US & Canada Versions: 112. The Baffled Knight
[There are seven extant authentic US and Canadian versions of Child 112, The Baffled Knight. I am missing the version by Decker from Newfoundland (Peacock B). Another version was supplied by Barry in 1929 in his "traces and Jury-Texts section of BBM but is is a fragment inserted into Child A. Versions of "The Baffled knight" should not be confused with "Katie Morie" a different ballad with a similar theme that is often categorized as a version of Child 112. I have separated them. Version of Katie Morey are found in Appendix 112-A.
The Green Mountain Songster version (reprinted Flanders, 1963) is the earliest extant version of The Baffled Knight and probably dates back to the 1700s. Some variants (see Barry; Peacock) have attached as a chorus a mid-19th century British broadside ballad, Blow The Winds I. O. published by Stephenson (Gateshead) sometime between 1821 and 1850, and archived at the Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, shelfmark: Harding B 11(337).
Some of US/Canada versions listed in the Roud index and collectors are really versions of Katie Morey (See Appendix 112-A). Flanders, for example, lists them together, her B version by Lena Fish is titled "Katie Morey."
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
CONTENTS: (To access individual texts click on blue highlighted title below or on the title attached to this page in green on left hand column)
1) The Shepherd's Son- Revolutionary soldier (VT) pre1823 Flanders A
2) A Man and a Maid- Stilwell (AR-OK) c1888 Moores
3) Courteous Knight- Donovan (ME) 1929 Barry
4) Jolly Farmer- McCabe (NL) 1929 Karpeles
5) Blow Ye Winds- Cassity (MA) 1936 Barry BFSSNE
6) Shepherd's Laddie- Gilkie (NS) 1949 Creighton REC
7) The Foolish Shepherd- Samms (NL) 1960 Peacock B
________________________________
1) The Shepherd's Son - from The Green Mountain Songster, compiled by an old, Revolutionary soldier of Sandgate, Vermont in 1823.
There was a shepherd's son kept sheep on yonder hill
And he went forth one merry morning to see what he could kill;
He looked east, he looked west, he gave an under look,
And there he spi'd a pretty maid a swimming in the brook.
Kind sir, don't touch my mantua[1] and let my clothes alone,
And I will give you as much fine gold as you can carry home.
I will not touch your mantua, I'll let your clothes alone,
But I will take you from the water, my dear you are my own.
Oh, it's fitter for a shepherd's son to keep sheep on yonder hill,
Than to come forth this merry morning to see a maiden swim.
Oh, it's fitter for a fair maid to stay at home and sew her silks and seams,
Than to come forth this merry morning to swim against the streams.
She mounted on a milk-like steed and he upon another,
Away they rode then side by side like sister and like brother;
They came into a meadow, where there were cocks of hay,
A pretty place, said he, my dear for man and maids to play.
Kind sir, don't lay me down for the dew is on the ground,
To rumple my gay clothing which cost me many a pound,
But stay till I come to my daddy's house and to my mamma's hall,
Where you shall have my portion, my riding-hood and all.
I will not lay you down for the dew is on the ground,
To rumple your gay clothing which cost you many a pound,
But I'll stay till you come to your daddy's house and to your mamma's hall,
And there I'll have your portion, your riding-hood and all.
She stepp'd into her daddy's gate and turn'd herself about,
Saying, here's a pretty maid within and there's a fool without;
There is a flower in our garden some call a merrigould,
If young men will not when they may they shall not when they would.
There is an herb in our garden some call a featherfue,
There's many a girl in our town has made a fool of you;
We have some little roosters that run among the hens,
They often flop their wings and crow, you're just like one of them.
Pull off your shoes from off your feet and let your feet go bare,
And if you meet with a pretty maid then kiss her if you dare;
I will not pull off my shoes nor let my feet go bare,
But if I meet with you again I'll trim you to a hair.
1. mantle, see Creighton.
_______________________________________
Below is a US version published in the 1960s which seems to be a rewrite of Sharp's version from Sommerset.
BLOW AWAY THE MORNING DEW (Sharp- first verse only)
1 There was a farmer's son
Kept sheep all on the hill;
And he walked out one May morning,
To see what he could kill.
Chorus. And sing blow away the morning dew,
The dew, and the dew.
Blow away the morning dew,
How sweet the winds do blow.
Sharp's notes: No. 8. BLOW AWAY THE MORNING DEW.
Words and air noted from Mrs. Lucy White of Hambridge and from Mrs. Price of Compton Martin.
Mrs. White's air is very nearly the same as Mrs. Price's: the tune here given is Mrs. White's, with the exception of the phrase at the 3rd and 4th bars of the refrain, which has been borrowed from Mrs. Price's version. I have also noted a third and very similar version from Mr. John Jeffrey of He Bruers (see The Folk-Song Society's Journal, Vol. II, p. 18). It has been necessary for Mr. Marson to soften the words.
This ballad is a shortened form of " The Baffled Knight or Lady's Policy," a long ballad of 180 lines given in Percy s Reliques. The original words, beginning " Yonder comes a courteous knight," are preserved in Deuteromelia, 1609, and in Pills to Purge Melancholy, Vol. Ill, p. 37, (ed. 1719). The tune to which this old ballad was sung is in Rimbault's Music to Reliques of Ancient Poetry. The words here given appear to be derived more directly from a Northumbrian version, " Blow the winds I ho!" given in Bell's Ballads of the English Peasantry, and in Stokoe and Reay's 'Ballads of Northern England. See also "Blow away ye mountain breezes," and the note to the same, in Songs of the (Vest.
A Scottish version of the ballad is known as " Jock Sheep" and is printed in The Ballad Book by Kinloch and Goldsmid at page 10. See also " The Abashed Knight" in Buchan's Ancient Ballads and Songs, Vol. II, p. 131.
The Somerset air is not an ancient one, but it is eminently suited to the breezy character of the words.
THE MORNING DEW- US version from an unknown source published in 1968 with the same melody as and similar lyrics to Sharp's version collected in Sommerset.
1. There was a farmer's son
Who led a humble life,
One day in May, he strolled away,
To find himself a wife,
Singing:
Blow away the morning dew,
The grey morning dew,
Blow away the morning dew
And let the sun come through.
2. While walking toward the town,
He somehow took a look,
And saw a fair young maiden
Bathing in a woodland brook,
He sang: Blow away the morning dew,
The grey morning dew,
Blow away the morning dew
And let the sun come through.
3. She quickly donned a dress,
This girl of grace and charm,
The lad approached and smiled at her
And took her by the arm,
Singing: Blow away the morning dew,
The grey morning dew,
Blow away the morning dew
And let the sun come through.
4. Less than an hour went by,
And love they both could see,
Oh be my bride, he gently sighed,
Though all I have is me,
Singing: Blow away the morning dew,
The grey morning dew,
Blow away the morning dew
And let the sun come through.
5. I care not what you own,
The maiden then replied,
My father is a wealthy Lord,
And I will be thy bride,
Singing: Blow away the morning dew,
The grey morning dew,
Blow away the morning dew
And let the sun come through.
6. They mounted on a milk white steed
And to the castle rode,
Though willingly she would have gone
To share his poor abode,
Singing: Blow away the morning dew,
The grey morning dew,
Blow away the morning dew
And let the sun come through.
________________________________________________
[Flanders- Ancient Ballads, 1963; notes by Coffin ]
The Baffled Knight
(Child 112)
The anecdote of the girl who avoids being raped by holding out for a more comfortable location until she can escape has been told again and again throughout European literature, oral and written. Usually its bawdy possibilities are developed far more enthusiastically than they are in the dignified " The Baffied Knight." This fact was particularly true of various black-letter texts that flooded from the presses during the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century and the presence of these vigorous cousins may well account for the rarity of Child 112 in Britain and America today. Greig and Keith, 90-92 (Scottish), includes it. Coffin gives references to a trace mentioned by Phillips Barry in British Ballads from Maine, 454; to a confused fragment in
BFSSNE, XII, 12; and to the Green Mountain Songster version printed as A below. Child had five texts.
The ballad as found in The Green Mountain Songster, though not from oral tradition, is the only full version from American collections. It is close to Child D for four stanzas the text in Child, IV, 495, for the first stanza, but then then it deviates, although there are from time to time similarities to Child E. It seems to be of Scottish tradition (see the material in Greig and Keith, 90-92) and is nor unlike the version sung by Ewan MacColl on Riverside Records, RLP 12-622. The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Vol. I, Side 3) which is based in part on a Lowland Scots fragment and in part on material from Greig and Keith.
Barry, op.cit., 455456, lists a host of broadsides and stall songs using the same themes as Child 112 and cites the popularity of the "Katie Morey" (Laws, N 24) variation. The four texts of that song given below are quite representative of "Katie Morey" in America, where it is well known. See Laws, ABBB, 215, and Coffin, 104, for a start on a bibliography. Katie's deception is, of course, far less gracious than that of "the bonny lass" in "The Baffled Knight," and the whole song is on quite a different level with its "whack fol da-day" refrain and fabliau humor. It is much more like the usual telling of the incident where, as in "The Politick Maid," the girl may throw her would-be lover in the river, hobble him, cause him to fall in the moat to her castle, and
so forth.
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
112. THE BAFFLED KNIGHT
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 454 (trace) / BFSSNJS, XII, 12 / Green Mountain Songster, 51.
Local Titles: The Shepherd's Son.
Story Types: A: A man out walking meets a pretty girl and asks her where she is going. She smiles and flees. He chases and catches her with the remark "pretty maid, now let us understand".
Examples: SFSSNE, XII, 12.
B: The shepherd's son discovers a girl swimming in a brook, and, although he says he will not take her clothes, he swears to have his will of her. They mount horses and come to a meadow where he decides to have her. She asks him to wait till they get home, however, as the dew will ruin her gown. He consents. But, once home, she slips through the gates, locks him out, and mocks him. He threatens her, but leaves.
Examples: Green Mountain Songster.
Discussion: Type A has the "blow ye winds" chorus of Child Db (See also IV, 495) and follows the tradition of JFSS, II, 18 and W. B. Whall, Sea Sgs & Chanties, 24. The Green Mountain Songster text is close to Child D for the first four stanzas and to IV, 495 in the first stanza, but then it varies from the Child texts, although at many points a similarity to Child E can be seen. The
parting threat of the knight is not in Child, however.
Barry, Brit Bids Me, 455 states that a similar story was well-known in Maine under the title, Katie Morey. This song is printed in Shoemaker, Mt Mnstly, 131 from Pennsylvania as Kitty Maury; in SharpC, Eng F-S So Applchns, 211 from Tennessee and North Carolina as Katie Morey; in Eddy, Bids Sgs Ohio, 64 from Ohio as The Shrewd Maiden; and in Perry, Carter Cnty, 122 from Tennessee as Katy Morley. However, these versions and others like them are secondary at best.