Recordings & Info 93. Lamkin
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Folk Index
4) Child Collection Index
5) 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
6) Wiki
7) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
8) Two additional texts
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 6: Lamkin (204 Listings)
2) Lambkin: A Study in Evolution- Gilchrist 1932
3) Two Maine Texts of "Lamkin"- Eckstorm 1939
4) False Lambkin- Belfast Monthly Magazine 1812
5) Lamkin: The Motivation of Horror- Niles 1977
6) The Name "Lamkin"- Friedman 1977
7) Lamkin, “The Terror of Countless Nurseries”
8) The Lambkin- Gardham
9) Brown Collection- Lamkin
Alternative Titles
Boab King
Lambkin
Bolakins
Lampkin
Bo Lamkin
Bolakin, Beau (Bow, Bo) Lamkin(s)
Bold Lantern (Dunkins, Hamkins)
(The) False Lambkin,
False Linfinni Lamkin
Lampktn
Ward Lampkin
Young Alanthia
Mr. Lammerlinkin
Bold Rankin
Long Lankyn
Lammikin,
False Linfinn,
Lamford
Tumkin
The Border Ruffian
Traditional Ballad Index: Lamkin [Child 93]
DESCRIPTION: (Lamkin) rebuilt a lord's castle, but was never paid. As the lord sets out on a journey, he warns his wife to beware of Lamkin. The precautions are in vain; Lamkin (helped by a false nurse) steals in and kills the lord's child (and wife) (and is hanged)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1775 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: death theft revenge children punishment murder cannibalism
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord),England(Lond,South,West)) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (43 citations):
Child 93, "Lamkin" (25 texts)
Bronson 93, "Lamkin" (30 versions (some with variants)+3 in addenda)
GordonBrown/Rieuwerts, pp. 256-258, "Lamkin" (1 text)
Greig #40, p. 2, "Lamkin" (1 fragment)
GreigDuncan2 187, "Lambkin" (3 texts)
Lyle-Crawfurd1 9, "Lord Meanwell" (1 text)
Leather, pp. 199-200, "Young Lamkin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #19}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 200-206, "Lamkin" (1 text plus 1 fragment, 1 tune; also extensive notes on version classification) {Bronson's #16}
Randolph 23, "False Lamkin" (1 text with variants, 1 tune) {Bronson's #25}
Eddy 17, "Lamkin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #8}
Gardner/Chickering 127, "Lamkin" (2 texts plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune) {Bronson's #15}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 104-107, "Squire Relantman" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #7}
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 297-316, "Lamkin" (7 texts plus 3 fragments, 4 tunes) {C=Bronson's #7)
Linscott, pp. 303-305, "Young Alanthia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck-Maine,pp. 90-91, "Lamkin the Mason" (1 text, with no indication of source)
Davis-Ballads 26, "Lamkin" (3 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune entitled "Lampkin") {Bronson's #10}
Davis-More 28, pp. 214-220, "Lamkin" (1 text)
BrownII 29, "Lamkin" (1 text plus assorted excerpts)
Chappell-FSRA 42, "Lamkins" (1 text, apparently a fragment of Child #93 (containing only a threat of cannibalism) plus three "My Horses Ain't Hungry" stanzas)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 62-64, "Bolakin (Lamkin)" (1 text)
Brewster 16, "Lamkin" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #20}
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 20-21, "Lamkin" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 806-807, "Bold Lamkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 13, "Lamkin" (1 text, 4 tunes)
Lehr/Best 35, "False Limkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 288-295, "Lamkin" (4 texts)
Leach-Labrador 6, "Lamkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 199, "Lamkin" (1 text)
OBB 78, "Lamkin" (1 text)
Warner 102, "Bolamkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 27, "Lamkin" (5 texts, 5 tunes){Bronson's #11, #14, #12, #4, #9}
Sharp-100E 27, "False Lamkin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
PBB 64, "Lamkin" (1 text)
Niles 38, "Lamkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 60-61, "Long Lankin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #28}
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 258-259, "False Lanky" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 64, "Lamkin" (1 text)
DBuchan 16, "Lamkin" (1 text)
TBB 19, "Lamkin" (1 text)
SHenry H735, p. 133, "Lambkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 63-64, "Bo Lamkin" (1 text)
DT 93, BLAMKIN* BOLAMKN2* BOLAMKN3*
ADDITIONAL: Bob Stewart, _Where Is Saint George? Pagan Imagery in English Folksong_, revised edition, Blandford, 1988, pp. 127-128, "Long Lankin" (1 text)
Roud #6
RECORDINGS:
Jim Bennett, "Bold Lamkin" (on PeacockCDROM)
Ben Butcher, "Cruel Lincoln" (on FSB4, Voice03)
George Fosbury, "False Lamkin" (on FSBBAL1)
Frank Proffitt, "Bo Lamkin" (on Proffitt03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1048), "The Lambkin," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Batson" [Laws I10] (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lamfin
NOTES: John Jacob Niles claims that this song was once sung in the Louisville schools. One can only wish he had offered supporting evidence.
Anne G. Gilchrist examines the development of this ballad in "Lambkin: A Study in Evolution" (first printed in the Journal of the Emglish Folk Dance and Song Society, I, 1932; see now MacEdward Leach and Tristram P. Coffin, eds, The Critics and the Ballad, pp. 204-224).
Gilchrist finds two basic forms of the ballad. In one, primarily Scottish, Lamkin is a mason defrauded of his pay by the lord whose castle he built. In the other, Northumbrian and English, Lamkin is simply a ruffian or a border raider, seeking loot or perhaps the hand of the lord's daughter.
Gilchrist believes the Scottish form to be older, and believes that the other arose when the first stanza (in which the lord's fraud is described) was lost. She argues that the name "Lambkin" is diminutive of the Flemist name Lambert, and speculates that it may have been based on a (hypothesized) incident at Balwearie in Fife -- a site mentioned in some versions of the ballad, and located near a Flemish colony.
Some versions mention Lamkin catching the infant's blood in a bowl. This has caused all sorts of speculation about ritual, or perhaps about some sort of trick to further punish the child (because, according to the Bible, the blood is the life). Obviously some such explanation is possible -- but I think we have to allow the possibility that he's just a nut, or trying to avoid leaving a trail.
James Reed, in his article "Border Ballads," included in Edward J. Cowan, editor, The People's Past: Scottish Folk, Scottish History 1980 (I use the 1993 Polygon paperback edition), discusses this ballad on pp. 24-25, and considers it most unusual among border ballads because it features a class conflict (between the lord and Lamkin). It's an interesting point -- but the question then arises whether the song is really a border ballad. The mere fact that it has been widely collected along the border between England and Scotland does not make it one. - RBW
Folk Index: Lamkin/Lamkins [Ch 93/Sh 27]
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p199 [1806ca]
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p288
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p291 (False Linfinn)
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p292
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p293
Leach, MacEdward / The Heritage Book of Ballads, Heritage, Bk (1967), p116
Broghton, Mollie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p205/# 27D [1917/05/08]
Butcher, Ben. Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 4. The Child Ballads, I, Caedmon TC 1145, LP (1961), trk# B.09 [1950s] (Cruel Lincoln)
Carlisle, Irene. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p141/# 23 [1941/09/30] (False Lamkin)
Carter, Francis (Mrs.). Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p204/# 27C [1917/09/08]
Carthy, Martin; and Dave Swarbrick. But Two Came By, Topic 12TS 343, LP (1977/1968), trk# B.04 (Long Lankin)
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p201/# 27A [1916/09/12]
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Smith, Betty N. / Jane Hicks Gentry. A Singer Among Singers, U. Ky, Sof (1998), p154/#13 [1916/09/12]
Goon, Jane. Tolman, Albert H. / Some Songs Traditional in the United States, Amer. Folklore Soc. JAF, Bk (1916), p162 [1900ca] (False Lamkin)
Hollon, Mrs. Effie. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p 72/# 26 [1940s] (Bow Lamkin)
Hubbard, Salley A.. Hubbard, Lester A. / Ballads and Songs from Utah, Univ. of Utah, Bk (1961), p 23/# 10 [1947/06/26] (Lamferd)
Jones, Cis. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p202/# 27B [1917/08/16]
Kelley, Ada F.. Linscott, Eloise Hubbard (ed.) / Folk Songs of Old New England, Dover, Bk (1993/1939), p303 [1920-30s] (Young Alanthia)
McCurdy, Ed. Blood, Booze 'n Bones, Elektra EKL 108, LP (1956), trk# B.06
Pratt, Mrs. Doc.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p207/# 27E [1917/09/22]
Shelton, Annie. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p213/N 38 [1930s] (Lamfin)
Sister Emma. Williams, R. Vaughan; & A. L. Lloyd (eds.) / Penguin Book of English Fol, Penguin, Sof (1959), p 60 [1909] (Long Lankin)
West, Hedy. Ballads, Topic 12T 163, LP (1967), trk# A.04 (Beau Lampkin)
Child Collection Ballad 093: Lamkin
Child --Artist --Title --Album ---Year --Length --Have
093 A.L. Lloyd Long Lankin (Lamkin) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 6 [Reissue] 196? No
093 A.L. Lloyd Long Lankin (Lamkin) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 3 1956 4:13 Yes
093 A.L. Lloyd Long Lankin Bramble Briars & Beams of the Sun 2011 No
093 Alasdair Roberts & Friends Long Lankin Too Long in This Condition 2010 5:05 Yes
093 Alex Robb Lamkin The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
093 Alison McMorland, Geordie McIntyre & Kirsty Potts Lamkin Ballad Tree 2003 4:10 Yes
093 Alva Long Lankin The Bells of Paradise 2004 No
093 Andrew King Cruel Lincoln The Amfortas Wound 2004 10:26 Yes
093 Anita Best Bold Lamkin (Lamkin) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads - Digital Child Companion CD 2003 6:13 Yes
093 Arthur 'Hockey' Feltwell Lamkin Heel & Toe 2004 No
093 Barry Lister Long Lankin Ghosts & Greasepaint 2006 No
093 Ben Butcher Cruel Lincoln Three Maidens A-Milking - Songs from Hampshire 1985 No
093 Ben Butcher Cruel Lincoln Songs and Southern Breezes - Country Singers from Hampshire and Sussex 1973 2:58 Yes
093 Ben Butcher Cruel Lincoln The Voice of the People, Vol. 3: O'Er His Grave the Grass Grew Green - Tragic Ballads 1998 3:00 Yes
093 Ben Butcher Cruel Lincoln (1) BBC Recordings No
093 Ben Butcher Cruel Lincoln (2) BBC Recordings No
093 Ben Butcher Cruel Lincoln (Lamkin) The Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 4: The Child Ballads 1 1961 1:15 Yes
093 Birdloom Bold Lamkin ? 2006 7:48 Yes
093 Bob Stewart Long Langkin The Wraggle Taggle Gypsies O - Folksongs and Music of England and America Collected By Cecil Sharp 1976 3:49 Yes
093 Boyce Davis False Lamkins The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 2:52 Yes
093 Bracken False Lampkin Prince of the Northlands 2000 2:12 Yes
093 Brian Peters Lamkin Persistence of Memory 1985 7:24 Yes
093 Dave Burland Lamkin You Can't Fool the Fat Man 1979 5:30 Yes
093 Ed McCurdy Lamkins Blood, Booze 'n' Bones 1956 1:38 Yes
093 Ewan MacColl Lamkin [Scots] The Long Harvest, Vol. 3 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 6:30 Yes
093 Findlay Napier & The Bar Room Mountaineers Lambkin Out All Night 2008 No
093 Fire & Ice Long Lankin Gilded By the Sun 1992 4:51 Yes
093 Fire & Ice Long Lankin Threshing Gilded By the Sun 1992 4:18 Yes
093 Frank Proffitt Bo Lamkin Frank Proffitt Sings Folk Songs 1962 4:08 Yes
093 Frank Proffitt Bolamkin The Warner Collection, Vol. 2 - Nothing Seems Better to Me: The Music of Frank Proffitt and North Carolina 2001 :36 Yes
093 Frank Proffitt Bolamkin Bolamkin - Frank Proffitt - 1 1987 No
093 Frank Proffitt Bolamkin Bolamkin - Frank Proffitt - 1 1987 No
093 George Fosbury False Lamkin Classic Ballads of Britain & Ireland - Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales, Vol 1 2000 3:14 Yes
093 George Fosbury False Lankin The Baffled Knight - The Classic Ballads 2 1976 No
093 George Fosbury False Lanky Three Maidens A-Milking - Songs from Hampshire 1985 No
093 George Fosbury False Lanky BBC Recordings No
093 George Fosbury False Lanky Songs and Southern Breezes - Country Singers from Hampshire and Sussex 1973 3:40 Yes
093 George Fradley Lankin It Was on a Market Day - English Traditional Folk Singers - Vol. 1 2002 No
093 George Fradley Lankin One of the Best - Songs from Derbyshire 1987 No
093 Harriet Eldredge Eldred False Lamkin The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
093 Hedy West Beau Lampkin Ballads 1967 2:36 Yes
093 Hedy West Beaulampkin Ballads & Songs from the Appalachians 2011 No
093 Hedy West Beaulampkin fRoots 38 2011 2:38 Yes
093 Isla St. Clair Lammikin Murder & Mayhem 2000 5:33 Yes
093 Isla St. Clair Lammikin Great Songs and Ballads of Scotland 2009 No
093 Issy & David Emeney Toe in the Water + Beaulamkin Sunflower 2001 No
093 Jack Warshaw Bo Lamkins Long Time Gone 2011 No
093 Jane Robinson False Lamkin The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 3:14 Yes
093 Jim Moray Long Lankin In Modern History 2010 5:14 Yes
093 John Reilly Jnr False Lankum Songs of the Irish Travellers - Traditional Ballads & Lyric Songs Recorded & Edited By Tom Munnelly 1983 No
093 Jonathan Moses Squire Relantman (1) The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
093 Jonathan Moses Squire Relantman (2) The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
093 Keith Summers Cruel Lincoln John Howson Collection 1970-1995 No
093 Lena Bare Turbyfill Bolakins The Library of Congress - Archive of Folk Culture: Anglo-American Ballads, Vol. 2 1999 3:49 Yes
093 Lester (Jack) Hoadley False Lamkin The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
093 Lily Delorme Lamkin The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
093 Lol Lynch Long Lankin Abroad as I Was A'Walking 1973 4:57 Yes
093 M.J. Harris & Martyn Bates Long Lankin Murder Ballads (The Complete Collection) 1998 16:04 Yes
093 Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick Long Lankin But Two Came By 1968 5:49 Yes
093 Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick Long Lankin Selections 2001 No
093 Martin Simpson Beaulampkin Golden Vanity 1976 No
093 Megson Lambkin Smoke of Home 2008 4:14 Yes
093 Miriam Backhouse Long Lankin Gypsy Without a Road 1977 4:08 Yes
093 Moira Cameron Lamkin Sands of the Shore - Be Tricked or Betrayed 2007 No
093 Mr. & Mrs. Nathan Hicks Bol' Lampkin The Library of Congress No
093 Mrs. Bertha Eldred False Lamkin The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
093 Mrs. Irene Carlisle False Lamkin The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 3:20 Yes
093 Mrs. Lena Lare Turbyfill Bolakins The Library of Congress No
093 Mrs. Peter Mushrow Lamkin MacEdward Leach and the Songs of Atlantic Canada 1951 No
093 Mrs. Sabra Bare Hampton Bolenkin The Library of Congress No
093 Mrs. Will Barry False Lamkin (1) The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
093 Mrs. Will Barry False Lamkin (2) The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
093 Nathan Hall Lincoln Was a Mason The Helen Creighton Collection No
093 Pamela Morgan Bold Lamkin Ancestral Songs 2006 4:31 Yes
093 Peggy Seeger Lammikin [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 3 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 4:22 Yes
093 Phil Cooper & Margaret Nelson Long Lankin The Only Dance We Know 1995 3:34 Yes
093 Pumajaw Lamkin Curiosity Box 2008 7:13 Yes
093 Robin Williamson & Lawson Dando Long Lankin Robert Louis Stevenson's Edinburgh 2000 2:17 Yes
093 Sedayne Long Lankin Live in Holywell Dene, Northumberland, UK 2006 2:46 Yes
093 Shep Ginandes Bolakins Shep Ginandes Sings Folk Songs 1958 2:47 Yes
093 Sol Invictus Cruel Lincoln The Cruelest Month 2011 7:59 Yes
093 Steeleye Span Long Lankin Commoners Crown 1975 8:39 Yes
093 Steeleye Span Long Lankin The 35th Anniversary World Tour 2004 2004 11:09 Yes
093 Steeleye Span Long Lankin Present - The Very Best of Steeleye Span 2002 8:52 Yes
093 Steeleye Span Long Lankin Spanning the Years 1995 8:42 Yes
093 Steeleye Span Long Lankin Original Masters 1997 8:31 Yes
093 Steeleye Span Long Lankin Folk Rock Pioneers in Concert 2006 10:12 Yes
093 Steeleye Span Long Lankin Gaudete 2003 No
093 Steeleye Span Long Lankin Toasted - Live at Nettle Back Folk Club, Oxfordshire, England 2006 12:08 Yes
093 Steeleye Span Long Lankin Live at the Siego Club, Rimini, August 1982 1982 9:44 Yes
093 Steeleye Span Long Lankin The Best of Steeleye Span [Heritage] 1984 8:34 Yes
093 Steeleye Span Long Lankin The Collection [Steeleye Span] 1991 No
093 Steeleye Span Long Lankin A Parcel of Steeleye Span - Their First Five Chrysalis Albums 1972-1975 2009 8:40 Yes
093 The Askew Sisters & Craig, Morgan, Robson Long Lankie The Axford Five - Songs Collected from Five Hampshire Women 2009 3:08 Yes
093 The Devil's Interval Long Lankin Blood & Honey 2006 5:24 Yes
093 The Devil's Interval Long Lankin Old Wine New Skins 2007 No
093 The Halliard Long Lankin The Halliard & Jon Raven + The Jolly Machine 1997 3:56 Yes
093 The High Level Ranters Long Lankin A Mile to Ride 1973 3:25 Yes
093 The Love Hall Tryst Lambkin Songs of Misfortune 2005 3:07 Yes
093 The Pratie Heads Lamkin We Did It! Songs About People Behaving Badly 2010 No
093 Tinkerscuss Long Lankin Mythago - Songs in the Anglo-Celtic Tradition, Vol. 2 2007 No
093 Tinkerscuss Long Lankin All Souls Arise - A Journey from the Last Sheaf of Harvest to the First Snows of Winter 2007 No
093 Tony Lloyd Long Lankin The Gwilym Davies Collection No
093 Will Barry False Lamkin The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection 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
93. LAMKIN
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me> 200 / Brewster, Bids Sgs 2nd, 122 / Brown Coll / Bull Tenn FLS, VIII, # 3, 75 / ChappeU, F-S Rnke Alb, 76 / Child, III, 5 1 5 ; V, 295 / Davis, Trd Bid Va, 354 / Eddy, Bids Sgs Ohio, 59 / Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, 313 / Marion H. Gray, The Flight of the Ballad A Woman's Department Club Ballad, Terre Haute, Part 3, 4 10 '30, 4 I Henry, Beech Mt F-S, 20 / Henry, F-S So Hgblds, 91 / Henry, Sgs Sng So Aplclns, 62 / Jones, F-LMich, 5 / JAFL, XIII, 117; XXIX, 162; XXXV, 3445 XLIV, 61; XL VIII, 316; LII, 70 / Lmscott, F-S Old NE, 303 / E. H. McClure, McClures and Mayers
(private), Detroit, '42, 3 / N. J, Journal Educ., XIX, 4J= i, 9 / Perry, Carter Cnty, 205 / Randolph, 0% F-S, 1, 141 / SharpC, EngF-S So Aplchns, #23 / SharpK, EngF-S So Aplchns, I, 201 / SFLQ, V, 13.7 / V* FLS Bull, #s 3, 9.
Local Titles: Boab King, Bolakin, Beau (Bow, Bo) Lamkin(s), Bold Lantern (Dunkins, Hamkins), (The) False Lambkin, False Linfinni Lamkin, Lampktn, Ward Laznpkin, Young Alanthia,
Story Types: A: Lamkin, a mason, does some work for a lord and is not paid. The lord, leaving home for a time, fears trouble. He orders his house sealed to protect his family. Lamkin, seeking revenge, gets in through some opening left by accident or with the assistance of a nurse. Most of the servants are away. At the nurse's advice, he hurts the baby in order to get the mother downstairs. When the lady of the house comes, Lamkin seizes her. She offers him gold and even her daughter in marriage to save her own life. But Lamkin scorns these bribes and gloats over his plan to murder her. He makes the
nurse or the servants clean a silver basin to hold the lady's blood. The lord returns to find the house red with gore and only his daughter, who was warned by the mother to stay hidden, surviving. Lamkin is hung or burned, and the nurse, burned or hung.
Examples: Davis (A), Linscott, SharpK (B).
B: The story is the same as that of Type A 5 but Lamkin, when not paid, builds a false window in the house. He enters through this window to commit the crimes.
Examples: Gardner and Chickering (A); JAFL, LII, 70; Randolph.
C: The story is abbreviated so that only the baby is slain, and it is his blood that is caught in the silver bowL
Examples: JAFL, XIII, 117.
D : The story is the same as that of Type A, except that it is suggested that there was a love affair between Lamkin and the lady before the marriage. Thus, Lamkin had sworn revenge on the lord for winning his girl. Lamkin gets in by persuading the nurse the baby is crying, and the nurse becomes innocently suspected and punished.
Examples: Davis (B).
Discussion: The American story is similar in basic outline to the Child B, C, F group (see Child, II, 320 I), although certain differences should be noted. The offer of the daughter's hand as a bribe, and the large role given the daughter (Child F, T, X) are common in America. The false window built by the mason (Child E) can also be found with: some frequency (Type
B), while the. catching of the baby's blood in the bowl (Type C) seems to occur as a result of combined story degeneration and reconstruction. The Type D text does not appear much different from the usual Type A story. However, Davis, Trd Bid Va y 357 (headnote) makes clear that the singer believed that there had been- a love affair between the lady and the mason,
although this conception is not consistent with the normal opening line, "Why need I reward Lampkin?" The idea that the daughter, Betsy, is away at school and has to be sent for was also added as a footnote by the singer of this version. See Barry, Brit Bids Me, 204 for a textual study of seven American and British variants of the Child F version.
Two American texts are worth particular attention. The Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, 315, B version never gets as far as the murder or the hanging of Lamkin, and, although certainly not complete, is unusual as the most dramatically active portion is the forgotten portion. The Chappell, F-S Rnke All, 76 text contains a splice between the "spare me" lines of the lady and some love song on the general theme of the opening scene of Young Hunting (Child 68). The seven resultant stanzas are pointless.
Fannie Eckstrom (J4FL, LII, 74) offers Phillips Barry's explanation of the source of this song by means of the False Linfinn title. In Irish folklore, a leper (called "white" man) could be cured by the blood of an innocent person collected in a silver bowl. Barry feels that the Irish mason, who was reputed to use human blood in the mixing of his cement, was rationalized
into the ballad after the fear of lepers had vanished.
For a discussion of the change in names from Bold Lamkin to Boab King, see Henry, F-S So Hghlds, 91.
Lamkin: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Lamkin" (Roud 6, Child 93) is an English ballad. It gives an account of the murder of a woman and her infant son by a man, in some versions, a disgruntled mason, in others, a devil, bogeyman or a motiveless villain. Versions of the ballad are found in Scotland, England, and the USA.
An unpaid mason
In the most common version, Lamkin, the stonemason, is hired by Lord Wearie to build him a castle. When it is complete, the Lord refuses to pay, saying he would have to sell his land to pay for the castle he had built on it. Wearie soon makes a trip across the sea, and Lamkin, with the aid of the Lord's nursemaid, takes his revenge on his family during his absence. He first attacks Lord Wearie's baby.
Then Lamkin a' tane a sharp knife,
That hang down by his gaire,
And he has gien the bonny babe
A deep wound and a sair.[1]
This gets the attention of Lady Wearie, who offers gold and riches to Lamkin if he will spare her life. No rationale is ever given for the extreme measures Lamkin takes, nor why he refuses money at this stage, if his grievances were merely financial. It is speculated that some verses may be missing, although there is some evidence that the nurse may have had a long-standing personal grudge, and played a more active role in the killings.
"O sall I kill her, nourice,
Or sall I lat her be?"
"O kill her, kill her, Lamkin,
For she neer was good to me."[1]
Lord Wearie returns months later to find his wife and son dead, and Lamkin gloating over the deed.
"And wha's blood is this' he says,
'That lies in my ha'?"
"It is your young son'd heart's blood;
'T is the clearest ava."[1]
Lamkin is hanged for his crimes, as he must have known he would be, again giving him no motive but the cruelest revenge. In some later version, the nurse is burned at the stake, the punishment for petty treason.
A bogeyman
Other versions follow the same basic story, but the antagonist has many different names, among them "Balankin", "Lambert Linkin", "Rankin", "Long Lankyn", and "Lammikin".[2] Later versions lose the opening of the story, which explains that Lamkin is a mason who has not been paid; in these, Lamkin becomes a sort of a bogeyman who dwells in the wild places; the lord, before leaving, warns against him:
Says milord to milady as he mounted his horse,
"Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the moss."
Says milord to milady as he went on his way,
"Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the hay."[3]
These versions add peculiar incidents that add to the grisliness of the crime. Lamkin and the nursemaid collect the baby's blood in a basin which, along with the idea that the name Lamkin or Lammikin indicates the murderer was pale skinned[2] and, therefore, perhaps a leper who sought to cure himself by bathing in the blood of an innocent collected in a silver bowl, a medieval cure.[4]
Performances
The song has been recorded as "Long Lankin" on But Two Came By (1968) by Martin Carthy. Before that release, it was performed as "Bo Lamkin" by Appalachian folk musician Frank Proffitt. Steeleye Span recorded it as "Long Lankin" on Commoner's Crown (1975), and vocal trio The Devil's Interval also recorded it as "Long Lankin" on their debut album Blood & Honey (Wildgoose 2006). Dave Burland recorded "Lamkin" on his album You Can't Fool The Fat Man (1979) with Nic Jones. The Neofolk band Fire + Ice recorded "Long Lankin" on their album Gilded By The Sun (1992). Jim Moray recorded a version as "Long Lankin" on his album In Modern History (2010).
In literature
The song was referenced in the title of the short story collection, Long Lankin, by John Banville. The American poet Robert Lowell also referenced the song in the title of his Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of poetry Lord Weary's Castle (1946). The song inspired the young-adult novel Long Lankin (2011) by Lindsey Barraclough.
References
1.^ a b c [1], Child Ballads 93 A-Y.
2.^ a b [2], More Blood on the Stairs: A 'New' Version of Lamkin - Mike Yates, 11/11/04.
3.^ [3], Long Lankin (folk song) - Martin Carthy.
4.^ [4], Lamkin: The Motivation of Horror - John DeWitt Niles, p.56.
External links
Lamkin, Child Ballad #93A, with variant texts
Long Lankin by Reinhard Zierke, with remarks about the song from Martin Carthy and Dave Tomlinson.
False Lamkin with history
Mainly Norfolk: Long Lankin
[Roud 6; Child 93; Ballad Index C093; trad.]
Martin Carthy sang this ballad unaccompanied 1968 album with Dave Swarbrick, But Two Came By. It was reissued on his compilation album Selections. Martin Carthy commented in the original album's sleeve notes:
Long Lankin was the subject of an extensive essay Anne Gilchrist in EFDSS Vol. 1 No. 1, where she noted how the song has developed in two distinct forms. The first which she titles Lamkin, the Wronged Mason, is the Scottish version and the second, found from Northumberland to the south coast of England, she called Longkin, the Border Ruffian, but, she says, the second might have arisen from the first when the verse was lost as the motives appear to be the same, ie. revenge.
The version here, from the second stream, is from the singing of Ben Butcher, with an expanded text which itself was largely from the singing of a nun, Sister Emma of Clewer, Bucks. It has been suggested that Lankin was indeed a leper seeking to cure himself by bathing in the blood of an innocent, which was often believed to be successful, but attractive (if that is the word) though his idea may seem, I myself incline to the view that it is a simple “bogey man” song, for, after all, if children have bogeymen, why not adults? They just call them by different names (nowadays, “neurotic fancies” et al). Indeed, according again to Anne Gilchrist, until a few years ago a mother near Whittle Dean, Northumberland, had but to go outside, shake a bunch of keys, and cry “There's Long Lankin!” to recall her straying children at nightfall.
Steeleye Span recorded this murderous ballad for their album Commoners Crown and a second time for the CD Present to accompany the December 2002 Steeleye Span reunion tour. A live version can be found on the DVD The 35th Anniversary World Tour.
Dave Tomlinson notes:
Long Lankin is a legend from Northumbrian in northern England. Lankin was either a stonemason or a famous robber and desperado and lived at Nafferton Castle (also known as Lonkins Hall). Lankin was involved in a dispute with Lord Wearie of nearby Welton Hall, this reached a bloody conclusion when Lankin, with the cooperation of Lord Wearies grandchilds nurse, entered Welton Hall and murdered the grandchild and Wearies daughter. Lankin and the nurse escaped but were tracked down. Rather than be captured, Lankin hanged himself from an oak tree near Whittle Dene near the present reservoirs under Harlow Hill. The nurse was burnt at the stake by Lord Wearies men.
The places can be found around the current A69 road between Newcastle and Hexham. Welton Hall has been converted in a farmhouse. The ladys ghost is said to walk Welton Hall. The oak tree is said to carry the outline of a hanged man.
See also Dave's Steeleye Span fanzine The Song and the Story.
Lyrics
Martin Carthy's version
Says mylord to mylady as he mounted his horse,
“Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the moss.”
Says mylord to mylady as he went on his way,
“Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the hay.”
“See the doors are all bolted, see the windows all pinned,
And leave not a crack for a mouse to creep in.”
Oh, the doors were all bolted, oh, the windows were pinned,
But at a small peep in the window Long Lankin crept in.
“Where's the lord of this household?” cries Long Lankin.
“He's away up to London,” says the false nurse to him.
“Where's the lady of the household?” cries Long Lankin.
“She's asleep in her chamber,” says the false nurse to him.
“Where's the heir of the household?” cries Long Lankin.
“He's asleep in his cradle,” says the false nurse to him.
“We'll pinch him and we'll prick him all over with a pin.
And that'll make mylady to come down to him.”
So they pinched him and they pricked him all over with a pin.
And the false nurse held the basin for the blood to drip in.
“Oh nurse how you slumber, oh nurse how you sleep,
You leave my little son to cry and to weep.”
“Oh nurse how you slumber, oh nurse how you snore,
You leave me little baby to cry and to roar.”
“Oh, I tried him with the milk and I've tried him with the pap.
Come down, my pretty lady, and rock him in your lap.”
“Oh, I've tried him with the rattle and I've tried him with the bell.
Come down, my pretty lady, and rock him yourself.”
“How dare I come down in the dead of the night
When there's no candles burning nor no fires alight?”
“You have three silver gowns all bright as the sun.
Come down, my pretty lady, all by the light of one.”
Oh, the lady came downstairs, she was thinking no harm.
Long Lankin he stood ready for to catch her in his arm.
There's blood in the kitchen, there's blood in the hall,
There's blood in the parlour where mylady did fall.
Her handmaid stood out at the window so high
And she saw her lord and master come a-riding close by.
“Oh master, oh master, don't lay no blame on me.
'Twas the false nurse and Lankin that killed your lady.”
“Oh master, oh master, don't lay no blame on me.
It was the false nurse and Lankin that killed your baby.”
Long Lankin shall be hanged on the gallows so high.
And the false nurse shall be burned in the fire close by.
Steeleye Span version
Said the lord unto his lady as he rode over the moss,
“Beware of Long Lankin that lives amongst the gorse.
Beware the moss, beware the moor, beware of Long Lankin.
Be sure the doors are bolted well lest Lankin should creep in.”
Said the lord unto his lady as he rode away,
“Beware of Long Lankin that lives amongst the hay.
Beware the moss, beware the moor, beware of Long Lankin.
Be sure the doors are bolted well lest Lankin should creep in.”
“Where's the master of the house?” says Long Lankin.
“He's away to London,” says the nurse to him.
“Where's the lady of the house?” says Long Lankin.
“She's up in her chamber,” says the nurse to him.
“Where's the baby of the house?” says Long Lankin.
“He's asleep in the cradle,” says the nurse to him.
“We will pinch him, we will prick him, we will stab him with a pin.
And the nurse shall hold the basin for the blood all to run in.”
So they pinched him, then they pricked him, then they stabbed him with a pin.
And the false nurse held the basin for the blood all to run in.
“Lady, come down the stairs,” says Long Lankin.
“How can I see in the dark?” she says unto him.
“You have silver mantles,” says Long Lankin,
“Lady, come down the stairs by the light of them.”
Down the stairs the lady came thinking no harm,
Lankin he stood ready to catch her in his arm.
There was blood all in the kitchen,
There was blood all in the hall.
There was blood all in the parlour
Where my lady she did fall.
Now Long Lankin shall be hanged
From the gallows oh so high.
And the false nurse shall be burned
In the fire close by.
(Repeat first verse)
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FALSE LAMKIN Cambridge Crofters
The lord said to his lady, before he rode out,
"Beware of False Lamkin, he's a-walking about"
"What care I for False Lamkin, or any of his kin,
When the doors are all bolted and the windows close pinned."
At the back kitchen window False Lamkin crept in,
And he prick-ed one of the elder babes with a bright silver pin.
"O nursemaid, O nursemaid, how sound you do sleep.
Can't you hear one of the elder babes a- tryin' to weep."
"How durst I go down in the dead of the night
Where there's no fire a-kindled and no candle alight ?"
As she was a coming down, a-thinking no harm
False Lamkin he caught her right tight in his arm.
"O spare my life, O spare my life, my life that's so sweet.
You shall have as many bright guineas as the stones in the street."
"O spare my life, O spare my life, till one of the clock.
You shall have my daughter Betsy, she's the flower on the flock."
"Fetch me your daughter Betsy, she'll do me some good,
She shall hold the silver basin, to catch your own heart's blood."
Pretty Betsy being up at the window so high
Saw her own dearest father come a-riding close by.
"Dear father, dear father, O blame not on me
For it was the false Lamkin murdered baby and she."
There's blood in the kitchen. There's blood in the hall.
There's blood in the parlour where the lady did fall.
False Lamkin shall be hung on the gallows so high
And his bones shall be burn-ed in the fire close by.
This Cambridgeshire version of Long Lankin was recorded by the Cambridge Crofters on their 1976 album The Cambridge Crofters (Barleycorn CR76). The notes state:
The song was probably based on a real murder at Balwearie Castle in Scotland, but spread to other parts of Britain because of its vivid description. In few versions is it made clear what Lamkin's motives for murder were: perhaps he is no ordinary robber, but a man with a grudge out for revenge.
I have failed to find Balwearie in my maps and atlases - the closest modern name could be Balkeerie, which is in Tayside near Glamis.
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LONG LANKIN- The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, Williams and Lloyd
Said my lord to my lady, as he mounted his horse:
"Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the moss."
Said my lord to my lady, as he rode away:
"Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the hay."
"Let the doors be all bolted and the windows all pinned,
And leave not a hole for a mouse to creep in."
So he kissed his fair lady and he rode away,
And he was in fair London before the break of day.
Tlhe doors were all bolted and the windows all pinned,
Except one little window where Long Lankin crept in.
"Where's the lord of this house?" Said Long Lankin,
"He's away in fair London." said the false nurse to him.
"Where's the little heir of this house ?" said Long Lankin.
"He's asleep in his cradle," said the false nurse to him.
"We'll prick him, we'll prick him all over with a pin,
And that'll make my lady to come down to him.'
So he pricked him, he pricked him all over with a pin,
And the nurse held the basin for the blood to flow in.
"O nurse, how you slumber. O nurse, how you sleep.
You leave my little son Johnson to cry and to weep."
"O nurse, how you slumber, O nurse how you snore.
You leave my little son Johnson to cry and to roar."
"I've tried him with an apple, I've tried him with a pear.
Come down, my fair lady, and rock him in your chair."
"I've tried him with milk and I've tried him with pap.
Come down, my fair lady, and rock him in your lap."
"How durst I go down in the dead of the night
Where there's no fire a-kindled and no candle alight ?"
"You have three silver mantles as bright as the sun.
Come down, my fair lady, all by the light of one."
My lady came down, she was thinking no harm
Long Lankin stood ready to catch her in his arm.
Here's blood in the kitchen. Here's blood in the hall
Here's blood in the parlour where my lady did fall.
Her maiden looked out from the turret so high
And she saw her master from London riding by.
"O master, O master, don't lay the blame on me
'Twas the false nurse and Lankin that killed your lady."
Long Lankin was hung on a gibbet so high
And the false nurse was burnt in a fire close by.
From The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, Williams and Lloyd
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