Recordings & Info 50. The Bonny Hind
[There are no known traditional US or Canadian versions of this ballad.]
CONTENTS
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Child Collection
4) Mainly Norfolk
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud 250; (7 Listings)
Alternative Titles
The Bonny Heyn
Traditional Ballad Index: Bonnie Hind, The [Child 50]
DESCRIPTION: A sailor, new come from the sea, sees a girl and sleeps with her. After the deed is done, they exchange names, only to find they are brother and sister. The sister stabs herself; the brother buries her and goes home grieving
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1771 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: incest death seduction mourning suicide grief
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Child 50, "The Bonnie Hind" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 172, "The Bonny Hind" (1 text)
DT 50, BONNYHND
Roud #205
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The King's Dochter Lady Jean" [Child 52] (plot)
cf. "Sheath and Knife" [Child 16] (plot, lyrics)
cf. "Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie" [Child 14] (plot)
cf. "Lizie Wan" [Child 51] (theme)
NOTES: Friedman states that the only recorded collection of this song was from a Scottish milkmaid in 1771. -PJS
On the scientific evidence that brothers and sisters raised apart are particularly likely to fall in love, and some further speculation as to why, see the notes to "Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14]." - RBW
Child Ballad 050: The Bonny Hind
Child-- Artist-- Title-- Album-- Year-- Length-- Have Recording
050 Ewan MacColl The Bonny Hind Blood and Roses - Vol. 4 1986 4:29 Yes
050 Joe Rae The Bonny Hind The Broom Blooms Bonny - Ballads, Songs and Stories from Ayrshire 2001 7:38 Yes
050 June Tabor The Bonny Hind Abyssinians 1991 4:44 Yes
050 M.J. Harris & Martyn Bates The Bonny Hind Murder Ballads (The Complete Collection) 1998 12:12 Yes
050 Martin Carthy The Bonny Hind Signs of Life 1998 5:35 Yes
050 Norman Stewart The Bonnie Hind The Fife Traditional Singing Weekend - Here's a Health to the Company 2005
No
050 Tony Rose The Bonny Hind On Banks of Green Willow 1971 6:09 Yes
050 Wendy Weatherby The Bonny Hind A Shirt of Silk or Snow 2009 No
Mainly Norfolk: The Bonny Hind
[Roud 205; Child 50; Ballad Index C050 ; trad.]
June Tabor learned The Bonny Hind from Peta Webb and recorded it in 1983 for her album Abyssinians. Both Tony Rose and Martin Carthy learned this song from June Tabor. Tony Rose recorded it in 1976 - some years before June - for his LP On Banks of Green Willow. His words are very similar to June Tabor's shown below. He commented in his album notes:
The incest motif is abundant in mythology and literature. In The Bonny Hind [...], the tragedy is Æschylean—a brother meets his sister, from whom he has been separated, and has his will on her before they discover their relationship.
Martin Carthy sang The Bonny Hind on his 1998 album Signs of Life. He commented in the album notes:
Speaking of heartbreak, I got The Bonny Hind from June Tabor, who is not in the least close-fisted with her songs, about 25 years ago, but decided to try a different tune. This one is more usually sung to the Duke of Marlborough, and it sits with the song easily and feelingly, I think. A huge tragedy told in such matter-of-fact terms as to make you ache all over.
Lyrics: Transcribed by Garry Gillard
June Tabor sings The Bonny Hind
It's May she comes and May she goes
Down by the garden green,
It's there she spied a good young squire,
As good as ev'r she seen.
It's May she comes and May she goes
Down by the Holland green,
And it's here she spied a brisk young squire,
As brisk as ev'r she seen.
“Come give to me your green mantle,
Give me your maidenhead;
If you won't give me your green mantle,
Give me your maidenhead.”
He's taken her by the milk-white hand
And gently laid her down;
And it's when he raised her up again
Given her a silver comb.
“Perhaps there my be bairns, kind sir,
Perhaps there may be none,
But if you be a courtier
Pray tell to me your name.”
“Oh I am no courtier,” he says,
“But new come from sea;
Oh I am no courtier,” he said,
“But when I courted thee.
They call me Jack when I'm abroad,
Sometimes they call me John;
But when I'm in my father's bower,
Oh, Jock Randall is my name.”
“You lie, you lie, you bonny lad,
So loud I hear you lie.
For I am Lord Randall's only daughter,
He has no more than me.”
“You lie, you lie, you bonny lass,
So loud I hear you lie.
For I am Lord Randall's very own son
That new come from the sea.”
She's put her hand down by her side
And out she's taken a knife;
And she's put it in her own heart's blood
And taken away her life.
And he's taken his young sister
With a big tear in his eye,
And he's buried his only sister
Beneath the Holland tree.
It's soon he's hired him o'er the dales,
His father dear to see,
“It's oh and oh for my bonny hind
Beneath the Holland tree.”
“What care you for your bonny hind,
For it you need not care.
There's eight score hinds in yon green park
And five score is to spare.
Four score of them are silver shod,
Of these you may have three.”
“But it's oh and oh for my bonny hind
Beneath the Holland tree.”
“What care you for your bonny hind,
For it you need not care.
Take you the best and give me the worst,
Since plenty is to spare.”
“I care not for your hinds, kind sir,
And I care not for your fee.
But it's oh and oh for my bonny hind
Beneath the Holland tree.”
“Oh were you your your sister's bower,
Your sister fair to see;
Oh, you'll think no more on your bonny hind
Beneath the Holland tree.”
--------------
Martin Carthy sings The Bonny Hind
May she comes and May she goes
Down the garden green,
There she spied this sweet young boy,
Sweetest ever she's seen.
May she comes and May she goes
Down the Holland green,
There she spied this sweet young boy,
Sweetest ever she's seen.
“Give to me your mantle darling,
Give me your maidenhead;
If you won't give me your mantle darling,
Give me your maidenhead.”
Ta'en her by her hand, her hand,
So gently laid her down;
Soon as she rose up again
He give her the silver comb.
“Oh maybe there will be babies so
And maybe there will be none,
But since you are a gentleman
Oh tell to me your name.”
“No I am no gentleman
But am newly come from sea;
No I am no courtier darling
But well I courted thee.
Sometimes they call me Jack,” he said,
“And sometimes they call me John.
But when I'm in my father's house
It's Randall is my name.”
“Now you lie you false young man,
So loud you lie to me.
I am Randall's only daughter
And he has none but me.”
“Ah you lie, you foolish girl,
So loud you lie to me.
I am Randall's only son
Newly come from the sea.”
Oh she reached down below her waist
And she has pulled out a knife;
She has let her own heart's blood
And taken her own sweet life.
And he's picked up his young sister
With a big tear in his eye,
For he has buried his only sister
Beneath the Holland tree.
Then it's up the hill and it's down the hill,
His own father to see,
Crying, “Oh and oh for my bonny hind
Beneath the Holland tree.”
“What care you for your bonny hind,
For her you need not care.
We've eight score hinds in yonder park
And five score is to spare.
Four score of these are silver shod,
Of these you may have three.”
“But it's oh and oh for my bonny hind
Beneath the Holland tree.”
“What care you for your bonny hind,
For her you need not care.
Take you the best and leave me the worst,
For plenty is to spare.”
“Oh I care not for your hinds, father,
I care not for your fee.
But it's oh and oh for my bonny hind
Beneath the Holland tree.”
“Son get you to your sister's bower,
Your sweet young sister to see.
You'll think no more of your bonny hind
Beneath the Holland tree.”