followed through frost and snow.
But now my apron it is tae my chin
And he passes me by and he oh ne'er spiers in.

It was up and doon yon white hoose brae
That he called a strange girlie to his knee
And he telled her a tale which he once told me.

O, I wish I wish, o, I wish in vain,
O, I wish I was a maid again.
But a maid again I will never be
Till an apple grows on an orange tree.

O, I wish I wish that my babe was born
And smiling on some nurse's knee.
But for myself to be dead and gone
And the long green grass growing over me.

For there is a blackbird sits on yon tree,
Some says it is blind and it cannae see.
Some says it is blind and it cannae see
And so is my true love tae me.
Lizzie Higgins sings What a Voice

What a voice, what a voice, what a voice I hear,
It's like the voice of my Willie dear.
An if I had wings like that swallow high
I would clasp in the arms of my Billy boy.

When my apron it hung low
My true love followed through frost and snow.
But now my apron is tae ma chin;
He passes me by and he'll ne'er speir in.

It's up and doon yon white hoose brae,
He's called a strange girlie to his knee
An he's telt her a tale that he's once told me.

There is a blackbird sits on yon tree,
Some says it is blind and it cannae see.
Some says it is blind and it cannae see
And that's what my true love's tae me.

Oh I wish, I wish, oh I wish in vain,
I wish I was a maid again.
But a maid again I will never be
'Til a apple it grows on a orange tree.

I wish, I wish my babe was born
An smiling on some nurse's knee.
An for myself to be dead and gone
An the long green grass growing over me.
A.L. Lloyd sings I Wish My Love

I wish my love she was a cherry
A-growing on yon cherry tree
And I myself a bonnie blackbird
How I would peck that sweet cherry

I wish my love she was a red rose
A-growing on yon garden wall
And I myself a drop of dew
How on that red rose I would fall

I wish my love was in a little box
And I myself to carry the key
I'd go in to her whenever I'd a mind
And I'd bear my love good company

I wish my love she was a grey ewe
A-grazing by yonder riverside
And I myself a fine black ram
Oh on that ewe how I would ride

My love she's bonnie, my love she's canny
And she's well favoured for to see
And the more I think on her my heart is set upon her
And under her apron I fain would be

I wish my love she was a bee-skip
And I myself a bumble-bee
That I might be a lodger within her
For she's sweeter than the honey or the honeycomb tea

(The verse A.L. Lloyd left out:)

I wish my love was a ripe turd
And smoking down in yon dykeside
And I myself was a shitten flea
I'd suck her up before she dried
George Dunn sings I Wish I Wish

I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain,
I wish I was a maid again.
A maid again I never shall be
Till apples grow on an orange tree.

I grieve, I grieve, I'll tell you why,
Because she's got more gold than I;
But her gold will melt …
Walter Pardon sings I Wish I Wish

I wish, I wish, but ‘tis in vain.
I wish I were a maid again.
A maid again I’ll never be
‘Till the apple grow on the orange tree.

Oh when my apron strings tied low
He’d follow me through frost and snow.
But now my apron’s to my chin
He passes by and says nothing.

Oh grief, oh grief, I’ll tell you why,
That girl has got more gold than I.
More gold than I and wealth and fame
But she’ll become like me again.

I wish, I wish, my child were born,
And seated on her father’s knee;
And I was in the churchyard laid
With a green, green grass growing over me.

------------------

Folk Songs of Old New England (Eloise Hubbard Linscott, 1939):

    the song is widely current in many forms in the United States and Britain. It is said to have originated in Essex County, England. In its earlier form, it goes back to the seventeenth century, when the heartaches of milkmen and similar humble characters enjoyed more than a passing vogue. The original hero was probably a sailor instead of a butcher boy.
    The song that we know as "There Is a Tavern in the Town" is derived from it, for although the melody only faintly resembles this English tune, the theme of the ballad has remained the same.

------------------

THE BUTCHER BOY
From: GUEST,ginnee - PM
Date: 23 Aug 04 - 09:42 PM

My mother gave me the song, the Butcher Boy many years ago. My uncle had traced it back to the late 1600's England. This is the version I have.

In London City, where I did dwell,
A butcher boy I loved so well
He courted me my life away
and then with me, he would not stay

There's a house in that same town
Where he goes in and he sits down
He takes his maiden upon his knee
And he tells her things that he once told me

O papa can you tell me why
Is it cause she has more gold than I
Her gold will melt and her silver will fly
and in time of need she'll be poor as I

Must I go down and him go free
Or love a boy that don't love me
Or must I play a childish part
and love a boy that breaks my heart

I went upstairs to make my bed
But nothing to my mother said
My mother came upstairs to me
Saying what is the matter daughter dear

Oh mother mother you do not know
Its grief to me and sorrow, woe
Go get a chair to sit upon
A pen and ink to write it down

With every line she dropped a tear
While calling home her Willie dear
O Willie I beg you to come home
Don't leave me here, I'm all alone

That afternoon when her father came home
He wondered where his daughter had gone
He rushed upstairs and the door he broke
And he found her hanging from a rope

He took his knife and he cut her down
And in her note these words he found
Oh what a foolish maid am I
To kill myself for a butcher boy

So dig my grave both wide and deep
Place a marble stone at my head and feet
And on my breast place a snow white dove
To prove to the world, I died for love.
--------------

THE BUTCHER'S BOY (from Freda Reynolds)
From: GUEST,Ron W. - PM
Date: 24 Nov 05 - 04:10 AM

My mother, although unknown, had one of the most beautiful 'A' tenor voices I've heard. Unfortunately, my father would not allow her to pursue a musical career. I was fortunate enough to learn from her some of what she learned from her grandfather. One song I learned was what I know as, 'The Butcher Boy'. She learned by ear and amateur instruction from her family and friends in a hollow called 'Kate's Run' (I believe) somewhere in W. Virginia. I must have heard her version of the song at least a thousand times, of which five hundred were by my request. She has passed away now, but I can still hear her beautiful voice wrapped around this melody and trembling with the pain she must have felt from empathy she had for the subject. The original words long lost and forgotten she did the best she could with the storyline she learned from William Whackart her grandfather. I loved the song so much I revised it to a masculine point of view so I could sing it every chance I got to those who appreciate vintage music. Searching for the original words brought me here. I am pleased that I have found what I was looking for and yet somewhat set back by the diversity of the lines compared to what I learned (and modified). And so I would like to offer my version. It's not very different from what I was taught as a child I'm now 42 and still sing this version every chance I get, although, I can not achieve what I so love to recall of My mothers melodic presence. I wish to thank any and everyone who made this possible.

Thank you and God Bless.

THE BUTCHER'S BOY, as sung by Freda Reynolds, revised

----------------
In London town, where I used to dwell,
Lived a butcher's boy and a lovely girl.
He courted her young life away
But with this girl he would not stay.

One day when her father came home,
He wondered where his daughter had gone.
He rushed upstairs and her door he broke
And found his daughter, hanging from a rope.

He took his knife and he cut her down
And in a note, these words he found:
"Oh what a silly maid am I, you know,
To kill my self for a butcher's boy.

"There is a house in this same town
Where he walks right in and sits right down.
He takes another girl on his knee
And tells her things he won't tell me.

"I pray and grieve, please tell me why.
Is it because she has more gold than I?
Her gold will melt, and her silver fly,
And in time of need, she'll be poor as I.

"Now dig my grave both wide and deep.
Place a marble stone at my head and feet,
And on my grave, a snow white dove,
To prove to the world that I died for love."

------------------

There's also a version with melody and 3 verses on page 61 in "Collected Reprints from Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine, Vols. 1-6 1959-1964"ISBN 0-9626704-0-5, publisher: Sing OutCorporation, P.O. Box 5253, Bethlehem, PA 18015-5253; (215) 865-5368. A note says the book can be ordered direct from the publisher.

"Pete Seeger's version of this traditional Hudson Valley ballad was learned from John Allison [Allison wrote it]. It is, quite apparently, a New York variant of "The Butcher Boy," one of the best-known of our traditional folk songs. "The Butcher Boy" in turn has its roots in a variety of British broadside ballads, including "The Squire's Daughter," "A Brisk Young Sailor," and "There Is An Alehouse in Yonder Town" which later developed into "There Is A Tavern in the Town." Pete Seeger's rendition of "Tarrytown" may be heard on his recent Folkways recording, Pete Seeger and Sonny Terry at Carnegie Hall (FA2412)."

TARRYTOWN (WILD GOOSE GRASSES)
(words & music by John Allison © 1959, Hollis Music, Inc.)

In Tarrytown there did dwell,
A lovely youth, I knew him well.
He courted me my life away,
And now with me he will no longer stay.

CHORUS:
Wide and deep my grave will be,
With the wild goose grasses growing over me.

Oh, when I wore my apron low,
He'd follow me, through ice and snow,
Now that I wear my apron high,
He goes right down my street and passes by.

CHORUS

There is an inn in Tarrytown,
Where my love goes, and he sits him down,
He takes another on his knee,
For she has gold and riches more than me.

CHORUS

(The Barley Bree version changes the last line to "And don't you know how much that vexes me.")

---------------

Dig my grave both long and deep

Traditional Music in Coastal Louisiana: The 1934 Lomax Recordings
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0807152021
Joshua Clegg Caffery - 2013 - ‎Preview - ‎More editions
This song is a close translation of the well-known English and American ballad known variously as “Died for Love,” “Tarrytown,” “There Is a Tavern in This Town,” and “The Butcher Boy.” The core of the plot involves a love-struck teenage girl

What a stupid I am,
To have killed myself for a lowly butcher
Dig my grave both long and deep,

---------------------
A Family Heritage: The Story and Songs of LaRena Clark - Page 93
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1895176360
Edith Fowke, ‎Jay Rahn, ‎LaRena LeBarr Clark - 1994 - ‎Preview - ‎More editions
In London city you may call and see I-Ier grave's beneath a willow tree, And o'er her breast there's a turtle dove To show this world she died for love. "The Butcher Boy" is probably the best known and most often collected of the many ballads
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Memoirs of the American Folk-lore Society - Volume 29 - Page 41
https://books.google.com/books?id=KWo7AAAAIAAJ
1937 - ‎Snippet view - ‎More editions
Go dig my grave, both long and deep; Place a marble stone at my head and feet ; And on my breast a turtle dove To show the world I died for love!" I. "The Butcher's Boy." Contributed by Anna Marie Lauterbach, Reinbeck. Given here verbatim
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Death and Dying in Central Appalachia: Changing Attitudes and Practices
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0252063554
James K. Crissman - 1994 - ‎Preview - ‎More editions
58 The woman in "The Butcher's Boy" (also known as "The Railroad Boy") hangs herself when the young man she loves ... And over my coffin place a snow white dove To warn this world that I died for love
---------

The University of Missouri Studies - Volume 15, Issue 1 - Page 205
https://books.google.com/books?id=5HUcAAAAMAAJ
1940 - ‎Snippet view - ‎More editions
'Butcher Boy.' Secured by Miss Charlotte F. Corder in 1906 from Nellie Martin of Corder, Lafayette County, who ... grave, go dig it deep ; Place a marble stone at head and feet, And upon my heart a turtle dove, To show this world I died for love.
--------------
Keystone folklore quarterly - Volumes 1-3 - Page 26
https://books.google.com/books?id=ZonYAAAAMAAJ
1956 - ‎Full view
... and deep, Place marble slabs at head and feetj Place on the stone a snow-white dove, To show the world I died for love. ... dress, "I hanged myself, for love, I guess, "I'm bound, my Butcher Boy goes freej I must love a boy
who won't love me.

------------------

Monograph Series - Volumes 22-23 - Page 82
https://books.google.com/books?id=sR0wAAAAMAAJ
1970 - ‎Snippet view - ‎More editions
"Oh, what a foolish young maid was I
To hang myself for a butcher boy.

6. - "Dig my grave, dig it wide and deep,
Put a marble stone at my head and feet,
And on my breast put a turtle dove,
That the world may know that I died for love.

7. "I died for love as you plainly see, I died for love, as you plainly see, For loving of a
--------------

The Journal of American Folk-lore - Page 78
https://books.google.com/books?id=FjYTAAAAIAAJ
1931 - ‎Snippet view - ‎More editions
And at my head and feet place a marble stone ; And by my side place a William tree That the world may weep and mourn for me ; And on my heart place a lovely dove That the world may know that I died for love." 8.

---------------

Never Without a Song: The Years and Songs of Jennie Devlin, 1865-1952
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0252063716
Katharine D. Newman - 1995 - ‎Preview - ‎More editions
In Jersey City where I did dwell, The Butcher's Boy I loved so well. He courted me both night and day. He courted my young heart away. I used to wear my aprons low. He followed me through frost and snow. But now I wear them to my chin

----------------

Body, Boots, & Britches: Folktales, Ballads, and Speech from Country ...
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0815601603
Harold William Thompson - 1940 - ‎Preview - ‎More editions
A typical version sung at the State College in Albany is this: In Jersey City where I did dwell, There lived a boy I loved so well. He took my heart away from me, And now he will not look at me. He takes strange girls upon his knee And tells them .

-----------

New York Folklore Quarterly - Volume 3 - Page 30
https://books.google.com/books?id=1IELAAAAIAAJ
1947 - ‎Snippet view - ‎More editions
At last at last will never be Till oranges grow on apple tree's. You will notice that Cal said London City. About eight or every ten people who have given me parts of this ballad begin it as follows: In Jersey City where I did dwell, A butcher boy I .

----------------

Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads

RAMBLING BOY

IAM a wild and roving lad,
A wild and rambling lad I'll be;
For I do love a little girl
And she does love me.

"O Willie, O Willie, I love you so,
I love you more than I do know;
And if my tongue could tell you so
I'd give the world to let you know."

When Julia's old father came this to know,—
That Julia and Willie were loving so,—
He ripped and swore among them all,
And swore he'd use a cannon ball.

She wrote Willie a letter with her right hand
And sent it to him in the western land.
"Oh, read these lines, sweet William dear.
For this is the last of me you will hear."

He read those lines while he wept and cried, "Ten thousand times I wish I had died" He read those lines while he wept and said, "Ten thousand times I wish I were dead."

When her old father came home that night
He called for Julia, his heart's delight,
He ran up stairs and her door he broke
And found her hanging by her own bed rope.

And with his knife he cut her down,
And in her bosom this note he found
Saying, " Dig my grave both deep and wide
And bury sweet Willie by my side."

They dug her grave both deep and wide
And buried sweet Willie by her side;
And on her grave set a turtle dove
To show the world they died for love.

----------------------------------

Provenance
The earliest version of this lament that mentions Sheffield Park is on a single slip printed by Evans of 42 Long Lane, London, titled The Young Man of Sheffield Park, c1794. It consists of four double stanzas and largely corresponds to the standard ten-stanza version printed in the early nineteenth century by Pitts and Catnach and their contemporaries, and then by many of the provincial printers up as far as Newcastle. The first double stanza is the first of the common version and one not found in this version; the second double stanza equates to stanzas 2 and 3 of the common version; the third double stanza to 4 and 5; and the fourth is stanza 6 of the common version and one not found there. Therefore the last four stanzas of the common version are new, but three of them appear to have been added from a ballad of c1686 titled The Constant Lady and false-hearted Squire; Being a Relation of a Knight’s Daughter near Woodstock Town in Oxfordshire printed for Richard Baldwin near Fleet street, London. (See Pepys Vol 5, p285) Some of its stanzas are found in the black-letter ballad The Diseased (Deceased) Maiden Lover printed by Coles, Vere and Wright c1663-74. (Pepys Vol 3, p124) Stanzas from this general stock have also crept into the various laments that form the large family of Died for Love/ Brisk Young Sailor songs. They continued to be refashioned into other songs into the early eighteenth century. D’Urfey’s Pills to Purge Melancholy, 1720, Vol 3 p52 has A Forlorn Lover’s Complaint which is a contraction of the Coles, Vere and Wright version.

[Imprint Names: Jennings, J. Imprint Locations: London

Date between 1790 and 1840

Imprint: Printed and sold by J. Jennings, No. 15, Water lane, Fleet street

Perhaps not coincidentally the first three stanzas of the standard ten stanza version of Sheffield Park also frequently turn up amongst the various members of the Died for Love family.

Frank’s fourth stanza, line 4, has been influenced by another love song Young Colin stole my heart away. In other versions the lover’s name is William. His first five stanzas are stanzas 1, 2, 3, 5 and 9 of the standard version, but the first part of his sixth stanza rather curiously harks back to The Constant Lady and False-hearted Squire mentioned above;

‘Now there’s a flower,’ she did say,
‘Is named Heartsease, night and day.’

But this is also found in later versions using the general stock of verses in Died of Love family songs.

===========================

http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/song-midis/Sheffield_Park.htm

===========================

http://mysongbook.de/mtb/r_clarke/songs/shefpark.htm

"The words are collated from Dorset and Essex versions.
The tune is from Puddletown, Dorset.
This tune is unusual, in that it is written in 5/4 timing."

"In Sheffield Park o there did dwell
A brisk young lad, I loved him well,
He courted me, my heart to gain,
He’s gone and left me full of pain.

There is an alehouse in this town
Where my love goes and sits him down,
And takes a strange girl on his knee,
And tells her what he don’t tell me.

I went upstairs to make the bed,
I laid me down and nothing said,
My mistress came to me and said,
What is the matter with you, my maid ?

O mistress, mistress, you little know
The pain and sorrow I undergo.
It’s put your hand on my left breast,
My fainting heart can take no rest.

So take this letter to him with speed,
And give it to him, if he can read,
And bring me an answer without delay,
For he has stole my heart away.

She took the letter immediately,
He read it through while she stood by,
As soon as he had the letter read
Into the fire he threw it with speed.

How can she think so fond I’d be,
That I could fancy none but she ?
Man was not made for one alone,
I take delight to hear her mourn.

Green leaves they gathered for her bed,
And a flowery pillow for her head.
The leaves that blow from tree to tree
Shall be a covering for thee."

http://www.yorkshirefolksong.net/song.cfm?songID=39

Constant Lady and false-hearted Squire
[Roxburghe 1686]

----------------------------------------------

Fuld, in his book of 'world-famous music,' says the first printing of "There Is a Tavern in the Town" is in William H. Hills, "Student Songs," 3rd Edition, copyrighted May 14, 1883, p. 8; the same as posted above by Jim Dixon.
James J. Fuld, 1866 and reprints, "The Book of World-Famous Music, Classical, Popular and Folk." P. 572.

THERE IS A TAVERN IN THE TOWN

There is a tavern in the town, in the town
And there my true love sits him [her] down, sits him [her] down,
And drinks his [her] wine as merry as can be,
And never, never thinks of me.

cho: Fare thee well, for I must leave thee,
Do not let this parting grieve thee,
And remember that the best of friends must part, must part.

(So until another meeting
When you hear my friendly greeting
I will always keep your memory in my heart)

Adieu, adieu, kind friends, adieu
I can no longer stay with you, stay with you,
I'll hang my harp on the weeping willow tree,
And may the world go well with thee.

He left me for a damsel dark, damsel dark,
[She left me for a man both tall and dark, tall and dark.]
Each Friday night they used to spark, used to spark,
And now my love who once was true to me
Takes this dark damsel on his knee.
[Sits upon that other fellow's knee.]

And now I see him [her] nevermore, nevermore;
He [She] never knocks upon my door, on my door;
Oh, woe is me; he [she] penned a little note,
And these were all the words he[she] wrote:

Oh, dig my grave both wide and deep, wide and deep;
Put tombstones at my head and feet, head and feet
And on my breast you may carve a turtle dove,
To signify I died of love.
----------------

THERE IS A TAVERN IN THE TOWN
Words and music by F. J. Adams
New York: Willis Woodward & Co., 1891.

1. There is a tavern in the town, (in the town)
And there my dear love sits him down, (sits him down)
And drinks his wine 'mid laughter free,
And never, never thinks of me.

CHORUS: Fare thee well, for I must leave thee.
Do not let the parting grieve thee,
And remember that the best of friends must part. (must part)
Adieu, adieu, kind friends, adieu! (adieu, adieu)
I can no longer stay with you. (stay with you)
I'll hang my harp on a weeping willow tree,
And may the world go well with thee.

2. He left me for a damsel dark. (damsel dark)
Each Friday night they used to spark, (used to spark)
And now my love, once true to me,
Takes that dark damsel on his knee.

3. Oh, dig my grave both wide and deep. (wide and deep)
Put tombstones at my head and feet, (head and feet)
And on my breast carve a turtle dove,
To signify I died of love.

----

: Malcolm Douglas - PM
Date: 12 Jan 02

There is an Alehouse in Yonder Town has been found in pretty well every part of England (though it's usually called Died of Love or A Brisk Young Sailor Courted Me); oddly enough, I haven't yet found any reference to a Cornish set (apart from the Traditional Ballad Index, which doesn't give details), beyond one example of a related though distinct song, A Ship Came Sailing over the Sea (Deep in Love) from Saint Enoder which, though it shares some elements, doesn't mention alehouses.
----------
Sharp 100 Englsih Folk Songs

No. 94. A Brisk Young Sailor

This is one of the most popular of English folk

songs. I have collected a large number of variants, from the several sets of which the words in the text have been compiled. For other versions see "There is an ale-house in yonder Town," in the Journal of the Folk-Song Society (volume i, p. 252; volume ii, pp. 155,158, 159, and 168; volume iii, p. 188).
The Died of Love text at the Prof's site (George's link) unfortunately names no source; for what it's worth it was noted by H.E.D. Hammond from William Bartlett at Wimbourne, Dorset, in 1905, and appeared in the Journal of the Folk Song Society, no.19, 1915.

In a fit of absentmindedness I referred to Anne Gilchrist in my previous post, when I should have said Margaret Dean-Smith.

A number of tunes have been used, but the ones I've come across bear little resemblance to the Tavern tune, which was presumably composed specially. As to derivation, Anne Gilchrist (A Guide to English Folk Song Collections, 1954) commented: "Died of Love is the stock from which many fragmentations treated as separate songs have been made, including the modern burlesque There is a Tavern in the Town. "

There is an extensive list of links to related material in this thread: I Wish, I Wish. Although Sheffield Park and The Butcher's Boy share some elements (as indeed does Waly Waly), their narrative element really places them in different categories.
---------------
Garrett and Norah Arwood

I first came across Garrett's name as a fiddle maker in volume 4 of the Foxfire books (Anchor Press, New York. 1977. pp.116-122). Garrett and Norah, who was a fine quilt maker, lived at the head of Pigeon Roost in Mitchell County, NC, far back in the mountains. It had rained heavily for most of the day when I recorded them, but as in all good story books, the sun came out when Garrett began to play (honest!) and their haunting music just rang out across the mountains.

12. The Butcher's Boy (Laws P24, Roud 409)
(Sung and played on the fiddle by Garrett & Norah Arwood at their home in Pigeon Roost, Mitchell County, NC. 21.5.83)

In London city where I did dwell,
The butcher's boy I loved so well.
He courted me my life away
And with me then he would not stay.

There is a strange house in this town,
Where he goes up and sets right down.
He takes another girl on his knee.
He tells her thing he once told me.

I'll have to grieve, I'll tell you why.
Because she has more gold than I.
Her gold will melt and silver fly,
In time of need be as poor as I.

She went upstairs to go to bed,
And nothing to her mother said.
Her momma did seem to say,
'What is the trouble my daughter dear?'

When her father first came home,
'Where is my daughter? Where has she gone?'
He went upstairs, the door he broke.
He found her hanging to a rope.

He took his knife and cut her down,
And in her bosom these words he found.
'A silly girl I am you know,
To hang myself for the butcher's boy.

Must I go bound while he goes free?
Must I love a boy that don't love me?
Alas, alas, it'll never be,
Till oranges grow on apple trees.'

The Butcher's Boy appears to be derived from at least three separate British broadsides, namely Sheffield Park, The Squire's Daughter (also known as The Cruel Father or The Deceived Maid) and A Brisk Young Sailor, which is also sometimes called There is an Alehouse in Yonder Town. Frank Hinchliffe sings a version of Sheffield Park on the Musical Traditions double CD Up in the North and Down in the South (MTCD 311-2), while Jasper Smith can be heard singing a version of A Brisk Young Sailor (titled Died for Love) on the CD Hidden English (Topic TSCD 600). Possibly the only other examples of The Butcher Boy on CD are that by Kelly Harrell of Virginia (Document DOCD 8026) and that from the Virgin Islands by Melcina Smith and Elias Fazer (Root & Branch 1)
----------------

Memory Melodies- Middle TN Folk-Songs- 1947

The Butcher Boy- Mrs. Gilley

[The Butcher's Boy is derived from British broadsides, including Sheffield Park, The Squire's Daughter (also known as The Cruel Father or The Deceived Maid) and A Brisk Young Sailor, which is also sometimes called There Is an Alehouse in Yonder Town.

Frank Proffitt, of Beach Mountain NC, sang this song as "Morning Fair" on his 1962 Folk-Legacy album Traditional Songs and Ballads of Appalachia. It was also released in 1966 as the Topic album North Carolina Songs and Ballads. The booklet commented:

    Not often found in this form, this ballad is widely popular in America as The Butcher Boy, perhaps because it was widely printed in the early songsters. Brown points out that it appeared as a stall ballad in both Boston and New York. Frank learned his splendid variant from his aunt, Nancy Prather. The ballad is usually found with the following as the final couplet:

        And on my breast place a turtle dove
        To show the world that I died for love.

R. Matteson 2014]

THE BUTCHER BOY

In London Town where I did dwell,
A butcher boy I loved so well
He courted me, my life away,
And then with me, he will not stay.

There is a strange house in this town,
My love walks up and sits right down,
He takes another girl on his knee
And tells her things he won't tell me.

It's grief to me, and I'll tell you why;
Because she has, more gold than I,
But, her gold will melt and her silver fly,
I hope some day she'll be poor as I.

She went in home to go to bed,
And nothing to her mother said.
"O daughter, dear, what troubles thee?
You seem so very strange to me."

"O mother, dear, you need not know;
It's worry, trouble, grief and woe.
Get ink and pen, I'll sit me down,
That I may write some words down."

Must I go bound while he goes free,
Must I love a boy that don't love me?
Oh no ! Oh no ! that never must be
Till oranges grow on an apple tree.

When night came on her father came home,
And wondered where from daughter had sons.
He went upstairs, the door he broke,
And found her hanging by a rope.

Ho took his knife and cut her down,
And in her buxom these words he found:
"A silly girl in love know,
To hang myself for the butcher's boy ."

"Go dig my grave both wide and deep,
Place a marble stone at my head and feet,
And on my breast a snow-white dove
To show the world I died for love."

This song was furnished by Mrs. Walter Gilley, Mrs . T. L. Lassiter and Miss Ruby L. Robinson, all of Smithville, Tennessee. The three versions had only minor word differences, are shown below. Mrs. Gilley had "clty" instead of "town" in the first verse, while Mrs. Lassiter had "Charles town," In the third line Mrs. Lassiter had "heart," instead of "life" , and in the fourth line Mrs . Gilley had the present tense of the verb.
In the second verse Mrs Robinson has "girl" instead of "house" in the first line, while Mrs. Gilley has "otlcaiot" instead of "won't tell." ln the last line, the third stanza has the first two lines forgotten -ettt"y, who also has " --
aifx nay fly". Mrs. Robinson be poor aB I . " In the fourth stanza Mrs. Robinson has "0 daughter dear, what makes you sigh?" , and had forgotton the last line . The fifth stanza is omitted in the versions of both Mrs. Gllley and Mrs. Lassiter. Mrs. Gilley has " She went upatalrs and the door she locked, And t,lob herself all in a rope. when her father came home a note he found i - - He went upstairs two steps at a time, The door he broke and found her hanging on a rope." -- []rts somewhat Jumbled paragraph is all she has betlsen the third and eighth stanzas , and she
doos not havo the first two lines of the eighth line. i*"ltor had the first lines of the fifth stanza u;;lii"r she went her bed to make, sttll mourning, for her mother's sake." All three versions agree perfectly in the last stanza.

The tune is practically the same in the three versions, and is written above from the singing of Mrs. Lassiter.

----------------------

Mudcat kaleea Therefore, the poor girl who was wronged will be forced to commit suicide (hang my head on a weepin' willow tree) and is requesting a carved (of wood) dove (representing her purity of heart) be placed upon her breast when she lies in the casket.
-------------
Wally Cox's 1953 version
-------------

There Is a Tavern in the Town
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from There is a Tavern in the Town)

"There Is a Tavern in the Town"
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1934 recording featuring Rudy Vallée
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"There Is a Tavern in the Town" is a traditional folk song first appearing in the 1883 edition of William H. Hill's Student Songs.[1][2] The song was the college anthem of Trinity University College.

It was famously performed by Rudy Vallée as "The Drunkard Song." While recording the last verses of the song, Vallée started to laugh uncontrollably given the corny lyrics. He and his band recorded the song again without laughing, but Victor released both takes in 1934. He also performs the song in the film Sweet Music.

While the song is usually performed up-tempo, a balladic version appeared in "Ripper Street" third season episode "Ashes and Diamonds", arranged for Charlene McKenna as the character Rose Erskine on BBC One and Amazon Prime Instant Video.
--------------

https://archive.org/details/ThereIsATavernInTheTown

. THERE IS A TAVERN IN THE TOWN at The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music. Words and music by F. J. Adams, 1891.

There is a Tavern in the Town
by sung by Fred Feild from historic sheet music, piano is computer generated

Topics F.J. Adams, 19th century, 1890s, gay 90s, popular song, old-time music, piano and vocal

There is a Tavern in the Town
by F.J. Adams, 1891

There is a tavern in the town, in the town
And there my dear love sits him down, sits him down
And drinks his wine 'mid laughter free
And never, never thinks of me

Chorus
Fare thee well, for I must leave thee
Do not let the parting grieve thee
And remember that the best of friends must part, must part
Adieu, adieu, kind friends adieu, adieu, adieu
I can no longer stay with you, stay with you
I'll hang my harp on a weeping willow tree
And may the world go well with thee

He left me for a damsel dark, damsel dark
Each Friday night they used to spark, used to spark
And now my love once true to me
Takes that dark damsel on his knee

Oh! dig my grave both wide and deep, wide and deep
Put tombstones at my head and feet, head and feet
And on my breast carve a turtle dove
To signify I died of love
-------------

Joybell - PM
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 10:24 PM

I did a study,for my own interest, on the "Butcher's Boy" songs. Not the first by a long shot of course. I approached the study as a singer first and scholar second, trusting instinct at times. I came up with about 50 that seemed to be related, but I'm still finding them. There are a great many that are very lovely and I sing about 10 of them. The earliest I found that fitted my criteria was a broadside Ballad called "Arthur's seat shall be my Bed" - from c.1776. Many seem to have related melodies but several are quite distinct. A lot of songs have verses that are floating ones common to many love-story ballads but the critria I came up with (and tried to stick to) were:
1. Young girl falls in love with young man who leaves her pregnant. He often takes another on his knee in the local tavern/alehouse and tells her things he won't tell the deserted maid.
2. She wishes her baby was born and she was dead. The lines "once I wore my apron low" are often used.
3. She plans her burial.
4. She kills herself (usually by hanging and usually leaving a note) I also included some varients where the song ends just before her death.
"Careless Love" seems to fit in too but the tables are turned and the maid plans to shoot her former lover.
I know a lot of this has already been said but I post my thoughts in the hope that they may add something.
----------------

This falls into the 'Died For Love' category of songs.
Very popular among Irish Travellers; we recorded half a dozen different versions including this one (my note included).
Jim Carroll

American ballad scholar George Lyman Kittredge in The Journal of American Folklore, suggested that this is an amalgamation of two songs, "The Cruel Father or Deceived Maid", and "There Is An Alehouse In Yonder Town".    H.M. Belden in his introduction to versions of it collected in Missouri, claimed that this amalgamation "is an American product".   It was certainly found widely in America nearly always set in an American location, often Jersey City.   It was also popular in England under various titles including "Sheffield Park", "A Brisk Young Sailor", and from Dorset "There Were Three Worms". We recorded it from half a dozen singers, three of whom were children or teenagers. Andy Cash gave it to us with the following additional verse remembered later;

The road is long and the sea is deep,
And thinking of you, sure, I won't sleep,
Oh father dear, what a fool were I,
To hang myself for a butcher boy.

Reference
Ballads And Songs (collected by the Missouri Folklore Society); H.M.Belden (ed)
There Is An Alehouse.   (A)   (Laws P25)   (Roud 60)
Rec. from Andy Cash.
^^
THERE IS AN ALEHOUSE

There are an alehouse all in this town,
It's where my love goes there, he do sit down
And he takes a strange girl all on his knee
And he'll tell her things that he won't tell me.

For I do know the reason why,
Is it because the girl have more gold than I.
But her gold my melt and her silver will fly
And she'll see the day she'll be as poor as I.

Then will he know I can wash and wring,
And then will he will know I can guard and sing, (card and spin?)
For I wish to God he took heed of me
And the day I ganged with my misery.

There are two birds on top of a tree,
Oh some say they are blind and they cannot see,
But I wish to God that old bird could see
And then apples grow on a lily tree.

Oh fye, oh fye, that girl she cried,
It's because she have more gold than I,
It's from Willie's company I'm forced to find,
And the want of money it leaves me behind."
---------------------------------------------------

The Lady's Tragedy;
OR,
The Languishing Lamentation of a London Merchant's
Daughter, who dy'd for Love of a Linnen Draper.
To the Tune of The Ring of Gold.
Licensed according to Order.
WHy is my Love unkind?

                                                         why do's he leave me?
Why do's he change his mind,

                                                         and strive to grieve me?
He hath some fair One found,

                                                         this I discover,
And therefore seeks to wound

                                                         his loyal Lover.
I call'd to mind the Vow

                                                         which once he made me:
Can he forget it now,

                                                         and thus degrade me?
Yes like a Wretch he can,

                                                         and flatter many,
There's no belief in Man,

                                                         no not in any.
They Serpent-lke deceive

                                                         young silly Women;
Who can their Oaths believe,

                                                         since it is common
For them to swear and lye

                                                         when they are brewing
The grandest Villany

                                                         to prove our Ruine?
When at my Feet he fell,

                                                         and did implore me,
His Sorrows to expel,

                                                         seem'd to adore me:
I out of meer Good-Will,

                                                         bemoan'd his Ditty;
Kind Hearts must suffer still;

                                                         the more's the pity.
While he sad Sighs did fetch,

                                                         just as if dying,
His Hand to me he'd stretch,

                                                         often replying,
Your Rocky Heart of Stone

                                                         feels no relenting,
Though for your sake alone,

                                                         I lie lamenting.
Down from his melting Eyes

                                                         Tears they were flowing,
As he with feigned Cries

                                                         said, I am going
To the Elizium Shade,

                                                         where Lovers wander,
Whose Lives have been betray'd,

                                                         Hearts rent in sunder.
This said, My Heart did bleed,

                                                         and melt within me;
To him I ran with speed,

                                                         his Words did win me:
Streightway I granted Love,

                                                         and Pledges gave him;
Rather than guilty prove,

                                                         I'd dye to save him.
Thus from his wretched State

                                                         did I restore him;
But O unhappy Fate!

                                                         I fall before him;
In Chains of Love I lye,

                                                         loaden with anguish;
Now let me, let me die,

                                                         why should I languish!
Why did I not, when born,

                                                         my Breath surrender,
Rather than bear the Scorn

                                                         of my Pretender!
The torment which I feel

                                                         this very hour,
Alas! I would conceal,

                                                         but ha'n't the power.
The News to him will go,

                                                         how I lamented;
Which he should never know,

                                                         could I prevent it?
He that could cringe and bow

                                                         first to enjoy me,
Then strive, and study how

                                                         he might destroy me.
Farewell my Parents dear,

                                                         Father, and Mother;
You'll lose your Darling dear,

                                                         though you have no other:
Yet never weep for me,

                                                         since I am going
Where Joys shall ever be

                                                         like Fountains flowing.

Printed for J. Deacon, at the Angel, in Gilt-spur-street.

-------------------------------------------------

one know, [3] I wish I was a blackbird or thrush, Changing my notes from bush to bush, That all the world might plainly see, I lov'd a man that lov'd not me, [4] I wish I was a little fly. That on his bosom I might lie. And all the people fast asleep,

Moreover, although the wordings differ, we see narrative similarities with Sharp's unpublished Virginia version of "Oh, Willie," which shares with "The Isle of Cloy" not only the parents of the lover but also the so-far unique image of the

----------------------------

"The Isle of Cloy" broadside Madden Vol. 8 sheet no. 1194

---------------------------------------------------

‘The Deceased Maiden Lover’, and the tune direction is for ‘Bonny Nell’, which no longer survives. The setting on this record is by Robert Johnson (c1583–1633), also spelled The diseased (sic) Maiden Lover.
-------------
The deceased Maiden Lover, being a pleasant new Court-Song. (The faithless Lover.) 2 pt. J3. E. [London, 1650?]

-------------

Old Ballads, Historical and Narrative, with Some of Modern Date ..., Volume 1

And to her friends I did declare
what dismall fate
had hapt of late Unto this Damsell in despaire. 110
With brinish teares her friends lamented
To heare of her timelesse end,
And every one in griefe consented, 113
And with me along did wend
Unto the place where lay that face, 116
That late, alive, was fresh and faire,
now wanne and pale, 'cause life did fane—
Her life she ended in despaire. 120

When this was told to her false Lover,
He was of his wits bestraught,
And wildly ran the Country over,— 123
Home hee'd by no meanes be brought.

Let this tale, then, warne all young men 126
Unconstancy still to forbeare;
For he betraide this harmelesse Mayde
Unto her death, through grim despaire. 130

Finis. M. P.

London. Printed for H[enry] G[osson].

By Thomas Evans, Robert Harding Evans. 1810

THE DECEASED MAIDEN LOVER.

Being a pleasant new Court~song.”
[From a black letter copy printed for the assigns of Thomas Symcocke.]

As I went forth one summer’s day,
To view the meadows fresh and gay,
A pleasant bower I espied,
Standing hard by a river side,

And in ’t a maiden I heard cry,
Alas there’s none ere lov’d like I.
I couched close to hear her moan,
With many a sigh and heavy groan,

And wisht that I had been the wight,
That might have bred her heart’s delight,
But these were all the words that she
Did still repeat, None loves like me.

Then round the meadows did she walk,
Catching each flower by the stalk,
Such as within the meadows grew,
As dead-man’s thumb and hare-bell blue,

And as she pluckt them, still cried she,
Alas, there’s none ere lov’d like me.
A bed therein she made to lie,
Of fine green things that grew fast by,

Of poplar’s and of willow leaves,
Of sicamore and flaggy sheaves,
And as she plnckt them, still cried she, _
   Alas, there’s none ere lov’d like me. !

The little larkfoot she’d not pass,
Nor yet the flowers of three-leaved grass,
With milkmaids honey-suckle’s phrase,
The crow’s-foot, nor the yellow crayse,
And as ‘she pluckt them, still cried she, ‘
   Alas, there’s none ere lov’d'like me.
The pretty daisy which doth shew

Her love to Phoebus bred her woe,
Who joys to see his chearful face,
And mourns when he is not in place,
Alack, alack, alack, quoth she,

There’s none that ever loves like me.
The flowers of the sweetest scent,
She bound them round with knotted bent,

And as she laid them still in bands,
She wept, she wail’d, and wrung her hands,
Alas, alas, alas, quoth she,
There’s none that ever lov’d like me.

False man (quoth she), ‘forgive thee heaven,
As I do wish my sins forgiven,
In blest Elysium I shall sleep,
When thou with perjured souls shall weep,

Who when they liv’d did like to thee,
That lov’d their loves as thou dost me.
When she had fill’d her apron full,
Of such sweet flowers as she could cull,

The green leaves serv’d her for a bed,
The flowers pillows for her head,
Then down she lay, ne’er more did speak,
Alas with love her heart did break.

THE FAITHLESS LOVER,
(A second part to the preceding.)

When I had seen this virgin’s end,
   I sorrowed as became ‘a friend,
And wept to see that such a maid
Should be by faithless love betray’d,

But woe I fear will come to thee,
That was not in love, as she.
The birds did cease their harmony,
The harmless lambs did seem to cry,

The flowers they did hang their head,
The flower of maidens being dead,
Whose life by death is now set free,
And none did love more dear than she.

The bubbling brooks did seem to moan,
And Echo from the vales did groan,
Diana’s nymphs did ring her knell,
And to their queen the same did tell, ‘

Who vowed by her chastity,
That none should take revenge but she.
When as I saw her corpse was cold,
   I to her lover went, and told

What chance unto this maid befell,
Who said I’m glad she sped so well,
D’ye think that I so fond would be
To love no maid, but only she. _

I was not made for her alone,
   I take delight to hear them moan,
When one is gone I will have more,
That man is rich that hath most store,

I bondage hate, I must live free,
And not be tied to such as she.
0, Sir, remember then (quoth I)
The power of heavcn’s all-seeing eye,

I/Vho doth remember vows forgot,
Though you deny you know it not,
Call you to mind this maiden free,
The which was wrong’d by none but thee.

iQuoth he, I have a love more fair,
   Besides she is her father’s heir,
A bonny lass doth please my mind,
   That unto me is wondrous kind,

Herywill‘I love, and none but she,
Who welcome still shall be to me.
False minded man that so would prove
Disloyal to thy dearest love,

Who at her death for thee did pray,
And wisht thee many happy days,
I would my love but would love me,
E’en half so well as she lov’dthee.

Fair maidens will example take,
Young men will curse thee for her sake,
‘They’ll stop their ears unto our plaints,
And call us devils seeming saints,

They’ll say today that we are kind,
To-morrow in another mind.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kidson- 1895? (1881) [different song]

I am a rover, and that's well known,
I am about for to leave my home;
Leaving my friends and my dear to mourn, *
My bonny lassie till I return.

She drew a chair, and bade me sit down,
And soon she told me her heart I’d won;
She turned her head when I took my leave,
“Farewell, my bonny lass, for me don't grieve.”

I sat me down for to write a song, s
I wrote it wide and I wrote it long;

At every verse I shed a tear,

At every line, I cried, “My dear!”

“O, am I bound or am I free ?
Or am I bound to marry thee?
A married life you soon shall see,
A contented mind is no jealousy.”
As I crossed over Dannamore,"
There I lost sight of my true love's door;
My heart did ache, my eyes went blind,
As I thought of the bonny lass I’d left behind.
“I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain,
I wish that he would return again;
Return, return, he'll return no more,
For he died on the seas where the billows roar.”

* In some copies, “Yon deary moor.”

The second version of the air, which appears to be older in date, has been communicated by Mr. Lolley from another part of Yorkshire.

The first line commences-—

“I am a roamer and that's well known.”

I AM A ROVER.
(Second Persion.)

I am a roam-er, and that's well known; I am a-bout to leave my home; Leaving my friends and my dear to mourn, My bon-ny lass, till I re turn,

-------------------------------------------

Baring-Gould notes this lyric in hsi notebook sung by a navvy on a train journey from Tavistock to yelverton 1897.

"The Queen of Hearts" This song, collected by S. Baring Gould, was first printed in 1905 in the new and revised (i.e. 3rd) edition of Songs of the West (now out of print). It is reprinted here by courtesy of Messrs. Curwen and Sons Ltd. According to a note it was sung by a workman engaged on the Burrow-Tor reservoir at Sheepstor, the water supply for Plymouth, 1894. The melody was by Baring-Gould and was included in Joan Baez's Ballad Book.

The Queen of Hearts

[ Roud 3195 ; Ballad Index FSWB153 ; trad.]

Martin Carthy sang The Queen of Hearts in 1965 on his first album Martin Carthy. He commented in the sleeve notes:

The Queen of Hearts appeared on broadsides and was collected by Baring-Gould from a man working on the Burrow Tor reservoir at Sheepstor near Plymouth. The tune has a definite 17th century flavour and has been dated by some to the reign of Charles II.

Liz Dyer sang Queen of Hearts in 1970 on her Argo album with Dave Goulder, January Man.

Cyril Tawney sang The Queen of Hearts in 1973 on his Argo LP A Mayflower Garland. This track was also included in the same year on the Argo anthology The World of Folk Vol. 2.

Barry Dransfield sang Queen of Hearts in 1996 on his Rhiannon CD Wings of the Sphinx.

The Unthanks sang Queen of Hearts in 2011 on their CD Last and in 2012 on their CD with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, Diversions Vol. 2.

Josienne Clarke sang The Queen of Hearts in 2014 on her and Ben Walker's CD Nothing Can Bring Back the Hour.

Teresa Horgan sang Queen of Hearts in 2015 on her and Matt Griffin's CD Brightest Sky Blue. She commented in their liner notes:

We learned this song from the singing of Martin Carthy, another great English folk singer and guitarist. This song was popularised by Joan Baez in her 1972 compilation of folk material, called The Joan Baez Ballad Book.

Martin Carthy sings The Queen of Hearts

To the queen of hearts he's the ace of sorrow
He's here today but he's gone tomorrow
Young men are plenty but sweethearts few
If my love leave me what shall I do?

Had I the store in yonder mountain
Where gold and silver is had for counting
I would not count for the heart of thee
Mine eyes so full I could not see

My father left me both house and land
And servants many at my command
At my commandment they ne'er shall be
I'll forsake them all and go with thee

To the queen of hearts he's the ace of sorrow
He's here today and he's gone tomorrow
Young men are plenty but sweethearts few
If my love leave me what shall I do?

Notes:
Notes abridged from S. Baring-Gould.

Sung by a workman on the Borrow-Tor reservoir, the water supply for Plymouth, 1894. It has been printed on Broadside by Batchelar, B.M. in vol. vi p110. This version begins--

'O my poor heart, my poor heart is breaking,
For a false young man, or I am mistaking:
He is gone to Ireland, for a long time to tarry,
Some Irish girl I am afraid he will marry.

The ballad has a flavour of of the period of Charles II.

QUEEN OF HEARTS
Cynthia Gooding, Queen of Hearts (Elektra, at a guess?)

To the queen of hearts he's the ace of sorrow
He's here today, he's gone tomorrow
Young men are plenty but sweethearts few
If my love leaves me what shall I do?

Had I the store in yonder mountain
Where gold and silver is there for counting
I could not count for thought of thee
My eyes so full I could not see

I love my father, I love my mother
I love my sister, I love my brother
I love my friends and relatives too
I'll forsake them all and go with you

My father left me both house and land
And servants many at my command
At my commandment they ne'er shall be
I'll forsake them all and go with thee.

To the queen of hearts is the ace of sorrow
He's here today, he's gone tomorrow
Young men are plenty but sweethearts few
If my love leaves me what shall I do?
-----------------------------

The Brisk Young Lad [different song] first published in 1776

There cam a young man tae ma daddie's door
Ma daddie's door, ma daddie's door,
There cam a young man tae ma daddie's door
Come seekin me tae woo-o

Wow, but he was a bonnie young lad,
a brisk young lad an a braw young lad
Wow, but he was a bonnie young lad
come seeking me tae woo-o

I was bakin when he cam, when he cam, o when he cam
I took him in an I gied him a scone, tae thaw his frozen mou-o

I set him in aside the bink, ah gied him breid an ale tae drink
Ne'er a blithe styme wad he blink, until his wame was fu-o

"Gae get ye gaen ye cauldrife wooer, ye soor looking cauldrife wooer!"
I straightway showed him tae the door, sayin, "Come nae mair tae woo-o"

There lay a deuk dub afore the door, afore the door, afore the door
There lay a deuk dub afore the door, an there fell he I trow-o

Oot cam I an I sneered an smiled "Ye've come tae woo and yer aa beguiled
Ye've fa'en in the dirt an yer aa befiled - we'll hae nae mair o you-o!"

-------------------------------------

MOERAN, E.J.: Folksong Arrangements

[18] The Isle of Cloy

It’s of a lady in the Isle of Cloy,
She fell in love with her serving boy.
Soon as her parents came to hear,
They separated her from her dear.

So to disgrace her whole family,
They sent this young man across the sea
On board the Tiger, a man o’war,
To act his part like some gallant tar.

This young man hadn’t long been upon the main
Before a cruel fight began.
It was his sad luck to fall–
He got struck dead by a cannon ball.

The very same night this young man was slain,
Close to her father’s bedside she came.
With heavy sighs and bitter groans,
Close to her father’s bed she stole.

As she stood weeping, scarce could refrain,
The tears rolled down from her eyes like rain.
All weeping sore for her own true love,
She hanged herself from the beam above.

The squire’s servants they stood around–
They viewed this lady and cut her down;
And in her bosom a note unsealed:
A girl of sorrow it revealed.

‘My father is one of the best of men,
But he’s drove me to this disgraceful end.
And of this vain world pray a warning take:
I died a maid for my true love’s sake.’

The Isle of Cloy [Roud 23272 ; trad.]

E.J. Moeran collected The Isle of Cloy in the 1930s in Suffolk from George Hill and Oliver Waspe. A.L. Lloyd sang this song in 1956 on his Tradition album The Foggy Dew and Other Traditional English Love Songs. He commented in the liner notes:

The 18th century was an age of country idyll in England. Science was making fields more fertile, stock more stout than ever before. Stubbs was painting his fat farmers on fat horses. An air of prosperity blew over the acres. And perhaps the labourers began to dream of getting some of the prosperity for themselves, for instance by marrying the squire's daughter. Whatever the reason, the story of the servant boy shanghaied to sea by the sweetheart's rich parents came to be the common theme of 18th century folksong. The Isle of Troy, a song from the east coast of England, offers an unusually dramatic denouement, with the bereft girl hanging from a beam in the cruel father's bedroom.

Lyrics

A.L. Lloyd sings The Isle of Cloy

It's of a young lady in the Isle of Cloy,
She fell in love with her serving boy.
So soon as her parents came to hear,
They separated her from her dear.

So to disgrace her whole family,
They sent this young boy away to sea
On board the Tiger, a man-of-war,
To act his part of a poor sailor.

This young man hadn't long been on the main
Before a cruel fight began.
And it was his sad luck to fall —
He was struck dead by a cannon ball.

The very same night this young man was slain
Close to her father's bedside she came.
All weeping sore for her own true love
She hanged herself from the beam above.

Her father's servants they stood around;
They viewed this lady and they cut her down;
And in her bosom a note unsealed:
A girl of sorrow it revealed.

“My father is one of the best[worst] of men,
But he drove me to this disgraceful end.
Of this vain world pray a warning take:
I died a maid for my true love's sake.”

------------------------

Songs of Love and Country Life

Lucy E. Broadwood, Cecil J. Sharp, Frank Kidson, Clive Carey and A. G. Gilchrist
Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Vol. 5, No. 19 (Jun., 1915), pp. 174-203
Published by: English Folk Dance + Song Society

38.-A BRISK YOUNG SAILOR COURTED ME; or, DIED FOR LOVE.
FIRST VERSION.
Noted by A. G. Gilchrist. SUNG BY MR. JAMES BAYLIFF (CARPENTER, AGED 70),
DORIA N. AT BARBON, WESTMORLAND, JUNE, I909.

1. There is an ale-house in the town,
Where my love goes and sits him down,
And pulls another young girl on his knee,
And isn't that a grief to me?

2 There is an ale-house in the town
Where my love goes and sits him down,
And pulls a strange girl all on his knee-
And isn't that a grief to me ?

3 A grief to me, I'll tell you why,
Because she has more gowld than I;
But the gowld it'll waste and the beauty blast,
And she'll come a poor girl like me at last.

4 I wish my baby it was born,
Set smiling on its nurse's knee.
And I myself was in my grave
And the green grass growing over me.

5 I wish, I wish-but it's all in vain-
I wish I was a maid again;
But a maid again I never must be
Till an apple grows on an orange-tree.

Mr. Bayliff learnt this song from an older fellow-workman while an apprentice at Burton-in-Kendal. I noted the tune to the "ale-house" verse, this being the first to be recalled to his memory. The beautiful old tune appears to me to be of Scottish origin- or at least northern- and to have been originally in a gapped minor mode, without the sixth degree. But greatly modernized forms-like the second version here given-are also found, in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Westmorland- mostly in the major mode, but showing AEolian influence. (Cf. Mr. Bayliff's Dorian tune also with a triple-time variant noted in Lincolnshire, Journal, Vol. iii, p. i88, and English Traditional Songs and Carols.) I also print for comparison what appears to be an early form of the same tune from the Scottish Metrical Psalter of 1635. In this, the first harmonized edition of the Scottish Psalter, the air
is given (as usual in the older psalm-books) to the tenor part. The Rev. Dr. Livingston, who reprinted the 1635 Psalter in I864, with copious " dissertations," failed to trace this tune in any other psalter, French, Genevan, or English. Its source is unknown, and he believes it to be of Scottish origin. [In my note, Journal, Vol. iii, p. I89, I overlooked Dr. Livingston's statement that the tune had previously appeared in the earlier Scottish psalter of I564-5.] A decided feeling after triple time--rare among psalm-tunes of this period-increases its resemblance to the folk-tune under discussion

TUNE TO PSALM LXXX.
[Gapped scale, From the Scottish Psalter, I635.
with Dorian signature, but B missing.] (Tune retained Irom Scottish Psalter of I564-5.)

O Pastor of Israel! like sheep that dost lead
The linage of Joseph, advert and take heed;
That sit - test be-tweene the Che - ru - bims bright
Ap-peare now and shew to us thy great might.

A BRISK YOUNG SAILOR COURTED ME;
or, DIED FOR LOVE.
SECOND VERSION.
Noted bv A. G. Gilchrist. SUNG BY MRS. BOWKER,
Major, but showing Eolian influence. AT SUNDERLAND POINT, LANCASHIRE, JULY, 1909.

A brisk young sai lor court - ed me,
He stole a - way my li - ber - ty,
My li - ber - tv and my free good-will,
I must confess that I love him still.

Mrs. Bowker's words were practically the same as Mr. Bayliff's, except for this variation in the fourth verse:

I wish my baby it was born
And smiling on its father's knee,
And I was laid in yonder churchyard
With green willows growing over me.

And her last line had "while" instead of "till":
While apples grow on a cherry-tree,

"while " being equivalent to " till" in Lancashire. (For instance, one hears " I'll wait while Monday.") Her tune is, I consider, the modern major form of Mr. Bayliff's. It should be compared with Mr. Kidson's fourth Yorkshire version of " My true
love once he courted me," in Traditional Tunes, and with another Lancashire version
in Journal, Vol. i, p. 252.-A. G. G.

DIED FOR LOVE; or, A SAILOR BOLD HE COURTED ME.
THIRD VERSION.
Noted by Lucy Broadwood. SUNG BY MRS. JOINER,
MIXOLYDIAN. AT CHISWELL GREEN, HERTS., SEPT. 9TH 1914.
Very slow.
A sailor bold he court-ed me,
He stole a - way my liberty,
He stole it with a free good will,
He's got it now, and he'll keep it still.
(a)
Variant. ____
FOURTH VERSION.
Noted by Lucy Broadwood. ALTERNATIVE AIR SUNG BY MRS. JOINER,
MIXOLYDIAN. AT CHISWELL GREEN, HERTS., SEPT. 9TI-, I9I4.
2 There is an ale-house in the next town,
Where my love goes and sits himself down;
He takes another girl on his knee,
Pray, don't you think it a grief to me ?

3 A grief to me, I will tell you why:
Because she's got more gold than I;
His gold will melt and his silver will fly,
In time he'll [sic] be as poor as I.

4 I wish my little babe was born,
Sat smiling on her dadda's knee,
And I myself in the bed of clay
With the green grass growing all over me.

5 There is a flower, I've heard folks say,
That's called a hearts ease by night and day,
I wish I could that flower find
Would ease my heart, and cure my mind!

6 Then round the flowery fields she ran,
Gathering fine flowers all as they sprang;
Of every sort she plucked and pulled
Till at length she gather6d her apron full.

7 Then down she fell and no more spoke,
At least they thought her poor heart was broke;
Soon as they found her corpse was cold
They ran to her false love, and told:

8 "Oh, cruel man I know thou art
For breaking of thine own child's heart!
Now she in Abra'm's bosom shall sleep
While thy tormenting soul shall weep !

9 Dig her a grave both wide and deep,
Two marble stones at her head and feet,
And in the middle a turtle-dove
Will show the world round that she died of love.

10 I wish, I wish, but all in vain,
I wish she was a maid again!
No rest for me wherever I be !
I wish I'd died instead of she !

Mrs. Joiner's text, sung to the third and fourth versions, is an especially good one, containing several unusual stanzas. Note, also, that the " flower that would ease my heart by night and day " is called "heartsease" in her version. Fragments of this class of ballad are traceable to fairly old printed sources. In Child's Ballads, Vol. iv, p. I05, reference is made to " 'Arthur's Seat shall be my Bed,' etc., or, 'Love in Despair.' A new song much in request, sung with its own proper tune." This is No. 61 of Laing's Broadside Ballads, and, though not dated, is considered to have been printed towards the end of the seventeenth or beginning of the eighteenth century, probably in Edinburgh. The fifth and tenth verses of " Arthur's Seat, etc.," run as follows:

5 Should I be bound, that may go free ?
Should I love them that loves not me ?
I'le rather travel into Spain,
Where I'le get love for love again.

10 Oh, oh, if my young babe were born
And set upon the nurse's knee,
And I myself were dead and gone !
For a maid again I'le never be.

Both the foregoing stanzas occur repeatedly in our traditional songs. In the
Pepys Collection, Vol. v, p. 2I7, and in the Roxburghe Ballads (Ballad Society's Ed,
Part xix, Vol. vi, p. 79I) is " An excellent New Song, call'd Nelly's Constancy; or
Her Unkind Lover, who, after Contract of Marriage, leaves his first Mistress, for
the sake of a better fortune. To a Pleasant New Tune; or Languishing Swain."
This has twelve verses and is a white-letter broadside printed and sold by Charles
Barnet, circa i686. It begins:

1. I lov'd you dearly, I lov'd you well,
I lov'd you dearly, no Tongue can tell.
You love another, you love not me,
You care not for my company.

2 You love another, I'll tell you why,
Because she has more means than I,
But Means will waste, Love, and Means*; [sic]
In time thou may'st have no more than I.

3 If I had gold, Love, you should have part,
But as I've none, Love, thou hast my Heart;
Thou hast my Heart, Love, and free good will,
And in good truth I love thee still.

The ninth verse is as follows:

9 Although you do another take
And leave your first Love's heart to break,
It pleases me to dye for Love,
And do a faithful Virgin prove.

10 Then my advice is to each Maid,
Be careful lest your Heart's betray'd:
Believe not all young Men do say,
They'll vow they'll Love, yet go their way.

11 Like my dear Love that courted me,
Who's wed another, and gone to Sea,
Yet I a Sailor Boy love still,
And none but such shall gain my will.

Cf. Mrs. Bowker's air (the second version) not only with "There is an Alehouse in this Town," Journal, Vol. i, p. 252, but with " A bold young Farmer," Journal,
* We can supply this hiatus from our traditional versions by adding " will fly."-L. E. B.

Vol. ii, p. I55; "Died for Love," Journal, Vol. ii, p. I58, and " In Jessie's City,"
Journal, Vol. ii, p. I59; also with " A brisk young Sailor courted me " in Mr. George
Butterworth's Folk-Songs from Sussex (Augener, London), and a remotely-con-
nected but especially beautiful variant from Dr. Vaughan Williams' collection, in
Folk-Songs from the Eastern Counties (Novello, London). The airs sung by Mrs.
Joiner (the third and fourth versions) are distinct from the others here given. She
had not sung the song for a long time and confused the Mixolydian tunes at first,
gradually keeping them better apart and for several verses at a time giving each
tune quite separately. However, at times, she startled one thoroughly by singing
F instead of C at the end of the fourth version. The third version is much the same
as " I wish, I wish, but I wish in vain," No. 8ii, in the Complete Petrie Collection.
The fourth version is very much like " A Sailor's Life is a merry one " noted by me
in Surrey, see Journial, Vol. i, p. IOO. Both third and fourth belong to " the Sailing
Trade" type of tune.* There is a curious similarity between some of the airs to
" There is a Tavern in this Town " and certain tunes sung by German peasants to
words beginning " Es stand ein Wirthshaus an dem Rhein." Of this last there
is an unrhythmical example in Engel's Study of National Music, p. I45, and a better
variant in the Neues Wunderhotn (Fischer and Franke, Berlin), where it is called
" Das Wirtshaus an der Lahn." The German words are ironical at the expense of
the " Wirtin," her man-servant and maid, and the soldiers who frequent the inn.
-L. E. B.
Verse six of Mrs. Joiner's text occurs in the old printed ballad " Near Woodstock
Town," another story of unhappy love, supposed to refer to Fair Rosamond. Verses
three and four of this tell the same story of desertion, and pursuit of another maid.
See Chappell's Popular Music for the full text. The late Mr. Hammond noted a
traditional version of " Near Woodstock Town," and also the curious version of
" The Brisk young Sailor " included in this Journal, which begins with a verse about
"Three Worms on yonder Hill." It is possible that the two ballads have become
confused. The Woodstock ballad speaks of the lady chiefly in the third person-
like the later verses of Mrs. Joiner's version.-A. G. G.

* Cf. " I am a Rover," two tunes, in Mr. Kidson's Traditional Tunes
--------------------------

http://digital.nls.uk/chapbooks-printed-in-scotland/pageturner.cfm?id=104184245

THE RAMBLING BOY
WITH THE
A N S W E R.
TO WHICH ARE ADDED,
the Gallant sailor.
The oew way of Admiral BENBOW.
: CYNTHIA’S PERPLEXITY.
GLASGOW,
Frinted by J. & M, ROBERTSON, Saltmarket, 1803

THE RAMBLING BOY.
I Am a rake and a rambling boy.
I’m lately come from Auchnacloy;
A rambling boy although I be,
m forsake them all and go with thee.

My father promis’d me houses and land.
If I would be at his command;
At his command, love, I ne’er will be ;
I’ll forsake them all love and go with thee.

For houses and land they are but a plot,
Houses and land I do value not;
For houses and garden I will provide,
And have my darling down by my side.

Well doth he know I can shape and few,
Well doth he know I can bake and brew,
I can wash his linen and dress them fine.
And yet lie’s gone and left me behind.

O Willie Baillie ye told me lies,
You’d build me castles up to the skies,
And every river should have a brigg,
And every finger a fine gold ring.

O Billy, Billy, I love thee well,
I love thee better than tongue can tell,
I love thee well though I dare not fiiow it,
My dearest dear, let no man know it.

I wish I were a black-bird or thrush,
Singing my notes from bush to bush;
That all the world might plainly fee,
I lov’d a man, and he lov’d not me.

Or was I, but a silly fly.
In my love's bosom then would I lie.
When all the world was fall asleep,
In my love’s bosom then would I creep.

My love he came late In the night,
Seeking for his sweet-heart's delight;
He ran up stairs, the door he broke,
And found his love all in a rope.

Then he went up and cut her down,
And in her bosom a note was found,
Wrote in shininig letters to bright,
Enough a mortal’s heart to break.

“ Go dig my grave both wide and deep,
And cover it with a marble stone;
And in the middle a turtle dove,
To show the world that I dy’d for love.

Tis not for gold that I lie here,
I Nor yet lor jewels, know my dear;
But it is for that sweet Irish boy,
That has caused my sad destiny.

ANSWER TO THE RAMBLING BOY.

A squire’s daughter near Auchnacloy,
Fell in love with a servant boy,
And when her father came to hear,
He separated her from her dear.

Now all for to encrease her pain.
He lent her true love to the main;
To act the part of a gallant tar,
On board the terrible man of war.

He had not been two months at sea,
Before he fell in a bloody fray ;
It was tins young man's lot to fall.
And lose his life by a cannon-ball.

The very night that he was slain,
His Ghost unto her father came,
With dismal groans at the bed side stood,
Neck and breast all besmear'd with blood.

Her father feeing this strange fight,
It very sore did him affright.
It was so dark, and look’d so grim,
It made him tremble in every limb.

That day three weeks his love did hear,
What happ'ned to her dearest dear;
That very night on a beam of oak,
She hung herself in her bed-rope.

Her father hearing of the sad news.
It greatly then did him confuse ;
He wrung his hands and tore his hair.
Crying, Now, alas! I'm in dispair

-------------
Rambling Boy with the Answer [same text as above - different printing]
Greenock: Printed william Scott

I AM a rake and a rambling boy.
I'm lately come from Auchnacloy ;
A rambling boy altho' I be,
I'll forsake them all and go with thee.

-----------

17.- THE ALEHOUSE; or, DIED OF LOVE.
[A BRISK YOUNG LAD HE COURTED ME.]
FIRST VERSION.
SUNG BY MR. HENRY WAY,
Noted by H. E. D. Hammond. AT BRIDPORT UNION, MAY, 1906.

SECOND VERSION.
SUNG BY MRS. TUCK
Noted by H. E. D. Hamsmond. AT BEAMINSTER, JUNF, 1906

Mr. Hammond gives no words for Mr. Way's tune but refers us to the text "There were three worms" (Journal, Vol. v, p. I88). Mrs. Tuck's tune was sung "to the usual words." Compare both tunes with the Lancashire " A brisk young Sailor," Vol. v, p. 183, and the words with "Deep in Love" and "In Yorkshire Park" in this Journal. Copious references for the Many tunes, variants and texts of this very favourite type of song are in Journal, Vol. v, pp. I8I-9. The airs given here are like some sung to "The Outlandish Knight" and are closely allied to the Essex tunes to "Died of Love" and the kindred ballad "In Jessie's City" in Journal, Vol. ii, pp. I58, I59. The latter was noted as "In Yorkshire Park" by Mr. Hammond, to a variant of the same tune, but in five-four time. The same ballad is in Mr. Sharp's Appalachian Collection under the title " The Brisk young Lover," to two Hexatoniic variants of the same tune.-L. E. B.

See my Traditional Tunes (I89I) for four airs to " My true love once he courted me."-F. K.

VARIANT OF FIRST VERSION.
SUNG BY MRS. BOWKER,
Noted by A. G. Gilchrist. AT SUNDERLAND POINT, LANCASHIRE, SEPT., 1909.
[ NOTE.-This was sung to "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter."]

18.-IN YORKSHIRE PARK.
SUNG BY MR. ROBERT BARRATT,
Noted by H. E. D. Hammiiond. AT PUDDLETOWN, IN 1905.
[music]
In Yorkshire Park a man did dwell,
A brisk young lad, I knows him well.
He court ed me, my love to gain;
He's gone, and left me full of pain.

2 I went upstairs and made my bed,
Laid myself down, with nothing said.
My mistress come to me and said
"What is the matter, my pretty maid ?"

3 "O mistress, -mistress, you little know
Of the sorry pains I undergo !
You put your hand on my left breast,"
[Line missing].

4 "Some help, some help for you, fair maid;
Some help, some help for you with speed !"
"No help, no help, no help I crave;
Sweet William has brought me to my grave!"

5 "Then write a letter to your love with speed;
Give him the question if he can read."
As soon as he the letter read
Into the fire he threwed [it] a-speed.

6 "What a silly girl, then, must she be
For to think I love no one but she !
Man was not made for one alone;
Oh, it's my delight to hear her moan!"

7 Green leaves she gathered for her bed
And a feathery pillow for her head;
And the leaves that blow from tree to tree.
Shall be the covering over she.

See the notes to " The Alehouse, or Died of Love " in this Journal, for references to "In Jessie's City," etc. This Dorset set of words has some original features, and a poetical final verse. Mr. Hammond met with a good many variants of the tune in
five-four time.-L. E. B.

George Butterworth's Folk Music Manuscripts
Michael Dawney
Folk Music Journal
Vol. 3, No. 2 (1976), pp. 99-113

Noted by Francis Jekyll Sung by Mr. Ford, Scaynes Hill, Sussex, 1908.
[music]
A brisk young sailor courted me,
He stole away my liberty,
He won my heart with a free good will,
He's false, I know, but I love him still.

A brisk young sailor courted me (Died for Love) IV, 193-5; VIa, 20; VIIb, 47; XII, 1. Original pitch E: copy submitted to the Journal (with annotations by the Editing Committee which are excluded from the present copy). The song was printed in Folk Songs from Sussex, 7.

-----------

This exact version collected by Sharp also appears in Lomax, American Ballads and Folk Songs, pp 149-150.

In Silber & Silber, Folksinger's Wordbook page 180, the lyrics are the same except for one word omitted in the third-last verse: "He'd follow me through sleet and snow." The Fireside Book of Folk Songs (page 120) is the same as Silber & Silber, with slight differences in the melody.

Several (including by The Weavers) give the title and first line as "Every night when the sun goes down"

It's a Leroy Carr song. My copy of the old Leadbelly Songbook on Oak, which has it, is temporarily misplaced, but here's a link to the original record by Carr. His lyrics are similar to the ones Huddie did, but his voice is much cleaner and clearer.

IN THE EVENING
(Leroy Carr)

In the evenin', in the evenin', baby when the sun goes down
In the evenin', in the evenin', baby when the sun goes down
Ain't it lonesome, ain't it lonesome, when your lover can't be found.
When the sun goes down.

Last night I lay a-sleepin', thinkin' to myself
Last night I lay a-sleepin', thinkin' to myself
Well I thought she loved me, found she loved somebody else
When the sun went down

Well the sun rises in the east, sets down in the west
Well the sun rises in the east, sets down in the west
Lord, ain't it hard to tell. Hard to tell which one will treat you the best
When the sun goes down.

[When the party's all over, baby, an' all the liquor's gone dry,
A man gets to thinkin', a man is born to die
In the evenin', in the evenin, baby when the sun goes down
When the sun goes down.]*

Goodbye my sweet and lovin' baby, you know I'm goin' away
Be back to see you, some old rainy day.
Well, in the evenin', in the evenin, baby when the sun goes down
When the sun goes down.

*verse sung by Joe Williams, not in Carr's original. RG

IN THE EVENING
(Leroy Carr)

In the evenin', in the evenin', baby when the sun goes down
In the evenin', in the evenin', baby when the sun goes down
Ain't it lonesome, ain't it lonesome, when your lover can't be found.
When the sun goes down.

Last night I lay a-sleepin', thinkin' to myself
Last night I lay a-sleepin', thinkin' to myself
Well I thought she loved me, found she loved somebody else
When the sun went down

Well the sun rises in the east, sets down in the west
Well the sun rises in the east, sets down in the west
Lord, ain't it hard to tell. Hard to tell which one will treat you the best
When the sun goes down.

[When the party's all over, baby, an' all the liquor's gone dry,
A man gets to thinkin', a man is born to die
In the evenin', in the evenin, baby when the sun goes down
When the sun goes down.]*

Goodbye my sweet and lovin' baby, you know I'm goin' away
Be back to see you, some old rainy day.
Well, in the evenin', in the evenin, baby when the sun goes down
When the sun goes down.

*verse sung by Joe Williams, not in Carr's original. RG

Here are the published Leroy Carr lyrics:

1:
In the evenng in the evening
Baby when the sun goes down
In the evning in the evening
Baby when the sun goes down
Oh aint it lonesome aint it lonesome
When your lover cant be found
When the sun goes down

2:
Last night I lay a-sleeping
Thinking to myself
Last night I lay a-sleeping
Thinking to myself
Well I thought she loved me
Found she loved somebody else
When the sun went down

3:
Well the sun rises in the east
Sets down in the west
Well the sun rises in the east
Sets down in the west
Lord aint it hard to tell hard to tell
Which one will treat you the best
When the sun goes down

4:
Goodbye my sweet and loving baby
You know I'm going away
Be back to see you
Some old rainy day
Well in the evening in the evening
When that ruby sun goes down
When the sun goes down
-------------

Here's my transcription of the sound file at the Juneberry78s web site. It's a bit different from the lyrics posted above. (Thanks, 12-stringer, for the link. I have bookmarked it for later exploration.) The wording of verse 2, line 3 is awkward. I'm guessing Carr made a false start and then recovered from it.

WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN
As recorded by Leroy Carr

1. In the ev'ning, in the ev'ning, Mama, when the sun goes down,
In the ev'ning, Baby, when the sun goes down,
Well, ain't it lonesome, ain't it lonesome, Babe, when your lover's not around,
When the sun goes down?

2. Last night I laid a-sleeping. I was thinking to myself.
Last night I laid a-sleeping. I was thinking to myself.
Well, one o' the thing(s) that how the one that you love will mistreat you for someone else,
When the sun goes down.

3. The sun rises in the east, an' it sets up in the west.
The sun rises in the east, Mama, an' it sets in the west.
Well, it's hard to tell, hard to tell, which one will treat you the best
When the sun goes down.

4. [Scat verse] Yea, ah, hoo, wee, etc.

5. Goodbye, old sweethearts and pals. Yes, I'm going away,
But I may be back to see you again some ol' rainy day.
Well, in the evening, in the evening, Babe, when the sun goes down,
When the sun goes down.

[The The Online Discographical Project lists two record releases of this song by Leroy Carr. Apparently they are the same recording released on different labels: Montgomery Ward #4826, and Bluebird #5877, both recorded on Feb 25, 1935.]

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

RN1716

Colour of Amber, The
DESCRIPTION: "The colour of amber was my true love's hair." "Many a time [his lips] they've been pressed to mine. I'd fish and catch him "with a line and hook" and never part. It's in vain. I'll never be a maid again.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1974 (recording, Mary Ann Haynes)
KEYWORDS: courting love betrayal hair floatingverses nonballad fishing lyric
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
Roud #1716
RECORDINGS:
Mary Ann Haynes, "The Colour of Amber" (on Voice11)
NOTES: "The Colour of Amber" is the reverse of "Black Is the Color" with the usual floating verse from the woman's point of view. It is tempting to lump this with, say, "Fair and Tender Ladies," but the amber and fishing verses make it stand aside for me. Yates, Musical Traditions site Voice of the People suite "Notes - Volume 11" - 11.9.02, refers to John Ashton's Real Sailor Songs "The Sailor Boy" [Ashton/Sailor *63] as another version; that does have the amber verse but is a version of "The Sailor Boy"(I) [Laws K12]. "Fair and Tender Ladies" would be a closer match than that. - BS

Part of the Soldier Boy/Sweet William family

The Colour of Amber- Mary Ann Haynes

Oh, the colour of amber was my love's hair,
And his two blue eyes they enticed me,
And his ruby lips, they being soft and fine,
Oh, many a time they've been pressed to mine.


Oh, I'll go a-fishing in yonder's brook
There I'll catch my love with a line and a hook,
And if he loves me, oh, like I love him,
No man on earth shall part us two.


Now, I wish, I wish, now this is all in vain.
Oh, I wish to God I was a maiden again.
Oh, a maid again I shall never more be,
Whilst apples growed on a orange tree.

The Colour of Amber

[ Roud 1716 ; Ballad Index RcColAmb ; trad.]

Mary Ann Haines sang The Colour of Amber in a recording made by Mike Yates in her home in Brighton, Sussex on July 7, 1974. This was included in 1976 on the Topic anthology Green Grow the Laurels: Country Singers from the South and in 1998 on My Father's the King of the Gypsies (The Voice of the People series, Volume 11).

The English Acoustic Collective sang The Colour of Amber in 2004 on their CD Ghosts, and this track was included in 2009 on Chris Wood's anthology Albion.

Sylvia Barnes sang The Colour of Amber as the title track of her 2007 Greentrax album The Colour of Amber. She commented in her liner notes:

    I learned this from the excellent Voice of the People collection from a recording of traveller Mary Ann Haynes who was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in 1903. She settled in Brighton, Sussex, where nearly a hundred songs were collected from her in the 1970's, almost certainly learned within the close-knit traveller community.

    The recording has only three verses, but shows some textual similarities to a number of songs already in my repertoire. I borrowed some floating verses for my version.

The Colour of Amber
Roud Folksong Index (S382847)
First Line: Oh the colour of amber is my love's hair
Source: Brian Matthews Collection ('Woody' tape)
Performer: Porter, Bill
Date: 1961c
Place: England : Sussex
Collector: Matthews, Brian

The Colour of Amber
Roud Folksong Index (S382848)
First Line: Oh the colour of amber was my love's hair
Source: Brian Matthews Collection ('Woody' tape)
Performer: Porter, Sarah
Date: 1961c
Place: England : Sussex
Collector: Matthews, Brian
Roud No: 1716

The Colour of Amber is My Love's Hair
Roud Folksong Index (S390046)
First Line: O the colour of amber is my love's hair
Source: Memorial University Folklore Archive (MUNFLA) (St. John's, Newfoundland) acc. 78-274 / tape C4368B / counter 149 / MS p.71-2
Performer: Burke, Steve
Date: 1977 (28 Jul)
Place: Canada : Newfoundland : St. Mary's
Collector: Burke, Anne
Roud No: 1716
Subjects: The narrator loved a woman whose hair was the colour of amber. He embraced and kissed her, and promised to marry her. He sailed to London and wrote to her often. She married another, and so he will sail the seas for the rest of his life.
-----

The Colour Of Amber (MacEdward Leach)

Oh, the colour of amber is my love's hair,
And her rosy cheeks do my heart ensnare;
Her ruby lips so meek and mild,
Ofttimes have pressed them to those of mine.

As I sailed down the London Shore,
Where the loud cannon balls they roar,
In the midst of danger ofttimes I've been,
Ofttimes I have thought on you, Mary Green.

As I sailed down the London Shore,
I kept writing letters o'er and o'er;
I kept writing letters to you, my dear,
Out of all of them I received but one.

If you wrote letters back to this town,
Out of all of them I received but one;
You're false, oh, false love is none of mine,
Don't speak so hard of a sailmaker.

Straightway I went to her father's house,
And it's on this fair maid I did call;
Her father spoke me this reply,
Sayin', daughter dear, don't you love the boy.

I asked this father what he did mean,
Or would his daughter married be,
To some other young man to be a wife,
For I will go farther and take a life.

Now since my love has a man received,
A single life I will still remain;
I will plough the seas till the day I die,
I will split the waves till 'neath them I lie.
####.... Author unknown. Traditional British ballad ....####

Collected in 1951 from Nicholas (Nick) Davis [1914-?] of St Shott's, NL, and published in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).
---------------------------

Folksongs of the Maritimes: From the Collections of Helen Creighton ...
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0887802001
Kaye Pottie, ‎Vernon Ellis, ‎Kathy Kaulbach - 1992 - ‎Preview - ‎More editions
1 I wish and I wish and I wish in vain, 2 I dyed my petticoat, I dyed it red, I wish I was a young maid again, And around the world I begged my A young maid again I never shall be, bread, 'Till apples grow on an orange tree. Friends and relations .

-------------------------------------------------

I Love You, Jamie
DESCRIPTION: The singer says she loves Jamie better than he loves her. She was foolish to fall in love with an Irish boy who "spoke braw Scotch, when he courted me." He said only death would part them and showed her "the hoose that we will dwell"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1911 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad love
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #175, pp. 1-2, "The Foolish Young Girl"; Greig #177, p. 3, ("I love you Jamie, I love you well") (1 text plus 1 fragment)
GreigDuncan6 1168, "I Love You, Jamie" (2 texts)
Roud #60
NOTES: Both GreigDuncan6 texts are from Greig. The text of GreigDuncan6 1168A is three verses of Greig #175, omitting the verses that float from "Tavern in the Town." The text of GreigDuncan6 1168B from Greig #177 is a fragment of the first verse of "The Foolish Young Girl." - BS

--------
I love with a heart that's kind,
I love you with a tender mind,
I love you much—I love you well,
I love you more than tongue can tell,
And though I write with pen and ink,
I love you more than you can think,
And when you think and love like me,
A happy couple we shall be."

Bye-gones, Relating to Wales and the Border Counties, 1894

----------------------

Irish Boy- Mr. Thompson (Aber) 1908 Grieg

[My title, replacing "I Wish, I wish". A hybrid song From The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection- Volume 8- page 521 by Patrick N. Shuldham-Shaw, ‎Emily B. Lyle, published 2002. This has the chorus of Foolish Young Girl or, Irish Boy. The verses are "I Love You, Jamie."

See also "Young Foolish Girl" sung by Willie Mathieson, School of Scottish Studies recording, 1952.

R. Matteson 2017]

"Irish Boy" sung by Mr. Thompson, 1908 Grieg

1. I love you Jamie, I love you well,
I love you more than tongue can tell,
I love you better than you loved me,
My darling Jamie ye're dear tae me.

CHORUS: For a foolish young girl was I, I, I,
To fall in love for an Irish boy
An Irish boy O gin he be,
He spoke braw Scotch when he courted me.

[the two other verses not applicable to this study]

--------------------------------

She is best known for two albums: The Colour Of Amber, a collaboration with Pamela Morgan, was released in 1993.

The Colour of Amber
View Description


    There is no file associated with this item.

Description
Title     The Colour of Amber
Given Title     The Colour of Amber
First Line     O the colour of amber is my love's hair
Plot Summary     The narrator's lover is beautiful - amber hair, rosey cheeks, and ruby lips. She swore to marry him, but Mary Green proved untrue.
Number of Stanzas     4
Accession Number     78-274
Tape Number     C4373A
Tape Counter Number     057
Place of Recording     St. Mary's
Region     St. Mary's Bay
Date of Recording     770717
Informant     Walsh, Lon
Collector     Burke, Anne
Indexer     Bold, Valentina
Date Indexed     07/12/1990?
First Stanza     O the colour of amber is my love's hair, And her rosey cheeks do my heart ensnare, And her ruby lips are so meek and mild, Oft times she pressed them to those of mine
Collection     Memorial University Folklore Archive Song Title Index
Source     4 volume paper index of song recordings held in the MUNFLA Archives. The index was compiled by the Memorial University Folklore Archives; and the digital database created by the Research Centre for Music, Media and Place.
Sponsor     Department of Folklore
Rights     All Rights Reserved

----------

Description
Title     The Colour of Amber
Given Title     The Colour of Amber is My Love's Hair
First Line     O the colour of amber is my love's hair
Plot Summary     The narrator loved a woman whose hair was the colour of amber. He embraced and kissed her, and promised to marry her. He sailed to London and wrote to her often. She married another, and so he will sail the seas for the rest of his life.
Number of Stanzas     5
Accession Number     78-274
Tape Number     C4368B
Tape Counter Number     149
Place of Recording     St. Mary's
Region     St. Mary's Bay
Date of Recording     770728
Informant     Burke, Steve
Collector     Burke, Anne
Indexer     Bold, Valentina
Date Indexed     04/25/1990
First Stanza     O the colour of amber is my love's hair, And her rosey cheeks do my heart ensnare, Her ruby lips so meek and mild, Oft times I pressed them to those of mine
Collection     Memorial University Folklore Archive Song Title Index
Source     4 volume paper index of song recordings held in the MUNFLA Archives. The index was compiled by the Memorial University Folklore Archives; and the digital database created by the Research Centre for Music, Media and Place.
----------------------

She Died In Love (Kenneth Peacock) Walters version
A variant was also collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1959 from Mrs Thomas (Annie) Walters [1896-1986] of Rocky Harbour, NL, and published as She Died In Love in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.705-706, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved

There is an ale-house in this town
Where my love goes in and sits himself down,
He takes some strange girl on his knee,
And don't you think it's a grief to me.

A grief to me and I'll tell you why,
Because she has more gold than I,
But her gold will waste and silver fly,
There's a time she'll have no more than I.

When I carried my apron low,
My love followed me through frost and snow,
But now my apron is to my chin,
My love passes by and won't call in.

Down in yon meadow I hear people say,
There grows a flower so costly and gay,
If I could chance one of them to find
'Twould cure my heart and ease my mind.

Down in the valley this fair one did go,
Picking those flowers so fast as they'd grow,
Some she plucked and more she pulled,
Until she gathered her apron full.

She carried them home and she made a bed,
A stony pillow for her head,
She laid herself down and never more spoke
Because, poor girl, her heart was broke.

When she was dead and her corpse was cold
This sad news to her true love was told,
"I'm sorry for her, poor girl," said he,
"How could she be so fond of me?"

Dig her a grave wide, long, and deep,
A tombstone at her head and feet,
And on her breast lay a turtle dove
So the world may know that she died in love.

-------------

There is an ale-house in this town
Where my love goes in and sits himself down,
He takes some strange girl on his knee,
And don't you think it's a grief to me.

A grief to me and I'll tell you why,
Because she has more gold than I,
But her gold will waste and silver fly,
There's a time she'll have no more than I.

When I carried my apron low,
My love followed me through frost and snow,
But now my apron is to my chin,
My love passes by and won't call in.

Down in yon meadow I hear people say,
There grows a flower so costly and gay,
If I could chance one of them to find
'Twould cure my heart and ease my mind.

Down in the valley this fair one did go,
Picking those flowers so fast as they'd grow,
Some she plucked and more she pulled,
Until she gathered her apron full.

She carried them home and she made a bed,
A stony pillow for her head,
She laid herself down and never more spoke
Because, poor girl, her heart was broke.

When she was dead and her corpse was cold
This sad news to her true love was told,
"I'm sorry for her, poor girl," said he,
"How could she be so fond of me?"

Dig her a grave wide, long, and deep,
A tombstone at her head and feet,
And on her breast lay a turtle dove
So the world may know that she died in love.

####.... Variant of a British broadside ballad, authored by W H Hills, The Butcher Boy, published in a songbook by R March and Company (London) sometime between 1877 and 1884, and archived at the Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, shelfmark: Firth B.18(72) View 7 of 8 ....####
Collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1959 from Mrs Thomas (Anastasia Ryan) Ghaney [1883-1959] of Fermeuse, NL, and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.705-706, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.

-------------

The Butcher Boy (Kenneth Peacock) MIDI
See also: The Butcher Boy (Ryan's Fancy)
And also: Butcher Boy (Sons of Erin)
And also: She Died In Love (Kenneth Peacock)
midi1 alt: midi2

In Jersey city where I did dwell,
A butcher boy I loved so well;
He courted me my heart away,
And now with me he will not stay.

There is a girl all in this town,
Where my love goes and sits right down;
He takes a strange girl upon his knee,
And he tells to her what he don't tell me.

A grief to me, I'll tell you why,
Because she has more gold than I;
Her gold will waste and her silver fly,
In times of need, she'll be as poor as I.

Go and get a chair and sit me down,
And pen and ink for to write it down;
On every line, she dropped a tear,
On every verse crying, "Willie dear!"

He went upstairs and the door he broke,
He found her hanging all from a rope;
He took his knife and cut her down,
And in her bosom those lines were found:

"Oh, what a silly girl am I,
To hang myself for a butcher boy."
And on her breast those lines were found,
To show the world that she died for love.
####.... Author unknown. Variant of a 19th-century British broadside ballad, The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] American Balladry From British Broadsides (G Malcolm Laws, 1957). Also a variant of the broadside ballad, The Butcher Boy, published by H De Marsan (New York, NY) circa 1860, and archived at the Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, shelfmark: Harding B 18(72) ....####
Collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1959 from Mrs Wallace (Amelia J) Kinslow [1903-1985] of Isle aux Morts, NL, and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.707-708, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.

-------------------------------------------------

Recentering Anglo/American Folksong: Sea Crabs and Wicked Youths
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1604732547
Roger Dev Renwick - 2009 - ‎Preview - ‎More editions
(Combs 1969: 184-5) Traditional singer Justus Begley devoted an extra lyric stanza to describing the wife, one that's also a typical lover's panegyric (compare Sharp 1932:2: 31): Oh my pretty little miss sixteen years old Her hair just as yeller as the shining gold The prettiest face and the sweetest hands Bless the ground on where she stands.

Ritchie- (Rambling Boy)
We called it the “Poor and Rambling Boy.” The language is much more down-to-earth and easy to understand, an

Wild and Wicked Youth, The [Laws L12]
DESCRIPTION: The singer recounts his (boyhood and) life, telling of his many daring robberies. Now, alas, he is condemned to die, and must leave his family. He concludes with directions for his funeral
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(2054))
KEYWORDS: outlaw farewell execution robbery trial funeral youth
FOUND IN: US(Ap,Ro,SE,So,SW) Britain(England(Lond,South),Scotland) Ireland Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (30 citations):
Laws L12, "The Rambling Boy (Wild and Wicked Youth)"
OShaughnessy-Yellowbelly2 46, "The Sheffield Highwayman" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan2 260, "The Roving Blade" (3 texts)
Belden, pp. 136-137, "The Rambling Boy" (1 text)
Randolph 148, "The Rambling Boy" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Bronner-Eskin1 12, "Roving Rambling Boy"; "The Roving Blade" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Lomax-Singing, pp. 314-315, "The Reek and the Rambling Blade" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 101, "The Rambling Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-100E 83, "The Robber" (1 text, 1 tune)
Reeves-Sharp 78, "The Rambling Boy" (2 texts)
Reeves-Circle 65, "The Highwayman" (2 texts)
Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 352, "Down in Covent Garden" (1 text)
RoudBishop #146, "The Wild and Wicked Youth" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, pp. 63-64, "The Rich Rambler" (1 text)
Cambiaire, pp. 43-44, "The Wretched Rambling Boy" (1 text)
Ritchie-Southern, pp. 91-92, "The Reckless and Rambling Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 90, pp. 184-185, "The Rich and Rambling Boy" (1 text)
Hubbard, #140, "In Steven's Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 121, "The Rambing Boy" (1 text)
BrownSchinhanIV 120, "The Rambling Boy" (4 excerpts, 4 tunes)
Sulzer, p. 19, "Rich and Rambling Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 96, "The Ramblin' Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Ontario 16, "A Bold and Undaunted Youth" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 326, "Newlyn Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 35, "The Newry Highwayman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann p. 96, "The Bold and Undaunted Youth" (1 text fragment)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 130-131, "The Rambling Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thorp/Fife XIII, pp. 148-190 (29-30), "Cow Boy's Lament" (22 texts, 7 tunes, the "L" text being in fact a version of this piece)
DT 423, (RAKERAMB*)
ADDITIONAL: Roger deV. Renwick, _Recentering Anglo/American Folksong: Sea Crabs and Wicked Youths_, University Press of Mississippi, 2001, chapter 2, "From Newry Town to Columbus City: A Robber's Journey," pp. 25-58 (3 full texts: "Wild and WIcked Youth, pp. 28-29; "Newlyn Town, pp. 29-30; "The Rambling Boy," pp. 31-32, plus extensive discussion)
Roud #490
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "The Bold and Undaunted Youth (The Rambling Boy)" (on Abbott1)
Clarence Ashley & Tex Isley, "Rude and Rambling Man" (on Ashley01)
Justus Begley, "The Roving Boy" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)
Jumbo Brightwell, "Newry Town" (on Voice03)
Carter Family, "The Rambling Boy" (Bluebird B-8990, 1941/Bluebird 33-0512, 1944)
Wade Mainer, "Ramblin' Boy" (Bluebird 33-0512, 1944)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Rambling Boy" (on NLCR05)
Riley Puckett, "Ramblin' Boy" (Columbia 15605-D, 1930)
Bob Scarce, "Newlyn Town" (on FSB7)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(2054), "The Wild and Wicked Youth," T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Firth c.17(208), Harding B 11(576), Harding B 15(376a), Harding B 11(939), Firth c.17(6), Harding B 16(307a), Harding B 11(4205), Harding B 11(4211), Harding B 11(4212), Firth b.34(314), Harding B 11(3519A), Firth c.17(7), 2806 c.16(325), Harding B 17(338a), Harding B 20(117), Harding B 17(337b), "The Wild and Wicked Youth"; Harding B 28(235), "The Highway Man's Fate"; Harding B 26(67), "The Bold and Undaunted Youth" ("In Stephen's-green I was bred and born"), J. Moore (Belfast), 1852-1868
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Salisbury Plain" (theme)
cf. "It's Down in Old Ireland" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Rake and Rambling Boy
Adieu Adieu
The Flash Lad
NOTES: The Bodleian "The Wild and Wicked Youth" broadsides, and OLochlainn-More 35, include a version of the lines
"I robbed Lord Mansfield I do declare, ...
Lord Fielding's gang they did me pursue And taken I was, by that cursed crew."
The Bodleian notes to 2806 c.16(325) include references to the cast of characters: "Fielding, John, Sir, d. 1780; Mansfield, W.R., Baron Sandhurst, 1819-1876"
Broadside Bodleian Harding B 26(67) is another example of the "I robbed Lord Mansfield I do declare" group. Zimmermann's fragment seems to be from this version. In this case he falls in with "Fieldskin gang." - BS
Given the date of the song, I would think the Mansfield involved more likely to be William Murray, first Earl of Mansfield (1706-1793), who was Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1756. This has at least sometimes been corrupted to Lord Melbourne, presumably William Lamb, second Viscount Melbourne (1779-1848), the Prime Minister (on and off) from 1834 to 1841. But Mansfield is closer to the Era of the Highwaymen -- and, as Chief Justice, someone they would doubtless enjoy taking.
Fielding in fact might refer to John Fielding or his brother Henry, the author (died 1755). Henry Fielding was driven by poverty to take a post as Commissioner of the Peace for Middlesex in 1748. John Fielding, despite being blind, succeeded him in 1754 -- and dramatically improved law enforcement, though he didn't have the funding to carry out all his reforms. Still, he did enough that life became much harder for the highwaymen.
"Fielding's Gang" is presumably the Bow Street Patrol, founded by the Fieldings as the first almost-national police force in England.
Renwick, pp. 27-28, notes that he has seen 24 broadsides from twelve different printers, from throughout the British Isles and even New Entland, and all nineteenth century, but suggests that they must be much like the eighteenth century versions of the song because they are all so alike. The obvious problem with this hypothesis is that it ignores the possibility of the printers all borrowing from each other.
Renwick, p. 31, suggests further that someone, probably in the late nineteenth century under the influence of "blues ballads," reworked the song to become the type known as "The Rambling Boy," although the result is still close enough to the original to be considered one song. Renwick, p. 54, also suggests a gender difference in how singers felt about the two recensions; 24 of 28 "Wild and Wicked Youth" versions came from men, compared to "just" 10 of 19 "Rambing Boy" versions. In both cases, however, the majority of versions came from men; in the absence of data about the general population of source used by collectors, I doubt this is a statistically significant difference.
Renwick, p. 56, also notes the curious fact that in the versions found in America, the so-called land of liberty, the word "liberty" is rarely used; that is characteristic of the original British version. - RBW
Reeves-Sharp ends "Get six pretty maidens to bear up my pall Give them white gloves and white ribbons all That they may say when they speak the truth There's gone a wild and wicked youth," which Reeves-Sharp compares to "The Streets of Laredo" and a Sharp ms version of "Tarpaulin Jacket": "...Let six jolly fellows all carry me And let them be terrible drunk." The Bodleian broadside Harding B 25(2054) funeral instructions include "Six highwaymen to carry me, Give them broad swords and liberty. Six blooming girls to bear my pall ...." As for "Wrap Me Up in My Tarpaulin Jacket," the Bodleian broadside Harding B 25(1594) has "Let six bold sailors to carry me And let them be all very drunk ...." The parallel with the "Streets of Laredo" -- "Let sixteen gamblers come handle my coffin Let sixteen cowboys come sing me a song" -- and others in that family ("x Cut Down in His/Her Prime"), sets the outline for floating funeral instructions. Are they found in other songs?
In answer to a Ballad-L query Norm Cohen pointed me to an article that discusses the "x Cut Down ..." family and its funeral instructions in particular. The article cites a number of songs already in the index, including Sharp-100E "The Robber" in REFERENCES here, and a number of songs not yet in the index: "My Jewel, My Joy" from P.W. Joyce's Old Irish Folk Music and Songs, "I Once Was a Carman in the Big Mountain Con" from a Wayland D Hand Western Folklore article, and "The Wild Lumberjack" from George Korson's Pennsylvania Songs and Legends (source: Kenneth Lodewick, "'The Unfortunate Rake' and His Descendants" in Western Folklore, Vol. XIV, No. 2 (Apr 1955 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 98-109). - BS
The "Ramblin' Boy" versions of this song shouldn't be confused with the Tom Paxton song, "My Ramblin' Boy." - PJS

-----------------------

Other Texts-cox, No. 345, p. $a.. / Dunstan, p. F,under the title of "Betsey
Watson" prints a song which, trro"gh unrelated a "1"rr.y City,,, *f.., use in its third stanza of the following:

There is a house in our town
Where my love goes, and sits him down,
And takes another girl on his knee;
Oh! don't you think its grief to me!

Flanders and Brown, p. 115. / Henry (b), No. 19. / Henry (c), p. 195" / Hudson, p. 160 / Kidson i:d yotra. ("), p. 10.'/ Kidson ""d Motr;;?uj,i, 28, where
the 6rst stanza differs from th. *trnl version. f k n ^ia, r1lzg, p. 43" / Scar_
borough, p. z\z.l Spaeth ("), p. 94, and,in (b), p. rz8. / Stout, p. 37.

I3I

Yes! Betsy Watson is my name. Source: Dunstan, Cornish Dialect and Folk Songs (1932) p.42.

Vaughan Williams Memorial Library :: Roud Folksong Index S369121 ...

The Effects of Love broadside title
Roud id: 1493

www.vwml.org/record/RoudFS/S369121
Betsy Watson. Roud Folksong Index (S369121). First Line: Young lovers all I pray draw near. Source: A Collection of Broadsides Printed in Cornwall

Provenance

Printed all over England throughout the nineteenth century by all the well-known broadside printers, and even latterly by Sanderson of Edinburgh, it is strange that what appears to be the seminal version by C Mate of Dover was printed so far from where the event is alleged to have happened. The Mate broadside (Madden Collection 22 [Country Printers 7] VWML microfilm 89, item 231), probably printed just after the event, is the only one to give background details to the event. Under the title is printed the following account:

‘Being a copy of verses found on the Humber Banks, near Hull. Inclosed in a letter to have been wrote by Miss W a young Lady of Hull, who drowned herself in the river Humber on Tuesday Night the 17th of December 1812 for the love of W. F. a shopkeeper by whom she was with Child, directed by her to be Published as a warning to all young Girls.’

1
Young lovers all I pray draw near,
Sad shocking news you soon shall hear,
And when that you the same are told,
It will make your very blood run cold,
Miss B. W. is my name,
I have brought myself to grief and shame,
By loveing him that loves not me,
With sorrow now I plainly see.

2
Mark well these words that will be said,
By W. F. I was betrayd,
By his false tongue I was beguil’d,
At length by him I was with child,
At rest with him I ne’er could be,
Until he had his will of me,
To his fond tales I did give way,
And did from paths of virtue stray.

3
My grief is more than I can bear,
I’m disregarded every where,
Like a blooming flower I am cut down,
And on me now my love does frown,
Of the false oathes he’s sworn to me,
That I his lawful wife should be,
May I never prosper night nor day,
If I deceive you he would say.

4
But now the day is past and gone,
That he had fixed to be married on,
He scarcely speaks when we do meet,
And strives to shun me in the street,
I did propose on Sunday night,
To walk once more with my hearts delight.
On the Humber banks where billows roar,
We parted there to meet no more.

5
Since he is false a watery grave,
I have this night resolved to have,
I’ll plunge myself into the deep,
And leave my friends behind to weep,
His word it was pledged to me,
He ne’r will prosper nor happy be,
My Ghost and my Infant dear,
Both shall haunt him every where.

6
Dear Dear William, when this you see,
Remember how you slighted me,
Farewell vain world, false man adieu,
I drown myself for love of you,
As a token that I died for love,
There will be seen a milk white dove,
Over my watery tomb will fly
There you will find my body lye.

7
These cheeks of mine once blooming red,
Must now be mingled with the dead,
From the deep waves to bed of clay,
Where I must sleep till judgment day,
A joyful riseing then I hope to have,
When angels call me from the grave,
Receive my soul Lord from on high,
For broken hearted I must die.

8
Grant me one favor that’s all I crave,
Eight pretty maidens let me have,
Drest all in white, a comely show,
To take me to the grave bellow,
Now all young girls, I hope on earth,
Will be warned by my untimely death,
Take care sweet Maids when you are young,
Of Men deluding flatering tongue.

The vast majority of the broadsides give the initials of the couple as ‘B.W.’ and ‘W.E.’ without naming them, although the man’s Christian name, William, is often given in a later stanza. The Mate broadside actually gives his initials as ‘W.F.’. The only Birmingham printed version, by Wright, actually puts names to the couple as Betsy Watson and William Ellis, and a Keys of Davenport version, whilst copying the girl’s name, names the man as William West.

Betsy is certainly the usual name given in oral versions (occasionally Sarah), but her surname can vary, Watson, Wilson, Williams, and Walton. Having searched the contemporary local newspapers, often the source of such ballads (See TYG 67), I found no mention of the event. This is hardly surprising as contemporary newspapers were dominated by international military operations and national politics. Taking the most likely names as Betsy Watson and William Ellis the Hull contemporary parish records and trade directories turn up several Elizabeth Watsons and at least two shopkeeper William Ellises. Unfortunately few records of suicides of the period have survived. Young girls in these circumstances committing suicide were fairly frequent and, unless they were from high status households, would not have made the headlines.

Not surprisingly, with such a wide printing, the ballad turns up in oral tradition in collections made in the early twentieth century in the southern English counties, North Lincolnshire and Scotland where most of the intense collecting was taking place. I have a manuscript copy c.1877 from Robin Hood’s Bay.

The tune is a relative of that ubiquitous large family that comes under the general umbrella title of Died for Love. Some of the stanzas are also similar to the general stock of female lament stanzas as one would expect with such subject matter. We chose to record a version collected just across the Humber from Hull in Barrow-on-Humber. Percy Grainger collected it in 1906 from Bryan Cooper, and Hull singer, Maggie Graham, kindly consented to sing this for us.

---------------

Lyrics

1
Betsy Watson is my name,
I brought myself to grief and shame
By loving one who ne’er loved me,
With sorrow that I plainly see.

2
To his fond tales I did give way,
And from the paths of virtue stray:
By his fond tales I was beguiled,
And then to him I prove with child.

3
My grief and shame I cannot bear,
I am degraded everywhere;
Like a blooming flower I am cut down,
And now my love on me doth frown.

4
I did propose on Sunday night
To meet once more my heart’s delight.
On the Humber banks where the billows roar,
We parted there to meet no more.

5
As token that I die for love
There will be seen a milk-white dove
Over my wat’ry tomb to fly,
And there you’ll find my body lie.