Francis J. Child Ballads.

[barddas]

I have heard Steeleye Span do this. Harsh song....




The Cruel Mother


Lyrics



This ballad is Child Ballad #20.

There was a lady dwelt in York:
Fal the dal the di do,
She fell in love with her father's clerk,
Down by the green wood side.

She laid her hand against a stone,
Fal the dal the di do,
And there she made most bitter moan,
Down by the green wood side.

She took a knife both long and sharp,
Fal the dal the di do,
And stabb'd her babes unto the heart,
Down by the green wood side.

As she was walking home one day,
Fal the dal the di do,
She met those babes all dress'd in white
Down by the green wood side.

She said, "Dear children, can you tell,
Fal the dal the di do,
Where shall I go? To heav'n or hell?"
Down by the green wood side.

"O yes! dear mother, we can tell,
Fal the dal the di do,
For it's we to heav'n and you to hell."
Down by the green wood side.

[RavenWing]

Yikes! that is harsh!

[barddas]

My group does this one. I had just stumbled acoss it in a book of Scottish folk songs. This is a cool one! We do it in Dminor





The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry

Information

Lyrics

This ballad originated in the Orkney Islands. A "silkie" is a supernatural being who lives in the sea. They wear sealskins to travel through the ocean, and take them off when they are on land.

This ballad is Child Ballad #113.

In another version of the song the silkie is vulnerable if they loose their sealskins - so the young maiden hides the sealskin and the silkie is killed.

The silkie are also called "Finns" and "Selkies".

The silkie be a creature strange
He rises from the sea to change
Into a man, a weird one he,
When home it is in Skule Skerrie.

When he be man, he takes a wife,
When he be beast, he takes her life.
Ladies, beware of him who be -
A silkie come from Skule Skerrie.

His love they willingly accept,
But after they have loved and slept,
Who is the monster that they see?
'Tis "Silkie" come from Skule Skerrie.

A maiden from the Orkney Isles,
A target for his charm, his smiles,
Eager for love, no fool was she,
She knew the secret of Skule Skerrie.

And so, while Silkie kissed the lass,
She rubbed his neck with Orkney grass,
This had the magic power, you see -
To slay the beast from Skule Skerrie.

[Richard Bercot]

I have memories of a sad Child's Ballad I had heard long ago. But the author is unknown to me.

Where have you been the lee long day?
My little wee kru-don-doo
I've been to see my step-mother.
Oh mommy muk-muk-a-doo

And what did your step-mother give you to eat?
My little wee kru-don-doo
She give to me some wee wee flesh
All covered with green and blue.

And what did you do with your beans and your flesh?
My little wee kru-don-doo
I give them to my wee wee dog.
Oh mommy muk-muk-a-doo

And what did your dog do when it ate all the beans?
My little wee kru-don-doo
He stretched his wee wee limbs and died.
Oh mommy muk-muk-a doo

I noticed there were reference numbers to Child Ballads, are there recordings or books of such?

[barddas]

Francis J Childs went through the Isles and compiled old traditional folk tunes. The songs that had been handed down for centuries, and he put them into a compilation of 2 or 3 books. Each song is listed as Childs ballad ( then a number was assigned to it) Then what the folk songs title was.
Example

Childs Ballad 29
The Selkie

I do not know if this ballad number and song are correct... But that is my example...

I am sure you can find his works on the net. Just search Francis J Childs

Cheers

[barddas]

Actually Childs ballad 29 is The boy and the mantle


For a complete list go to

http://www.contemplator.com/child/cmpltchl.html

[Richard Bercot]

Thank you Barddas, I have put that listing in on my Favorites and will check it out.

[barddas]

Not a problem at all. Glad to spread the word! Helps to keep these old tunes alive...

Cheers

[barddas]

Some may know this one from Maddy Prior and Tim Hart, or Great Big Sea. They both have done versions of this.
A copy of this ballad appeared in 1785 in The British Songster. Child notes several versions of the tune including Lord Roslin's Daughter and The Laird of Roslin's Daughter. It was popular throughout Scotland.


Captain Wedderburn's Courtship


This ballad is Child Ballad #46.

Walked through the wood her lane.
And by came Captain Wedderburn,
A soldier of the king.
He said unto his serving man,
Were't not against the law,
I would take her to my own bed
And lay her next the wall.

I'm walking here my lane, says she,
Among my father's trees,
And you may let me walk my lane,
Kind sir, now, if you please.
The supper bell it will be rung
And I'll be missed awa',
So I'll not lie in your bed
At neither stock nor wall.

Then said the pretty lady,
I pray tell me your name.
My name is Captain Wedderburn,
A soldier of the king.
Though your father and all his men were here,
I would take you from them all,
I would take you to my own bed
And lay you next the wall.

O hold away from me,
Kind sir, I pray you let me be,
For I'll not lie in your bed
Till I get dishes three.
Three dishes for my supper,
Though I eat none at all,
Before I lie in your bed
At either stock or wall.

I must have to my supper
A chicken without a bone,
And I must have to my supper
A cherry without stone,
And I must have to my supper
A bird without a gall,
Before I lie in your bed
At either stock or wall.

The chicken when it's in the shell
I'm sure it has no bone,
And when the cherry's in the bloom
I wat it has no stone.
The dove she is a gentle bird,
She flies without a gall,
And we'll both lie in one bed
And you'll lie next the wall.

O hold away from me, kind sir,
And do not me perplex,
For I'll not lie in your bed
Till you answer questions six.
Six questions you must answer me,
And that is four and twa,
Before I lie in your bed
At either stock or wall.

O what is greener than the grass,
What's higher than the trees,
O what is worse than a woman's wish,
What's deeper than the seas,
What bird crows first, what tree buds first,
What first on them does fall,
Before I lie in your bed
At either stock or wall.

Death is greener than the grass,
Heaven's higher than the trees,
The devil's worse than woman's wish,
Hell's deeper than the seas,
The cock crows first, the cedar buds first,
Dew first on them does fall,
And we'll both lie in one bed,
And you'll lie next the wall.

Little did this lady think,
That morning when she raise,
It was to be the very last
Of all her maiden days,
For now she's Captain Wedderburn's wife,
A man she never saw,
And now they lie in one bed,
And she lies next the wall.

This post has been edited by barddas on 06-Oct-2003, 10:27 AM

[Richard Bercot]

This Child Ballad #46 is very simular to the Riddle Song.

Pete Seeger said that he had herd Burl Ives sing the Riddle Song in 1938 but he did not know where it came from. The words fit into the tune. Is it the same tune?

Riddle Song.

I gave my love a cherry that has no stone.
I gave my love a chicken that has no bone.
I gave my love a story that has no end.
I gave my love a baby with no cryin'.

How can there be a cherry that has no stone.
How can there be a chicken that has no bone.
How can there be a story that has no end.
How can there be a baby with no cryin'.

A cherry when it blooming, it has no stone.
A chicken when it's pipping, it has no bone.
A story of love, it has no end.
A baby when it's sleeping, it's no cryin'.

This is one of the songs I sing at campfires.