Recordings & Info 188. Archie o Cawfield
[Child includes one US version, his F. Another version (Scottish) added that was used by Scott (B b) is found in "Additions and Corrections."
See info below for the US variant, "Billy Broke Locks" (Ballad Index entry) or as from Barry, Eckstorm, Smyth pp. 393-400, "John Webber." (Ballad Index also Coffin)
R. Matteson 2013]
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Child Collection Index
4) Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
5) Folk Index
6) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 83: Archie o Cawfield (48 Listings)
Alternative Titles
Bold Dickie and Bold Archie
Bold Archer (Harry Cox)
Johnnie Ha
Traditional Ballad Index: Archie o Cawfield [Child 188]
NAME: Archie o Cawfield [Child 188]
DESCRIPTION: Archie is in prison for raiding. His brothers wish they could rescue him, and at last set out with ten men. Archie laments to his brothers that he is to die. The brothers break down the doors and escape the pursuing forces
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1780 (Percy papers)
KEYWORDS: borderballad prisoner escape rescue family brother punishment
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Child 188, "Archie o Cawfield" (6 texts)
Bronson 188, "Archie o Cawfield" (7 versions)
Greig #75, pp. 2-3, "Johnnie Ha" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 244, "Johnnie Ha" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 509-516, "Archie o Cawfield" (2 texts)
OBB 140, "Archie of Cawfield" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 84, "Archie o' Cawfield" (1 text)
Warner 191, "Bold Dickie and Bold Archie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 172-175, "Bold Dickie" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #4}
DBuchan 34, "Archie o Cawfield" (1 text)
DT (187/188), (JOCKSIDE) JOHNWEBB*? BOLDARCH* BOLDARC2*
ADDITIONAL: Leslie Shepard, _The Broadside Ballad_, Legacy Books, 1962, 1978, p. 146, "The Bold Prisoner" (reproduction of a broadside page containing this and "The Land We Live In")
Roud #83
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Billy Broke Locks (The Escape of Old John Webb)" (tune & meter, theme)
cf. "Jock o the Side" [Child 187] (plot)
NOTES: Child notes, "This ballad is in all the salient features a repetition of 'Jock o the Side' [Child #187], Halls playing the parts of Armstrongs."
Many American versions of this (Linscott's "Bold Dickie," Warner's "Bold Dickie and Bold Archie," and perhaps the variant printed by Barry in BFSSNE; the Gardner/Chickering text is still fairly Scottish) have taken on some American color, and it is possible that they are actually American inventions which have mixed with the British song. Or they may have seen influence from "Billy Broke Locks." The whole family is rather a mess.
Linscott claims that "It is known that the song was *not* sung by women." - RBW
Billy Broke Locks (The Escape of Old John Webb)
DESCRIPTION: John Webb was imprisoned and well guarded, but "Billy broke locks and Billy broke bolts, And Billy broke all that he came nigh." Billy and John Webb escape on horseback, then relax by organizing a dance
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Barry, Eckstorm, Smyth)
KEYWORDS: prison escape dancing freedom
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 393-400, "John Webber" (1 text plus four versions from newspapers and such, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 4, "Billy Broke Locks" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNWEBB*
Roud #83
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Archie o Cawfield" [Child 188] (tune & meter, theme)
Notes: An American rework of "Archie o' Cawfield," with which Roud lumps it; the revised version dates perhaps from the 1730s. It may have arisen out of an attempt at currency reform. In the early days of the English colonies, there was no universal system of coinage; Spanish money was common, but there was no fixed exchange rate.
Parliament decided to settle the matter by issuing a paper money, the "tenor." However, after a time the "Old Tenor" (referred to in the song) was replaced by the "New Tenor" -- resulting in civil disturbance. One of the chief culprits was one John Webb (Webber), a mint-master, who ended in prison but was rescued by friends. - RBW
Child Collection- 188. Archie o Cawfield
Child --Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have
188 Brass Monkey Bold Archer + Dearest Dicky Head of Steam 2009 9:13 Yes
188 Burl Ives The Escape of Old John Webb The Spoken Arts Treasury of American Ballads and Folk Songs 1970 2:08 Yes
188 Debra Cowan Bold Archer The Long Grey Line 2001 4:02 Yes
188 Duncan Williamson The Brothers Jim Carroll & Pat Mackenzie Collection No
188 E.L. Kurtz The Escape of Old John Webb A Soldier's Journey 2007 2:48 Yes
188 Frank Warner Bold Dickie and Bold Archie Our Singing Heritage, Vol. 3 1958 No
188 Fred Gosbee The Escape of Old John Webb John Earthy's Tavern - Historic Songs of Maine 2012 No
188 Harry Cox Bold Archer The Bonny Labouring Boy 2000 3:38 Yes
188 Isambarde The Escape of Old John Webb + Barham Down Telling Tales 2010 No
188 Jim & Lynette Eldon Bold Dickie and Bold Archie Jim & Lynette Eldon 1997 3:19 Yes
188 John Stewart Escape of Old John Webb Deep in the Neon - Live at McCabes 1998 1:59 Yes
188 John Stewart The Escape of Old John Webb Wires from the Bunker 2000 2:31 Yes
188 John & Lucy Allison Escape of Old John Webb Early American Ballads 1943 2:10 Yes
188 Jon Boden Bold Archer A Folk Song a Day - June 2011 3:02 Yes
188 South Wind The Escape of Old John Webb Every Now & Then 2004 2:24 Yes
188 The Jolly Rogues Old John Webb Hicks the Pirate 2010 No
188 The Kingston Trio The Escape of Old John Webb The Guard Years 1997 2:33 Yes
188 The Kingston Trio The Escape of Old John Webb The Capitol Years 1995 2:31 Yes
188 The Kingston Trio The Escape of Old John Webb Sold Out + String Along 2002 2:31 Yes
188 Tony Rose Bold Archer On Banks of Green Willow 1971 3:27 Yes
Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America
by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
188. ARCHIE CAWFIELD
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 393 / BFSSNE, VI, 7 / Child, III, 494 / Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, 217 / Linscott, F-S Old NE, 172,
Local Titles: Bold Dickie.
Story Types: A: Two brothers bewail a third brother who is in prison. They muster forty men and, under the leadership of one brother, Dickie (Hall), cross a river and break into the jail. The inmate, Archer, is chained and pessimistic, but Dickie frees him. They ride to the river, where Archer loses courage because his horse is lame and cannot swim. However, the mount is changed, and he gets over. The sheriff then appears with one hundred men, and when Archer sees them in pursuit his courage wavers again. Dickie, however, just mocks his pursuers.
Examples: Child F, Linscott.
Discussion: The ballad resembles Jock o the Side (Child 187) quite closely, more so in Child A-E than in the American Child F. For a complete treatment of the English stories in comparison with F see Child, III, 484ff. See also the fragment, similar to Child F, in BFSSNE, VI, 7.
Barry, Brit Bids Me, 393 ff. prints four Massachusetts and one Maine derivatives of Archie o Cawfield which probably reveal the Child ballad adapted to the imprisonment of a Massachusetts mint-master, John Webb, by the Government in 1800. Webb was freed by friends. Barry states that these fragments, if placed together, "would very nearly complete the ballad" and suggests a comparison to Child F, although resemblances to Child A and B are noted. The titles John Weller and Billy and Johnny are used.
Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, print a long secondary version which was collected in Michigan and which they feel follows Child B.
Folk Index: Billy Broke Locks
Pd - Bold Dickie and Bold Archie
Scofield, Twilo (ed.) / An American Sampler, Cutthroat, Sof (1981), p 53a
Eberhart, Jon/Jonathan. Songs of Rebels and Redcoats, National Geographic 07788, LP (1972), trk# A.07
Ives, Burl. Ives, Burl / Burl Ives Song Book, Ballantine Books, Bk (1953), p 28 (Escape of Old John Webb)
Kingston Trio. String Along, Capitol T 1407, LP (196?), trk# A.02 (Escape of Old John Webb)
Thornton, Mrs. S. S.; and Mrs. F. P. Barker. Lomax, Alan / Folk Songs of North America, Doubleday Dolphin, Sof (1975/1960), p 14/# 4 [1920s]
Bold Dickie and Bold Archie [Ch 188]
Us - Bold Archer
Bold Archer [Ch 188]
At - Bold Dickie and Bold Archie
Sm - Brisk Young Sailor (Courted Me)
Pb - Billy Broke Locks
Brander, Michael (ed.) / Scottish and Border Ballads and Battles, Barnes & Nobel, Bk (1993/1976), p264 (Archie o'/of Cawfield) Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), trk# p509 (Archie o'/of Cawfield)
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p514
Cowan, Debra. Long Grey Line, Falling Mountain FM 1036, CD (2001), trk# 4
Frye, Mary P. and Serena J.. Linscott, Eloise Hubbard (ed.) / Folk Songs of Old New England, Dover, Bk (1993/1939), p172 [1920-30s] (Bold Dickie)
Rose, Tony. On Banks of Green Willow, Leader/Trailer LER-2 101, LP (1976), trk# 2
Warner, Frank. Our Singing Heritage. Vol III, Elektra EKL 153, LP (1958), trk# B.06 (Bold Dickie and Bold Archie)
Watson, F. M. Journal of American Folklore, AFS, Ser (1887-), 8, p256(1895) [1890ca] (Bold Dickie)
Mainly Norfolk: Bold Archer
[Roud 83; Child 188; Ballad Index C188; trad.]
Harry Cox sang the Scottish raiding ballad Bold Archer in a recording by Leslie Shepard from October 9, 1965 on his Topic anthology The Bonny Labouring Boy: Traditional Songs & Tunes from a Norfolk Farm Worker (2000). Steve Roud commented:
As befits its origin as a Scottish raiding ballad, the majority of known versions of this song were collected in Scotland, but it was also reported a handful of times in England and a number of times in North America. As Archie o' Cawfield, Child gives the two earliest known texts (from 1780 and 1791). Harry's is a severely trimmed version (Child's A text, for example, has forty-five verses), but all the essentials of the story are present.
Tony Rose sang Bold Archer in 1976 on his third album, On Banks of Green Willow. He commented in the album's sleeve notes:
Bold Archer, alias Archer of Cawfield, has the familiar modern ring of officialdom gone mad!—a red tape ballad, to coin a phrase. I've supplemented Sharp's fragment called The Burglar from Mrs. Glover of Huish Episcopi, Somerset, with an American text from Massachusetts.
John Kirkpatrick sang Bold Archer in 2009 on the Brass Monkey CD Head of Steam; they finished the track with the Morris tune Dearest Dicky. John Kirkpatrick commented in the sleeve notes:
Bags of swash and buckle in this Boys' Own yarn based on one of the items in the vast repertoire of the prolific Norfolk singer Harry Cox. The song is allegedly descended from one of the Scottish Mafia ballads, Archie o' Cawfield (Child No. 188), but our version is pleasantly ambiguous about time and place. As Dicky is clearly the hero of the day, we duly celebrate with the unique morris dance tune named in his honour, from Field Town in Oxfordshire.
Brass Monkey played Bold Archer live at The Electric Theatre Guildford in March 2009:
Jon Boden sang Bold Archer as the June 20, 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. he commented in the blog:
I think this is the only song I’ve learnt from Harrry Cox—off The Bonny Labouring Boy double CD. Much as I enjoyed listening to it, this was the only one that demanded to be learnt. Evidently John Kirkpatrick thought the same as he recorded it with Brass Monkey shortly after I learnt it. It feels like it’s a very old song—makes me think of Border Reivers.
Harry Cox sings Bold Archer
It was all in the month of June
Just as the flowers were in full bloom,
A castle was built upon Kanser green
All for to put Bold Archer in.
“So now our brother in prison do lay
Condemned to die is he.
If I had eleven such brothers as me
So soon a poor prisoner I'd set free.”
“Oh, eleven,” said Richard, “is little enough,
Full forty there must be.
The chains and the bars will have to be broke
Before Bold Archer we can set free.
“Now ten for to stand by our horses' heads,
Ten for to guard us round about,
Ten for to stand by the castle door,
And ten for to bring Bold Archer out.”
Now Dickie broke locks and Dickie broke bars,
Dickie broke everything he could see.
He took Bold Archer under his arm,
Carried him out most manfully.
They mounted their horses, away they did ride,
Bold Archer he mounted so merry and free.
They rode till they came to a far water side
Where they dismounted so manfully.
And there they ordered the music to play;
It played so sweet and joyfully,
And the very best dancer amongst them all
Was Bold Archer who they set free.
“Oh look back, look back,” Bold Archer he cried,
“Look back, look back,”cried he,
“Here come the high shrieve on honoured Dundee
With a hundred man in his company.”
“Come back, come back,” now cried the high shrieve,
“Come back, come back,” cried he,
“If you don't return my irons to me,
Bold Archer a prisoner still must be.”
“No nay, no nay, that never can be,
No that can never be.
The iron will do our horses to shoe
The smith he do ride in our company.”
So he wrote a letter home to his wife,
Unto his children three,
Saying, “My horse he is lame and I cannot swim,
So condemned this day I shall be.”