Recordings & Info 3. Bramble Briar
Recordings & Info 3. The Bramble Briar/Merchant's Daughter/ In Bruton Town
[See print sources
R. Matteson 2016]
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3)
4)
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. ( Listings)
2)
Alternate Titles
In Bruton Town
Merchant's Daughter
Traditional Ballad Index: Bramble Briar/ Merchant's Daughter/In Bruton Town
Bramble Briar, The (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town) [Laws M32]
DESCRIPTION: A girl wishes to marry a man her family disapproves of. Her brothers take the lad hunting and kill him. They claim to have lost him, but he appears to his lover in a dream and reveals the truth. Accused by their sister, the two brothers are forced to flee
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3995)); 1856 (Thompson-Pioneer) [see the note quoting Steve Gardham, below, which would make the broadside a different ballad]
KEYWORDS: homicide brother love accusation dream
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,Ro,SE,So) Britain(England(Lond,South)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (28 citations):
Laws M32, The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town)"
Belden, pp. 109-111, "The Bramble Briar" (2 texts)
Randolph 100, "The Jealous Brothers" (1 text, 1 tune)
High, p. 34, "Two Lovers Sat Sparking" (1 text)
Eddy 27, "The Bramble Brier" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 62, "The Bramble Brier" (2 texts)
BrownSchinhanIV 62, "The Bramble Briar" (1 text plus an excerpt, 2 tunes)
Moore-Southwest 68, "The Bramble Briar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Owens-1ed, pp. 83-84, "Late One Sunday Evening" (1 text, 1 tune)
Owens-2ed, pp. 48-49, "Late One Sunday Evening" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hubbard, #21, "The Branbury Briars" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brewster 32, "The Bramble Briar" (1 text plus a mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 11, "The Apprentice Boy" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 705-707, "In Brunton Town" (1 text)
SharpAp 48, "In Seaport Town" (9 texts, 9 tunes)
Sharp-100E 2, "Bruton Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 24-25, "The Bramble Briar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Reeves-Circle 37, "A Famous Farmer" (1 text)
Wiltshire-WSRO Ox 270, "Farmer's Daughter and Her Servant Man" (1 text)
Palmer-ECS, #59, "It's of a Farmer" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 22, pp. 53-54, "The Bamboo Briars"; pp. 54-58, "The Apprentice Boy" (2 texts)
JHCox 88, "The Bramble Briar" (2 texts)
JHCoxIIA, #16, pp. 70-72, "The Merchant's Daughter" (1 text, probably composite, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 20, "Brake of Briars" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Thompson-Pioneer 22, "The Bridgewater Merchant" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 119-120, "In Zepo Town" (1 text)
DT 309, JEALBROS JEALBRO2 JEALBRO3 JEALBRO4* SEAPRTWN*
ADDITIONAL: Bob Stewart, _Where Is Saint George? Pagan Imagery in English Folksong_, revised edition, Blandford, 1988, pp. 48-49, "In Bruton Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LM32 (Full)
Roud #18
RECORDINGS:
Logan English, "Bruton Town" (on LEnglish01)
Louis Killen, "The Bramble Briar" (on ESFB2)
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "The Bramble Briar" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
Lisha Shelton, "In Zepo Town (In Seaport Town)" (onOldLove, DarkHoll)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3995), "The Merchant's Daughter and Constant Farmer's Son" ("It's of a merchnt's [sic] daughter in London town did dwell"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Johnson Ballads 1223, Firth c.18(183), Harding B 16(148a)[some words illegible], Johnson Ballads 1947, Harding B 11(2402), "The Merchant's Daughter and Constant Farmer's Son"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Constant Farmer's Son" [Laws M33]
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Bamboo Briers
The Bomberry Briar
NOTES: Boccaccio includes the story, hence my "14th century" date. It's also listed by Hans Sachs in the 16th century. Sachs' was in verse form, whereas Boccaccio's was prose. I'm tempted to list Sachs' version. -PJS
H. M. Belden wrote an article on the relationships of these texts, "Boccaccio, Hans Sachs, and The Bramble Briar," published in Publications of the Modern Language Association of America in 1918.
The Boccaccio story involved is the fifth story of the fourth day, the Tale of Isabetta and Lorenzo. Keats would in turn make this into a poem, "Isabella, or the Pot of Basil." It should be noted, however, that the Boccaccio version is fuller than the song. The beginning is the same, with the young couple falling in love and the brothers murdering their sister's swain, after which she finds the body. But the sequel in the Decameron is macabre: She takes her lover's head and hides it in a pot of basil. The brothers steal the pot and bury it. I would not categorically deny the link between the Italian story and the English, but the English tale is noticeably more natural.
Stewart suggests that the second half of the tale, of the girl preserving the head but not the body, is a link to the tale of the decapitated Celtic hero Bran, which became an oracle. Of course, this doesn't explain how the head came into the Italian version of the tale but not the British. - RBW
Logan English learned this piece from a young Kentucky woman practicing it with a dulcimer on the sidelines of a folk festival... and concluded from textual evidence that she'd learned it from Cecil Sharp's book. Tradition, twentieth century style. - PJS
For a discussion of this ballad, and the importance to the researcher of the Thompson-Pioneer text see Steve Gardham's MusTrad article Dungheap 21, "The Bridgewater Merchant," available at http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/dung21.htm (accessed August 12, 2012). Steve makes a point in passing that "the later period broadside ballad, much reprinted, which tells the same story The Merchant's Daughter and the Constant Farmer's Son was quite likely based on our ballad, but has no phrasing in common and must be considered a separate ballad." - BS
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Bramble Briar/Brier [Laws M32/Sh 48]
Rt - Bramble Bush ; Apprentice Boy - II ; Constant Farmer's Daughter/Son ; Bruton Town
At - In Seaport Town ; Strawberry Town ; In Bruton Town ; Deceived Maid ; Squire's Daughter
Laws, G. Malcolm / American Balladry from British Broadsides, Amer. Folklore Soc., Bk (1957), p196
Cox, John Harrington(ed.) / Traditional Ballads Mainly from West Virgini, WPA, Bk (1939), 16 [1924] (Merchant's Daughter, I)
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p705 (In Brunton Town)
Armstrong, George and Gerry. Simple Gifts, Folkways FW 2335, LP (1961), trk# A.03 (Jealous Brothers)
Boone, Sina. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p316/# 48I [1918/09/28] (In Seaport Town)
Broghton, Mollie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p314/# 48F [1917/05/08] (In Seaport Town)
Doyle, Minnie. Pound, Louise (ed.) / American Ballads and Songs, Scribner, Sof (1972/1922), p 53/# 22A [1917] (Bamboo Briars)
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p312/# 48D [1916/09/14] (In Seaport Town)
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Smith, Betty N. / Jane Hicks Gentry. A Singer Among Singers, U. Ky, Sof (1998), p163/#22 [1916/09/16] (In Seaport Town)
Gore, Mrs. Hardy. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p 48 [1941] (Late One Sunday Evening)
Gosnell, Mrs.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p311/# 48B [1916/08/04] (In Seaport Town)
Hammontree, Doney. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p380/#100 [1941/12/28] (Jealous Brothers)
Hanly, Mick. Kiss in the Morning Early, Mulligan LUN 005, LP (1976), trk# 2 (Merchant's Daughter, I)
Hensley, Rosie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p311/# 48C [1916/08/11] (In Seaport Town)
Jensen, Elisabeth. Hubbard, Lester A. / Ballads and Songs from Utah, Univ. of Utah, Bk (1961), p 49/# 21 [1947/09] (Branbury Briars)
Joiner, Mrs.. Williams, R. Vaughan; & A. L. Lloyd (eds.) / Penguin Book of English Fol, Penguin, Sof (1959), p 24 [1914]
Lloyd, A. L. (Bert). Great British Ballads Not Included in the Child Collection, Riverside RLP 12-629, LP (1956), trk# A.03
MacColl, Ewan. Manchester Angel, Tradition TR 2059, LP (197?), trk# A.05
Mitchell, Howie. Howie Mitchell, Folk Legacy FSI 005, LP (1962), trk# A.02 (Jealous Brothers)
Moore, S. L.. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p306/# 88B [1916ca] (Bomberry Briar)
Pace, Eliza. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p313/# 48E [1917/10/03] (In Seaport Town)
Presnell, Hattie. Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, NC, Vol I, Folk Legacy FSA 022, LP (1964), trk# 12 [1961-63] (Jealous Brothers)
Shelton, Lisha. Dark Holler; Old Love Songs and Ballads, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40159, CD/ (2005), trk# 1.14 [1963] (In Zepo Town)
Shelton, Stella (Miss). Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p310/# 48A [1916/07/29] (In Seaport Town)
Smith, Hillard. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p315/# 48G [1917/09/20] (In Seaport Town)
Sutterfield, Barry. I'm On My Journey Home; Vocal Styles & Resources in Folk Music, New World NW 223, LP (1978), trk# A.06 [1962/04/15] (Late One Evening)
Toney, Decker. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p305/# 88A [1916/01/20] (Bamboo Briars)
Walker, Opal. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p160/# 68 [1940s]
Weill, Rita. Rita Weill Sings Ballads and Folksongs, Takoma A 1022, LP (1968), trk# 4
Wheeler, Laurel. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p316/# 48H [1918/05/02] (In Seaport Town)
------------------------
Constant Farmer's Son [Laws M33]
Laws, G. Malcolm / American Balladry from British Broadsides, Amer. Folklore Soc., Bk (1957), p197
Edwards, George. Cazden, Norman, et.al. / Folk Songs of the Catskills, SUNY Press, sof (1982), p186/# 47 [1940s]
Killen, Louis. Irish Songs from Old New England ...from the Flanders Collection, Folk Legacy CD 132, CD (2003), trk# 13
Wimberly, L. C.. Pound, Louise (ed.) / American Ballads and Songs, Scribner, Sof (1972/1922), p 76/# 32 [1916]
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Wiki:
"The Bramble Briar", "The Merchant's Daughter" or "In Bruton Town" (Roud 18;[1] Laws M32) is a traditional English folk murder ballad that tells the story of how two brothers murder a servant who is courting their sister. There are many versions of the song going by a number of different titles.
Synopsis
A girl of noble birth falls in love with a servant and the two agree to get married. However, her two brothers discover the tryst and, because they consider him too low-born for her, decide to murder him. They go out hunting in the woods early in the morning and take the servant along with them. One of the brothers kills the man and hides the body in a bramble thicket. Once back home, their sister asks them why they are whispering to each other and what has become of the servant. One of the brothers tells her that they have lost him somewhere that he will never be found. That night the girl dreams of her lover. He is dead and covered in blood. The following day, she goes out to the woods where she eventually finds the corpse in the briars. She kisses his dead lips and sits mourning with his body for three days. When she at last returns, her brothers ask her why she is whispering and she tells them to get away from her, calling them "bloody butchers". In other versions of the story, she severs the head of the unfortunate victim, and takes it back with her in a jar.
Commentary
The ballad was collected by Cecil Sharp in 1904 but is considerably older than that. It is a re-telling of a 14th-century tale called Isabella and the Pot of Basil by Boccaccio although, according to the The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs the story was probably not new even then.[2] The English romantic poet, John Keats, adapted the story into a poem called Isabella, or the Pot of Basil.[3] Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt illustrated Keats's poem in his painting, Isabella and the Pot of Basil, in 1868.[4]
Recordings
Many musicians have recorded this song including:
Martin Carthy recorded it as "Bruton Town" on his 1966 album Second Album
Jacqui McShee recorded it as "Bruton Town" with Pentangle on their 1968 album The Pentangle and live on their 1968 album Sweet Child
Sandy Denny performed a live version of "Bruton Town" in 1972 released on Who Knows Where the Time Goes? (1986)
Maddy Prior and Tim Hart again used the title "Bruton Town" for a recording on their Folk Songs of Old England Vol. 1 (1968)
Louis Killen sang "Bramble Briar" on English and Scottish Folk Ballads (1964)
Meg Baird, Helena Espvall & Sharron Kraus on the album Leaves From Off The Tree (2006)
References
"Roud Folk Song Index 18". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd (1959)
http://www.john-keats.com/gedichte/isabella.htm John Keats: Isabella
"BBC - Your Paintings - Isabella and the Pot of Basil". Retrieved 20 February 2015.
External links
Bruton Town (The Bramble Briar)
Bruton Town at Folkinfo.org[dead link]
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Norfolk:
The Bramble Briar / Bruton Town / The Murdered Servantman
[ Roud 18 ; Laws M32 ; Ballad Index LM32 ; trad.]
Bruton Town is a version of the story Isabella and the Pot of Basil, made famous by Boccaccio in The Decameron, but the ballad obviously draws on popular tradition since then. It is also known as The Bramble Briar, The Jealous Brothers, The Merchant's Daughter, and The Murdered Servantman, and can be found in 100 English Songs, edited by Cecil Sharp who collected it in 1904.
A.L. Lloyd sang The Bramble Briar in 1956 on his and Ewan MacColl's Riverside anthology Great British Ballads Not Included in the Child Collection. His songs from this series were reissued in 2011 on his Fellside anthology Bramble Briars and Beams of the Sun.
Louis Killen sang The Bramble Briar in 1964 on his LP Ballads & Broadsides (reissued on the Topic CD anthology English and Scottish Folk Ballads) and he sang it as Bruton Town in 1989 on his cassette The Rose in June.
Alex Campbell sang Bruton Town in 1965 on his Transatlantic album Yours Aye, Alex. This track was also included in 2005 on his Castle anthology Been on the Road So Long.
Martin Carthy sang Bruton Town in 1966 on his Second Album. He commented in the album's sleeve notes:
In The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, A. L. Lloyd writes “this is based on a story that was probably not new when Boccaccio made it famous in the 14th century. Hans Sachs put it into verse some two hundred years later and Keats rewrote it as the Ballad of Isabella and the Pot of Basil.” It would appear that Keats's version owes more to Boccaccio while the English traditional variants of the song have a lot in common with Sachs's version. The tune is from Mrs Overd of Langport, Somerset, with a composite text.
Ewan MacColl sang The Bramble Briar (Strawberry Town) in 1966 on his Topic album The Manchester Angel, and the Critics Group sang Strawberry Town on their 1970 album Living Folk. MacColl commented in the former album's notes:
This powerful story of social misalliance is perhaps the most notable ballad omission from the Child canon. Many writers and collectors have traced the plot to Philomena’s story in the fourth day of The Decameron, later versified by Hans Sachs in The Murdered Lorentz and by Keats in Isabella and the Pot of Basil. The tune used here is the one taken down from George Whitcombe at Westhay, Meare, Somerset, in 1906-7. The text is largely that given by Mrs Joiner of Chiswell Green in Hertfordshire, to Lucy Broadwood, in 1914. Both text and tune have undergone substantial changes in the course of being sung over the years.
Queen Caroline Hughes sang The Brake of Briars in a recording made by Peter Kennedy in her caravan near Blandford, Dorset, on April 19, 1968. It was published in 2012 on the Topic anthology of songs by Southern English gypsy traditional singers, I'm a Romany Rai (The Voice of the People Series Volume 22).
Davy Graham Bruton Town in 1968 on his Decca album Large As Life and Twice As Natural.
Pentangle sang Bruton Town in 1968 on their eponymous album The Pentangle. They also sang in live at the Cambridge Folk Festival 2011.
Maddy Prior sang Bruton Town in 1968 on Tim Hart's and her duo album Folk Songs of Old England Vol. 1. The record's sleeve notes commented:
The village of Bruton in Somerset claims to be the locale of this ballad there being a lengthy version on the wall of a local public house. The story of the girl who severs the head of her dead lover whom her brothers have murdered, hides it in a pot of herbs and dies lamenting, has been used by many writers including Boccaccio (1313-1373) in his story of Isabella and Lorenzo, Hans Sachs (1494-1571) and more recently Keats in his Isabella and the Pot of Basil, although in his version she merely finds the body. The tune, which is in the Dorian mode, and the first verse come from Mrs. Overd of Langport in Somerset, whilst the remainder is from the singing of Mrs. Joiner of Chiswell Green in Hertfordshire.
Sandy Denny recorded Bruton Town live at the Paris Theatre, London, on March 16, 1972 for BBC “Radio 1 in Concert”, broadcast on March 25, 1972. This recording was published for the first time in 1986 on her anthology Who Knows Where the Time Goes? and later in 2004 on A Boxful of Treasures and in 2007 on the 3CD+DVD set Live at the BBC.
Martin Simpson recorded The Bramble Briar in 2001 as the title track of his album The Bramble Briar. Martin Carthy played guitar on the album, but not on this track.
Bellowhead learned Bruton Town from Folk Songs of Old England and recorded it in 2008 for their album Matachin. Jon Boden sang Bruton Town again as the November 12 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.
And Tony Rose recorded this song as The Murdered Servantman in 1976 for his third LP On Banks of Green Willow. A live recording of Bruton Town with quite different verses from Cheltenham Folk Club in 1969 was included in 2008 on his CD Exe. Tony Rose commented in the 1976 album's sleeve notes:
Another ballad with a distinguished literary pedigree is The Murdered Servantman, whose plot is traceable through Keats (Isabel and the Pot of Basil) and Hans Sachs to Boccaccio, which means the story is probably pre-14th century. Not so Frank Purslow, in whose Wanton Seed the song can be found!
Nancy Kerr and James Fagan sang Strawberry Town on their 2002 Fellside CD Between the Dark and Light.
Ed Rennie sang In Bruton Town in 2004 on his Fellside CD Narrative.
CrossCurrent sang Bruton Town in 2005 on their CD Momentum.
Sara Grey sang The Jealous Brothers in 2009 on their Fellside CD Sandy Boys.
George Gardiner collected A Famous Farmer in 1907 from Elizabeth Randall, aged 50, in Axford, Hampshire. Sarah Morgan sang this version in 2009 on the WildGoose CD The Axford Five.
Brian Peters sang The Brake of Briars in 2010 on his CD Gritstone Serenade.
Bryony Griffith sang The Murdered Servant Man in 2011 on her and Will Hampson's CD Lady Diamond. They learned it “from the book The Wanton Seed edited by Frank Purslow” and their verses are quite similar to Tony Rose's.
Lyrics
Martin Carthy sings Bruton Town Sandy Denny sings Bruton Town
In Bruton Town there lived a noble,
He had two sons and a daughter fair.
By night and day they were contriving
To fill their sister's heart with care.
In Bruton Town there lived a noble man,
He had two sons and a daughter fair.
By night and day they were contriving
For to fill their sister's heart with care.
One night, one night of restless slumber,
One brother rose up from his bed.
He heard the servant court their sister,
He heard they had a mind to wed.
One night, one night, our restless young girl,
One brother rose up from his bed.
He heard the servant court their sister,
Oh, he heard they had a mind to wed.
He early rose the very next morning,
A-hunting through the woods to go.
And there he did this young man a-murder
In the bramble briar his body threw.
Oh, when he rose the very next morning
Went searching for the servantman,
And when he found him, this young man he murdered,
Oh, left him lying in the briars around.
“Oh, brothers, brothers, why do you whisper,
And what's become of the serving man?”
“We lost him where we been a-hunting,
We lost him where he'll ne'er be found.”
She went to bed a-crying and lamenting
And weeping for her own true love.
And as she slept she dreamed that she saw him
All covered all over with gore and blood.
Oh, she went to bed a-crying and lamenting
And thinking of her own true love,
And as she slept, she dreamt that she saw him
A-lying in the countryside all covered with gore and blood.
“Oh, brothers, brothers, why do you whisper,
And what's become of this servant man?”
“Oh, we lost him when we were a-contending,
We lost him were he won't ever be found.”
She early rose the very next morning,
She searched the woods and the country round,
And there she found her own dear jewel,
In the bramble briar where his body they'd thrown.
Oh, she early rose the very next morning
And searched the countryside around,
And there she saw her own dear jewel
A-lying in the briars where he'd been found.
Three days and nights she did stay by him,
She kissed his eyes that could not see.
And to keep him from the heat of the sunshine,
She covered him with green leaves from off the tree.
Three days and nights she did stay by him,
She thought her heart would break with woe,
Till a cruel hunger came upon her
And in despair to her home she did go.
Three days and nights she'd lie by him,
She thought her heart it would break with woe.
When a cruel hunger came upon her
And in despair to her home she did go.
“Oh, sister, sister, why do you whisper,
And won't you tell us where you've been.”
“Stand off, stand off, you bloody butchers,
My love and I you have both slain.”
“Oh, sister, sister, why do you whisper,
And won't you tell us where you've been?”
“Stand off, stand off you bloody butchers,
My love and I you have all slain.”
Tim Hart & Maddy Prior sing Bruton Town Tony Rose sings The Murdered Servantman
In Bruton town there lived a farmer,
Who had two sons and one daughter dear.
By day and night they were conspiring
To fill their parents' heart with fear.
Now a famous farmer, as you shall hear,
He had two sons and one daughter dear.
Her servantman she much admired,
None in the world she loved so dear.
He told his secrets to no other,
But to her brother this he said:
“I think our servant courts our sister.
I think they have a mind to wed.
I'll put an end to all their courtship.
I'll send him silent to his grave.”
Said one brother to the other:
“See how our sister means to wed.
Let all such a courtship soon be ended:
We'll hoist him unto some silent grave.”
They asked him then to go a-hunting,
Without any fear or strife,
But these two bold and wicked villains,
They took away this young man's life.
They called for him to go a-hunting.
He went out without any fear or strife.
And these two jewels they proved so cruel:
They took away that young man's life.
And in the ditch there was no water,
Where only bush and briars grew.
They could not hide the blood of slaughter,
So in the ditch his body they threw.
It was near the creek where there was no water,
Nothing but bushes and briars grew.
All for to hide their cruel slaughter
Into the bushes his body threw.
When they returned home from hunting,
She asked them for her servantman.
“I ask because I see you whisper,
So brothers tell me if you can.”
When they returned from the field of hunting,
She began to enquire for her servantman:
“Come, brothers, tell me, because you whisper:
Come, brothers, tell me if you can.”
“Sister, sister, you do offend me,
Because you so examine me.
We've lost him when we've been a-hunting.
No more of him we could not see.”
“Sister, we are so much amazed,
To see you look so much at we.
We met him where we'd been a-hunting
No more of him then did we see.”
As she lay dreaming on her pillow,
She thought she saw her heart's delight;
By her bed side as she lay weeping,
He was dressed all in his bloody coat.
And she lay musing all on her pillow.
She dreamed she saw her true love stand.
By her bedside he stood lamenting,
All covered with some bloody wounds.
“Don't weep for me, my dearest jewel,
Don't weep for me nor care nor pine,
For your two brothers killed me cruel
In such a place you may me find.”
“Nancy, dear, don't you weep for me,
Pray Nancy, dear, don't weep nor pine
In that creek where there is no water
Go and there you shall my body find.”
So she rose early the next morning,
With heavy sigh and bitter groan,
The only love that she admired,
She found in the ditch where he was thrown.
So she rose early the very next morning
With many a sigh and bitter groan.
In that place where her true love told her
It's there she found his body thrown.
The blood all on his lips was drying,
His tears were salter than any brine.
And she's kissed him, loudly crying:
“Here lies a bosom friend of mine.”
Three days and nights she did sit by him,
Till her poor heart was filled with woe,
Then cruel hunger came upon her,
And to her home she had to go.
Three nights and days she stayed lamenting
Till her poor heart was filled with woe.
Until sharp hunger came creeping on her:
Homeward she was forced to go.
When she returned to her brothers:
“Sister, what makes you look so thin?”
“Brother, don't you ask the reason of me,
Oh, for his sake you shall be hung!”
“Sister, we are so much amazed
To see you look so pale and wan.”
“Brothers, I know you know the reason,
And for the same you shall be hung!”
These two brothers both were taken,
And bound all down in some prison strong.
They both were tried, found out as guilty,
And for the same they both were hung.
Tony Rose sings Bruton Town
In Bruton town there lived a farmer,
Who had two sons and a daughter dear.
By day and night they were contriving
To fill their parents' heart with fear.
Then said one brother to no other,
But unto his brother this he said:
“I think our servant courts our sister,
I think they have a mind to wed.
If he our servant courts our sister,
That's made from such a shame I'll say.
I'll put an end to all their courtship
And I'll send him silent to his grave.”
A day of hunting was prepared
In Thornywoods where the briars grow,
And there they did that young man murder
And in a brook his body they threw.
“Oh welcome home, my dear young brother,
Our serving man is he behind?”
”We left him where we've been a-hunting
We left him where no man can find.”
She went to bed crying and lamenting,
Lamenting for her heart's delight.
She slept, she dreamed she saw him by her
All bloody red in gory plight.
His lovely curls were wet with water,
His body all agape with blows.
Oh love for thee I'm served(?) for murder
And I'm lying now where no man knows.
So she rose early the very next morning,
Unto by yonder wood she spared.
And there she found her own dear jewel
In the gory plight so bloody red.
She took her kerchief from her pocket,
She took his head upon her knee.
And then she wiped those dear eyes softly
She wiped those eyes that could not see.
“And since my brothers have been so cruel
To take your tender sweet life away,
One grave shall hold us both together
And along with you in death I'll stay.”
Acknowledgements
Martin Carthy's Bruton Town and Tony Rose's The Murdered Servantman were transcribed by Garry Gillard.
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Review by: Sigrid Rieuwerts
Source:
Folk Music Journal
, Vol. 6, No. 4 (1993), pp. 527-529
Published by: English Folk Dance + Song Society
SIGRID RIEUWERTS REVIEW
SINGING THE CHANGES: VARIATION IN FOUR TRADITIONAL BALLADS. By Gerald
Porter. Umea Papers in English, 14. Umea: Umea University, I991. ii +65 pp. 60
Swedish Crowns (approx. £6.00). Available from the University of Umed,
Department of English, S-9o0 87 Umed, Sweden.
The first ballad, 'The Brake of Briars', only survives today 'in a dilapidated condition which may make the narrative totally obscure to an outsider' (p. 9). But Porter looks beyond the fragments and reconstructs a coherent narrative line, 'a
text which is faithful to the ballad's inner logic' (p. 10). This so-called 'principled
reconstruction' can only be achieved because the ballad's essential structure is still
intact. And yet, what this must amount to - despite Porter's denial - is the
reconstruction of an 'urform', an original or basic text, disguised as 'a singing
event, a performance by the present writer' (p. 20). Porter's justification, however,
based on the memorization versus improvization dispute, smacks of a circular
argument: ballads are regenerated at each performance and therefore we can utilize
the ballad's inner logic for a principled reconstruction and so regenerate.
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R. B. Johnson's Popular British Ballads, II, 246.
cubec, n. Cupid? “ Cubec’s garden." [So in Neb. version, “ Cubeck’s garden.” See R. B. Johnson’s Popular British Ballads, II, 246.—Louise Pound]
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Professor Kittredge has just published in the June number of Modern Language Notes a second English variant, with interesting references to others.
Cubeck's Garden tells the love of an 'honored lady' for her father's 'prentice-boy:
As soon as her old father
Came this to understand,
He swore to have him banished
Unto some forant land.
This lady, broken-hearted,
Lamenting, she did say,
"All for my handsome 'printest-boy
Oh, may I live and die!
"All unto a sea-captain
This 'printest-boy was bound,
And by his good behavior
Great honor there he found.
He was first a boating seaman,
A-boating on its fame,
And by his good behavior
A shipmate he became.
All among the ships
Was a lottery to be put down;
And when the lots were drew en,
He drew forty thousand pound.
His coat with silver buttons,
His hat was laced indeed;
He was going to Old England
To fight his true-love's speed.
Needless to say that the remaining stanzas picture his return and their union:
'Way down through Cubeck's garden
They rode to church and bound ;
In everlasting union
This couple they were bound.
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The United States Songster: 1836
The 'Prentice Boy.
As down in cupid's garden for pleasure I did walk,
I heard two loyal lovers most sweetly for to talk:
It was a brisk young lady, and her 'prentice boy,
And in private they were courting, for he was all her joy.
He said, dear honor'd lady, I am your 'prentice boy,
How ever can I think a fair lady to enjoy;
His cheeks as red as roses, his humor kind and free,
She said,dearyouth,ife'erI wed, I'll surely marry thee.
But when her parents came this for to understand,
They did this young man banish to some foreign land,
While she lay broken-hearted, lamenting she did cry,
For my honest, charming 'prentice, a maid I'll live and die.
This young man to a merchant a waiting-man was bound,
And by his good behavior great fortune there he found;
He soon became his butler, which prompted him to fame,
And for his careful conduct the steward he became.
For a ticket in a lottery his money he put down,
And there he gain'd a prize of twenty thousand pound;
With store of gold and silver, he pack'd up his clothes, indeed,
And to England return'd, to his true love with speed.
He offered kind embraces, but she flew from his arms,
No lord, duke, or nobleman, shall e'er enjoy my charms;
The love of gold is cursed, great riches I decry,
For my honest, charming 'prentice, a maid Til !i*t and die.
He said, dear honor'd lady, I have been in your arms.
This is the ring you gave me for toying in your charms,
You vow'd if e'er you married, your love I should enjoy,
Your father did me banish, I was your 'prentice boy
When she beheld his features, she flew into his arms,
With kisses out of measure, she did enjoy his charms,
Then so through Cupid's garden, a road to church they found,
And there in virtuous pleasure in hymen's band were bound.
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