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Folk Song Subject & Master Index

Thesaurus

 
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Results

Subject term Flowers

Click on the Roud Number to
search for variants of the song
  • Roud No
    27 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Child 14
    Subject terms
    Forests / Sisters / Brothers / Robbers / Outlaws / <Flowers> / Knives / Murder / Sororicide / Suicide / Stabbing / Defiance / Refusal to marry / Hatred / Despair / Lust / Kidnapping / Death
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    While picking flowers in the forest, three sisters are waylaid by Babylon, a robber. He threatens each in turn with death if she will not agree to be his wife. When the first two refuse their consent he stabs them to death. The third woman also refuses to live with him, but adds that her brother, who lives in the same wood, will take revenge on the robber if she is killed. When Babylon asks who he brother is, it turns out he is the robber himself. Unable to bear the disgrace of having killed his own sisters, he commits suicide. [SF]
    Source
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. Vol. I pp. 173-174. (Version A) .
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 3 / Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    Although reported to be around in the 1770s, this Child ballad of only moderate popularity made its first appearance in print in Motherwell’s Minstrelsy in 1827 as ‘Babylon or The Banks of Fordie’. In fact there have been several titles for this ballad, whose oral versions mostly come from Scotland or the assumedly Scottish diaspora in North America. In common with most Child ballads, there are no reported broadside versions. See Child (1882-95, Vol I pp. 170-177) ; Bronson (1959-72, Vol I pp. 248-252). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Three Sisters, The (Roud 161)
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. / Bronson, B. H., ed. (1959-72). The traditional tunes of the Child ballads. Princeton: Princeton University Press. / Würzbach, N. and Salz, S. M. (1995). Motif Index of the Child Corpus. Berlin: de Gruyter.
    Indexer
    SF
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    11 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Child 112
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / Knights / Shepherds / <Wine> / Clothes / <Cloaks> / Horses / Rings / Gold (metal) / Swords / Rosemary / Boots / <Spurs> / <Hats> / Rivers / Virginity / <Grass> / <Violets> / <Deer> / Sex avoided / Horse riding / Trickery / Scorn / Anger / Embarassment / Fear / Dismay / Lust / Deception / Defiance / Threats / Revenge / Feathers (product) / Mockery / Dew / Haycocks / Pinders / Cocks / Capons / Marigolds / Nettles / Whips / Moats / Planks / Propositioning / Immersion / Remonstrance
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A knight encounters a lady and proposes they have sex. She agrees and suggests they go to her father's hall. On arrival she goes inside alone, locks the gate and mocks him from within. Three further encounters see the knight similarly tricked. On the first occasion she pushes him into a river and leaves him bedraggled and disappointed. Next she offers to help him to remove his boots and hobbles him with them before leaving him stranded. Finally he confronts her at her father's hall - she directs him to a plank across the moat to allow him access to her. The plank having been weakened snaps and he falls into the moat. [DRC]
    Source
    The lady's policy, or, The baffled knight (no date). [broadside]. Durham: J. Lane. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Douce Ballads 3(52b)
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 3 / Female (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    A Child ballad first seen in print in 1609. Early appearances differed in title, but by the mid-19th century ‘The Baffled knight’ was widely accepted. The story is somewhat light compared with other Child ballads, and maybe that is the reason for ‘Blow ye winds hi-oh’ being a commoner title for the song. Certainly this is the case in most 19th century broadsides. Geographically, it is commonest in England with some occurrences in Scotland, and unlike many Child ballads is rare in the United States. Child (1882-95, Vol II pp. 478-493) presented five versions, Bronson (1959-72, Vol II pp. 547-563) considered 39 tunes. See also Roud and Bishop (2012, pp. 424-425). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. ; Bronson, B. H., ed. (1959-72). The traditional tunes of the Child ballads. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ; Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    DRC
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/30564
  • Roud No
    603 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / Men / Young women / Fathers / Mothers / Lovers / <Chariots> / Roses / Briars / Guineas (money) / Diamonds / Combs / Flowers / Familial opposition (to courtship or marriage) / Marriage / Kissing / Playing / Dancing / Singing
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    Narrator tells of his lover with whom he is happiest with. His parents disapprove but he says he would happily disobey them to be with her. He would spend all his money on gifts for her and dreams of marrying her and ruminates on his time with her in a bed of roses, singing and playing together. [ELW].
    Source
    Scotch medley : a favorite song. To which is added A new love song ; The bonny beds of roses ; and, The broom of the Cowden Knows. (ca. 1810-1825). [chapbook]. Falkirk: T. Johnston. Held at: Edinburgh: National Library of Scotland.L.C.2823(13) pp. 5-6
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x 1 / < Male (Adult) x 1> / <Female (Adult) x 1>
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    First seen in print in Johnson’s Musical Museum of 1787, Scottish versions dominate the collected versions and broadsides are all Scottish. [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Huntington, G., ed. (1970). Songs the whalemen sang. Second edition. New York: Dover.
    Indexer
    ELW
    Example text
    URL
    https://digital.nls.uk/110321801
  • Roud No
    586 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / Fields / Morning / Summer / <Air (atmosphere)> / Young women / Primroses / Valleys / Birds / Grief / Happiness / Wandering / Courtship / <Seeing> / <Stepping up to> / <Passing> / <Appearing> / <Causing> / <Deception> / <Finding>
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The narrator meets a lovely maid by a primrose bank; he asks why she is so sad and says he can make her happy. She tells him to leave her alone as it is he (or any other man) that is the cause of her woe, and that she will hide herself in a lonesome valley. The final verse states that often, a bad beginning can turn out well. [RAS]
    Source
    The Banks of the Sweet Primroses [sleeve notes]. In: Bob Hart, 1998. A Broadside [CD]. Stroud: Musical Traditions Records. MTCD301-2, Pp.14-15.
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Equally popular historically and in the postwar revival. Oral versions have been overwhelmingly from England. This English domination was reflected in 19th century Broadside printers publishing a version. See Roud and Bishop (2012, pp. 405-406). [PRW]
    Notes

    From the earliest broadside to present day sound recordings, the final verse seems to bear little connection with the rest of the song.

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    RAS
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    816 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Blacksmiths / Young women / <Letters> / <Hammers> / <Sky> / <Lips> / <Heart> / <Gold coins> / <Roses> / <Oceans & seas> / <Brothers> / Courtship / <Writing> / <Fighting> / <Rewards> / Crying / <Dying> / Deception / Love / <Cruelty> / <Fear> / Dislike / Unrequited love / Betrayal / <Death from a broken heart> / <Fetching> / Winning someone's heart / <Damaging> / <Beliefs> / <Carrying> / <Marriage> / <Informing (on someone)> / Broken promises
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The singer is courted by a blacksmith who wins her heart. She urges him not to go to war, but to stay and marry her, as he promised. He says she has no witness to this promise. News comes that he has married (someone else), and she declares that she won't die for love, and that girls would do better to love each other than to love a man. [RAS]
    Source
    A Blacksmith Courted Me [sleeve notes]. In: Brazil, D. 2007. Down by the Old Riverside [CD]. Stroud: Musical Traditions Records. MTCD345-7, Pp. 34-35. Track 3/1.
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Scarcely present in broadside form, but one may be dated to about 1825. Despite this the song was found in abundance by Edwardian and later collectors all in England. One possible reason is the splendid tune, which Vaughan Williams famously set to John Bunyan’s poem To be a Pilgrim, although he collected another song sang to the same tune Our Captain Cried All Hands (Roud 602). Very popular in the post-war revival. [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    RAS
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    140 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Laws P14
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / Soldiers / Young women / <Gorse> / Nightingales / <Primroses> / <Violets> / Flowers / <Dresses> / Gold rings / Bags / Fiddles / Sexual euphemisms / Music / Marriage proposals / Warnings / Loss of virginity / Sexual intercourse / Seduction / Fiddle strings
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A soldier meets a pretty girl and chats with her. After a while he draws his fiddle from his knapsack and plays her a tune. She asks him to play more, but he says it's time to leave. When she asks him to marry her, he says he has a wife and six children in London. The ballad ends with a lament and a warning against men who leave girls to rock the cradle alone [Laws 1957, p.255]. [In indexed copy] A soldier meets a young woman and asks her to walk with him. She is initially reluctant when invited to 'take her pleasure' with him but later reconsiders. He presents her with gifts and plays on his fiddle for her. She proposes marriage. He declines because he must leave with his Captain next day. Maidens are warned not to consort with soldiers without a promise of marriage. [DRC]
    Source
    The nightingale's song, or, The soldier's rare musick, and maid's recreation (ca. 1689-1709). [broadside]. London: W. Onley. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Douce Ballads 2(166b).
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    One of the most popular of our folk songs, both historically and in the postwar revival, where it often has had the alternative title of ‘The Bold Grenadier’. Its popularity has been achieved without the assistance of 19th century broadside versions, of which there are very few. However, as so often is the case with English folk songs, the first known version of the song is a black letter London broadside from the late 17th century, entitled ‘The Nightingale’s Song or The Soldier’s Rare Musick, and Maid’s Recreation’. Apart from this, it is difficult to trace the history of the song, until the 20th century, during which all the oral versions have been collected, and these have come entirely from England and North America. In the postwar revival there have been notable versions from the Cantwells of Oxfordshire, Suffolk singer Charlie Carver, and the traveller ‘Queen’ Caroline Hughes from Dorset. For more information, see Roud and Bishop (2012, pp. 441-442). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Laws, G. M. (1957). American balladry from British broadsides. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society / Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    DRC
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/30142
  • Roud No
    819 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Lancashire / Scotland / England / <Yorkshire> / Sweethearts / Young women / Young men / Parted lovers / <Sally> / <Chambermaids> / Soldiers / Wealth / Bonnets / Blue / Regiments / <Promiscuity> / <Cheeks> / <Roses> / <Eyes> / Beauty / <Night> / <Beds> / <Going to bed> / <Dreams> / <Morning> / <Clothes> / <Guns> / Heart / Military discharge / Gifts / <Promises> / Broken promises / <Poverty> / <London> / <Hull> / <Bedrooms> / Love / <Awakening> / <Dressing (with clothes)> / <Wounds> / <Painting> / Betrayal / <Kindness> / <Cowardice> / True love / Yearning / <Class difference (romantic couples)> / Unrequited love / Manchester / False lovers / <Ladies in waiting> / <Splendour> / <Sloes> / Fine clothes / <Stains> / <Painters> / <Pictures> / <Memories> / Carefreeness / <Gentility> / Infatuation
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A wealthy young English woman meets a Scottish soldier who has come to England with his regiment. He wears a blue bonnet and she falls in love with him. She puts on her finest clothes and goes to meet him, offering to buy his discharge from the army. He tells her that he has a girl back home in Scotland who he will never betray. The abandoned narrator calls for a painter to paint a picture of the soldier, and is left to pine alone in her room with only the painting for company [CDS]
    Source
    The bonnet so blue (ca. 1819-1844). [broadside]. London: Pitts. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Firth c.14(187)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Female
    Song history
    There are many versions of this song, both broadside and oral. The former is dominated by London printers. The latter was led by Baring Gould in 1888, but versions were obtained from most parts of the British Isles and North America. Strangely, it is absent from the post-war revival. [PRW]
    Notes

    In some versions the male protagonist is a sailor, in his 'jacket so blue'.

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    CDS
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/11851
  • Roud No
    906 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Cottages / Evening / June / Young women / Moon / Moonlight / Complaints / <Nightingales> / Edmund / Handsomeness / Cleverness / Graves / Crying / Bereavement / <Daisies> / Death from natural causes / Untimely death / Sweethearts / True love / Jasmine / Dead lovers / Travellers
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The narrator sees a young woman crying to the moon over the memory of her dead lover, Edmund. She lists his many fine qualities, describes the way she tends his grave, and expresses a longing to join him in the grave soon. [HMF]
    Source
    Maggie by my side ; Sweet silver light bonny moon [and] Judy Mc.Carty (ca. 1850-1899). [broadside]. Manchester: Pearson. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Firth c.26(37)
    Characters
    Unspecified (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x1
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    HMF
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/13755
  • Roud No
    60 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Laws P25
    Subject terms
    <Pubs> / <Meadows> / Sailors / False lovers / Pregnancy / Flowers / <Aprons> / Infidelity / <Gold coins> / Decay of beauty / <Babies> / Death from a broken heart / <Leaves> / <Corpses> / Graves / <Birds> / <Blindness> / <Heart> / Regret / True love / <Pity> / <Hard-heartedness> / Wishing to die / <Callousness>
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The narrator overhears a girl complaining that her false lover has brought her to despair. She goes to the meadow to find a flower to ease her mind, but none of them does. After making a bed of flowers she lies down. She asks for a marble stone at her head and a turtle dove on her breast, and then she dies for love [Laws 1957, p.261]. [In indexed copy: The narrator is pregnant by a sailor who she loves. He consorts with another woman in an alehouse and has forsaken her. She wishes herself dead and to be buried in the fields where she once was happy. The hard-hearted sailor is left to wish he had made her his bride.] [DRC]
    Source
    Brisk young sailor (ca. 1850). [broadside]. Birmingham: Pratt. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 15(34a)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 2 / Male (Adult) x 2
    Song voice
    Female
    Song history
    A very popular song historically, with a bewildering variety of titles, starting with ‘The Unfortunate Swain’ in The Merry Songster likely to date from the 1770s and in a broadside from Randal in Stirling in the early 19th century. Other titles include ‘The Brisk Young Sailor/Farmer/Lover’, and ‘The Alehouse’. ‘Died for Love’ is probably the commonest, found in recordings by Joseph Taylor and Carolyn Hughes. (Elizabeth Cronin had the ‘Alehouse’ title.) Over a hundred oral versions have been collected from England, starting in the 1890s with Sabine Baring Gould and Frank Kidson, followed by many 20th century versions collected by Percy Grainger, Cecil Sharp & Ralph Vaughan Williams, plus Gavin Greig in Scotland. Its 19th century broadside presence was much more modest, and apart from Randal previously mentioned, were English. For further discussion of this complex song, see Roud and Bishop (2012, pp. 408-409). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Laws, G. M. (1957). American balladry from British broadsides. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society / Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    DRC
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/3382
  • Roud No
    34 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Child 43
    Subject terms
    South-west England / Squires / Young women / Domestic servants & staff / Gambling / Money / Virginity / Loss of virginity / Hawks / Greyhounds / Broom (shrub) / Sleeping / Gold rings / <Bells> / <Midsummer's Day> / Courtship / Defiance / Hiding (oneself) / Blaming / Regret / Posies / Perfumes / Dog collars / Triumph
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A squire makes a wager of £110 with a lady that if she goes to the Broomfield she will lose her virginity. She accepts the wager. He summons his servant to attend him with hawk and hound at the Broomfield next day. Whilst waiting he falls asleep. The lady places one of her gold rings on his finger. When he wakens he realises she has won the wager and asks his hawk, hound and serevant why they did not wake him when the lady was there. Each of them has an explanation - the lady listens from a hiding place in the bushes. The squire goes home sorrowfully - the lady is triumphant. [DRC]
    Source
    The merry broomfield, or, The West Country wager (ca. 1711-1769). [broadside]. Newcastle: White. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Douce Ballads 3(64b)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 2
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    The first known appearance of this song was in two early 18th century broadsides, one in London printed by Thomas Norris, the other in Newcastle printed by John White, carrying the title ‘The Merry Broomfield or the West Country Wager’. It next appeared in Scotland in several of the early collections, starting with an incomplete version in Herd in 1776, followed by fuller versions notably in Scott, Kinloch, and Aytoun. Bell’s English version had a distinctly different text from the Scottish versions and was declared to be 'This old West-country ballad'. Oral versions have been overwhelmingly from England, the commonest title having been ‘The Broomfield Wager’. Unusually for a Child ballad, there are several 19th century English broadsides, all of which have same title as the earlier Norris and White prints. Child (1882-95, Vol I pp. 390-399) considered 6 versions, Bronson (1959-72, Vol I pp. 336-347) 24 tunes. See also Roud and Bishop (2012, pp. 430-431). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. / Bronson, B. H., ed. (1959-72). The traditional tunes of the Child ballads. Princeton: Princeton University Press./ Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    DRC
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/29896
  • Roud No
    5348 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    <Battlefields> / <Land battles> / <Gardens> / <Moonlight> / Soldiers / Sweethearts / Parted lovers / Lovers' tokens / <Weddings> / Blue / Violets / <Comradeship> / <Wealth> / True love / Fidelity / Infidelity / Death in battle / Crying / <Unhappiness>
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A soldier is given a bunch of blue violets by his true love, which he vows to keep until he can return from the wars (to marry her). He is fatally wounded and begs his comrade to take the violets back to her. He does so, but finds her on her wedding day, having been won by a rich man's gold. She, in tears, remembers her soldier saying "Wear these faded violets upon your wedding day." [RAS]
    Source
    Bunch of Violets [sleeve notes]. In Chapman. D., 2000. Ythanside, [CD]. Stroud: Musical Traditions Records. MT CD308, Pp.9-10.
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x 1 / <Male (Adult) x 1>
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    RAS
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    820 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Laws O34
    Subject terms
    Scotland / Woodland setting / Riverbanks / Rivers & streams / Parted lovers / Sweethearts / <Men> / <Women> / <Young women> / <Friends> / <Kissing> / <Lips> / Roses / <Lilies> / <Green> / <Two> / <Music> / <Charm> / <May (month)> / Flowers / Summer / Beauty / <Red> / <Evening> / <Morning> / Heart / <Breasts> / Promises / <Pride> / Graves / <Churches> / <Daisies> / <Valleys> / <Gales> / <Breezes> / <Eyes> / Singing / Leaving / Saying goodbye / <Sexual relations> / <Yearning> / Crying / Lamentation / Happiness / True love / Unhappiness / Untimely death / Bereavement / <Pride & praise of place> / <Homecoming> / Tears / Highlands (Scotland) / <Plains> / Ayr / River Clyde / Greenock / Churchyards / Burns, Robert, 1759-1796 / Lovers' trysts / Declarations of love / <Treasure> / Dew / <Embracing> / Sighing / <Ecstasy (emotion)> / <Blooming (flowers)> / Tenderness (emotion) / Devotion
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    Burns meets Mary by the banks of the Ayr. The lovers swear to be true to each other, and Mary promises not to stay long in the Highlands. They part in sadness and Mary goes away only to die and be buried `in Greenoch Kirkyard on the banks of the Clyde' [Laws 1957, p.242]
    Source
    A favourite song called Burns & Highland Mary (no date). [broadside]. No imprint. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 26(85)
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    There are many broadside versions of this song, surprisingly mostly issued in northern England rather than Scotland. This is to some extent overcome by the number of Scottish oral versions, but there are more such versions from Canada in the mid-20th century. [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Laws, G. M. (1957). American balladry from British broadsides. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society
    Indexer
    CDS
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/20587
  • Roud No
    857 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / Sweethearts / Ewes / Hills / Heather / Streams / Thrushes / Evening / Singing birds / Woods / Riverbanks / Hazel trees / Waves / Moon / Cliffs / Midnight / Moonlight / Dew / Flowers / Fairies / Ghosts / Fear / Love / <Heaven> / Protection / Beauty / <Heart> / <Death> / Declarations of love / True love / Sheep farming / <Dancing> / <Cheerfulness> / Cluden Water / <Sheepfolds>
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    Source
    Willmott, R.A., ed. (1872). The poetical works of Robert Burns. Boston: Lee and Shepard. p. 160
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    Broadsides are all Scottish chapbooks starting in 1794. Oral versions too were mostly Scottish, starting between 1770 and 1783. There were three versions from Ireland and one was collected in Hampshire by Gardiner. Very popular in the post-war revival. See Shuldham-Shaw and Lyle (1981-2002, Vol. 5 pp. 281-286). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Pagan, Isabel / Burns, Robert
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Shuldham-Shaw, P. and Lyle, E. B., eds. (1981-2002). The Greig-Duncan folk song collection. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press.
    Indexer
    CDS
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    3230 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / Fields / May (month) / Summer / <Oceans & seas> / Sailors / Milkmaids / <Charm> / <Blue eyes> / <Red> / <Lips> / Diamond rings / Lovers' tokens / Primroses / Weddings / Courtship / <Letters> / <Cows> / <Walking> / Singing / <Milking> / Kissing / True love / Dairies / Leaving
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The narrator walks out to view the flowers and sees a fair maid, singing beautifully. He asks to go with her before she must mind her dairy. They sit down, he courts her, kisses her, and gives her a diamond ring as a token. Some months later he returns from sea, asks her to marry him and forsake her dairy - she does. [RAS]
    Source
    Charming Blue Eyed Mary [sleeve notes]. In: Various artists, 2003. From Puck to Appleby [CD]. Stroud: Musical Traditions Records. MTCD325-6. P.7.
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    RAS
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    297 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Covent Garden / Cuper's Gardens / Nancy / Young women / Sailors / Young men / Flowers / Laurels (worn as symbol) / Virginity / Sweethearts / Parted lovers / Fidelity
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The narrator encounters two young women in Cupid's Garden [Covent Garden in indexed version]. When approached, the woman wearing laurel declares herself unattached and her intention to remain a virgin. A sailor asks his sweeheart whether she will remain faithful when he departs to sea. She declares she will - he looks forward to their reunion when he returns. [DRC/MN]
    Source
    The Polly privateer, or, Unfortunate Jack's last shift [and] Farewell Lovely Nancy (ca. 1774-1825). [broadside]. Newcastle: Angus. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 11(3055)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 2 / Male (Adult) x 2
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    A popular song historically, especially in England, where versions are equally distributed between oral and broadside form. Two late 18th century broadsides present the first known earliest versions. One was by Newcastle printer Thomas Angus who started business in 1774, entitled 'Farewell Lovely Nancy', the other by London printer J. Evans who started in 1780 and issued two versions, one called ‘The Lady Who Fell in Love with a Prentice Boy’, the other ‘The Lover’s Meeting’. Both the Evans versions have a first phrase 'down in Cupid’s garden' which is the start of the overwhelming majority of later versions. ‘The Lover’s Meeting’ was used by several 19th century broadside printers, who repeated the Evans’ text. Some versions were entitled ‘Covent Garden’ even though the first line referred refers to 'Cupids’ Garden'. Oral versions came mostly from England, starting with a version reported by Thomas Hardy as early as 1800. According to Chappell (1859, p. 727) it was 'one of the most generally known of traditional songs', See Roud and Bishop (2012, p. 394). [PRW]
    Notes

    'Cupid's Garden' refers to Cuper’s Garden, a pleasure garden operating in the 18th century on the south bank of the Thames in London (Chappell, 1859, pp. 727-729) ; (Roud and Bishop, 2012, p. 394). In some versions it is implied that the sailor's sweetheart is the women wearing laurel, but in the indexed version she is addressed as Nancy, the name of the other woman.

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Chappell, W. (1859). Popular music of the olden time. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. / Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    DRC
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/16699
  • Roud No
    2184 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Battle of Waterloo (1815) / British Isles / France / Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852 / <Heart> / Patriotism / Pride / Unhappiness / Death in battle / Graves / <Blood> / <Flowers> / <Blood> / Bravery / <Olive trees> / Honour / Toasting (with drink)
    Subject date
    Battle of Waterloo, 1815-06-18 /18 June 1815
    Synopsis
    A highly poetic account of the battle, low on facts. [PRW]
    Source
    Ord, J. ed. (1930). Bothy songs and ballads. Reprinted 1990. Edinburgh: John Donald. p. 303.
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 +
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    A song by a survivor of the battle, Lieutenant Skinner of the 92nd Regiment, later the Gordon Highlanders. Composed in 1817 and set to the tune of 'Scots wae hae wi Wallace bled', its florid poetry is an interesting contrast to the song about the battle composed by Sergeant Grant (Roud 1106). The song was included in Ord’s collection of 1930 (Ord 1930, p.303), but has not been found elsewhere. [PRW]
    Notes

    Another song by a 92nd Regiment (Gordon Highlanders) survivor of the battle, Lieutenant Skinner. An interesting contrast to the song composed by Sergeant Grant (Roud 1106).

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Skinner, Lieutenant (Wood, 2015)
    Date composed
    1817 (Wood, 2015)
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Ord, J. ed. (1930). Bothy songs and ballads. Reprinted 1990. Edinburgh: John Donald. / Wood, P. (2015). The green linnet : Napoleonic songs from the French Wars to the present day. [Ovington, Northumberland]: Peter Wood
    Indexer
    PRW
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    23 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Child 7
    Subject terms
    <Palaces> / Rural setting / England / <Scotland> / <Winchester> / <Churches> / Kings / Princesses / Mothers / Fathers / Soldiers / Noblemen / Daughters / Brothers / <Elderly men> / Blood / Wounds / <Armour> / Roses / Briars / Graves / Elopement / Denunciation / <Meetings> / Pursuing / Fighting / Killing / <Horse riding> / Anger / Bravery / Love / <Mercy> / Quests / Running away / Death
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    This song concerns the elopement and pursuit of two lovers, and their subsequent fates. It has two distinct branches that can be broadly grouped into "Earl Brand" and "The Douglas Tragedy"; indeed, it is arguable that these are two distinct songs conflated by Child. In the first branch, the Scot Earl Brand courts a young English princess, and they elope. While riding through the country they meet Carl Hood. The princess tells her lover to kill Hood, but he refuses. Realising that Earl Brand has abducted the princess, Hood goes to tell the king, who orders his men to fetch his daughter back. In the ensuing fight Earl Brand is mortally wounded, but manages to flee with his lover to his mother's home in Scotland, so that after his death the princess can marry his youngest brother. In the second branch, Lord William elopes with Lady Margaret, Lord Douglas's daughter. Lord Douglas orders her seven brothers to follow him to hunt the pair down. William kills all the brothers and wounds the father, who is spared through Margaret's intercession. William is mortally wounded but reaches his mother´s home only to die. Margaret dies soon after and they are buried side by side. A rose grows from one grave, a briar from the other; as they grow they intertwine. [SF]
    Source
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. Vol. I pp. 99-100 (Versions A and B)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Female (Elderly) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 17
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    A moderately popular Child ballad almost entirely confined to Scotland and North America. Its first printing was in Herd’s collection of 1776 entitled ‘The Child of Elle’ in which there is no mention of Lord Douglas or Earl Brand, one of whom was the subject of most subsequent versions. ‘The Douglas Tragedy’ was how Scott and other early Scottish collections presented it. ‘Earl Brand’ was the version given us by Robert Bell in the 1850s, a version collected from Northumberland which was subsequently taken up Child and Bronson. Oral versions collected in Scotland after Child’s time have had the “Douglas” title, whereas in America the “Brand” title has prevailed. Child (1882-95, Vol I pp. 88-105)  gives six versions, Bronson (1959-72, Vol I pp. 106-137) considered 24 tunes. [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. / Bronson, B. H., ed. (1959-72). The traditional tunes of the Child ballads. Princeton: Princeton University Press. / Würzbach, N. and Salz, S. M. (1995). Motif Index of the Child Corpus. Berlin: de Gruyter.
    Indexer
    SF
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    1566 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Trumpets / <Brussels> / Battle of Waterloo (1815) / Britons / Prussians / Battle wounds / Cannons / Heroes / Fidelity / Bravery / Beauty / Young women / Fields / <Lilies> / <Violets> / <Blue> / <Fields> / <Blushing> / Marriage proposals / Elwina
    Subject date
    Battle of Waterloo, 1815-06-18 /18 June 1815
    Synopsis
    During the battle, a wounded soldier fantasizes about a “female most charming”. The lady falls in love with him, leading him from the battlefield, we presume to live happily ever after. [PRW]
    Source
    Our ship she lays in harbour [and] Elwina of Waterloo (ca. 1863-1885). [broadside]. London: Such. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. 2806 c.16(309)
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Although appearing in several broadsides in the years immediately following the battle, it is rare in oral tradition, the first being collected by Vaughan Williams in Salisbury in 1906. See Wood (2015, pp. 72-73). [PRW]
    Notes

    To the tune of “Jessy the flower of Dunblane”

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Wood, P. (2015). The green linnet : Napoleonic songs from the French Wars to the present day. [Ovington, Northumberland]: Peter Wood
    Indexer
    PRW
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/2837
  • Roud No
    1427 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Laws M6
    Subject terms
    Sweethearts / True love / John / Young men / Young women / Leaving / Belfast / County Tyrone / June / Domestic servants & staff / Gentlemen / Class difference (romantic couples) / Parental opposition (to courtship or marriage) / <Flowers> / <Gardens> / <Prisons> / Transportation (punishment) / <Money> / Grief / <Honesty> / Sentencing / Parted lovers / Unhappiness
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The young servant falls in love with his employer's daughter, and, at the girl's suggestion, they plan to leave Ireland together. They board a ship at Belfast where the girl's father has the youth arrested and returned to jail in County Tyrone. He is sentenced to be transported for seven years. His sorrowful sweetheart says she will wait for him [Laws 1957, p.183].
    Source
    Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics. pp. 169-170
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 1 / <Male (Adult) x 1>
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Equally popular historically in both broadside and oral forms in most parts of the English speaking world. Oral versions noticeably are thin on the ground in Ireland. [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Laws, G. M. (1957). American balladry from British broadsides. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society / Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    NSB
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    199 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Child 106
    Subject terms
    Bowers (apartments) / <Roads> / Brides / Knights / Ladies / Lovers / Thieves / Kings / <Nobles> / Lords / William / Fathers / Husbands / Wives / Friends / Queens / Elderly men / Curly hair / Men's clothes / Swords / Flutes / Marriage / <Crowns (headwear)> / <Silver (metal)> / Gold (metal) / Robbery / Murder / <Horse riding> / Hunting / Singing / Despair / Hope / Joy / Cross-dressing / True love / Domestic servants & staff / <Flowers> / Royal households / Chamberlains / Rapiers
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    Source
    The famous flower of serving-men, or, The lady turned serving man (ca. 1780-1812). [broadside]. London: Evans. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 5(110).
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 3 / Female (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Female
    Song history
    This Child ballad of great popularity in the postwar revival, but only moderately so historically, made its first known appearance in a black letter London broadside printed for Thackaray and Passinger about 1660. Its next appearance was in Bishop Percy’s manuscripts of 1776, followed by several notable 19th century Scottish collections (a classic history of many Child ballads). Most oral versions have come from Scotland then England in the 1900s. Child (1882-95, Vol II pp. 428-432) looked at three versions, Bronson (1959-72, Vol II pp. 530-534) the tunes of seven versions in three groups. [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. ; Bronson, B. H., ed. (1959-72). The traditional tunes of the Child ballads. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
    Indexer
    LER
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/7719
  • Roud No
    279 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Women / Men / Sweethearts / Laurels (shrub) / <Violets> / <Windows> / Love letters / <Wandering> / Wondering / Love / Contentment / Unrequited love / Fickleness / <Blue> / <Green>
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The girl's sweetheart has left her - but she's quite content, as she'll soon find another, better, one. He used to give her unkind looks and write her unpleasant letters, and she wonders why young women love young men, since they are all deceitful. The chorus implies that she hopes to change fickleness to constancy. [RAS]
    Source
    Green Grow the Laurels [sleeve notes]. In: Chapman. D., Ythanside, [CD]. Stroud: Musicial Traditions Records. MTCD308. P.21.
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Female
    Song history
    A popular song both historically and in the postwar revival. The first known occurrence of the song was in a late 18th century broadside by London printer J. Evans, in business from 1780 to 1812, followed by a number of other 19th century English printers. It has been more popular in oral versions throughout the British Isles and North America. One of the earliest songs collected by Cecil Sharp was the version of this song he got from Louie Hooper and Lucy White, two of his most prolific singers, from Hambridge in Somerset, two days before Christmas in 1903. Subsequent versions of the song were obtained in many parts of England. Scottish versions have come mainly from the Aberdeenshire area. Robert Cinnamond has been notable among postwar source singers to have given us a version. See Roud and Bishop (2012, pp. 413-414). [PRW]
    Notes

    As love symbolism, green laurels imply innocence and fickleness, whereas violets stand for truth and constancy.

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    RAS
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    1014 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Laws Q35
    Subject terms
    High Blantyre / Mining disasters / Explosions / Accidental death / Coal miners / Coal mines / Work / Sweethearts / Mourners / Mourning / Crying / <River Clyde> / <Weddings> / <Evening> / Wives> / <Children> / <Anxiety> / <Daisies> / <Snowdrops> / <Primroses>
    Subject date
    1877-10-22 / 22 Oct 1877 (Lloyd 1978, pp. 351-352)
    Synopsis
    The young woman tells the narrator that her fiance, John Murphy, a youth of twenty-one, was killed in the mines of High Blantyre on October 22nd, with more than 200 others. She sadly reflects that she'll never more walk with him and pull daisies on the banks of the Clyde. She will transplant the daisies onto his grave and water them with her tears [Laws 1957, p.291].
    Source
    Lloyd. A.L., ed. (1978). Come all ye bold miners. New, revised and enlarged edition. London: Lawrence & Wishart. pp. 180-181
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x1 / Male (Adult) x1
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    Although quite popular in the post-war revival, the song is of only moderate popularity historically, with no known broadside versions. Perhaps this is unsurprising in view of the date of the disaster. Oral versions have been found in many parts of the English-speaking world. [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Laws, G. M. (1957). American balladry from British broadsides. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society. / Lloyd. A.L., ed. (1978). Come all ye bold miners. New, revised and enlarged edition. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
    Indexer
    SR
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    904 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Germany / <Pubs> / Soldiers / Polly / <Babies> / <Drums> / <Graves> / <Roses> / <Violets> / Travel / <Horse riding> / Wars & conflicts / Pregnancy / Promises to marry / <Birth> / <Engagement to marry> / Separation / Love / Grief / <Bereavement> / Bill / <William> / <Colleen> / War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714)
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    Billy has been summoned to war in High Germany and implores his love, Polly to accompany him. Polly (also refered to as Molly) reveals she is unable to join him as she pregnant and after failing to persuade her further, Billy asks Polly to think of him when their child is born and promises to marry her when he returns. Polly laments that Billy and many other clever men have been pressed into service and that he may die far away in High Germany. [VL].
    Source
    High Germany (ca. 1813-1835). [broadside]. London: Catnach. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 17(127b)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Male, Female
    Song history
    First print appeared in a late 18th century songster. After that, most 19th century broadside printers, all but one English, issued a version. Later still, most Edwardian collectors in both England and Scotland obtained a version. See Shuldham-Shaw and Lyle (1981-2002, vol. 1 pp. 256-263). [PRW]
    Notes

    'High Germany' is a term that refers to mountainous southern Germany where British forces fought in the War of Spanish Succession, which is what the song could be refering to.

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Shuldham-Shaw, P. and Lyle, E. B., eds. (1981-2002). The Greig-Duncan folk song collection. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press. / Woods, F., (1983) The Oxford Book of English Traditional Verse. Oxford: Oxford University Press; pp. 180-81 & 376
    Indexer
    VL
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/17808
  • Roud No
    1095 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / Graveyards / Riverbanks / Castles / Summer / Sweethearts / Dead lovers / <Lilies> / <Primroses> / <Violets> / <Daffodils> / Streams / Woods / <Hawthorn bushes> / <Birch trees> / Kissing / Embracing / Crying / Farewells / Grief / Loss (emotion) / Parted lovers / Untimely death
    Subject date
    1786
    Synopsis
    An extended version of an original song by Robert Burns, in which he mourns the untimely death of his lover, Highland Mary. He recalls their last meeting in the grounds of the Castle of Montgomery, and their loving farewells. Now he is left to weep over her grave, to plant flowers around it, and to wait until it is time for him to join her. [AG]
    Source
    Burns, Robert. Highland Mary (ca.1792-1820). [broadside]. Liverpool: Thompson, G. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. 2806 c.17(167)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Extremely popular in 19th century broadsides from the British Isles and the United States. This popularity is not reflected in oral versions. See Kidson (1891, pp. 84-86). [PRW]
    Notes

    The original 4 verse song refers to 'Highland' Mary Campbell (1763-1786), and is one of three works Burns dedicated to her. (Lindsay, 1980))

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Burns, Robert
    Date composed
    1792
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Kidson, F. (1891). Traditional tunes. Reprinted 1970. Wakefield: S.R. Publishers. / Lindsay, M. (1980). "Campbell, 'Highland' Mary (1763-86)". in The Burns encyclopedia. 3rd ed. London : Robert Hale. Available at: http://www.robertburns.org/encyclopedia/CampbellHighlandMary176315186.180.shtml [Accessed: 2021-08-25]
    Indexer
    AG
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/27382
  • Roud No
    581 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Laws N34
    Subject terms
    Seaside setting / Morning / <Newry> / Reunited lovers / Parted lovers / Lovers' tokens / <Seaweed> / Courtship / True love / Separation / Tests of fidelity / Marriage proposals / Failure to recognise / Revealing identity / Constancy / <Death in battle> / <Sea battles> / <Roses> / <Larks> / <Waves> / Fainting / <Laurels (shrub)>
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The narrator chats with Janie and then makes love to her and proposes marriage, but she remains faithful to Dennis Ryan (or Riley) from New York. He tells her that Dennis fell in battle and shows her the young man's ring. She faints but revives when he reveals that he is Dennis [Laws 1957, p.220].
    Source
    Jenny of the Moor (no date). [broadside]. No imprint. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 16(336a)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x1 / Male (Adult) x1
    Song voice
    Male Female
    Song history
    Equally few broadside and oral versions are known. First in print was Catnach (1813-1838), but he could have got it from McNie of Stirling (1820-1830). Most oral versions came from England and Canada, starting with Lucy Broadwood collecting it in 1892. See Wood (2021). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Laws, G. M. (1957). American balladry from British broadsides. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society / Wood, P. (2021). 'The unrecognised returning lover and broken-token songs: a survey' Folk music journal 12 (1) pp.76-94.
    Indexer
    LER
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/19536
  • Roud No
    1554 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    London / <Morning> / Summer / Young women / Young men / Prostitutes / <Doctors> / <Beauty> / <Cheeks> / <Roses> / Kissing / <Friends> / <Lovers> / <Guineas (money)> / <Suppers> / <Beds> / <Pubs> / Purses / <Gold coins> / <Watches> / Money / Virginity / <Venereal diseases> / Flirting / Seduction / <Persuasion> / Reluctant sex / Consensual sex / Sleeping / Robbery / Deception / Shame / Paid-for sex / <Tiredness> / Trickery / Regret / <Anger> / Naivety
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A young man out walking in London approaches a beautiful young woman. He attempts to seduce her, but she resists, claiming that she is a maiden and her friends would judge her. She then agrees to go to bed with him in exchange for five guineas. Tired, he falls asleep and wakes to find that the woman has robbed him of his wallet. Realising he has been tricked, and supposing that the woman had pretended to be a virgin, he worries that he may have to visit a doctor. [CDS]
    Source
    Laid up in a port ; The girl I adore ; The lass of London city [and] Just like love (ca. 1819-1844). [broadside]. London: J. Pitts. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 11(2040)
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    CDS
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/2435
  • Roud No
    901 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Laws Q31
    Subject terms
    England / France / Spain / Dublin / Valleys / Rural setting / Farmers / Gypsies / Uncles / Squires / Ladies / Nieces / Parted lovers / Reunited lovers / <Trustees> / <Violets> / Prisons / Gold coins / Wealth / Schools / <Doves> / <Brides> / Marriage / Betrayal / Murder / <Bells> / Death / Gallows / Travel / Searching / Kidnapping / Hope / Fear / Bravery / Grief / Celebrations
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    Because his neice has been stolen by gypsies, a man is accused of murder and is sentenced to death. Her lover finds the girl in Dublin and tells her of her uncle's predicament. She promises to marry the youth and give him much money if he will take her back to England. He does so and her uncle's life is saved [Laws ABBB p.288]
    Source
    Thorney moor wood [and] The lost lady found (ca. 1863-1885). [broadside]. London: Such. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 11(3803)
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x2 / Female (Adult) x1
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Laws, G. M. (1957). American balladry from British broadsides. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society.
    Indexer
    LER
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/2953
  • Roud No
    1301 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / Mothers / Daughters / Soldiers / Ghosts / Sweethearts / <Army captains> / <Primroses> / Drums / Military colours & standards / <Guns> / <Ammunition> / Marching / Courtship / Hauntings / Farewells / Promises / <Loss (emotion)> / Wars & conflicts
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A soldier is saying farewell to his sweetheart while he is being called to march off to battle. Her mother begs him not to take her daughter away, or her own ghost will haunt him after death. He promises to return to his love if she will wait for him. [AG].
    Source
    John and Moll (ca. 1790-1840). [broadside]. London: J. Jennings. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 25(976)
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1/ Female (Adult) x 2 / <Male (Adult) x 1>
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    AG
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/12237
  • Roud No
    578 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Urban setting / Bedlam / Spring (season) / Morning / Young women / Parents / Sailors / Sweethearts / Garlands / Angels / Nightingales / Eagles / Fidelity / Separation / Interpersonal relationships / Insanity / <Eglantine roses> / <Roses> / <Lilies> / <Daisies> / Singing / Love
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    Locked in Bedlam Asylum, an imprisoned woman sings of her lost lover. Her song weaves a variety of images, including flowers and birds, to demonstrate her devotion to him. The distinctive last line refrain - 'I love my love because I know my love loves me' - echoes her desperation and hopelessness. [NSB]
    Source
    The maid of Bedlam (no date). [broadside]. No imprint. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Firth c.18(139)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 
    Song voice
    Female
    Song history
    There is a songster by Dicey of about 1755 which has the first printed copy. There followed a few chapbooks and broadsides, mainly from Scotland and Newcastle. Among the few collected oral versions, Baring Gould was the first with a version in 1891. More popular in the postwar revival than historically. [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    LER
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/12925
  • Roud No
    4412 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Batteau (Newfoundland) / Sweethearts / Classical gods & goddesses / Flowers / Precious stones / Beauty / Love
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The narrator praises his sweetheart. She is fairer than any flower or gem. He recalls first meeting her in Batteau, Labrador, and her beauty surpasses that of women from other lands. He concludes by mentioning the chaste goddess Diana, who disdained Hymen, the god of marriage. He hopes that his sweetheart will share his love. [MET]
    Source
    Murphy, J., ed. (1904). Old colony song book, Newfoundland. St. John's, Newfoundland: James Murphy. pp. 81-83.
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Song history
    Notes

    The song is attributed to a Captain Duers or Jewers (Lehr 1985, p. 124).

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Duers or Jewers, Captain
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Lehr, G., ed. (1985). Come and I will sing you: a Newfoundland songbook. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
    Indexer
    MET
    Example text
    URL
    http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/compoundobject/collection/cns/id/3...
  • Roud No
    2336 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Winter / Castles / Daytime / Night / Lords / Ladies / Barons / Brides / Bridegrooms / Fathers / Daughters / Friends / Beauty / Christmas parties / Mistletoe / Holly trees / Oak trees / Chests (furniture) / Death / Skeletons / <Bridal bouquets> / Searching / <Dancing> / <Pride> / Merriment / Grief / Accidental death / Passage of time / Hide & seek / Trapping
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    It is Chistmas and a wealthy Baron hosts a wonderful festive party, the belle of the ball is his lovely young daughter - soon to be wed to Lord Lovel. During the festivities the bride decides to play a game of hide and seek. Tragically she goes missing, never to be seen again. Her bridegroom is understandably devastated. Many years pass when finally an old wooden chest is discovered in the castle, containing the skeleton of a girl - in a bridal wreath [NSB].
    Source
    Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics. pp. 308-310.
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 2 / <Male (Elderly) x 1 >
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    The words to this song were written by Thomas Haynes Bayley with music by Sir Henry Bishop. The song is based on a poem by Samuel Rogers published in 1823 and was picked up fairly swiftly by broadside printers from the 1830s onwards (Roud and Bishop., 2012, p. 489-490). [NSB]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Thomas Haynes Bayley (1797-1839) (Roud and Bishop., 2012, p. 489)
    Date composed
    1830s (Roud and Bishop., 2014, p. 489)
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    NSB
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    2647 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    May Day / Sweethearts / <Bells> / Maypole dancing / May queens / Courtship / <Jealousy> / <Fidelity> / <Joy> / <Cowslips>
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A joyful celebration of May Day customs with lovers dancing around the Maypole. The narrator is subsequently wooed by her sweetheart and assures him that he has no need to be jealous. [DRC]
    Source
    Nature's gay day [and] Sheep's eyes for ever! (ca. 1850). [broadside]. Manchester: Jacques. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Firth b.25(477)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Female
    Song history
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    DRC
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/8931
  • Roud No
    355 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Ploughmen / Ploughing / Ploughs / Bravery / Winter / Cold / Storms / Working conditions / Working classes / Upper classes / Middle classes / Class difference (romantic couples) / Social stratification / <Gardeners> / <Flowers> / <Gardens> / <Silk> / <Merchants> / <India> / <Foreign travel> / <Herbs & spices> / <Flour> / <Adam (Biblical figure)> / <Cain (Biblical figure)> / <Samson (Biblical judge)> / <Solomon, King of Israel> / <Alexander, the Great, 356 B.C.-323 B.C.>
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    Source
    Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics. pp. 244-246
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x many
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    A song of only modest popularity both historically and in the postwar revival. Its first known occurrence was in Dixon (1846), who states 'This is one of our oldest agricultural ditties, and maintains its popularity to the present hour. It is called for at merry-makings and feasts in every part of the country'. Lucy Broadwood included the song in her English county songs (Broadwood, and Fuller Maitland, 1893). Subsequently most oral versions have been found in England, with a few from Scotland. Most well known 19th century broadside printers issued a version. See Roud & Bishop (2012, pp. 464-465). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Dixon, J. H., ed. (1846). Ancient poems, ballads, and songs of the peasantry of England. Reprinted 1973. Wakefield : EP Publishing. ; Broadwood, L.E. and Fuller Maitland, J. A. eds. (1893). English county songs. London: Leadenhall Press. ; Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    NSB
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    594 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / May (month) / Young men / Young women / Flowers / Hawthorn bushes / Respect / Rewards / Wandering / Kissing / Singing birds / Love / Happiness
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The male narrator strolls out on a fine 30 April and encounters a beautiful, pale girl. Together they collect May (hawthorn) blossoms despite her protests. He kisses her and presents her with flowers to declare welcome and eternal love. They marry early on May Day and she wins the local beauty pageant. [MFP]
    Source
    The queen of May [and] The great India war (ca. 1855-1861?). [broadside]. London: Hodges. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Firth c.14(85)
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Oral versions were entirely English, starting with Cecil Sharp in Somerset in 1904, as were all broadside versions, starting with Catnach (1813-1838). See Roud and Bishop (2012, p. 403). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    MFP
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/11266
  • Roud No
    1218 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Highlands (Scotland) / <Homes> / <Morning> / <Sky> / Flowers / <Mountains> / Roses / <East> / <West> / <Unhappiness> / <Loneliness> / <Storms> / <Africa> / <France> / Happiness / <Brandy> / <Barrels> / <Smugglers> / <Thousands> / <Seashores> / Travel / Wandering / <Planks> / <Orphans> / <Allandale> / <Fever> / Wildernesses / <Ships> / <Fate> / <Groaning> / <Fragrance>
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The narrator tells of Mary leaving her Highland home to travel the world with him, and states that she is the sweetest flower they encountered. Wherever they wander, she is ever a solace, a strength, and a comfort to him. He would be lost without her. [RAS]
    Source
    Rose of Allendale (1971) [sleeve notes]. In: The Copper Famil, (1971). A Song for Every Season [LP]. London: Leader Records. LEAB 404, P.12.
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Written by Charles Jefferys with music by Sydney Nelson and published in about 1835. Most 19th century broadside printers on both sides of the Atlantic issued a version, the first being probably Catnach’s print. The earliest oral version was that of shepherd Michael Blann from Sussex (see Andrews (2006, p.53)).
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Jefferys, Charles (words) / Nelson, S (music)
    Date composed
    ca. 1835
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Andrews, C. (2006). Shepherd of the Downs (3rd edn.).
    Indexer
    RAS
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    3 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Gardens / Gardeners / Flowers / Birds / Lilies / Violets / Pinks / Roses / Willow trees / <Gates> / <Regret> / <Tongue> / <Weeding> / Love / <Flattering> / Seeds / Perfumes / Blooming (flowers) / Blooming (beauty) / <Locking> / <Choosing> / <Truth> / <Falsity>
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The narrator addresses all young men and girls on the way they should conduct affairs of love, using flower and herb symbolism. She describes once asking the gardener to help with the choice - but she rejects all his suggestions except the rose (love), and is pricked to the heart. She then rejects love, but then falls in love with a false lover and her garden becomes overrun with rue (regret). She eradicates rue and plants an oak (truth) signifying that she will be true to the one she loves. She ends by saying that time brings all things to an end. [RAS]
    Source
    Plenty of Thyme [sleeve notes]. In: Bloomfield, A. 2007. Keith Summers: A Story to Tell [CD]. Stroud: Musical Traditions Records. MTCD339-0, P. 20.
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Female
    Song history
    Although famously the first folk song to be collected by Cecil Sharp in 1903, previous collectors had versions, as did many of the prominent 19th century broadside printers, including Pitts in London, and Swindells in Manchester, both of whom were active in the early years of the century. Sharp’s meeting with the song presaged a huge number of oral versions found in the 20th century. These have been largely confined to England, both Ireland and Scotland hardly showing, and with North America having significantly less versions than many other such songs. Although there are reports of the song being created in Lancashire in the late 17th century, these have proved hard to substantiate. There continues to be much discussion about both the origin and meaning of the song, in particular the issue of whether this and ‘The Sprig of Thyme’ are one and the same, or originally two different songs. For a review of these aspects, see Roud and Bishop (2012, pp. 419-422). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    RAS
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    812 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / June / Summer / Autumn / Shepherds / Farm labourers / Roses / Violets / Pinks / Lilies / Daffodils / <Milk> / Barns / Oxen / Sheep / Mowing / Singing birds / Sheep shearing / Whistling / Singing / Dancing / Sowing / Harvesting / Reaping / Threshing / Ploughing with oxen / Enjoyment / Farming customs & celebrations
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A song celebrating the the agricultural year, in particular sheep shearing and harvesting.
    Source
    The maid of Martindale ; The sheep shearers [and] The lass o' Gowrie (ca. 1819-1844). [broadside]. London: Pitts. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 11(2287)
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 + / Female (Adult) x 1 +
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    A likely predecessor first appeared in a play by Charles Johnson in 1715. There were many 19th century broadside prints, led by either Swindells of Manchester (1796-1853) or Catnach of London (1813-1838).. Oral versions were fewer but it was first collected by John Broadwood in the 1840s. See Sharp (1921, Vol. 2 pp. 44-46). Very popular in the post-war revival. [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Sharp, C. J., ed. (1921). English folk songs. London: Novello & Co.
    Indexer
    LER
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/2520
  • Roud No
    1115 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / <British Isles> / Rotherham / <Wales> / November / Wanderers / Wives / Children / Mountains / <Fountains> / <Bread> / <Water (as a drink)> / Wealth / Woods / <Honeysuckle> / <Ivy> / <Bees> / <Birds> / Cottages / <Roses> / Wandering / Tiredness / Resting / Refreshment / Dreaming / Lamentation / Surprise / Contentment / Prattling
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The song has a simple narrative which tells of Spencer who roved through the country because of his reduced financial circumstances at home. He dreams of his children lamenting their father's absence. On his return to his family he finds that the comforts and joy of home life are preferable to wealth and resolves to to ramble no more [DRC]
    Source
    Young Spencer the rover [and] The harp that once in Tara's halls (ca. 1844-1856). [broadside]. Worcester: Sefton, H. F. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Firth b.26(381)
    Characters
    Male (adult) x 1 / Female (adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Popular both historically and in the post-war revival. It was issued by many broadside printers, the first being Catnach, who started business in 1813, but there are many broadside printings from all over the country. (Roud and Bishop 2012, pp. 451-452). The earliest collected version appears in Mason (1877), and many other revival collectors came across a version, led by Kidson in Yorkshire (Kidson 1891, pp.154-156). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics. / Mason, M. H. (1877). Nursery rhymes and country songs. London: Metzler & Co. / Kidson, F. (1891). Traditional tunes. Reprinted 1970. Wakefield: S.R. Publishers.
    Indexer
    DRC
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/17728
  • Roud No
    962 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Laws P6
    Subject terms
    <Rural setting> / <Ireland> / Kildare / Sailors / Susan / Lords / <Cheeks> / <Roses> / <Eyes> / <Stars> / <Dresses> / <Hair> / <Poverty> / Wandering / <Love> / <Hatred> / <Happiness> / <Unhappiness> / Unrequited love / <East Indies> / <Breasts> / <Glittering> / <Class difference (romantic couples)>
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    Susie rejects the sailor because he is poor and gives her love to a wealthy man. The grieving sailor returns to sea; he never finds another beauty like Susie [Laws 1957, p.251]. [In indexed copy] A sailor meets pretty Susan, the Pride of Kildare, and describes her beauty. His courtship cost him all his wealth, whereupon she scorns him and takes up with a rich young Lord. He resolves to leave England, and travels to the East Indies where, at a distance, he is no longer in despair, and ends with giving her his blessing. [RAS]
    Source
    The Pride of Kildare [sleeve notes]. In: Maynard, G. 2001. Just Another Saturday Night [CD]. Stroud: Musical Traditions Records, MTCD309-0. P. 17.
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 2 / Female (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Laws, G. M. (1957). American balladry from British broadsides. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society
    Indexer
    RAS
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    35 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Child 39
    Subject terms
    Carterhaugh / <Roxburgh> / <Wells> / Noblemen's daughters / Noblemen's sons / Fairies / Fairy queens / <Roses> / Abortifacients / <Animals> / <Skirts> / Pregnancy / <Seduction> / <Hunting> / Processions / Horse riding / Shapeshifting / Violent death / Fairy courts / Spells / Love / Anger / Kidnapping / Rescuing
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    In spite of being forbidden to do so, Janet goes into the forest to meet Tam Lin, and becomes pregnant by him. She goes to the forest again to pick herbs to abort the child, but Tam Lin asks her not to. She asks if he is human, and he says he was born the grandson of a lord. One day when out hunting he fell off his horse and was captured by the queen of the fairies and bewitched. However, he can be rescued at Halloween once every seven years, and he persuades Janet to help him. She must pull him from his horse during the fairy cavalcade and hang on tight to him in spite of many fearful transformations. She does so, is unharmed and finally wins him back. The queen surrenders him, wishing she had blinded him. [SF]
    Source
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. Vol. I pp. 340-343. (Version A).
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x 2
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    A Child ballad of only modest popularity historically, but very popular in the postwar revival. It first saw print in Johnson’s Musical Museum in 1792, a very full version with an excellent tune, given to Johnson by Robert Burns, but the notes indicate an original date of 1549. Oral versions are from Scotland and Ireland, with a couple from the United States, mostly obtained in the 20th century. In common with most Child ballads, no broadside versions have been found. Its completeness of magical story, together with several fine tunes, as well the influential Bert Lloyd, have inspired many revival singers and groups to record versions of this song. Child (1882-95, Vol I pp. 335-358) gave us nine versions, all from Scotland, whereas Bronson (1959-72, Vol I pp. 327-331) considered only four variants. [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. / Bronson, B. H., ed. (1959-72). The traditional tunes of the Child ballads. Princeton: Princeton University Press. / Würzbach, N. and Salz, S. M. (1995). Motif Index of the Child Corpus. Berlin: de Gruyter.
    Indexer
    SF
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    631 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Laws B2
    Subject terms
    Prairies / <Churchyards> / Hills / Young men / Cowboys / Family members / <Fathers> / <Mothers> / <Sisters> / <God> / Graves / Memories / Crying / <Lips> / <Buffaloes> / <Coyotes> / <Singing birds> / <Winds> / <Butterflies> / <Roses> / Burials / Dying / Prayer / Homesickness / Filial love / Loneliness / Preparation for death
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The dying cowboy asks to be taken home and buried beside his father in the churchyard, but his request goes unheeded. He is buried on the prairie 'in a narrow grave just six by three'. [Laws 1964, p.134]
    Source
    Lomax, J., ed. (1910). Cowboy songs and other frontier ballads. New York : Sturgis & Walton Company. pp 3- 8.
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / <Male (Elderly x 1)
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Notes

    Often titled "O bury me not on the lone prairie" or similar. Word adapted from the poem "The Ocean Burial" by Edwin H. Chapin. (Roud 3738)

    Comparative songs
    Ocean burial, The (Roud 3738)
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Laws, G. M. (1964). Native American balladry. Revised edition. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society.
    Indexer
    JPO
    Example text
    URL
    https://archive.org/details/cu31924021997717
  • Roud No
    1118 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / Foggy dew / <Hills> / <Woods> / Shepherds / Young women / Mothers / Fathers / Cows / Lambs / <Cottages> / Stiles / <Violets> / <Ivy> / <Frost> / <Snow> / Milking / Declarations of love / Contentment / Love / Courtship & marriage
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A shepherd describes how he has successfully courted and won his Jenny. He notices her walking through the foggy dew and rushes to catch up with her, offering to carry her milking pail. She refuses at first, saying that she has to get on and milk her cow. He wins her over, they marry, and are now living in great contentment. [AG]
    Source
    Umbrella courtship [and] The foggy dew (ca.1840-1866). [broadside]. Preston: J. Harkness. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Firth b.25(415)
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x 1 / <Male (Adult) x 1> / <Female (Adult) x 1>
    Song voice
    Male Female
    Song history
    Notes

    This less well-known song of this title, should not to be confused with the better-known Roud 558.

    Comparative songs
    The foggy dew (Roud 558)
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    AG
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/8824
  • Roud No
    39 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Child 52
    Subject terms
    Forests / Castles / Princesses / Princes / <Kings> / <Queens> / <Roses> / Penknives / Stones / Nutting / Meetings / Rape / Returning / <Sea travel> / Lust / Despair / Incest / Suicide
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The King’s daughter, bored with sewing, goes nutting in the forest. She is accosted by a young man who has his will of her. Saying she is the King’s daughter, she asks the young man’s name. Horrified, he says he is the eldest son who has been long away at sea. She stabs herself, but back at the castle tells her family that a stone fell on her. As she lies dying, her brother dies of remorse in her arms. [SF]
    Source
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. Vol. I pp. 450-451. (Version A).
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 1 / <Female (Adult) x 2> / <Male (Adult) x 1>
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. / Bronson, B. H., ed. (1959-72). The traditional tunes of the Child ballads. Princeton: Princeton University Press. / Würzbach, N. and Salz, S. M. (1995). Motif Index of the Child Corpus. Berlin: de Gruyter.
    Indexer
    SF
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    1120 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / Gypsies / Boys / Parents / Tents / <Flowers> / Tombs / Graves / Blue eyes / Playing / Remembering / Joy / Grief / Pity / Kidnapping
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The narrator sees a blue eyed child playing by himself not far from a gypsy tent. The boy says that the gypsies have told him his birth parents are dead. He remembers how kind his mother was, and wants to find his parents' grave to plant flowers beside them. The narrator weeps for the stolen child. [AG]
    Source
    The stolen child ; The woodpecker [and] The wife's dream (ca. 1797-1834). [broadside]. Durham: Walker. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 11(3669)
    Characters
    Male (Child) x 1
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    AG
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/17185
  • Roud No
    1061 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Rural setting / Riverbanks / Cottages / Fields / Reunited lovers / Sweethearts / Farmers' sons / Broken tokens / Rings / Weddings / <Flowers> / <Trousers> / Impressment / Walking / Tears / Failure to recognise / <Bell ringing> / <Dancing> / Happy endings / Class difference (romantic couples) / Steadfastness
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A 'broken token' song, in which young William returns from the sea to find his Nancy walking alone. She refuses his company, saying that she will always remain loyal to her sweetheart, a wealthy farmer's son. He produces his half of the ring they broke between them on parting, at which they are reconciled and marry with great happiness. [AG]
    Source
    The wealthy farmer's son [and] The thrasher (ca. 1813-1838). [broadside]. London: J. Catnach. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Johnson Ballads 288.
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    There were many more broadside versions than oral versions. The former started with either London-based Catnach or Swindells of Manchester with the rest either English or American. See also Wood (2021). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Wood, P. (2021). 'The unrecognised returning lover and broken-token songs: a survey' Folk music journal 12 (1) pp.76-94
    Indexer
    AG
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/23700
  • Roud No
    30144 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    Irish people / Fathers / Sons / Bridegrooms / Weddings / Shamrocks / Roses / Patriotism / Death
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    Guests are assembled at a marriage ceremony, and the groom asks his father to wear a rose in his lapel, instead of the shamrock. The father tells his son not to be ashamed of the shamrock, and that he loves the Irish flag. Before the father dies, he declares that he is glad that the groom’s mother is not alive to see how her son despises the shamrock. [MET]
    Source
    Leach, M., ed. (2004). MacEdward Leach and the songs of Atlantic Canada. [online]. St John's: Memorial University of Newfoundland. NFLD 2 Tape 18A Track 8
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 2
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    Originally published as sheet music (Sterling and Costello, 1900). Recorded by Joseph Natus on Zonophone. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcFs 8Ob8JI [Accessed 2019-06-18]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Sterling, Andrew B. / Costello, Bartley C.
    Date composed
    1900
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Gilson, Lottie
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Sterling, A. B., and Costello, B. C. (1900). They’re proud of the Irish now. [sheet music]. New York: Howley, Haviland & Company.
    Indexer
    MET
    Example text
    URL
    https://www.mun.ca/folklore/leach/songs/NFLD2/18A-8_51.htm
  • Roud No
    954 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    <Rural setting> / <Young men> / Young women / Parents / Babies / False lovers / Unmarried mothers / Paupers / Unrequited love / Breach of promise to marry / Rejection / <Lilies> / <Roses> / Begging
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A young woman falls in love with the wrong man who breaks his promise to marry her and leaves her alone with their baby, while he goes away with another girl. The young woman recalls how she once was a fair girl and how now her friends and parents have turned their backs at her, leaving her to beg and wander like a pauper. [GHHB]
    Source
    Wandering girl (ca. 1816-1843). [broadside]. Durham: T. Hogget. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 25(1998)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / <Female (Adult) x 2> / <Male (Adult) x 2>
    Song voice
    Female
    Song history
    19th century English broadsides were popular, starting with perhaps Batchelar of London (1817-1828). First revival collectors found the song, but versions were not abundant, mostly in southern England. [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    GHHB
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/21811
  • Roud No
    1075 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Subject terms
    False lovers / <Fathers> / <Mothers> / <Sisters> / <Brothers> / <Friends> / Former lovers / New lovers / Young men / Young women / <Roses> / <Thyme> / Heart / Winning someone's heart / Farewells / Leaving home / Infatuation / Bitterness / Anguish / Regret / Heartache / Luck / Hardheartedness / Lamentation
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    A woman looks back at the way she was taken in by a young man. He had succeeded in wooing her and persuading her to leave home for him, but then the next morning said he was going. She is bitter, but will survive and take other lovers until her own end comes. She hopes there's a special place of torment for her false lover. [AG].
    Source
    Wheel of fortune. [broadside]. No imprint. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Firth c.18(132)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 1 / Male (Adult) x 1
    Song voice
    Female
    Song history
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Indexer
    AG
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/12921
  • Roud No
    30 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Child 25
    Subject terms
    Valleys / Wakes (for the dead) / <Bowers (apartments)> / Young men / William / <Fathers> / Young women / <Brothers> / Flowers / Sunshine / <Coins> / <Bells> / <Horses> / Crying / Beguiling / <Pity> / Mourning / Love / Courtship / Trickery / Forced marriages
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    William bemoans to his father that he loves a maiden. Following his father's advice, William fakes his death so that she will attend his wake. The maiden attends alone against her own father's advice who wishes that she bring her brother. Upon arrival she uncovers William, who comes to life and grabs her. William tells the maiden that she will not return home alone as they are to be wed and have a child. [JPO]
    Source
    Buchan, P., ed. (1828). Ancient ballads and songs of the north of Scotland, hitherto unpublished, with explanatory notes. Edinburgh: W. & D. Laing, and J. Stevenson. pp. 185-187.
    Characters
    Male (Adult) x 1 / Female (Adult) x1 / <Male (Elderly) x 1>
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    A rare Child ballad found in only five oral versions, one in the United States, the rest in Scotland. A commoner title is ‘Blue Flowers and the Yellow’, first found in some of the early 19th century Scottish collections. In common with most Child ballads, there are no known broadside versions. Child (1882-95, Vol I pp. 247-252) gave us four versions, and Bronson (1959-72, Vol I pp. 305-307) four tunes. [PRW]
    Notes

    The song is often titled "Amang the blue flowers and the yellow".

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. / Bronson, B. H., ed. (1959-72). The traditional tunes of the Child ballads. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
    Indexer
    JPO
    Example text
    URL
    https://archive.org/details/ancientballadsso01buch/page/184/mode...
  • Roud No
    220 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Child 6
    Subject terms
    Wives / Mothers / Witches / Blind people / Babies / Pregnancy & childbirth / Enchantment (supernatural) / Gold (metal) / Horses / Kids (young goats) / Silver (metal) / Wax / Knots (interlacements) / Combs / Honeysuckle / Shoes / Turning the tables / Parental opposition (to courtship or marriage) / Wishing to die
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    Willie has married a girl but his mother, who is a witch, wishes her ill and says her child will never be born. When his wife is in great pain, Willie offers his mother a gold and silver cup if she will let the child be born, His mother refuses, and says the girl must die and he must marry another. Willie says he will never do that. His wife says he must try again, offering a richly decorated horse, but the result is the same. A further gift of a golden girdle is offered but to no avail. A blind man tells him to make a baby out of wax, invite his mother to the christening and note what she does. The witch asks who has undone the knots in her hair, removed the combs, taken down the woodbine, killed the kid under the bed, and loosened her left shoe. Willie then does all these, and the child is born. [JWD]
    Source
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. Vol. I pp. 86-87.
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 2 / Male (Adult) x 2 / <Male (Child) x 1>
    Song voice
    Unspecified
    Song history
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Child, F. J., ed. (1882-95). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Reprinted 1965. New York: Dover Publications. / Bronson, B. H., ed. (1959-72). The traditional tunes of the Child ballads. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
    Indexer
    JWD
    Example text
    URL
  • Roud No
    2 [Click on the Roud number to search for variants of this song]
    Other nums
    Laws Q26
    Subject terms
    Sailors / Syphilis / Medicines / Mercuric chloride / <Flannel> / Coffins / Pallbearers / <Fathers> / Roses / Lavender / <Drums> / <Pipes (musical instruments)> / <Guns> / Funerals / Death by illness or disease / Lamentation / Lock hospitals / Shrouds / <Funeral marches>
    Subject date
    Synopsis
    The British version centres on a poor victim of syphilis. He/she tells of their demise, either through promiscuity or a false hearted lover, and how they wish to be buried. The bad girl tells of her descent from the ale-house and the dance-hall to the poorhouse and finally almost to the grave. She asks pity for her mother and a prayer from the minister. She requests roses for her coffin and asks that it be carried by young sailors [Laws 1957, p.285].
    Source
    The unfortunate lad (ca. 1863-1885). [broadside]. London: Such. Held at: Oxford: Bodleian Library. Harding B 15(341a)
    Characters
    Female (Adult) x 7 / Male (Adult) x 8
    Song voice
    Male
    Song history
    Better known probably as ‘The young sailor cut down in his prime’, versions have been adapted to the 'Young trooper', 'Unfortunate maid', and other victims of syphilis over the years. The first version came in a broadside with no imprint, but said to date from about 1800, with the title ‘The buck’s elegy’, and elements of the text were present in Ireland about the same time, carrying the title ‘My jewel, my joy’. Broadside versions came about only after 1850 in only a few English versions where the title ‘The unfortunate lad’ predominated. The first known oral version collected was by Cecil Sharp in 1904 in Somerset, carrying the 'sailor' title. Despite its low 19th century profile, it proved to be one of the most popular folk songs in oral tradition, mainly in England and the United States. See Roud & Bishop (2012, p. 455). [PRW]
    Notes

    Comparative songs
    Author / Composer
    Date composed
    Printer / Publisher
    Named singer
    Named venue
    Bib. ref(s)
    Laws, G. M. (1957). American balladry from British broadsides. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society / Roud, S. and Bishop, J., eds. (2012). The new Penguin book of English folk songs. London: Penguin Classics.
    Indexer
    DRC
    Example text
    URL
    http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/sheet/18981