US & Canadian Versions: 18. Sir Lionel; Old Bangum; Bangum and the Boar; Wild Boar; Wild Hog
[The US & Canadian Versions of Child No. 18, Sir Lionel, are usually know under the common titles, Old Bangum, Bangum and the Boar, Wild Boar or Wild Hog. Any US "Sir Lionel" titles were given by the collector (see Cecil Sharp's versions). The dates ascribed by me to the versions below don't accurately portray the antiquity of the ballad. For example, Old Bangum by Josephine Casey (Missouri) is dated 1916, but how much older is it? About this version (submitted by Kittredge 1917 JAF) Eva Warner Case writes:
"Miss Casey is a grandniece of General Zachary Taylor, president of the United States from 1849 to 1850. General Taylor and President Madison were both great-great-grandsons of James Taylor, who came from Carlisle, England, to Orange County, Virginia, in 1638, and both were hushed to sleep by their negro 'mammies' with the strains of 'Bangum and the Boar.' "
Certainly this is a bit of romantic conjecture by Case who has no evidence that it was actually sung by their mammies to back this claim-- still the point is made that many of the versions collected date back into the 1800s and probably even to the 1600s although we have no way to verify this.
Another version titled, "Biler and the Boar" by Nimrod Workman of Kentucky was recorded in 1978. Workman was born in 1895 and his father fought in the Civil War. This version could easily date back to the 1800s, however no date was supplied in the liner notes and since Workman died in 1994 there is little hope of getting accurate information.
The ballad, Old Bangum, is not well-known in the US (there are no collected versions in the Brown Collection for example) and hardly found in the the north and Canada. Recently (since the 1960s folk boom) there have been many recordings and new versions that are based on older traditional versions and the ballad has found new popularity.
The ballad melody has been known as an instrumental fiddle and banjo (Taylor Kimble) tune in the US since the 1920s and according to Alan Jabbour the tune is "almost certainly" an instrumental adaptation of the tune used in the Appalachians for the ballad "Bangum and the Boar" (Child 18) or "Old Bangum."
It is my contention that in North America some versions of "Sir Lionel" cross fertilized with another old ballad, known in the Appalachian region as, "Froggie Went Courtin'." Belden believed (1940) "Froggie" to be the most widely known folk song in the English language and it first appears in print in the British Isles in Wedderburn's "Complaynt of Scotland" (1549) where it is called "The frog cam to the myl dur." Another early version is found in a broadside text of 1580, called "A moste Strange weddinge of the ffrogge and the mowse" (Rollins). The air is first given in Thomas Ravenscroft's "Melismata" (1611). Apparently Child felt the "Wedding of the Frog and the Mouse" to be a children's song and would not dignify it a place in his 305 ballads- a mistake I believe, since he did include "Popular" in his title.
The longer and fuller versions have element of Child C with the "wild woman" who confronts Bangum after he slays her "spotted" pig. She (called a witch-woman in some versions) demands repayment for her loss usually asking for his hawk, his hound and his gay lady.
The first recording of Old Bangum on Columbia, A-3084, in February, 1920; matrix: 90055 was sung by Bentley Ball (born February 2, 1878 in Ohio), a concert and college-circuit baritone. It was sung in a stilted, quasi-operatic style. According to a source at WFMU, Ball traveled around selling typewriters and collecting songs in rural states. This evidently is the first recording of Bangum, billed as a Kentucky Mountain song. He also recorded "The Hangman's Tree" (Child 95) in 1920. Listen: http://wfmu.org/flashplayer.php?version=2&show=44465&archive=76834
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
CONTENTS: (Click on individual versions attached to this page on left hand column- or on the title below-Link)
Individual versions
1) Old Bang 'Em- Purcell (VA) c.1763 Davis B; from Traditional Ballads from Virginia; Kyle Davis Jr., 1929. Also collected in 1934 by Davis. The Purcells were frequent contributors to Davis circa 1913 through the Farmville Ballad Club and later in the early 1930s when Davis revisited the ballads published in his 1929 book (see: More Traditional Ballads, 1960). Evelyn Purcell's mother learned many of her ballads in the early 1890s. If we go back two generations to her grandfather, it seems 150 years might be an exaggeration- however- without doing the genealogy there's no way to challenge this assertion. Even if he "lived at least 150 years ago" this does not tell us when he learned this ballad.
2) Old Bangum- Blain (VA) 1839 Davis D; from Traditional Ballads from Virginia; Kyle Davis Jr., 1929. Contributed by Dr. Hugh Mercer Blain and Miss Mary Randolph Blain, of Baton Rouge, La. Sung by his grandmother, Mrs. Susan Isham Blaine of Virginia, about 75 years ago. (No County given.) February 24, 1914.
3) Bangum and the Boar- Broadhead (MO) c1851 Belden B; from Five Old-Country Ballads by Belden; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 25, No. 96 (Apr. - Jun., 1912), pp. 171-178. Also in Ballads and Songs; 1940, Belden Ed.; Version B.
4) Wild Hog's Den- Stewart (TX) c.1900 Kestner/Mudcat; from Mudcat Discussion forum; post by Kathy Kestner 2002.
5) Old Bangum and the Boar- Smith (MO) 1906 Belden; from Old-Country Ballads in Missouri- I by H. M. Belden The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 19, No. 74 (Jul. - Sep., 1906), pp. 231-240. Curiously, this was not reprinted in Ballads and Songs in 1940.
6) Bangum and the Boar- Adams (VA) 1914 Davis A
Bingham- Duval (VA) 1914 Davis E
Old Bangum- Pittser (OK-IN-MO) pre1914 Moore B
Bangum and the Boar- (KY) McGill c. 1914
Old Bangum- Dee Hicks (TN) c1915 Fulcher REC
Old Bangum- Conway (VA) 1915 Davis C
Bangry Rewey- Mrs. Tom Rice (NC) 1916 Sharp A
Bangrum- Betty Smith (VA) 1916 Sharp B
Old Bangum- Josephine Casey (MO) 1916 Belden A
Wild Boar- Mrs. Broughton (KY) 1917 Sharp C
O Bangum- Mrs. Henry (KY) 1917 Sharp D
Jobal Hunter- Rena Hicks (NC) c.1920 Burton
Ole Bangum- Dashiell (VA) 1921 Davis F
Wild Boar- Muir (VA-KY) Roberts 1930
Wild Hog- Eunice McAlexander (VA) 1932; Yates
Wild Hog- Ruby Bowman (VA) 1932 Davis DD
Wild Hog- Gibson (VA) 1933 Davis BB
Old Bangum- Payne (MO) 1934 Randolph
Bangum and the Bo'- Stiles (TN) 1934 Niles C
Old Bangum- Wilson (NC) 1936 Niles A
Rurey Bain- McCoy (NC) no date c.1936 Niles B
Bangum and the Boar- G.D. Vowell (KY) 1937 Lomax
Wild Boar- Samuel Harmon (TN) 1939 Halpert REC
Old Bangham- Adelaide Hemingway (DC) 1939
Old Bangum- Jean Ritchie (KY) c.1940 REC
Old Bangum- Furgeson (VT) 1942 Flanders
Old Bangum- Hamner (TN) 1953 Boswell Collection
Old Bangum and the Boar- Hayes (VA) 1956 Chase
Old Bangum and the Boar- Hayes (VA) 1956 Chase
Rach's Spinning Song- Hinkle (WV) 1957 Musick
The Wild Hog- Brewster (AR) 1958 Max Hunter
Old Daniel- Claude Graham (IN) c.1960 Winkelman
Wild Hog in the Woods- Plemmons (DC) 1962
Old Bangum- Everett (AR) 1963 Max Hunter
Jovial Hunter- Buna Hicks (NC) Recorded 1964
Bangum Rode the Riverside- Hightower (OK) 1964
Bangum and the Wild Boar- Hammons (WV) c.1970
The Wild Boar- Bobby McMillon (NC) c.1970s
Old Badman- Winnie Hamrick (WV) 1975 Gainer
Biler and the Boar- Workman (KY) Recorded 1978
Old Bangum- Gellert (Va.) Recorded 1981
Wild Hog in the Woods- Dwight Diller (WV) c.1996
Wild Hog- Diane Jones (WV) 1997
Old Bangum- Jodie Stecher- 1999
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Several versions titled Old Bangdum are in Ben Gray Lumpkin collection - two by Sam Erskin; Martin family see interview with Sam Erskin
http://cudl.colorado.edu/luna/servlet/detail/UCBOULDERCB1~25~25~346355~124087:Old-Bangdum?sort=title%2Ccreator%2Cdate&qvq=sort:title%2Ccreator%2Cdate;lc:UCBOULDERCB1~25~25&mi=593&trs=882
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Coffin, 1950:
18. SIR LIONEL
Texts: Barry, Brit Bid Me, 434 (trace) / Belden, Mo F-S, 29 / Boletin Latino Americano de Musica, V, 278 / Davis, Trd Bid Va, 125 / Focus, IV, 48 / JAFL, XIX, 235 ; XXV, 175 ; XXX, 291 5 LIV, 84 / Lorn ax and Lomax, Our Sngng Cntry, 149 / McGill, F-S Ky Mts, 79 / MLR, XI, 396 / Randolph, Oz F-S, I, 72 / Elizabeth M. Roberts, The Great Meadow (N.Y., 1930), 151, 281, 298 / Scarborough, On frail N F-S, 51 / Scarborough, Sgctchr So Mts, 191 / Sharp C, EngF-S So Aplcbns, #8 / SharpK, EngF-S So Aplcbns, I, 55 / Smith and Rufty, Am Anth Old Wrld Bids, 4 / Va FLS Bull, #s 3-5, 9.
Local Titles: (Old) Bangum and the Boar, Bingham, Brangywell, Old Bang* em, Ole Bangum.
Story Types: A: Bangum and his lady are in a forest. Bangum mentions a man-eating hog known to the vicinity and sometimes blows his horn to attract the beast. The boar comes rushing out, and Bangum slays him with a knife, usually wooden. The mood of the adventure is mock serious. Some versions do not mention the lady; some have the boar kill a number of Bangum's retinue; others have the boar run away after a long battle; and still others tell of a cave in which lie the bones of many slain men. In a number of these texts the winning or losing of "shoes" is mentioned by Bangum.
Examples: Davis (A); Roberts, p. 281; Scarborough, Sgctchr So Mis.
B : Bangum rides into a wood and meets a maid. He proposes to her, but she refuses him. He then tells her of a man-eating boar in the forest and sets out to kill it. After a successful fight, he returns to the girl. She accepts a second proposal. Examples: Lomax and Lomax.
Discussion: All the American texts show a great deal of variation from the Child versions of the story. In the history of Sir Lionel one can see the complete degeneration of a romance into a burlesqued backwoods song. The original form of the story was probably Sir Eglamour of Artois (See Child, I, 209), and the British ballads retain much of the mood of this and other like
works. The composite story of the British texts as given by Davis, Trd Bld Va, 125 from Child, I, 208 appears in the introductory description of variation at the beginning of this work.
The American versions (see Zielonko, Some American Variants of Child Ballads, 57ff.) reduce the story to little more than a fight with a boar, in Type A with mere mention of the lady. The whole mood is changed. The pageantry is gone. The details of the old tale are forgotten. And the song that survives is, at most dignified, mock serious in tone. Perhaps the change of the refrain best illustrates this, the typical Child A lines "blow thy horne good hunter as I am a gentle hunter" becoming "cubbi ki, cuddle dum, killi quo quam", etc. Similar refrains are paralleled in English versions collected since Child's day, however. Check JAFL, XXX, 292.
It is notable that the Type B text retains a great deal more of the original story, if not any more of the original spirit, than do those of Type A. In addition, Barry, Brit Bids Me, 134 notes that a Maine sea-captain recognized thirteen stanzas of Child A.
Kenneth W. Porter (JAFL, LIV, 84) states that "wooden knife" is a corruption of the "wood-knife" used by huntsmen to carve game, etc. The misinterpretation of course came as the implement passed from use.
Belden, Mo F-S, 29 suggests that there may be a broadside original for the Missouri (at least) texts, but he has no proof.
For a treatment of the influence of A Frog Went a-Courtin' on Sir Lionel in America read Zielonko, op. cit., p. 5yff.
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From Boletin Latino-Americano de Música: Suplemento musical 1941. This version is the same (minus first verse) as Belden's Missouri version published in 1912 by Kittredge in the JAFL. Andrew Rowan Summers recorded this text in the 1950s.
OLD BANGUM
Old Bangum would a hunting ride,
Dil —lum down dil — lum;
Old Bangum would a hunting ride,
Dil — lum down.
Od Bangum would a hunting ride,
Sword and pistol by his side
Cubby ki, cuddle down
killi quo quam
There a wild boar in this wood,
Dil —lum down dil — lum;
There a wild boar in this wood,
Dil —lum down
There a wild boar in this wood,
Will eat your meat and suck your blood,
Cubby ki, cuddle down
killi quo quam
"Oh, how shall I this wild boar see?"
"Blow a blast and he'll come to thee."
Old Bangum blew both loud and shrill,
The wild boar hear on Temple Hill.
The wild boar dashed with such a rash
He tore his way through oak and ash.
Old Bangum drew his wooden knife
And swore he'd take the wild boar's life.
They fought four hours in a day;
At last the wild boar stole away.
They traced the wild boar to his den,
And found the bones of a thousand men.
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Old Bangum- John Dildine hosted a folk radio show i n the 1950s in Washington DC area. The source of this version is unknown
Old Bangum, he did hunt and ride
Dillum down dillum
Old Bangum, he did hunt and ride
Dillum down
Old Bangum, he did hunt and ride
Sword and a pistol by his side
Coo be kee, cuddle down, killie quo qum
Similarly:
There is a wild boar in these woods
And he eats men's bones and he drinks their blood
Old Bangum, he drew his wooden knife
He swore he'd take that wild boar's life
Old Bangum, he went to the old boar's den
And he saw the bones of a thousand men
That boar came out in such a dash
He cut his way through oak and ash
They fought four hours in that day
Old bangum took the old boar's life away
Old Bangum, did you win or lose?
He swore by God he'd won his shoes
Child #18
related to Sir Lionel; even thought to be related to King Arthur's boar fight (before Lancelot et al got tacked onto Arthur's legend, he did things like hunt killer boars and kings) recorded by Dildine family