Recordings & Info 248. The Grey Cock
[The two important articles are "The Grey Cock"- A Drollery Version by Albert B. Friedman (see attached to this page) and Hugh Shields ('The Grey Cock: Dawn Song or Revenant Ballad?' in Ballad Studies, ed. E. B. Lyle, 1976) which I don't have.
R. Matteson 2012]
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) Malcolm Douglas commentary
7) Excerpt from: The Dead Lover's Return in Modern English Ballad Tradition by Hugh Shields
8) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. ( Listings)
2) "The Grey Cock"- A Drollery Version by Albert B. Friedman
Alternate Titles
The Ghostly Lover
Pretty Crowin' Chicken
The Bonny Bushes Bright
Worrysome Woman (Wallin)
The Lover's Ghost
Saw You My Father
Traditional Ballad Index: Grey Cock, The, or, Saw You My Father [Child 248]
NAME: Grey Cock, The, or, Saw You My Father [Child 248]
DESCRIPTION: Man bids his love to let him in. After some hours of lovemaking, he tells her he must depart when the cock crows (or before). She hopes the cock will not crow soon, but it crows early. She learns that her lover is a ghost, and may never return
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1769 (Herd)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Man comes to his lover's window, bidding her open and let him in. They spend the night in lovemaking; toward dawn, he tells her he must leave when the cock crows for day. She prays the cock not to crow too soon, but the cock in fact crows early. She remarks her lover's cold lips and skin, realizing he has returned to her dead. As he leaves, she asks when she will see him again; he replies with impossibilities ("When the fish they fly, love, and the sea runs dry, love/And the rocks they melt in the heat of the sun") -- i.e., at the Judgment Day.
KEYWORDS: love sex farewell death dialog nightvisit paradox supernatural lover ghost
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,West),Scotland) US(Ap,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Child 248, "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father" (1 text)
Bronson 248, "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father" (16 texts)
Leach, pp. 611-612, "The Grey Cock" (2 texts)
Warner 90, "Pretty Crowin' Chicken" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 52-53, "The Grey Cock, or The Lover's Ghost" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 148, "The Grey Cock" (1 text)
SHenry H699, pp. 383-384, "The Bonny Bushes Bright" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 248, GREYCOCK*
RECORDINGS:
Cecilia Costello, "The Grey Ghost" (on FSB5 [as "The Grey Cock"], FSBBAL2)
A. L. Lloyd, "The Lover's Ghost" (on Lloyd1) (Lloyd2, Lloyd3)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Night Visiting Song" (motif)
Notes: [Of Bronson's sixteen versions,] only one is of the Night Visiting Song type and one of the I Once Loved a Lass type. - AS
Hugh Shields wrote an article, "The Grey Cock: Dawn Song or Revenant Ballad?" (reprinted in E. B. Lyle, _Ballad Studies_, pp. 67-92) which argues that, in its original form, this was an "alba" or "dawn song" rather than a revenant ballad.
The problem with the hypothesis, as even Shields grudgingly admits, is that this type of song is literally unknown in English (it's associated primarily with the Iberian peninsula, though James J. Wilhelm, _Medieval Song_, p. 107, claims that the oldest Dawn Song is the Provencal "En un vergier sotz folha s'albespi," and Wilhelm prints several other dawn songs from France, and even a few from Germany).
Shields never ever really defines the form, giving only a few footnotes, one pointing to a German article on Chaucer's _Troilus_. Looking at the examples in Wilhelm (there are several more found among the Provencal songs), it appears that the characteristic of the form is two young people, forbidden to meet, still coming together at night and having to part before dawn. Though there are also "religious" alba songs, presumably in praise of the light, and a few other things. All of them, however, are art or minstrel songs, not folk songs.
The former type of alba song, obviously, resembles "The Grey Cock" -- but the motivations are entirely different, and so, generally, is the outcome; in the alba songs, the light simply threatens to reveal the lovers, while it threatens the ghost's very existence in the English ballad. I incline to think the similarity, if there is one, is coincidental -- i.e. "The Grey Cock" may be an alba song, but it is not from the tradition of alba songs.
I should probably note, though, that the Provencal examples cited come mostly from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries -- i.e. some of them come from the time when England ruled large parts of Provence. Henry II had Provencal troubadours in his entourage (perhaps the most famous of all, Bertran de Born, c. 1140-1214, had a part in the quarrels between Henry and his son Henry the Young King, and wrote a lament for the latter). So the form could have been introduced into England at the time -- if you believe that it could have survived the conversion into English and then have lasted until modern times.
There is a nursery rhyme verse which is probably related to this, though it might also have been influenced by "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" or something similar:
Oh, my pretty cock, oh, my handsome cock,
I pray you, do not crow before day,
And your comb shall be made of the very beaten gold,
And your wings of the silver so gray. (Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #852, p. 320.) - RBW
The nine-verse Costello version [Vaughan Williams/Lloyd] of "The Grey Cock" begins with five verses often found in "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)," including the distinguishing lines
Saying, "I'll be guided without a stumble...."
"....Disturbing me from my long night's rest?"
"It is your own true love, pray don't discover..."
"....For I am wet after my long night's journey,
Besides I'm wet love unto the skin."
followed by the "where is the blushes" verse from "Willy O!", two bribery and betrayal verses from Child 248, and ends with the "when the fish they fly" verse from "I Will Put My Ship In Order"; Ewan MacColl's version of the Costello text adds one more verse from "Willy O!"
Perhaps a revenant "The Grey Cock" was closer to the P.W. Joyce version and the two closely related Karpeles-Newfoundland texts; that ballad also concludes with the "when the fish they fly" verse. There the distinguishing lines include
"And where is your bed, my dearest love," he said,
"And where are your white Holland sheets?
And where are the maids, oh my darling dear," he said,
"That wait upon you whilst you are asleep?"
"The clay it is me bed, my dearest dear," she said,
"The shroud is my white Holland sheet.
And the worms and creeping things are me servants, dear," she said,
"That wait upon me whilst I am asleep."
(Joyce's text, unlike Karpeles's, reverses the sex of the parties.) Or maybe that is another independent set of ballads.
Child's notes to "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father?" refer to a ballad without a ghost theme ended prematurely by a crowing cock: "The cock is remiss or unfaithful, again, in a little ballad picked up by Burns in Nithsdale, 'A Waukrife Minnie,' Cromek, Select Scottish Songs. You can read the text of the 1789 poem at Burns Country site.
Robert Cinnamond's version on IRRCinnamond02, like Child, Johnson, SHenry and BarryEckstormSmyth, have no ghostly elements. At the end, as in SHenry, the woman is deserted by a man who would just rather not be married. My own inclination, without getting into the "alba" controversy, is to believe that the ghostly versions, like Costello, Vaughan Williams/Lloyd and MacColl, have imported the ghost from entirely different ballads.
Ford says of Burns's report of "The Waukrife Minnie" (lovers interrupted by early crowing with no ghost involved) that he had it "from the singing of a country girl in Nithsdale." Ford's comment is in connection with his own text of "My Rolling Eye" [Seventeen Come Sunday [Laws O17]] (Robert Ford, editor, Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland [first series] (Paisley,1899), pp. 102-105) which includes the following verses, again about the interruption of two non-ghostly lovers by an early-crowing cock:
It's waery fa' the waukrife cock
May the foumart lay his crawing,
He wauken'd the auld wife frae her sleep,
A wee blink ere the dawing.
She gaed to the fire to blaw the coal,
To see if she would ken me,
But I dang the auld runt in the fire,
And bade my heels defend me.
Finally having read the Shields article cited above, I see that it analyzes the Costello version on pp. 71-77. Once the chimeric nature of that and other texts is demonstrated I find it difficult to understand the grounds for considering "The Grey Cock" to be a revenant ballad.
See R. H. Cromek, Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, (London, 1810), pp. 72-75, "The Gray Cock," which Child describes as "a song by Allan Cunningham, impudently put forward as 'the precious relique of the original'." Cromek writes, "This copy was communicated by Mr. Allan Cunningham. He had it from his father...."; Cunningham's "forgery" has nothing of the revenant theme which, I assume, he would have incorporated if he had thought it appropriate to the ballad he was faking.
Fowke-Ontario [1965], p. 185, also looks at the Costello version: "Of her ten stanzas, the first five parallel almost line for line the correspoonding stanzas sung by Mrs. Clark [of 'Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In']." Shields, in footnote 14, acknowledges Fowke's analysis. Since Fowke considers her text a version of "The Grey Cock," she may think of the Costello text as a "more complete" version of Child 248 of which her own text is a fragment. The other way of looking at the two texts is to consider Costello a composite with the Fowke text as one of its elements. - BS
Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)
DESCRIPTION: The singer arrives at his love's window and begs to come in. She asks who is there. He identifies himself, and she allows him to enter. When he leaves, he rejoices, "For late last night I've been with my lass." In other versions, his ghost bids farewell.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1826 (Lyle-Crawfurd1)
KEYWORDS: nightvisit courting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Greig #177, p. 2, ("Hearken, hearken, and I will tell you") (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 783, "I Must Away" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Lyle-Crawfurd1 14, "The Wandering Lover" (1 text)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 34, "The Ghostly Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Ontario 41, "I'll Go See My Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 89, "Hearken, Ladies, and I Will Tell You, Or The Constant Lovers" (1 text)
Kennedy 159, "A Health to All True-Lovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 63, "Here's a Health To All True Lovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #22568
RECORDINGS:
LaRena [Mrs Gordon] Clark, "I'll Go See My Love" (on ONEFowke01)
John Reilly, "Adieu Unto All True Lovers" (on Voice10)
Belle Stewart, "Here's a Health to all True Lovers" (on Voice06)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Will Put My Ship In Order" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father" [Child 248] (plot)
cf. "Love Let Me In (Forty Long Miles; It Rains, It Hails)" (plot)
cf. "Let Me In This Ae Nicht" (plot)
cf. "Willy O!" (theme)
cf. "I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober" (two verses)
cf. "The Light of the Moon" (theme: night visit ended by a crowing cock)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Open and Let Me In
NOTES: This is a difficult conundrum, in that there are versions of this song with very similar words but plots with very different directions: One is a nightvisiting song, the other a ghost returning to his love after long absence.
In earlier versions of the Index, I split these two ballads, as "Rise Up Quickly" and "The Ghostly Lover" -- after all, the ghost is a pretty significant change; this was in contradiction to Roud, who lumped them.
Making things trickier still, one important text (Kennedy's) is "I Will Put My Ship In Order" without the first and last verses. It's not just the same plot; it's the same *words*. The two assuredly have a common origin, though in fact the songs have different endings. But fragments could file with other songs.
It is amazing that Kennedy, who is an impossible lumper and included at least one completely unrelated text from Sam Henry in his notes, failed to observe the connection to "I Will Put My Ship In Order." Kennedy's text is incredibly composite in its choruses, taking items from "I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober" and "Love is Teasing." But the Ord text implies that these are not an original part of the song. Many of the other versions have also picked up extraneous material.
The title I have assigned here is not based on any traditional version; I pulled it out of Kennedy's text because the extant titles were so unhelpful and inorganic to the texts.
Adding it all up, I wonder if this could possibly be a mix of "I Will Put My Ship In Order" and some lost Ghostly Lover song. Or is the "Ghostly Lover" version a mix of the nightvisiting version of this song with "The Grey Cock" or something of that type? In any case, it's a mess which admits of no easy solution. - RBW
Greenleaf/Mansfield names its text "The Ghostly Lover" though the ghost does not appear. "Although the words do not seem to bear out the title, the White girls insist this is a song about a lover who was drowned, but rose from his watery grave to see his sweetheart once again." Another ghostly example is John Reilly's "Adieu Unto All True Lovers" on "The Voice of the People, Vol 10: Who's That at my Bed Window?," Topic TSCD 660 (1998): here the text is clearly what we are calling "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" with the "where is the blushes" verse from "Willy O!" added to provide the ghost. The discussion of the Costello version in the notes to "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father [Child 248]" give a similar example in which verses of both "Willy O!" and "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" are inserted unchanged into another ballad.
"Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" has distinguishing lines that stand out when verses are imported into another ballad. For example,
... "Who's that at my bed window,
Disturbing me from from my long night's rest?"
"I am your lover; sure pray discover...."
"...I'm wet, love, unto the skin." [as opposed to "I've got wet through all my clothes" in "Love Let Me In (Forty Long Miles; It Rains, It Hails)"].
"I'll be guided without a stumble....
It may begin with a treacherous journey that might have led the traveller to stumble:
"Over hills and lofty mountains,
Oh dear! oh dear! I'm forced to go...."
"Let the night be dark as the very dungeon [or dunghill]..."
GreigDuncan4: "There has been some crossing over of material between this night visiting song and [GreigDuncan2] 338 'Willie O', which treats the subject of a dead lover's return." GreigDuncan4 783B is very close to Ord's text.
The cold and wet theme seems common in non-ghostly night-visit songs. Besides Kidson's "Forty Miles" see "Hey Lizzie Lass" and "Oh Tibbie, Are Ye Sleepin'." While the night visitor of "When A' the Lave Gaed to Their Beds" does not complain of being cold or wet he ends by declaring "I care na' for the hardest work, Nor wind nor rain I'll fear, While I am welcome back again To the arms of my dear."
The first verse of Greig's version is almost the same as the first verse of his text for "Hearken, Hearken"; the non-revenant sense of this version is made stronger by the verse: "Hearken, hearken, and I will tell you Of a lad and a country lass; Seven long years they've been a-courting, Many a jovial hour betwixt them passed."
Another wet lover song is "I Will Put My Ship in Order."
Speculation in Vaughan Williams/Lloyd suggests Costello's "I'm your love and don't discover" line may be "'but I can't uncover' (can't reveal myself)." That might tie in with the "Grey Cock" ghost theory. However, as pointed out in the discussion of Costello's text under "The Grey Cock," that text takes its first five verses from this song. Here the line becomes entirely innocent. Ord has "it's your own true lover," and Fowke has "It's your true lover, so now uncover."
Another mysterious line from the Costello version - "The burning Thames I have to cross" - becomes somewhat less mysterious in these texts. In Fowke the line is "The burning tempest I have to cross." Ord has "The storm and tempest I mean to cross," explaining why the lover says "I am weary of my long journey, Besides I'm wet, love, unto the skin."
Fowke's source learned the song from her Grandad Watson whose ancestors came from northern England." - BS
Child Ballad 248: The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father
Child --Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have
248 A.L. Lloyd The Grey Cock England & Her Traditional Songs - A Selection from the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs 2003 4:34 Yes
248 A.L. Lloyd The Lover's Ghost Classic A.L. Lloyd - Traditional Songs 1994 2:29 Yes
248 A.L. Lloyd The Lover's Ghost First Person - Some of His Favourite Folk Songs 1966 2:31 Yes
248 A.L. Lloyd The Lover's Ghost The Best of A.L. Lloyd 1966 No
248 A.L. Lloyd The Lover's Ghost (The Grey Cock) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 7 [Reissue] 196? 4:47 Yes
248 A.L. Lloyd The Lover's Ghost (The Grey Cock) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 4 1956 No 248 A.L. Lloyd The Lover's Ghost An Evening with A.L. Lloyd 2010 No
248 A.L. Lloyd The Lover's Ghost Bramble Briars & Beams of the Sun 2011 No
248 Al O'Donnell The Night Visiting Song Ramble Away 2008 3:21 Yes
248 Al O'Donnell The Night Visiting Song Ramble Away 2008 3:23 Yes
248 Alasdair Roberts Willie-O Hand/Eye 2002 3:14 Yes
248 Alasdair Roberts & Friends The Lover's Ghost Too Long in This Condition 2010 4:29 Yes
248 Alex Campbell Night Visiting Song Been on the Road So Long - The Anthology 2005 No
248 Alex Campbell Night Visiting Song Transatlantic Folk Box Set 2005 3:30 Yes
248 Alex Robb Willie O Willie (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
248 Alex Robb Willie O Willie (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
248 Alfred Deller The Lover's Ghost The Cruel Mother & Other English Ballads and Folk Songs 1998 3:52 Yes
248 Alison McMorland & Geordie McIntyre The Cruel Grave Where Ravens Reel 2010 No
248 Alison McMorland & Kirsty Potts Johnnie He Promised to Marry Me or the Lover’s Ghost The Fife Traditional Singing Weekend - Here's a Health to the Company 2005 No
248 Alison McMorland, Geordie McIntyre & Kirsty Potts Lover's Ghost Ballad Tree 2003 3:47 Yes
248 Amos Jollimore Grey Cock The Helen Creighton Collection No
248 Andrew Stewart I Must Away The Edith Fowke Collection No
248 Anne Wylie The Lover's Ghost Live 1997 4:04 Yes
248 Any Old Time The Ghost of Willie-O Any Old Time 1982 4:04 Yes
248 Aontas The True Lover's Ghost Aontas 1998 5:38 Yes
248 Ariella Uliano The Lover's Ghost Tanto Gentile E Tanto Onesta Pare 2006 No
248 Asonance Duse Mé Lásky (The Lover's Ghost) Duse Mé Lásky - Scottish and Irish Folk Songs and Ballads 1994 4:50 Yes
248 Asonance Duse Mé Lásky (The Lover's Ghost) Asonance 1 & 2 - Dva Havrani + Duse Mé Lásky 1995 4:50 Yes
248 Asonance Duse Mé Lásky (The Lover's Ghost) Live - Scottish and Irish Folk Songs and Ballads 1998 4:37 Yes
248 Barbara Dickson A Lover's Ghost Do Right Woman 1970 No
248 Barbara Dickson A Lover's Ghost Do Right Woman + From the Beggar's Mantle .. 2006 Yes
248 Bella Higgins I Must Away Folksongs and Music from Berryfields of Blair 196? No
248 Belle Stewart Here's a Health to All True Lovers Queen Among the Heather - Scots Traditional Songs and Ballads 1998 3:31 Yes
248 Bernard Maguire Willy O The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Collection No
248 Bert Allen Bay of Biscay-O John Howson Collection 1970-1995 No
248 Bill Cassidy Biscayo From Puck to Appleby - Songs of Irish Travellers in England 2003 6:42 Yes
248 Bill Cassidy Biscayo (1) Jim Carroll & Pat Mackenzie Collection No
248 Bill Cassidy Biscayo (2) Jim Carroll & Pat Mackenzie Collection No
248 Bill Jones The Lover's Ghost Two Year Winter 2003 3:38 Yes
248 Blowzabella The Lover's Ghost Vanilla 1990 2:33 Yes
248 Bob Webb, Craig Edwards & Helen Richmond Webb Pretty Crowing Chicken Cluck Old Hen - Celebrating 150 Years of the Rhode Island Red 2004 No
248 Boys of the Lough I Must Away, Love Twenty 2005 3:48 Yes
248 Boys of the Lough Willie O Regrouped 1980 No
248 Brian Dewhurst Night Visiting Song Follow That with Your Sea Lions 1977 No
248 Carla Sciaky Pretty Crowing Chicken Under the Quarter Moon 1988 No
248 Carla Sciaky Pretty Crowin' Chicken Rewind - The Vinyl Years 2008 No
248 Cary Fridley Pretty Crowing Chicken Neighbor Girl 2000 3:42 Yes
248 Cathal McConnell & Len Graham True Lover John For the Sake of Old Decency 1992 3:27 Yes
248 Cecilia Costello The Ghost of Willie-O Jacky-Boy Master 1975 No
248 Cecilia Costello The Grey Cock BBC Recordings No
248 Cecilia Costello The Grey Cock Roy Palmer Collection 1971-1998 7:34 Yes
248 Cecilia Costello The Grey Cock (Willie’s Ghost) The Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 5: The Child Ballads 2 1961 1:32 Yes
248 Cecilia Costello The Grey Ghost Classic Ballads of Britain & Ireland - Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales, Vol 2 2000 1:36 Yes
248 Cecilia Costello The Lover's Ghost Cecilia Costello 1975 No
248 Celtic Harp Orchestra Lover's Ghost The Myst 2005 4:02 Yes
248 Celtic Tradition Lover's Ghost I Have Waited for Many a Night and Day 1984 4:53 Yes
248 Ceoltoiri The Grey Cock Silver Apples of the Moon 1992 3:58 Yes
248 Chairs Pretty Crowin' Chicken Musical Chairs 2006 2:25 Yes
248 Charles Cunningham Willy O The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Collection No
248 Charlie Hills I Must Away Love Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
248 Charlotte Greig Grey Cock Night Visiting Songs 1999 No
248 Chris Foster Grey Cock All Things in Common 1979 3:50 Yes
248 Chris Foster The Grey Cock Jewels 2004 4:07 Yes
248 Chris Sarjeant Bay of Biscay Heirlooms 2012 4:30 Yes
248 Christy O'Leary & Bert Deivert William 'O Song's Sweet Caress 2003 4:16 Yes
248 Colcannon The Night Visit + The Earl's Chair Three Days in May 2010 5:43 Yes
248 Cooper & Bolton The Lover’s Ghost The Savage Hornpipe 2006 No
248 Craig, Morgan, Robson The Night Visit Song Stranded 2007 No
248 Cyril O'Donoghue The Night Visit + the Pipers Chair Nothing But a Child 2003 6:40 Yes
248 Damien Dempsey Night Visiting Song The Rocky Road 2008 4:12 Yes
248 Debra Cowan The Bay of Biscay-O Beware of the Press-Gang!! - The 2004 Lancaster Maritime Festival 2004 No
248 Deirdre Starr The Lover's Ghost The Tree Below the Road 2009 No
248 Dennis Smith Grey Cock The Helen Creighton Collection No
248 Dennis Smith The Grey Cock The Helen Creighton Collection No
248 Dervish The Cocks Are Crowing Spirit 2003 4:43 Yes
248 Duncan Williamson I Must Away Old Songs & Bothy Ballads - Nick-knack on the Waa 2008 No
248 Duncan Williamson The Cruel Grave (1) Jim Carroll & Pat Mackenzie Collection No
248 Duncan Williamson The Cruel Grave (2) Jim Carroll & Pat Mackenzie Collection No
248 Duncan Williamson The Cruel Grave Traveller's Joy - Songs of English and Scottish Travellers and Gypsies 1965-2005 2007 No
248 Duncan Williamson Cruel Grave John Howson Collection 1970-1995 No
248 Duncan Williamson Willie Lost at Sea Put Another Log on the Fire: Songs and Tunes from a Scots Traveller 1994 No
248 Eddie & Finbar Furey Night Visiting Song Four Green Fields 1973 4:04 Yes
248 Eddie Butcher The Cocks are Crowing Adam in Paradise 1982 No
248 Eddie Butcher The Cocks Is Crowing The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Collection No
248 Edward Flower & Joel Brown The Grey Cock Chords & Thyme - English Folksongs for Guitar 1994 3:57 Yes
248 Eliza Carthy The Grey Cock The BBC Four Session: Live at Union Chapel, Islington, London, 5th March 2003 2003 5:07 Yes 248 Eliza Carthy The Grey Cock One Voice: Vocal Music from Around the World 1997 4:02 Yes
248 Elizabeth Robb Willie O Willie The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
248 Emmet Spiceland Lover's Ghost The First .. 1968 3:26 Yes
248 Ewan MacColl Here's a Health to All True Lovers [Scots] The Long Harvest, Vol. 3 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 3:06 Yes
248 Ewan MacColl I'm a Rover [Scots] The Long Harvest, Vol. 3 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 3:46 Yes
248 Ewan MacColl Lover in the Night [English] The Long Harvest, Vol. 3 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 2:33 Yes
248 Ewan MacColl The Grey Cock The Manchester Angel 1966 4:25 Yes
248 Ewan MacColl The Grey Cock The Real MacColl 1993 4:18 Yes
248 Ewan MacColl The Lover's Ghost [Scots] The Long Harvest, Vol. 3 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 4:39 Yes
248 Fay Hield & The Hurricane Party The Lover's Ghost Orfeo 2012 4:13 >Yes
248 Fernhill Grey Cock Hynt 2003 7:55 Yes
248 Fernhill Grey Cock Na Prádle 2007 8:26 Yes
248 Finbar Furey, Hannes Wader, Alex Campbell & Davey Arthur Night Visiting Song + Dat Du Min Leefste Büst Folk Friends 1978 3:01 Yes
248 Finest Kind Bay of Biscay For Honour & for Gain 2010 No
248 FinTan Night Visit Black and Tan 2005 No
248 Fling The Grey Cock Lost in Dunkineely 2009 No
248 Folly Bridge Bay of Biscay All in the Same Tune + Unabridged 2007 No
248 Frank Proffitt Pretty Crowing Chicken High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina 1990 3:47 Yes
248 Frankie Armstrong The Lover's Ghost 'Till the Grass O'ergrew the Corn - A Collection of Traditional Ballads 1996 4:22 Yes
248 Fred Jordan Night Visiting Song In Course of Time 1990 3:42 Yes
248 Frieda Morrison Night Visiting Song Troubled Fields 1989 4:20 Yes
248 Garibelon Night Visiting Song <website> 2007 3:52 Yes
248 Garibelon Night Visiting Song (Dat Du Mien Leevsten Büst) <website> 2007 2:15 Yes
248 Graham Moore Night Visiting Tom Paine's Bones 1995 No
248 Gudrun Brunot The Bay of Biscay-Oh J-Walking 2011 No
248 Hakka Muggies Lover's Ghost Feed the Fairies 2010 5:19 Yes
248 Hattie Presnell Pretty Crowing Chicken The Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, North Carolina, Vol. I 1964 No
248 Hermione Swinford The Lover's Ghost Deep in the Wood 2007 3:46 Yes
248 Hermione Swinford The Lover's Ghost All Souls Arise - A Journey from the Last Sheaf of Harvest to the First Snows of Winter 2007 No
248 Hilary James Bay of Biscay Burning Sun 1993 3:07 Yes
248 Ian & Sylvia The Ghost Lover The Complete Vanguard Studio Recordings 2001 2:46 Yes
248 Ian & Sylvia The Ghost Lover Northern Journey 1964 2:46 Yes
248 Jack Beck The Night Visiting Song Half Ower, Half Ower Tae Aberdour - Scots Songs & Ballads 2001 4:36 Yes
248 Jacqui McDonald & Lynn Night Visiting Song Well Met No
248 James & Brigid Murphy The Grey Cock BBC Recordings No
248 James Griffett The Grey Cock Scarborough Fair - Folksongs for Tenor 2002 No
248 Jane & Amanda Threlfall Night Visiting Song Morning Tempest 2000 4:20 Yes
248 Jane Rothfield & Allan Carr The Grey Cock There and Back 1983 5:55 Yes
248 Janice Clark The Grey Cock Reg Hall Archive 1953-1977 4:06 Yes
248 Jez Lowe The Grey Cock Back Shift - A Collection of Songs from 1980 to 1986 1995 5:19 Yes
248 Jez Lowe & Linda Adams The Grey Cock A Selection from the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs 1994 5:11 Yes
248 Jim Moray Nightvisiting Jim Moray 2006 4:11 Yes
248 Jim Moray Nightvisiting A Beginner’s Guide 2010 No
248 Jimmy McKee Here's a Health to All True Lovers BBC Recordings No
248 Joe Holmes & Len Graham The Pretty Little Cock Early Ballads in Ireland 1968-1985 1985 4:56 Yes
248 Joe Holmes & Len Graham The Sweet Bann Water After Dawning 1979 6:07 Yes
248 Joe Holmes & Len Graham True Lover John Chaste Muses, Bards and Sages 1977 No
248 Joe Holmes & Len Graham True Lover John I Once Was a Daysman + Chaste Muses, Bards & Sages - Ballads and Songs from the North of Ireland 2008 No
248 John Ban Byrne Willy O The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Collection No
248 John Butcher The Cocks Is Crowing The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Collection No
248 John Butcher Sr The Cocks Is Crowing Shamrock, Rose and Thistle No 3 - Folk singing in North Derry 1982 No
248 John Goodluck The Lover's Ghost The Suffolk Miracle 1974 No
248 John McCusker & Kate Rusby Night Visiting Song Yella Hoose 2000 5:07 Yes
248 John McLaverty The Light of the Moon BBC Recordings No
248 John McLaverty + Thomas Moran + Cecilia Costello + Robert Cinnamond The Light of the Moon + The Grey Ghost + Fly Up, My Cock The Green Wedding - The Classic Ballads 3 1976 No
248 John Pearse Night Visiting Song Folk Scene 1967 No
248 John Reilly Adieu Unto All True Lovers The Voice of the People, Vol. 10: Who's That at My Bed Window - Songs of Love & Amorous Encounters 1998 3:27 Yes
248 John Reilly Adieu Unto All True Lovers The Bonny Green Tree - Songs of an Irish Traveller 1977 No
248 John Reilly Here's Adieu to All Truelovers The Rosin Box - Irish Tinker Ballads 1975 No
248 Jon & Mike Raven & Jean Ward The Grey Cock Kate of Coalbrookdale 1971 No
248 Jon Boden Bay of Biscay A Folk Song a Day - October 2010 2:56 Yes
248 Jon Boden Pretty Cock - As I Stood Under My Love's Window A Folk Song a Day - June 2011 2:32 Yes
248 Joseph McCafferty Jack the Rover The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Collection No
248 Karan Casey & John Doyle The Bay of Biscay Exile's Return 2010 No
248 Karen James The Ghost Lover Karen James 1961 3:03 Yes
248 Kate Rusby Night Visiting Song 10 2003 4:58 Yes
248 Kathy & Carol The Grey Cock Kathy & Carol 1965 4:52 Yes
248 Keith Kendrick The Grey Cock and the Lover’s Ghost Well Seasoned 2003 4:09 Yes
248 Ken Hall Bay of Biscay-O John Howson Collection 1970-1995 No
248 Kevin & Ellen Mitchell I Must Away, Love Have a Drop Mair 2001 3:49 Yes
248 LaRena Clark I'll Go See My Love The Edith Fowke Collection No
248 Laura Cortese I Must Away Love Blow the Candle Out 2007 No
248 Laura Cortese I Must Away Love Hush 2004 03:20 Yes
248 Len Graham My Willie O Wind and Water - Traditional Songs, Ballads and Lilts 1977 3:03 Yes
248 Len Graham Willie O Old Songs & Bothy Ballads - The Little Ball of Yarn 2012 No
248 Len Graham & Fintan McManus True Lover John Ye Lovers All 1984 3:01 Yes
248 Lorna Anderson & Haydn Trio Eisenstadt Scottish Songs for William Napier II – Saw Ye Me Father Haydn Edition 2008 1:00 Yes
248 Lorna Anderson & Haydn Trio Eisenstadt Scottish Songs for William Whyte II – Saw Ye My Father Haydn Edition 2008 1:48 Yes
248 Lorna Campbell The Grey Cock The Best of British Folk Music 1967 No
248 Louis Killen The Cock The Bird in the Bush - Traditional Songs of Love and Lust: Erotic Folk Song 1996 3:02 Yes
248 Louis Killen The Cock Ballads and Broadsides 1965 3:03 Yes
248 Luke Kelly The Night Visiting Song The Performer 2005 3:37 Yes
248 Maggie McGee The Ghost of Willie O An Hour of Song 1991 No
248 Maggie Murphy Willie-O The Hardy Sons of Dan - Football, Hunting and Other Traditional Songs from Around Lough Erne's Shore 2004 No
248 Margaret Christl The Grey Cock Looking Towards Home 1984 2:45 Yes
248 Mark Automaton Willie-O A Peck of Dirt 2003 No
248 Martin Simpson The Lover's Ghost The Bramble Briar 2001 3:17 Yes
248 Martin Simpson Pretty Crowing Chicken Prodigal Son 2007 2:55 Yes
248 Martyn Wyndham-Read The Lover's Ghost Ballads 1997 5:39 Yes
248 Mary Doran Here's a Health to All True Lovers BBC Recordings No
248 Mary Jane Night Visiting Song Tacit 2002 No
248 Michael Raven & Joan Mills The Night Visiting Song Can Y Melinydd (The Miller Song) 1976 4:11 Yes
248 Michael Raven & Joan Mills Night Visiting Song The Dutch Connection 1976 No
248 Mick Ryan & Pete Harris Night Visiting Song Hard Season 1999 No
248 Mike Kearney Night Visiting Song <website> 2010 3:43 Yes
248 Mooncoin The Night Visitor Mooncoin 1982 5:18 Yes
248 More Maids Lover's Ghost Mary Is Busy. 2000 No
248 Morgan McKay Bay of Biscay Winters Turn 2007 No
248 Mr. X Willy O (Sweet William's Ghost) Folk Ballads from Donegal and Derry - Collected by Hugh Shields 1975 No
248 Mrs. Nina Bartley Finn Margaret and John The Helen Creighton Collection No
248 Nadia Birkenstock The Lover’s Ghost Wandering Between the Worlds 2003 No
248 Nancy Conescu The True Lover's Ghost Wild Blossoms 2005 No
248 Nathan Hatt My Sailor Boy The Helen Creighton Collection No
248 Nathan Hatt Willie O The Helen Creighton Collection No
248 Ned Slaunwhite Willie O The Helen Creighton Collection No
248 Niamh Parsons Lover's Ghost Loosely Connected 1995 3:05 Yes
248 Nick Dow The Lover's Ghost Burd Margaret 1978 4:15 Yes
248 Noel McLoughlin The Night Visiting Song Festival of Irish Music, Vol. 2 1993 4:09 Yes
248 Nora Cleary Willie-O The Voice of the People, Vol. 3: O'Er His Grave the Grass Grew Green - Tragic Ballads 1998 1:31 Yes
248 Norman Kennedy Night Visiting Song Ballads & Songs of Scotland 2002 3:24 Yes
248 Norman Kennedy Night Visiting Song Scots Songs and Ballads 1968 3:18 Yes
248 Norman Kennedy The Night Visiting Song The Bird in the Bush - Traditional Songs of Love and Lust: Erotic Folk Song 1996 3:26 Yes
248 Northwest Musicians Bay of Biscay Victory Sings at Sea 1998 5:23 Yes
248 Paddy O'Connor Night Visiting Song The Music of Ireland - A Collection of Irish Country Favourites 1998 2:19 Yes
248 Peggy Ashcroft & Martin Best The Grey Cock Sense and Nonsense 1976 No
248 Peggy Seeger The Grey Cock A Song for You and Me 1960 2:35 Yes
248 Peggy Seeger The Grey Cock Blood and Roses - Vol. 3 1982 3:26 Yes
248 Peggy Seeger The Grey Cock [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 3 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 2:29 Yes
248 Peta Webb & Ken Hall True Love John As Close as Can Be - Songs & Duets from English, Irish & American Traditions 2000 2:52 Yes
248 Pete Astor The Ghost Lover Hal's Eggs 2005 5:47 Yes
248 Peter Christie Saw Ye My Father (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
248 Peter Christie Saw Ye My Father? (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
248 Piers Cawley The Grey Cock <website> 2010 3:35 Yes
248 Poitín Lover's Ghost Poitín 2000 No
248 Poitín Lover's Ghost Live at Zach's Pub 2006 5:43 Yes
248 Poitín Lover's Ghost Jiggery Pokery 2009 No
248 Pyewackett The Grey Cock The Man in the Moon Drinks Claret 1982 5:00 Yes
248 Raven The Night Visitor Song Twa Corbies [Raven] 1996 No
248 Ray & Archie Fisher Night Visiting Song Folk Songs: an Anthology - Topic Sampler 2 1966 No
248 Ray & Archie Fisher Night Visiting Song Bonny Lass Come O'er the Burn 1962 2:57 Yes
248 Ray & Archie Fisher The Night Visiting Song Traditional & New Songs from Scotland 2002 2:57 Yes
248 Ray & Archie Fisher The Night Visiting Song Far Over the Forth 1961 2:48 Yes
248 Ray Fisher Night Visiting Song Traditional Songs of Scotland 1991 4:28 Yes
248 Raymond Crooke I'm a Rover, Seldom Sober Laws of Chance 2005 No
248 Raymond Crooke I'm a Rover, Seldom Sober (1) <website> 2007- 3:26 Yes
248 Raymond Crooke I'm a Rover, Seldom Sober (2) <website> 2007- 3:16 Yes
248 Raymond Crooke I'm a Rover, Seldom Sober (3) <website> 2007- 3:23 Yes
248 Raymond Crooke I'm a Rover. Seldom Sober (4) <website> 2007- 4:04 Yes
248 Rebecca Barclay The Grey Cockerel Cinnabar 2012 No
248 Rebecca Fox The Lover's Ghost Other Bits and Bobs 2006 3:20 Yes
248 Richard Grainger Grey Cock Darklands - Time Files, Vol. 1 1989 No
248 Robert Cinnamond Fly Up My Cock You Rambling Boys of Pleasure 1975 No
248 Robert Cinnamond Fly Up My Cock BBC Recordings No
248 Robert Cinnamond The Ghost of Willie-O Fly Up, My Cock - Cinnamond 2 1980 No
248 Robert Cinnamond The Light of the Moon Fly Up, My Cock - Cinnamond 2 1980 No
248 Robert Cinnamond The Lover's Ghost BBC Recordings No
248 Róisín White True Lover John The First of My Rambles - Folk Songs from Ulster 2000 No
248 Róisín White True Lover John (1) John Howson Collection 1970-1995 No
248 Róisín White True Lover John (2) John Howson Collection 1970-1995 No
248 Róisín White True Lover John (3) John Howson Collection 1970-1995 No
248 Ron Kavana The Night Visit 40 Favourite Folk Songs 2011 No
248 Rosie Carson & Kevin Dempsey The Bay of Biscay The Salty Diamond 2007 3:12 Yes
248 Salsa Celtica Grey Gallito (The Grey Cockerel) El Camino 2006 5:06 Yes
248 Sam Martyn The Grey Cock Drifting on Out 2012 No
248 Sara Grey Pretty Crowin' Chicken A Long Way from Home 2005 4:53 Yes
248 Seán Cannon The Bay of Biscay Erin the Green - Songs from the Irish Tradition 1979 3:42 Yes
248 Shepheard, Spiers & Watson Night Visiting Song Over the High Hills 2012 No
248 Sherburn, Bartley & Scott The Night Visit Live at the Wharf 1999 6:11 Yes
248 Sligo Rags The Night Visit Farewell to Your Dirty Lies - Live at Molly Bloom's and Muldoon's 2003 No
248 Solas The Night Visit Waiting for an Echo 2005 5:32 Yes
248 Spindlewood Night Visiting Song Spindlewood 1988 4:16 >Yes
248 Spinzorelli The Bonny Bay of Biscay <website> 2008- 2:34 Yes
248 Sualtam The Lover's Ghost Irish Music 2002 4:46 Yes
248 Sussie Nielsen Night Visiting Song Day Is Dawning 2005 No
248 Tabache The Bay of Biscay Waves of Rush 1999 3:10 Yes
248 The Armstrong Family Pretty Crowing Chicken The Wheel of the Year: Thirty Years with The Armstrong Family 1992 2:36 Yes
248 The Askew Sisters The Lover's Ghost All in a Garden Green 2007 4:20 Yes
248 The Corries Night Visitor's Song Those Wild Corries + Kishmul's Galley 1996 2:54 Yes
248 The Dubliners Night Visiting Song Millenium Collection 1997 3:28 Yes
248 The Dubliners The Night Visiting Song The Best of the Original Dubliners 2003 3:28 Yes
248 The Dubliners The Night Visiting Song The Best of Luke Kelly 2004 3:27 Yes
248 The Dubliners The Night Visiting Song The Dubliners 2009 3:28 Yes
248 The Dubliners The Night Visiting Song Double Dubliners 1972 No
248 The Dubliners I Must Away Now (Night Visiting Song) Songs of the Workers 1998 3:30 Yes
248 The Dubliners The Night Visiting Song The Collection [Luke Kelly] 1994 3:30 Yes
248 The Fagans Lover's Ghost Kitchen Dance 1997 3:55 Yes
248 The Laggan Bay of Biscay O Scottish Folk Songs 1973 2:57 Yes
248 The Laune Rangers The Lover's Ghost Launie Tunes 1999 4:14 Yes
248 The London Madrigal Singers & Christopher Bishop The Lover's Ghost (Well Met, My Own True Love) Vaughan Williams - The Collector's Edition 2008 4:09 Yes
248 The Mathews Brothers The Lover's Ghost A Kiss in the Morning Early 1978 5:17 Yes
248 The Owl Service The Lover's Ghost The View from a Hill 2010 3:41 Yes
248 The Prodigals The Night Visit Needs Must When the Devil Drives 2003 3:42 Yes
248 The Prodigals The Night Visit Beachland Bootleg - Prodigals Live 2005 3:20 Yes
248 The Rhythm Rats Pretty Crowin' Chicken Pretty Crowin' Chicken 1994 3:26 Yes
248 The Tannahill Weavers A Night Visitor's Song Cullen Bay 1990 3:38 Yes
248 Thomas Moran Here's a Health Unto All True Lovers BBC Recordings No
248 Tim Hart & Maddy Prior Bay of Biscay Folk Songs of Olde England - Vol. 2 1968 2:25 Yes
248 Tim Hart & Maddy Prior Bay of Biscay Heydays 2003 2:27 Yes
248 Tim Hart & Maddy Prior Bay of Biscay First Steps 2001 2:26 Yes
248 Tim Hart & Maddy Prior Fly Up My Cock Summer Solstice 1971 1:46 Yes
248 Tim Hart & Maddy Prior Fly Up My Cock Heydays 2003 1:46 Yes
248 Tracy & Eloise Schwarz Pretty Crowing Chicken Down Home 1978 No
248 Unidentified Singer Willy O The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Collection No
248 Vergie Wallin The Worrisome Woman Far in the Mountains, Vol. 3 & 4 - Songs, Tunes and Stories from Mike Yates' Appalachian Collections 1979-1983 2002 2:51 Yes
248 Vic Legg I'm a Rover + I Must Away Love Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
248 Vin Garbutt The Lover's Ghost The Young Tin Whistle Pest 1975 5:45 Yes
248 Virgie Wallin The Worrysome Woman Appalachia, The Old Traditions, Vol 2: Blue Ridge Mt. Music from VA & NC 1983 No
248 Vivien Ellis The Lover's Ghost The Dawn Songs 2006 No
248 Voice Union La Visite (Buna Sera Vioire-Bonsoir Mie Bonsoir-Le Galant Indiscret-The Grey Cock-Bon’na Seya) Voice Union 1997 No
248 Vooks The Grey Cock or the Lover's Ghost When the Fish They Fly .. 2007 No
248 Waterson:Carthy The Bay of Biscay Broken Ground 1999 5:25 Yes
248 Waterson:Carthy The Bay of Biscay The Definitive Collection [Waterson-Carthy] 2005 5:25 Yes
248 Waterson:Carthy Bay of Biscay Rogues Gallery - Live at the Barbican, London 2008 2008 8:35 Yes
248 Waterson:Carthy The Grey Cock Waterson:Carthy 1994 4:00 Yes
248 Waterson:Carthy The Grey Cock The Voice of Folk 1996 4:02 Yes
248 William Gilkie Here's a Health Unto All True Lovers The Helen Creighton Collection No
248 William Mathieson Here's a Health to All True Lovers BBC Recordings No
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
248. THE GREY COCK or SAW YOU MY FATHER?
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 310 / Isaiah Thomas Collection, Worcester Mass, III, 50 / SharpC, Eng F-S So Apkbns, #30 / SharpK, Eng F-S So Aplchns, I, 259.
Local Titles: None given.
Story Types: A: A girl awaits her lover. After some confused hindrances, lie comes to the door when all are asleep. She lets him in, pledges to love him, and entreats the cock not to crow too early. The lover is obviously a ghost. From Child we know that the cock crows too early, and the tryst is ended too soon.
Examples: Barry.
B: A girl is thinking of her lover and weeping for her parents, when the lover comes. Finding all the doors shut, he rings. She gets up and lets him in. They go to bed, and, in spite of the girl's entreaties, the fowls crow two hours too early. She sends her love away by moonlight, asking him when he will return. He replies a ballad "never", and she berates herself for thinking him
to be true. The ghostly mood is gone; the song is just another night assignation story.
Examples : SharpK.
Discussion: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 313 capably refutes the tendency to place this ballad in the aube tradition (see Child, headnote; C. R. Baskerville, PMLA, XXXVI, 565 ff.) and shows that the bird belongs to Celtic (from Oriental) folklore. He also prints an old song, The Lover's Ghost, on p. 312, op. cit., from Joyce's Old Irish Music, 219 that is connected to The Grey Cocky if not to the extent that Barry claims. See also the intrusion of Child 248 into Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight (Child 4) in the Minish Mss.
In the American versions, the ghostly nature of the lover is almost gone. Particularly, in the SharpK, Eng F-S So Aplchns, is this feature obscured, only the fowls (not even cocks) as the signal for the lover to leave remains of the supernatural elements.
Type A is very close to the Child text, but Type B is noticeably different, though the basic outline of the story is the same.
George P. Jackson, Spiritual F-S Early Am, 44 points out that Anne Gilchrist (JFSS, VIII, 6591) has stated that this song and the religious song, Saw Ye My Saviour? are closely related.
Folk index: The Grey Cock [Ch 248/Sh 36]
Rt - Night Visiting Song ; It Was Under My Love's Window ; I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober
At - Willie's Ghost ; Saw You/Ye My Father?
Rm - Saw Ye My Savior
Mf - Where Are the Joys?
Lloyd, A. L. & Isabel Arete de Ramon y Rivera (eds.) / Folk Songs of the, Oak, Sof (1966), # 14 (Lover's Ghost)
Johnson, James & Robert Burns (eds) / Scots Musical Museum, Amadeus, Bk (1991/1853), # 76 [1787] (O Saw Ye My Father)
Johnson, James & Robert Burns (eds) / Scots Musical Museum, Amadeus, Bk (1991/1853), #363 [1792] (William's Ghost)
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p611
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p612
Christl, Margaret. Looking Towards Home, Canadian River LLR 3529 C, Cas (1984), trk# A.03
Costello, Cecilia. Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 5. The Child Ballads, Vol. II, Caedmon TC 1146, LP (1961), trk# B.02 [1950s]
Costello, Cecilia. Williams, R. Vaughan; & A. L. Lloyd (eds.) / Penguin Book of English Fol, Penguin, Sof (1959), p 52 [1951] (Lover's Ghost)
Couch, Mrs. Hallie Barnes. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p114/# 47 [1930s] (Saw You My True Love)
Emmet Spiceland. Emmet Spiceland, Hawk HALP 166, LP (1977), trk# 4 (Lover's Ghost)
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p259/# 36 [1916/08/24]
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Smith, Betty N. / Jane Hicks Gentry. A Singer Among Singers, U. Ky, Sof (1998), p160/#19 [1916/08/26]
Jones, Bill (Belinda). Two Year Winter, Compass 7 4366 2, CD (2003), trk# 6 (Lover's Ghost)
Kathy and Carol. Kathy & Carol, Elektra EKS-7 289, LP (1965), trk# 6
Lloyd, A. L. (Bert). Best of A. L. Lloyd, Prestige International INT 13066, LP (196?), trk# A.07 (Lover's Ghost)
MacColl, Ewan. Manchester Angel, Tradition TR 2059, LP (197?), trk# A.07
Pyewackett. Man in the Moon Drinks Claret, MW MWCD 4007, CD (1994/1982), trk# 10
Rothfield, Jane; and Allan Carr. There and Back, Temple TP 011, LP (1983), trk# A.06
Seeger, Peggy. Blood and Roses, Vol. 3, Blackthorne ESB 81, LP (1979ca), trk# B.02
Wallin, Virgie. Appalachia, The Old Traditions, Vol. 2, Home Made Music LP-002, LP (1983), trk# B.08 [1983/05/24] (Worrysome Woman)
----------
Night Visiting Song
Rt - Grey Cock
Fisher, Ray and Archie. Clayre, Alasdair (ed.) / 100 Folk Songs and New Songs, Wolfe, Sof (1968), p 16
Kennedy, Norman. Ballads and Songs of Scotland, Folk Legacy FSS 034, LP (1968), trk# 1
Rusby, Kate. Kate Rusby 10, Compass 7 4350 2, CD (2003), trk# 11
---------------
It Was Under My Love's Window
Rt - Westron/Westryn Wynde ; Grey Cock
MacColl, Ewan. English and Scottish Love Songs, Riverside RLP 12-656, LP (195?), trk# A.05
-----------------------------
Malcolm Douglas commentary:
Hugh Shields ('The Grey Cock: Dawn Song or Revenant Ballad?' in Ballad Studies, ed. E. B. Lyle, 1976) examines the subject in detail, and points out that the revenant verses here have been borrowed from the Anglo-Irish broadside song Willy-O, a nineteenth century re-working of Sweet William's Ghost (Roud 50 Child 77)
The Grey Cock (post on Mudcat from: Malcolm Douglas)
There were a number of reasons why I stopped adding material from the Penguin Book at this point. Partly, I discovered who holds the copyright to the bulk of the material (and before anyone starts objecting that "traditional" material shouldn't be copyrighted, I'll just mention that around half of the texts in the Penguin book were re-written by Lloyd and Vaughan Williams from various sources, not always acknowledged, and therefore aren't , strictly speaking, traditional at all) and that, if they were nagged for long enough, there was a good chance the book would be re-published; this has now been agreed, though I don't know how soon it will happen.
The other reason was that I knew that the Irish collector and scholar Hugh Shields had published a study of this particular song, and that he took a very different view of it from the rather romantic one that so many people assumed in the wake of the recording (in 1951; more than once) and publishing of Mrs. Costello's set; I didn't want to comment until I had the full background.
It was some time before I had a chance to read Shield's paper, The Grey Cock: Dawn Song or Revenant Ballad?, which appeared in Ballad Studies, ed. Emily B. Lyle, 1976. Essentially, he makes the point that The Grey Cock is not traditionally a supernatural ballad at all, and that the supernatural elements in Mrs. Costello's set (including a verse omitted from the Penguin book) were borrowed from a broadside song popular in Ireland during the 19th century, Willy O; examples of which Shields has himself recorded from traditional singers in the North of Ireland. Her song, however, appeared to supply a "missing link" that a great many people had been earnestly hoping for; as a result, like Piltdown Man, it was instantly accepted into the canon without too much thought; it took time before someone was prepared to step back and re-assess it objectively.
Of course, that won't stop people making sweeping assumptions that all night-visiting songs are ghost stories (I've seen it happen here all too often), but such folk rarely allow facts to get in the way of cherished romantic fantasies. They also insist that She Moved Through the Fair is a traditional ghost story, though no traditional version of it is any such thing; so far as can be told, my dead love was introduced to that song in the 1920s by the popular recording artist John McCormack; quite possibly by accident in reading from sheet-music.
I don't have any distaste for anybody's fondness for the supernatural; you should see my bookshelves! What I want for traditional music, though, is accuracy and proper information, not romantic (and all too often, ill-informed) assumptions. Lloyd was far from being ill-informed, but he was a man of his time (and not always as scrupulous as he might have been) and promulgated quite a bit of misinformation in the course of an illustrious, if confusing, career.
-------------------
Excerpt from: "The Dead Lover's Return in Modern English Ballad Tradition" by Hugh Shields
Jahrbuch für Volksliedforschung, 17. Jahrg. (1972), pp. 98-114
The ballad now commonly known as the Grey cock (248) was published by Child as a 'dawn song'; but it has been claimed on many sides as a revenant ballad since texts have come to view which do indeed interpret the narrative explicitly in this sense. I shall do no more than summarize arguments I have stated elsewhere on the respective merits of these claims[35]. My own conclusion is that recent critics have followed the folk, who in their turn have followed Romantic fashions, in believing that 'there is something about the crowing of a cock in any old song which warns the ballad hunter that ghosts are near [36]. This 20th-century observation has all the vagueness of early Romanticism. What actually happens in the majority of versions of the Grey cock is that a young man visits his mistress, she allows him to spend the night with her and warns her 'well-feathered cock' not to crow till dawn; the cock crows at the light of the moon and the lover leaves prematurely. The young man has usually little character, but he is not at all ghostly.
It is noteworthy that among the 'revenant' texts of the Grey cock the one[37] which has been chiefly acclaimed as an argument for the supernatural interpretation turns out to be a crude, obvious and probably recent conflation of at least three songs:
(1) I must away, a 19th-century (?) night-visit song making no allusion either to ghost or cockcrow[38]; (2) the Grey cock, medieval ballad of a lovers' dawn parting; (3) Willy-O, a 19th-century revenant ballad with a verse about cockcrow. The night visit situation of all three songs, the crowing of the cock in (2) and (3) have been the common factors which gave rise to this hybrid and which, I am convinced, induced more generally a new interpretation of the Grey cock as a ballad of the supernatural. Even where no cocks crow and the common factor is the night-visit alone, a similar confusion has arisen; there is a text of I must away containing verses of Willy-O (but not of the Grey cock) and giving a reasonably coherent, if vague, account of a dead lover's return[39].
The versions of the Grey cock which describe such a return thus seem to reflect a modern tendency to favour a supernatural theme as the more fashionable. The earliest of these versions was not published until 1909[40], though it had already inspired, while in MS, a nebulous literary adaptation published in 1897[41].
One British ballad which obviously had the return of a dead lover as its central and original theme, Sweet William's ghost (77), preserves this theme consistently in oral transmission. The influence of this ballad upon others has been considerable. It seems to have been the main source of supernatural intrusions in the Grey Cock.
Footnotes:
35 H. Shields 'Une alba dans la poesie populaire anglaise?', in: Revue des Langues Romanes (1971), 461-475.
36 P. Barry, British ballads from Maine (Newhaven 1929), p. 311.
37 JEFDS VII (1953), 97-98; BBC recording, RPL 17032.
38 See for example G. Greig, Folk songs of the North East (repr. Hatboro, USA, 1963), No. CLXXVII.
39 Recorded (1967) by Tom Munnelly, sung by the late John Reilly, Co. Roscommon, Ireland. I am grateful to Mr. Munnelly for assistance in finding a number of texts referred to in this article.
40 P. W. Joyce, Old Irish folk music and songs (Dublin and London 1909), p. 219.
41 A. P. Graves, The Irish song book (London 1897), p. 21
Mainly Norfolk: The Grey Cock
[Roud 179; Child 248; Ballad Index C248; trad.]
This song was collected from Mrs. Cecilia Costello in Birmingham in 1951 and published in Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd's The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. A.L. Lloyd recorded it in 1960 for A Selection from the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. Like all tracks from this LP it was reissued in 2003 on the CD England & Her Traditional Songs. Lloyd wrote in the album's sleeve notes:
In folk song, when a cock crows, it's usually a sign that lovers are to be untimely parted or that ghosts are about. In this ballad it means both, for the lover is himself a revenant spirit. The cock in the song is a descendant of the legendary fowls of Oriental folklore, with feathers of gold, diamond beaks and ruby legs. Indeed, the whole ballad may be based on a tale that spread from the East, through Byzantium, as far as Ireland. This rare and well-kept song was recorded in Birmingham, of all places, in 1951. The singer was Mrs. Cecilia Costello; the collectors, Miss Marie Slocombe and Patrick Shuldham Shaw.
Nora Cleary sang a variant of this under the title Willie-O in her home at The Hand, Miltown Maybay, Co. Clare in July 1976. Jim Carroll and Pat Mackenzie recorded her; and this track was included on the anthology O'er His Grace The Grass Grew Green (The Voice of the People Series Volume 3; Topic 1998). This version also shares its first three verses with The Bay of Biscay / Willie the Waterboy.
It was also sung by Jez Lowe with Linda Adams singing harmony vocals on the later Fellside anthology A Selection from The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. The record's sleeve notes said:
From Mrs Cecilia Costello, Birmingham, recorded in 1951 by Marie Slocombe and Pat Shuldham-Shaw. A number of lyrical folk songs present the situation of two lovers disturbed by the early crowing of a cock. Perhaps the origins of these songs is found in the supernatural ballad of the lover returned from the dead. Its themes echo ancient folklore notions that have spread from the Orient, through the Balcans, as far west as Ireland. (Mrs Costello was of Irish descent.) The song appears as no. 248 in Child's collection.
And Eliza Carthy sang The Grey Cock on Waterson:Carthy's eponymous debut album, Waterson:Carthy, and on the Topic Records anthology The Voice of Folk. Martin Carthy commented in the original album's sleeve notes:
Having decided to sing The Grey Cock again after quite a long time, I accidentally practised it in Eliza's hearing. She promptly announced that the song was, in fact, hers and, after another hearing-and-a-bit, she knew the whole thing. So that was that. Ho hum. The song comes from a recording made in the 1960s of Mrs Cecilia Costello, an Irish woman domiciling in Birmingham, who was featured on her own fine album produced by Bill Leader in the early 1970s. That the song turned up when and where it did was exciting given that it's a pretty rare piece. Maybe it's an indication that it's a trifle early to be counting this music out.
Eliza Carthy recorded this song again in 2005 with Salsa Celtica as Grey Gallito for their 2006 CD El Camino (The Road). The verses are nearly identical to the lyrics shown below with an additional chorus after verses five, seven and eight:
No le cantes, ahora gallito (Don't sing to him, not yet, cockerel)
No le cantes, ahora, no (Don't sing to him yet)
See also A.L. Lloyd's related The Lover's Ghost which he sang on both his albums Classic A.L. Lloyd and The Best of A.L. Lloyd.
Lyrics
A.L. Lloyd sings The Grey Cock
“I must be going, no longer staying,
The burning Thames I have to cross.
Oh, I must be guided without a stumble
Into the arms of my dear lass.”
And when he came to his true love's window,
He knelt down gently on a stone,
And it's through a pane he whispered slowly:
“My dear girl, are you alone?”
She rose her head from her down-soft pillow,
And snowy were her milk-white breasts,
Saying: “Who's there, who's there at my bedroom window,
Disturbing me from my long night's rest?”
“Oh, I'm your lover and can't discover,*
I pray you rise, love, and let me in,
For I am fatigued from my long night's journey.
Besides, I'm wet into the skin.”
Now this young girl rose and put on her clothing.
She quickly let her own true love in.
Oh, they kissed, shook hands, and embraced together,
Till that long night was near an end.
“Oh Willie dear, oh dearest Willie,
Where is that colour you'd some time ago?”
“O Mary dear, the clay has changed me,
I'm but the ghost of your Willie, oh.”
“Then oh cock, oh cock, oh handsome cockerel,
I pray you not crow until it's day.
For your wings I'll make of the very first beaten gold,
And your comb I'll make of the silver grey.”
But the cock it crew, and it crew so fully.
It crew three hours before it was day.
And before it was day, my love had to go away,
Not by the light of the moon or the light of day.
Then it's “Willie dear, oh dearest Willie,
Whenever shall I see you again?”
“When the fish they fly, love, and the sea runs dry, love,
And the rocks they melt in the heat of the sun.”
Waterson: Carthy sing The Grey Cock
“I must be going, no longer staying,
The burning Thames I have to cross.
I will be guided without a stumble
Into the arms I love the best.”
And when he came to his true love's window,
He knelt down gently all on a stone,
And it's through the pane he has whispered slowly,
“My darling dear, do you lie alone?”
She's raised her head from her down-soft pillow,
And snowy were her milk-white breasts,
Saying: “Who's there, who's there at my bedroom window,
Disturbing me from my long night's rest?”
“Tis I, your love, but don't discover,*
I pray you rise and let me in,
For I am fatigued from my long night's journey,
Besides, I am wet unto my skin.”
So this young girl rose and put on her clothing,
So swift she's let her true love in.
And it's there they kissed and embraced each other
Through that long night they lay as one.
Then it's: “Willy dear, oh dearest Willy,
Where's your colour you'd some time ago?”
“O Mary dear, the clay has changed me
And I'm but the ghost of your Willy, oh.”
“Then it's cock, oh cock, oh handsome cockerel,
I pray you not crow before it is day,
And your wings I'll make of the very first beaten gold,
Your comb I will make of the silver grey.”
But the cock he crew, and he crew so fully,
He crew three hours before it was day,
And before twas day, my love had to leave me,
Not by light of the moon nor light of the sun.
“So Willy dear, oh dearest Willy,
When shall I see you again?”
“When the fishes fly, love, and the sea runs dry, love,
And the rocks they melt in the heat of the sun”
Nora Cleary sing Willie-O
As Mary lay sleeping, her love came creeping
To her bedroom door so slow,
Saying, “Rise up, Mary, my lovely Mary,
I'm your charming Willie-o.”
Mary arose, she put on her clothes
And to her bedroom door did go,
And there she found her own true lover
And his face was white as the lily snow.
“Oh, Willie dear, where are those blushes,
That you had some long ago?”
“Mary dear, the clay has changed them;
I'm but the ghost of your Willie-o.”
They spent that night in deep conversation
Concerning their courtship years ago.
They kissed, they shook hands and sorrowful parted
Just as the cock began to grow.
And as they were in deep conversation
Down her cheeks the tears did flow.
“Farewell, Darling, I must leave you;
I'm but the ghost of your Willie-o.”
“Oh, Willie dear, when will we meet again?”
“When the fishes there will fly
And the sea it will run dry
And the rocks they will melt with the sun.”
*Perhaps the phrase should be: 'but I can't uncover' (can't reveal myself). [note in the book]
Acknowledgements
The words are from The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, eds Ralph Vaughan Williams & A.L. Lloyd, Penguin, 1959. Eliza Carthy's variations transcribed by Garry Gillard. A.L. Lloyd's variations transcribed by Reinhard Zierke.
Mainly Norfolk: The Lover's Ghost
[Roud 179 ; Child 248 ; Ballad Index C248 ; trad.]
The Lover's Ghost is a variant of the night-visiting ballad The Grey Cock. Cecilia Costello sang it on November 30, 1951 in Birmingham in a recording made by Maria Slocombe and Patrick Shuldham-Shaw for the BBC. It was published in 1975 on her eponymous album on the Leader label, Cecilia Costello.
A.L. Lloyd sang The Lover's Ghost unaccompanied on his 1966 album First Person; it was reissued in 1994 on his compilation CD Classic A.L. Lloyd. Lloyd commented in the original album's sleeve notes:
One of the most persistent of the great ballads is the piece often called The Grey Cock, although, curiously enough Francis J. Child, in his enormous collection, never found a full set of it. Several good versions have turned up since Child's time—the best one was recorded in Birmingham in 1951 [see above]—in the old form as the tale of the ghostly lover returning to stay with his sweetheart till cock-crow, or in the modern form of a single night-visit, as in the well-known I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober. The suggestion of the bird with its golden beak and silver wings that decorates the best versions of the ballad is a borrowing (via Ireland?) of an oriental motif of the jewelled bird of Paradise who crows on the frontier of the other world. The same creature is described in some detail in Rimsky Korsakov's Chanson Hindoue. Our version, more formally lyrical than usual, and presenting the woman as the ghostly revenant, is one that the great Irish collector Patrick W. Joyce learnt as boy in the 1830's in his native village of Glenosheen, Co. Limerick.
Lloyd recorded the song a second time in the same year for his record The Best of A.L. Lloyd. This album's sleeve notes commented:
The situation in which two lovers are disturbed by the over-early crowing of the cock is one that fascinates folk singers. Many lyrical songs treat of it, and a whole group of ballads which scholars usually classify under the title of: The Grey Cock. The notion of a bird having silver wings and a golden comb recalls the jewelled birds of Oriental mythology. Indeed, the Indian tàble of Rati and Kamadiva is closely related to the ballad-narrative. Our version, which seems to be halfway between ballad and lyrical song, is one remembered from his boyhood by P.W. Joyce, and published in his Old Irish Folk Music and Songs [1909].
And Frankie Armstrong sang The Lover's Ghost in 1996 on her ballad album Till the Grass O'ergrew the Corn. The sleeve notes commented:
A glorious tune and a stately text, this song recounts the ultimate nightmare for any lover and does so with a kind of unflinching tenderness. Frankie first heard it sung many years ago by Bert Lloyd, on of her most important influences. The version is that learned by P.W. Joyce as a child in Glenosheen, County Limerick and published in his Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909). The ballad is close to many non-ghostly night visiting songs, such as Here's a Health to all True Lovers, The Light of the Moon and the admirable, but sorely mistreated I'm a Rover.
Tony Rose varies the song's theme in his The Yarmouth Tragedy on his album Poor Fellows.
Fay Hield learned The Lover's Ghost from the singing of A.L. Lloyd and sang it in 2012 on her CD with the Hurricane Party, Orfeo. Apparently of a ghoulish nature, she is “particularly attached to the lyric ‘and the worms and creeping things…’ ” This video shows the Fay Hield Trio performing The Lover's Ghost at Cecil Sharp House on June 23, 2011:
Lyrics
A.L. Lloyd sings The Lover's Ghost
“You're welcome home again,” said the young man to his love,
“I've been waiting for you many a night and day.
You're tired and you're pale,” said the young man to his dear,
“You shall never again go away.”
“I must go away,” she said, “when the little cock do crow
For here they will not let me stay.
Oh but if I had my wish, oh my dearest dear,” she said,
“This night should be never, never day.”
“Oh pretty little cock, oh you handsome little cock,
I pray you do not crow before day.
And your wings shall be made of the very beaten gold
And your beak of the silver so grey.“
But oh this little cock, this handsome little cock,
It crew out a full hour too soon.
“It's time I should depart, oh my dearest dear,“ she said,
“For it's now the going down of the moon.“
“And where is your bed, my dearest love,“ he said,
“And where are your white Holland sheets?
And where are the maids, oh my darling dear,” he said,
“That wait upon you whilst you are asleep?”
“The clay it is my bed, my dearest dear,” she said,
“The shroud is my white Holland sheet.
And the worms and creeping things are my servants, dear,” she said,
“That wait upon me whilst I am asleep.”
Fay Hield sings The Lover's Ghost
“You're welcome home, my dear,” said the young man to his love,
“I've been waiting for you many's the night and day.
You're tired and you're pale, my dearest dear,” he said,
“You shall never more be going so far away.”
“I must go away, my dear, when the little cock do crow
For here they'll not let me stay.
Oh but if I had my wish, my darling dear,” she said,
“This night should be never, never day.”
It's, “Oh my little cock, oh my handsome little cock,
I pray you do not crow before the day.
Your wings shall be made of the very beaten gold
And your comb of a silver shining grey.“
But oh this little cock, this handsome little cock,
He crew out a full hour too soon.
“It's time for me to part, oh my dearest dear,“ she said,
“For now it is the going of the moon.“
It's, “Where is your bed, my darling dear,“ he said,
“And where are your white Holland sheets?
And where are the maidens, my darling dear,” he said,
“That will wait upon you while you are asleep?”
“Oh, the clay it is my bed, my dearest dear,” she said,
“This shroud is my white Holland sheet.
And the worms and creeping things are my servants, dear,” she said,
“That will wait upon me while I am asleep.”