01 American Frigate (Roud 967)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/93 sung by Mr William Harper as Paul Jones on January 13th or 14th 1905 at King’s Lynn
Words: from a broadside printed by Such of London 1849 – 1862, on Firth b.26(273) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
02 Banks of Claudy (Roud 266)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/125 sung by Mr Thomas Donger on January 13th or 14th 1905 in King’s Lynn
Words: vwml.org/record/gg/1/7/388 from Mr White on 21.06.1906 in Southampton. Noted by G. B. Gardiner and J. F. Guyer
03 Banks of Sweet Dundee (Roud 2638)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/109 sung by Mrs Charlotte Benefer as Farmer’s Daughter, on January 11th 1905 in King’s Lynn
Words: vwml.org/record/rvw2/12/3/248 an unsigned MS in RVW’s scrapbook.
04 Barb’ry Allen (Roud 54)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/108 sung by Mrs Charlotte Benefer, on January 11th 1905 in King’ Lynn
Words: vwml.org/record/rvw1/1/90 an unsigned MS in RVW’s scrapbook
Pub: jfss/1905/7/80-1, 2 tunes and one verse. TT: Few ballads have had a more lasting popularity than “Cruel Barbara Allen”
05 Basket of Eggs (Roud 377)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/70 sung by Mr Joe Anderson on January 9th 1905 in the North End, King’s Lynn. Also rvw1/2/59
Words: from same source
CM: Norfolk Rhapsody No 1, 1906.
Pub: jfss/1905/7/102-3, three tunes and three first verses. RVW: The tune of the first version has some resemblance to tunes noted by me at King’s Lynn, Norfolk, January 1905, and sung to the words The Captain’s Apprentice, and Oxford City.
06 Battle of Bourassa (Roud 2182)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/241 sung by Mr George Elmer as The 14th Day of February, on September 1st 1906 in King’s Lynn Union.
Words: from a broadside, printer unknown, on Firth c.14(24) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
Notes: They actually set sail from Gibraltar on 21st Feb 1811, landed at Algeciras on 23rd and marched, with Spanish and Portugese forces, to Tarifa by 24th to relieve the French siege of Cadiz. So much for the hours spent looking for a set of words starting ‘The Fourteenth Day of February’, as noted by RVW
07 Blacksmith(Roud 1468)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/107 sung by Mr James Carter on January 10th 1905; variant from Mr Bailey on January 11th [note on MS]
Words: from same source
08 Bold Carter (Roud 811)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/49 sung by Mr John Whitby on January 7th 1905, at Tilney All Saints
Words: from same source
Pub: BB p108, tune and words.
09a Bold Princess Royal (Roud 528) – Crisp
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/79 sung by Mr Charles Crisp on Jan 9th 1905 in King’s Lynn Union
Words: from Walter Pardon on the 2000 CD A World Without Horses, Topic, TSCD 514
CM: Sea Symphony, Vocal Score, pp 66-67, 1910
09b Bold Princess Royal (Roud 528)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/117 sung by Mr Smith on Jan 13th in the North End, King’s Lynn
Words: from Sam Larner on the 1999 CD Now is the Time for Fishing, Topic TSCD 511, a re-release of the 1961 Folkways Records FG 3507
Note: Sam Larner’s comment on the recording before the song: ‘When you stood in the wheelhouse you used to sing a little song and break the monotony, you see, and that took all your thoughts away from everything.’ And after the song: ‘When I was twenty, thirty, I could raise this roof. Young lads, be about fourteen or fifteen, used to sing when I was a boy. Now they’re all dead and gone.’
09c Bold Princess Royal (Roud 528) – Anderson
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/126 sung by Mr Joe Anderson on Jan 13th in the North End, King’s Lynn
Words: from a broadside printed by Such of London, on BBS 270
Pub: jfss/1906/8/170, tune only. FK: I have noted down two versions of this song in Yorkshire, and the ballad itself is to be found on broadsides of sixty or seventy years ago.
Note: [I have swapped the broadside’s verses 4 and 5 to make sense of the story]
10a Bold Robber (Roud 1464) – Anderson
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/103 sung by Mr Joe Anderson on January 10th 1905, in the North End, King’s Lynn. Also at gb/6a/26.
Words: from same source
CM: Norfolk Rhapsody No 2, 3rd tune, 1907
Pub: jfss/1906/8/165, tune and words. FK: I have never come across this ballad on a broadside or elsewhere. The tune is decidedly old and the song is one of the many narrative lyrics of highwayman exploits which formerly must have been sung around the firesides of most country inns. FSEC 1908, p10, tune and words.
10b Bold Robber (Roud 1464) – Elmer
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/245 sung by Mr George Elmer on September 1st 1906, in King’s Lynn Union
Words: as 10a
11 Bold Young Sailor (Roud 60)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/104 sung by Mr Joe Anderson on January 10th 1905 in King’s Lynn. Also at gb/6a/44 as Brisk Young Sailor
Words: from ‘an old Lancashire singer’ titled There is an Alehouse in Yonder Town from JFSS 1904 / 5 / p252-3.
CM: Norfolk Rhapsody No 1, 2nd tune, 1906.
Pub: jfss/1906/8/168, tune only. YOL no 12, tune and words.
12 Captain Markee (Roud 104)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/98 sung by Mr William Harper on January 13th or 14th 1905 in King’s Lynn North End
Words: Verses 1 – 5, 7 – 8 from same source; verse 6 from a broadside printed by Pearson of Manchester, on Firth c.12(87) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
Notes: MS: ‘a man o’ wars song’. After v 8: ‘They lashed the sailor men back to back, and threw them into the sea Some help, some help,’ cries Captain Markee, ‘and [missing] we all could agree. For you’ve the salt water and we’ve the [unreadable] now you’ve got to follow the sailors to sea’
13 Captain’s Apprentice (Roud 835)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/64 sung by Mr James Carter as The Prentice Boy on January 9th 1905, and Mr Bayley on January 11th 1905, in jfss/1906/8/162, both in the North End, King’s Lynn
Words: Verses 1-4 and 7 from Mr Carter in MS. Verses 5-6 not in JFSS 1906 / 8 / p161-2, but Roy Palmer says, 2 verses [5 and 6 here] from RVW’s scrapbook: vwml.org/record/rvw1/1/142
CM: Norfolk Rhapsody No 1, 1st tune, 1906.
Pub: jfss/1906/8/161, words and music. RVW: Mr Carter belongs to the colony of fishermen who inhabit the ‘North End’ at King’s Lynn. They possibly have a Norse ancestry – the wild character of this remarkable tune points to such a stock. This song was also sung to me by Mr Bayley, also a fisherman The words are evidently local. ‘St James Workhouse’ is the King’s Lynn Union.
BB p85, tune and words.
FSEC p8, tune and words. See Also The Captain’s Apprentice, Elizabeth James, Folk Music Journal (EFDSS) 1999/5/579-594
Notes: The first Workhouse in King’s Lynn had been St James’ Chapel, in St James Street, converted in about 1700, and destroyed by its collapsing tower in 1854. The ‘Union’ that RVW knew was completed in 1856 in Exton’s Road and is now (2014) offices.
14 Coast of Peru (Roud 1997)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/123 sung by Mr Thomas Donger as Come all you Young Sailors on January 13th or 14th 1905 at King’s Lynn
Words: WM Doerflinger, Shantymen and Shantyboys, Macmillan Company, New York, 1951 Notes: jfss/1906/8/171, tune only, as Come all You Young Sailors. FK: A characteristic ‘narrative’ ballad tune with, I should say, a ‘Derry Down’ refrain. CJS This is the tune to which Henry Martin [no 12 Captain Markee] is usually sung in the West of England.
15a Crafty Ploughboy (Roud 2637) – Whitby
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/61 sung as Lincolnshire Farmer, by Mr John Whitby on Jan 8th at Tilney All Saints
Words: of verses 1 – 5 from same source. Verses 6, 8 – 10, 12 – 13 from jfss/1906/8/174-5. Verses 6, 11, 14: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads from a broadside printed by Such of London 1849 – 1862 on Firth c.17(18)
CM: Norfolk Rhapsody No 3, 1st tune, 1907.
Pub: FSEC 1908, p12, tune and words, as Lincolnshire Farmer.
15b Crafty Ploughboy (Roud 2637) – Anderson
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/68 sung by Mr Joe Anderson as Yorkshire Farmer on January 9th 1905 in the North End, King’s Lynn
Words: vwml.org/record/rvw1/1/44 from an unsigned MS in RVW’s scrapbook
Pub: jfss/1906/8/174, tune and words of both 15a as Lincolnshire Farmer (Whitby) and 15b Yorkshire Farmer (Anderson). FK: The usual title of this song is The Crafty Ploughboy, or The Highwayman Outwitted. ‘ I have found in an old 18th century magazine, The Universal Museum for February 1766, a prose account of the circumstances as having just happened. It is quite possible, however, that the editor has for lack of copy dished up an old tale into a circumstantial account. The name of the shire varies in most copies, but the Yorkshire lad’s sharpness is always given credit to his county.
16 Creeping Jane (Roud 1012)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/83 sung by Mr Robert Leatherday on January 10th 1905 in the King’s Lynn Union
Words: first 2 verses from same source; the rest from vwml.org/record/rvw2/4/13 sung by Henry Burstow at Horsham, Sussex on December 7th 1903, noted by RVW
17 Cumberland’s Crew (Roud 707)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/89 sung by Mr Charles Crisp on January 11th 1905 in King’s Lynn Union
Words: from same source, but edited to correct inaccuracies [See Publications and Notes]
Pub: BB p95, tune and words. Roy Palmer says ‘a song still fairly well-known in North America, though it has seldom crossed the Atlantic The singer might well have learned the song from an American shipmate.’ [ Mr Crisp’s is the only example of this American Civil War song in the Full English, and there are only 2 examples in the Bodleian Collection. Like the broadsides though, he gets several details wrong. These have been corrected.]
Notes: From US Naval History and Heritage Command at www.history.navy.mil (edited): At mid-day on 8 March 1862, the Confederate CSS Virginia steamed down the Elizabeth River from Norfolk and entered Hampton Roads, a short voyage that would deeply influence naval opinion at home and abroad. Anchored on the opposite side of Hampton Roads were five wooden Union warships, including the sloop of war Cumberland, which all struggled to put to sea to meet the ironclad. The Confederate ship shrugged off steady fire from ships and shore batteries as she steamed past them, firing her heavy cannon into them. She pushed her ram into Cumberland’s starboard side and the stricken ship began to sink, though her gun crews kept up a heavy fire as she went down. In the words of one of Cumberland’s enemies, “No ship was ever fought more gallantly.” Virginia beat the other 4 ships that day and the next, dramatically demonstrating the horrible vulnerability of unarmored wooden warships when confronted with a hostile ironclad.
[Mr Crisp sang ‘British tar’ instead of ‘Union tar’ in verse 1, ‘the flag of old England’ instead of ‘the Star-Spangled Banner’ in verse 4, and had a different version of the last verse that excluded mentioning the Star-Spangled Banner’ again.]
18 Dearest Nancy (no Roud number)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/113 sung by Mr Bob Jackson on January 12th 1905 at the level crossing, Sheringham
Words: from John Roast of Chezzetcook, Nova Scotia, noted by Helen Creighton and published in Traditional Songs from Nova Scotia, Creighton and [Doreen] Senior, Ryerson Press, Toronto1950
Note: RVW put ‘unknown name’ on the MS. A later hand has written ‘[Come Nancy Will You Marry Me in index]’ I have not been able to find a set of words with that title to fit the tune. Unusually there is no Roud Number in the above entry at VWML. RVW wrote ‘By B Jackson at the Level Crossing’ as the singer. There was a Robert Jackson working for the Midland and Great Northern Railway at that time in Sheringham.
19 Deeds of Napoleon (Roud 2419)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/63 sung by Mr James Carter on January9th 1905 in King’s Lynn North End
Words: from a broadside printed by Such of London on BBS 31b
20 Dragoon and the Lady (Roud 140)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/67 sung by Mr James Carter on January 9th 1905 in the North End, King’s Lynn
Words: from a broadside printed by Such of London on BBS 53
21 Dream of Napoleon (Roud 1538)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/75 sung by Mr Charles Crisp on January 9th 1905 in King’s Lynn Union
Words: from same source except verse 3 lines 1-4 and verse 4 lines 5-8, from a broadside by Catnach on Harding. B11(1222) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
Pub: BB p100, tune and words.
22 Early in the Spring (Roud 152)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/48 sung by Mr John Whitby as It was one Morning, on January 7th1905 at Tilney All Saints
Words: from A Pedlar’s Pack of Ballads and Songs W H Logan (Edinburgh, 1869) p28-30 as The Disappointed Sailor, accessed at archive.org/stream/pedlarspackofbal100logarich- page/28
Pub: YOL, no 16, tune and words, as It Was One Morning.
Notes: Pedlar’s Pack: ‘The heroine of the following ballad had evidently expected the failure of the expedition, otherwise she would not have provided herself with a helpmate during Jack’s absence. The idea of no prize money being forthcoming had no doubt instigated her to break her word in favour of the more ready money.
[The failed expeditions against Carthegena in the West Indies were in 1740-1.]
23 Edward Jorgen (Roud 1537)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/99 sung by Mr William Harper on January 13th or 14th 1905
Words: from same source
Pub: BB p93, tune and words. ‘A man who appears to be of Scandinavian origin is arrested in Manchester and taken to Liverpool to stand trial on a charge of robbery. Somewhat improbably, he addresses his sweetheart from the dock. The song seems to be homemade, and to date from the nineteenth century. The words are slightly garbled, and perhaps incomplete. I have not seen any other version.’ – Roy Palmer.
24 Effects of Love (Roud 1493)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/116 sung by Mr William Harper as Betsy and William, on January 14th 1905 in King’s Lynn North End. I have had to adapt lines 3 and 4 to fit the words.
Words: from a broadside printed by Pearson of Manchester 1850 – 1899 on Firth c.18(156) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
Notes: MS ‘Harper’s brother said that the old songs were “wonderful mellow”.
25a Erin’s Lovely Home (Roud 1427) – Anderson
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/72 sung by Mr Joe Anderson on January 9th 1905 in the North End, King’s Lynn
Words: on a broadside printed by J. Livsey of Manchester on Harding B 11(1089) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
Pub: jfss/1906/8/166, tune only. CJS: A large number of English Folk-tunes are modelled on the same pattern, and conform in general melodic outline to Erin’s Lovely Home
25b Erin’s Lovely Home (Roud 1427) – Chesson
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/81 sung by Mr John Chesson on January 10th 1905, in King’s Lynn Union
Words: from a broadside printed by Such of London on Harding B11(1088) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
Pub: jfss/1906/8/168, tune only
25c Erin’s Lovely Home (Roud 1427) – Donger
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/249 sung by Mr Thomas Donger on September 1st 1905 in King’s Lynn Union
Words: from a broadside without imprint on 2806 b.11(20) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
26 Fair Flora (Roud 948)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/94 sung by Mr William Harper on January 13th or 14th 1905, at King’s Lynn
Words: vwml.org/record/pg/2/71 from William Clark, 26th July 1906, Barrow-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, noted by Percy Grainger
Notes: MS: ‘a welsh song’
27 The Foxhunt (Roud 190)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/50 sung by Mr Stephen Poll on January 7th 1905, at Tilney St Lawrence
Words: from same source
Pub: jfss/1905/7/104, tune only YOL no 10, tune and words.
28 Game of Cards (Roud 232)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/66 sung by Mr James Carter on January 9th 1905 at King’s Lynn North End
Words: vwml.org/record/rvw2/12/3/49 from an unspecified source, noted by RVW
Notes: From the original sleeve notes, where it is called All Fours, by Ewan MacColl to Now is the Time for Fishing: ‘This witty little song was, according to Mr Larner, a great favourite in the Norfolk pubs at the beginning of the [20th] century.’ Sam Larner’s comment on the recording before the song: ‘O yes, we liked the girls. I did. I always loved a young woman, always. And I could always get one. Though I aren’t a saying boasting, I could always have a young lady had one in every port, fresh one in every port.(Laughs) Course, I been a lustful old boy in my time, you know, I loved ’em.’ And after the song: ‘She liked it, didn’t she? (Laughs) She liked playing cards! (Laughs) Everyone do. That’s human nature, isn’t it? Course a man, he want his necessaries, don’t he? Well you know, and fishermen being rough and, you know, get plenty of good fish down ’em,they all so strong.’
[I have changed some third persons into first for consistency. Also, vs 6, L2 ended with ‘deuce’, but that didn’t rhyme with ‘game’ and in any case the deuce (two) is a rather insignificant card and not worthy of special mention.]
29 Golden Glove (Roud 141)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/128 sung by Mr James Carter on January 14th 1905 in King’s Lynn North End
Words: vwml.org/record/rvw2/2/68 written by Mrs Humphries of Ingrave, Essex in 1904 in RVW’s scrapbook. The missing verse 6 is taken from abroadside by Sharp of London on Harding B 11(3656) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
30 Green Bushes (Roud 1040)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/60 sung by Mr John Whitby on January 8th 1905 at Tilney All Saints
Words: from Mrs Holt of Alderhill, Meanwood, Leeds, who remembers it being sung in Stockport in about 1838, and included by Frank Kidson, in Traditional Tunes (Oxford 1891) pp 47-48
31 Hares in the Plantation (Roud 363)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/86 (singer not noted by RVW, but most likely Mr Elmer) on January 10th 1905 in King’s Lynn Union. On this day in the Union he also noted from Mssrs Chesson, Leatherday, Cooper and Crisp.
Words: First 6 lines from same source. The rest vwml.org/record/cc/1/278 from James Stacey of Fernhurst, Sussex, noted by Clive Cary on Jan 2nd 1912
32 Heave Away (Roud 616)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/247 sung by Mr Thomas Donger on September 1st 1906 at King’s Lynn
Words: from Stan Hugil, Shanties from the Seven Seas, (London1961) pp 303-4
Notes: SSS p302-3. ‘This shanty, being a genuine brake-windlass shanty the brakes or levers were dragged down from the up position to the level of a man’s waist in one movement and then pushed down to knee level in a second movement, hence two movements were needed at the windlass This naturally timed the song.’
33 Homeward Bound (Roud 927)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/101 sung by Mrs Betty Howard as Our Anchor’s Weighed, on January 10th or 11th 1905 in King’s Lynn
Words: Verses 1, 2, 3 and 5 from Frank Kidson, Traditional Tunes, Oxford, 1891, p107, the rest from Mrs Howard
Pub: BB p103 tune and words
Notes: FK: p106 known at many ports The air was picked up from sailors by Mr Charles Lolly and the words are from a broadside. SSS p540. ‘Different towns and docks are given in the many versions to be found on both sides of the Atlantic, and the names of the inn and its landlord also vary.’
34 Irish Girl (Roud 308)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/84 sung by Mr George Cooper on January 10th 1905 in King’s Lynn Union
Words: vwml.org/record/rvw1/1/62 from MS in RVW’s collection
35 Isle of France (Roud 1575)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/121 sung by Mr Thomas Donger as The Convict, on January 13th 1905 in King’s Lynn
Words: from a broadside printed by Such of London on BBS 65
36 It’s of a Shopkeeper (Roud 1651)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/110 sung by Elizabeth (no other name noted) on January 11th 1905 at Lynn
Words: vwml.org/record/gg/1/16/1047 as The Shopkeeper from Mrs Knight of Hartley Wintney in October 1907, noted by George Gardiner
37a John Raeburn (Roud 600) – Crisp
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/87 sung by Mr Charles Crisp on January 10th 1905, in King’s Lynn Union
Words: from same source
CM: Norfolk Rhapsody No 3, 2nd tune, 1907.
Pub: jfss/1906/8/180 tune and words. FK: According to Ford’s Vagabond Songs of Scotland, vol ii, 1901, the hero of the ballad was one James Raeburn, a baker, who was transported for theft, (though innocent) some sixty years ago. As The Hills of Caledonia I have the words: on several broadsides, the name being as Ford has it, ‘Jamie Raeburn’.
BB: p99, tune and words
37b John Raeburn (Roud 600) – Donger
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/118 sung by Mr Thomas Donger on January 13th or 14th 1905 at King’s Lynn
Words: from a broadside Jamie Raeburn printed by Lindsay of Glasgow (?) 1851 – 1910 on 2806 c.14(56) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
38 John Reilly (Roud 270)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/69 sung by Mr Joe Anderson on January 9th 1905 in the North End, King’s Lynn
Words: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/37 sung by Mr and Mrs Truell of Gravesend noted by RVW on 31.12.1904, with verses 5 & 6 from Mr Anderson by noted by RVW on 09.01.1904
Pub: BB p90, tune and words. YOL p2, tune and words
39 Just as the Tide was Flowing (Roud 1105)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/95 sung by Mr William Harper on January 13th or 14th 1905 in King’s Lynn
Words: Verses 4 and 5 from same source; 1 to 3 from a broadside by Such of London on BBS 198
Pub: jfss/1906/8/172 RVW: I was only able to obtain fragments of these words. BB p94, tune and words.
Note: Possibly meaning that they were too rude for Edwardian England!
40 Lads of Kilkenny (Roud 1451)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/242 sung by Mr George Elmer as Kilkenny, on September 1st 1906 at King’s Lynn Union
Words: From a broadside without imprint Boys of Kilkenny on BBS 190
41 Lady and Sailor (Roud 601)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/85 sung by Mr George Elmer as It’s of an Old Lord on January 10th 1905, in King’s Lynn Union
Words: First verse only noted by RVW. Other verses from Frederick Rolfe, as The Miser’s Daughter, included by Lilias Rider Haggard (Ed) in I Walked by Night, 1935, accessed in Norfolk Heritage Centre, Norwich Milennium Library
Pub: jfss/1906/8/181, tune and words, as It’s of an Old Lord
Notes: Rolfe was born in 1862 and grew up in Pentney, 8 miles as the pheasant flies from the North End of King’s Lynn. He wrote out part of his life story in 1929 and eventually it was all published in 1935, including these words described as ‘MS from the Author’. See eastwinchandwestbilney.co.uk/personal-vignette/the-king-of-the-norfolk-poachers for more on Rolfe’s fascinating story.
42a Lord Bateman (Roud 40) – Whitby
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/47 sung by Mr John Whitby on January 7th 1905 at Tilney All Saints
Words: From a broadside printed by Walker of Norwich on BBS 75
42b Lord Bateman (Roud 40) – Elmer
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/240 sung by Mr George Elmer on September 1st 1906 at King’s Lynn Union
Words: In John Clare’s song collection in Peterborough Museum, Peterborough MS. B7 p53. From George Deacon John Clare and the Folk Tradition (Francis Boutle, London, 1983) pp190-192. Spelling modernised
CM: A version of this tune is used as the hymn tune Danby in English Hymnal 295 and Songs of Praise 16. Vaughan Williams noted this tune three times in 1904 but none are the same as Danby
Notes: Deacon: ‘Taken down from a shepherd. Child suggests in his notes to this ballad that one possible origin may lie in the legend of Gilbert Becket (father of St Thomas), and to judge from the information he provide this seems an attractive possibility Although Clare has made several alterations to this ballad, the original text is readable and has been given here. There can be no question but that this is a faithful record of the song as his informant sang it.’
[I have changed the barring to follow the natural stresses].
43 Lord Lovel (Roud 48)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/56 sung by Mr John Whitby, at Tilney All Saints on January 8th 1905
Words: From a broadside printed by Sanderson of Edinburgh 1830 – 1910 on Firth c.21(18), accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
44 Loss of the Ramillies (Roud 523)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/80 sung by Mr Charles Crisp on January 9th 1905 at King’s Lynn Union
Words: From same source
Pub: BB p98, tune and words
Notes: Wikipedia: Ramillies was wrecked at Bolt Head near Plymouth on 15th February 1760. Of her crew of around 850 men all were lost except for 20 seamen and one midshipman.
45 Maids of Australia (Roud 1872)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/91 sung by Mr Charles Crisp on January 11th 1905 in King’s Lynn Union
Words: From Walter Pardon, as Bush of Australia on A World Without Horses, Audio CD, Topic. TSCD514, 1978
46 Maria Marten (Roud 215)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/57 sung by Mr John Whitby as The Red Barn, on 8th January 1905 at Tilney All Saints
Words: From a Such broadside given by Lucy Broadwood in jfss/1905/7/122
CM: Norfolk Rhapsody No 3, 1st tune, 1907, and English Folk Song Suite, 1st Movement, 1923. Also used as hymn tune Kingsfold in English Hymnal 674, Songs of Praise 529, though the name indicates the Surrey village where RVW first noted this tune on 23.12.1904
Pub: jfss/1905/7/118, tune only, p122, words (see LEB below). RVW: There seems to be some subtle connection between the words of Maria Martin and Come all you worthy Christians, as they are often sung to variants of the same tune. LEB: As a specimin of the way in which the memory of real events is perpetuated by the art of the doggerel bard, the words of Such’s ballad-sheet are given at p122
Notes: [I have changed verse 4 from third person to first to make them compatable with the other verses]
47 My Bonny Boy (Roud 293)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/115 sung by Mr William Harper on 14th January 1905 at King’s Lynn
Words: From Mrs Vaisey, gardener’s wife, Hampshire, in English County Songs, Ed Lucy Broadwood and J A Fuller Maitland, London 1893, pp146-7
Pub: jfss/1905/7/82, tune only. FK: The various versions collected all point to one original, I believe, and that is undoubtedly very old. RVW: The words followed fairly closely those in English County Songs
Notes: [I have changed verses 2 & 3 from third person to first to make them compatable with the other verses]
48 Napoleon’s Farewell to Paris (Roud 1626)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/77 (also in JFSS 1906 / 8 / p183), sung by Mr Christopher Woods on January 9th 1905 in King’s Lynn Union
Words: From a broadside without imprint on Harding B 15(214b) at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
Pub: jfss/1906/8/183, tune only.
Notes: MS ‘NB This is doubtful because he was very hoarse’
49 Nobleman & the Thresherman (Roud 19)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/105 sung by Mr Joe Anderson on January 10th 1905 at King’s Lynn Union
Words: From Mr John Gray, Sen., of Hungry Hill, Sidestrand in 1914, aged eighty-three, and included in Records of a Norfolk Village (Sidestrand), Christobel M. Hoare, 1914
Notes: [Mr Gray forgot some words in verse 2 and repeated some from verse 1. I have restored them.]
50 On Board a Ninety-Eight (Roud 1461)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/76 sung by Mr Robert Leatherday on January 9th 1905 in the King’s Lynn Union
Words: From jfss/1906/8/176-7. RVW: ‘The words are completed from a ballad-sheet printed by F. Paul, Spitalfields’
CM: Norfolk Rhapsody No 1, 3rd tune, 1906, and Six Studies in English Folk Songs no 1, 1926
Pub: jfss/1906/8/176, tune and words. FSEC p7, tune and words
51 Oxford City (Roud 218)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/96 sung by Mr William Harper on January 13th or 14th 1905 in King’s Lynn North End
Words: From JFSS 1906/8/200, sung by Mrs Verrall, [p194 ‘formerly of Monk’s Gate, near Horsham’] on December 22nd 1904, and noted there by RVW
Pub: jfss/1906/8/162, tune only.
PBEF p83, tune and words. Perhaps this song celebrated a real tragedy. It often appeared on broadsides in the nineteenth century by Catnach and Such of London, Harkness of Preston, and Jackson of Birmingham. Other versions have been found in oral tradition in Essex, Sussex, Dorset and Somerset.
52 Pat Reilly (Roud 920)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/119 sung by Mr Thomas Donger on January 13th 1905 in King’s Lynn
Words: From Sam Henry, Songs of the People (Northern Constitution, Coleraine, Northern Ireland 1938, p80-81)
53 Pride of Glencoe (Roud 515)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/120 sung by Mr Thomas Donger as Glencoe, on January 13th or 14th 1905 at King’s Lynn
Words: vwml.org/record/gg/1/14/858 from Charles Bateman, Portsmouth, 1907, noted by G. B. Gardiner and J. F. Guyer
Pub: jfss/1906/8/171, tune only. FK: The title of the ballad, which is to be found on Catnach and other broadsides, is Donald’s Return to Glencoe.
54 Ratcliffe Highway (Roud 598)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/100 sung by Mrs Betty Howard on January 10th or 11th 1905 in King’s Lynn
Words: from a broadside Rollin Down Wapping by Catnach of London 1813 – 1838 on Harding B 11(3307A) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
Pub: jfss/1906/8/172, tune only. RVW: It was impossible to take down the words of this song at all accurately, and at the best they are fragmentary. [= they were too rude for Edwardian England!] FK: The full words (scarcely suitable for reproduction) are on a broadside by Catnach entitled Rolling down Wapping.
PBEF: p85, tune and words. In the first half of the nineteenth century, Ratcliffe Highway, Stepney, was the toughest thoroughfare in the East End of London a place of sailors’ lodging houses, pubs, and ladies. The Ratcliffe Highway song may have been made for performances in ships’ foc’sles, or to impress the patrons of The Eastern Music Hall, The British Queen, The Prussian Eagle or another local public house licensed for music.
55 Riding Down to Portsmouth (Roud 1534)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/246 sung by Mr James Carter as A Sailor was Riding Along, on September 1st 1906 at King’s Lynn
Words: BB: ‘broadside printed by William M’Call (1822 – 1890), Liverpool. Collection of Liverpool Street Ballads p70, Liverpool Record Office’
56 Robin’s Petition (Roud 2675)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/90 sung by Mr Robert Leatherday on January 11th 1905 in King’s Lynn Union
Words: From Mr West in King’s Lynn Union; not noted by RVW. On a broadside printed by Such of London on BBS 201
Notes: MS: ‘Doubtful – but he sang it like this’
57 Searching for Young Lambs (Roud 1437)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/62 sung by Mr John Whitby as Young Jocky on January 8th 1905 at Tilney All Saints
Words: vwml.org/record/ham/2/1/28 from Mrs Gulliver as As Johnny was Walking, at Combe Florey, Somerset in May 1905. Noted by HED Hammond
58a Sheffield Apprentice (Roud 399) – Anderson
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/73 sung by Mr Joe Anderson on January 9th 1905
Words: From a broadside printed by Such of London on BBS 47
Pub: jfss/1906/8/169, tune only. CJS: I have noted down this ballad twice in Somerset. One of my versions is sung to the tune of Erin’s Lovely Home, with which both of Mr Vaughan Williams’ tunes have some affinity.
FSEC p13, tune and words.
58b Sheffield Apprentice (Roud 399) – Mrs Howard
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/102 sung by Mrs Betty Howard on January 10th or 11th 1905 in King’s Lynn
Words: vwml.org/record/rvw2/4/9 from Charles Potipher at Ingrave, Essex on 4th December 1903, noted by RVW. Verse 7 from a broadside by Armstrong of Liverpool on Harding B 28(23) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
Pub: jfss/1906/8/169, tune only. CJS: see above 58a
59 Shenandoah (Roud 324)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/248 sung by Mr Thomas Donger on September 1st 1906
Words: From Stan Hugil, Shanties from the Seven Seas (London, 1961) p176
Notes: SSS p175-6. Of this version Captain F Shaw (in Splendour of the Seas) writes: ‘the Shenandoah River flowed through the slave states below the Mason Dixon Line and whoever sang it first was obviously pining for the delights of that considerable stream’.
60 Silv’ry Tide (Roud 561)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/97 sung by Mr William Harper as Poor Mary, on January 13th or 14th 1905, at King’s Lynn, North End
Words: vwml.org/record/ham/2/2/10 from Mrs Gulliver in May 1905 at Combe Florey, Somerset. Noted by H A Jeboult
61a Spanish Ladies (Roud 687) – Leatherday & Crisp
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/92 sung by Mr Robert Leatherday and Mr Crisp on January 11th 1905 at King’s Lynn
Words: First three verses and chorus from MS; fourth verse from Stan Hugil, Shanties from the Seven Seas, (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1961) p385
Pub: jfss/1906/8/179, tune and some words. RVW: The song was described by its singer as ‘A Royal Navy song’. FK: Captain Marryat first quoted the words in his novel Poor Jack, and William Chappell, in Popular Music, 1856-9, gave an air under the title Farewell and Adieu, which has been frequently reprinted. The present air is a variant of it. The song may be most aptly described as ‘Sailing directions for the English Channel,’ as almost every notable point from Ushant to North Foreland is mentioned. CJS: Mr Vaughan Williams’ version is the only one that I have seen in which the leading note [F] is flattened throughout.
Notes: SSS p384. the famous old naval song. It is a homeward bound song sung at the capstan.’
61b Spanish Ladies (Roud 687) – Donger
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/122 sung by Mr Thomas Donger on January 13th or 14th 1905 at King’s Lynn
Words: As 61a
61c Spanish Ladies (Roud 687) – Crisp
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/244 sung by Mr Charles Crisp on September 1st 1906 in King’s Lynn Union
Words: As 61a
62 Spurn Point (Roud 599)
Tune: vwml.org/record/gb/6a/158 sung by Mr Robert Leatherday as Come People All, on January 9th 1905 in the King’s Lynn Union.
Words: All except 2nd half of verse 7 from MS: missing 2 lines from BB from a broadside Industry off Spurn Point printed by W. Forth of Hull, in the Wilberforce Collection, Hull Public Libraries
CM: Norfolk Rhapsody No 2, 2nd tune, 1907
Pub: jfss/1906/8/178, tune only. FK: I have noted down the tune and words from a young sailor. The words are on a Hull broadside printed by W Forth. LEB: This tune appears in many collections of Irish music. It is a favourite air amongst country singers, and is met with in England and Scotland very often, not only in connection with the broadside of Charles Reilly but many other ballads. BB p88, tune and words. ‘The vessel Industry (Captain Burdon) was stranded on Spurn Point off the mouth of the Humber on 4th January 4th 1868. Her captain declined the proffered assistance of the lifeboat, and his ship became a total loss.’
Notes: [Verse 2 changed to third person to conform with the rest of the song]
63 Stowbrow (Roud 185)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/114 sung by Mr Emery as Near Scarborough Town, on January 12th 1905 at the Crown Inn, Sheringham
Words: From Harry & Ben Baxter of Southrepps, recorded by Seamus Ennis, on Norfolk Village Songs and Dances, Folktrax-328, 1978
Pub: jfss/1909/13/260 In Scarborough Town words. LEB: I have a version of this ballad The Drowned Sailor, or Lover, communicated by Mrs Macartney who noted it from Bill Moat, a Whitby fisherman, in 1907. The singer told her that the song describes a real event, recorded on a tombstone in the older disused churchyard at Robin Hood’s Bay which is close to Whitby. The inscription is now almost illegible. Mr Moat’s version begins ‘In Stoupbrow a damsel did dwell’. TT: The Drowned Sailor is a Yorkshire song, which I heard sung at Flamborough, and I have reason to believe it is also known in the district between there and Whitby. The scene of the story is laid near Robin Hood’s Bay, six miles south of Whitby; Stowbrow mentioned in the ballad being a large and high tract of land on the south side of the bay. [Stoupe Brow on OS] No doubt the circumstance of a girl finding her drowned lover may have occured, and hence the ballad.
Notes: Chris Holderness on mustrad.org.uk/articles/sothrepps.htm (sic): Harry Baxter kept the Vernon Arms in Southrepps from 1934 and was recorded there by Seamus Ennis in the 1950s. [Unusually he sang this in unison with his brother Ben. Mr Emery in The Crown at Sheringham, was only 8 miles from Harry’s pub, though 29 years out. In verses 1 & 3 they sang ‘Scarborough town’ of which they had probably heard, instead of ‘On Stowbrow’, of which they almost certainly hadn’t. In vs 3 I have substituted ‘on the sand did lay’ (from a broadside) for the Baxters’ ‘washed up on the highway’, which doesn’t make sense.]
64 Streams of Lovely Nancy (Roud 688)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/58 sung by Mr John Whitby on January 8th 1905 at Tilney All Saints
Words: From Matthew Baker, noted by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1889. From Folk Songs of the West Country, David & Charles, 1974
65 Sweet Betsy (Roud 3234)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/111 sung by Mr Jacob Bailey as I went to Betsy, on January 11th 1905 in King’s Lynn
Words: From a broadside without imprint on Harding B 28(279) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
Notes: [There is no proof that these are anything like the words sung. It has proved impossible to find a set of words that fits and has the title I Went to Betsy, which is what RVW wrote, so Sweet Betsy, which fits the tune exactly, has been used. Unfortunately in this version the son doesn’t go to Betsy – he just rolls over and dies!]
When Harry Cox sang this for Charles Parker in 1963 he said, ‘That’s my old grandather’s song. Yes, that have been sung about here, well, that’s over two hundred year ago There’s a lot of people aint heard that. Unless people have got it from me or round about, I bet you won’t find one in a day’s march will know it Where he got it from God above know! My grandfather he knew hundreds of songs, he did; he knew a lot That’s how that come into the family.’ – booklet notes by Paul Marsh for track 9, Betsy the Servant Maid, a very similar set of words, on Harry Cox: The Bonny Labouring Boy, Topic, TSCD 512D. ‘The song has been collected older broader broadside’ – booklet note by Steve Roud for track 9.
66a Three Jolly Butchers (Roud 17) – Crisp
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/88 sung by Mr Crisp on January 10th 1905 in King’s Lynn Union
Words: vwml.org/record/sbg/3/1/802 from Mr John Bennett of Chagford, Devon, undated, noted by F W Bussell
Notes: In the notes to Bonny Labouring Boy Steve Roud says, ‘Several of Harry’s songs have provable 18th century origins, and this song appeared on several black-letter broadsides It has remained a firm favourite ever since and has been collected often all over Britain and North America. Minor details of text vary, of course, but the basic story remains very similar across virtually all collected versions.’
[Mr Crisp’s version was lost, possibly by manuscript book pages coming loose, and only came to light again with the publication of the Full English.]
66b Three Jolly Butchers (Roud 17) – Elizabeth
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/112 sung by Elizabeth (no other name given) as The Three Butchers, on January 11th 1905 in King’s Lynn
Words: Vss 1 & 2 from MS, the rest from Harry Cox on The Bonny Labouring Boy, Topic TSCD 512D, 2000, recorded by Leslie Shepard on 9.10.1965
Notes: [Elizabeth’s version, though called by her Three Butchers only mentions two! I’ve borrowed Mr Wilson from Mr Crisp’s version.]
66c Three Jolly Butchers (Roud 17) – Leatherday
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/243 sung by Mr Robert Leatherday as Three Butchers on September 1st 1906 in King’s Lynn Union
Words: From a broadside The Three Butchers printed by Walker of Durham on Harding B 11(3811), accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
67 Trooper Cut Down (Roud 2) – Anderson
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/106 sung by Mr Joe Anderson as As I was walking Down by the Black Hospital, on January 10th 1905 at King’s Lynn
Words: From a broadside The Unfortunate Lad by Such of London 1863 – 1885 on Harding B 15(341a) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads
Notes: [Verse order changed from broadside to make sense of the narrative]
68 Two Affectionate Lovers (Roud 539)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/82 sung by Mr John Chesson as Raven’s Feather on January 10th 1905 in King’s Lynn Union
Words: From jfss/1902/4/220 sung as Young Servant Man by Walter Searle at Amberley, Sussex in 1901 and noted by Lucy Broadwood
Pub: jfss/1905/7/97-9. Five versions of the tune; no words
Notes: From the repetition of ‘servant man’ every 8 lines this text
69 Van Dieman’s Land (Roud 519)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/124 sung by Mr Thomas Donger as Come all you Gallant Poachers on January 13th or 14th 1905, in the North End, King’s Lynn.
Words: vwml.org/record/rvw2/2/52 from Mr Broomfield of East Horndon, Essex on 22nd April 1904 and noted by RVW
70 Ward the Pirate (Roud 224)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/65 sung by Mr James Carter on January 9th 1905 in North End, King’s Lynn
Words: From same source. RVW – ‘Extra verse by Bayley’ but which one is not indicated. Verses 3, 6, 2nd half of verse 5, 1st half of verse 7 are from jfss/1906/8/163, and may have been contributed by Mr Bailey as his address is on a list of addresses in RVW’s scrapbook
CM: Norfolk Rhapsody No 3, 3rd tune, 1907
Pub: jfss/1900/2/40 FK: Ward was a pirate of the sixteenth century, and the ballad is contemporary, I think. jfss/1906/8/163, words and music. RVW: This song was also sung by Mr Bayley, who described it as a ‘Master Song’ Mr Bayley had gained a prize for singing this song at a cheap jack’s singing match. FK: This is one of our very old naval ballads. A copy of the words was printed as early as the middle of the seventeenth century by William Onley, and it has survived on ballad sheets, and by tradition, to late times. The event occured in the reign of James I. The old version began: – Strike up ye lusty gallants / with musick and sound of drum, / for we have descried a rover / upon the sea is come, etc.
BB p87, tune and words.
FSEC p9, tune and words.
71 Young Girl Cut Down (Roud 2) – Whitby
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/59 sung by Mr John Whitby as As I was Walking, on January 8th 1905 at Tilney All Saints, King’s Lynn
Words: From jfss/1913/4/325 sung as The Young Girl Cut Down in her Prime by an un-named singer at East Meon, Hampshire in 1909 and noted by Francis Jekyll
72 Young Henry the Poacher (Roud 221)
Tune: vwml.org/record/gb/6a/188 sung by Mr Joe Anderson on January 9th 1905. Also at gb/6a/188
Words: Verse 1 from jfss/1906/8/166, the rest from a Such broadside in Harding B 11(4372) accessed at: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads. RVW wrote ‘leathern frock’ on MS.
CM: Norfolk Rhapsody No 2, 1907 Hymn tune King’s Lynn in English Hymnal (1906) no 562, Songs of Praise (1926) no 308, etc
Pub: jfss/1906/8/166, tune only. RVW: The complete words, which are of no great interest, are on a Such ballad sheet. FK: The words of this ballad seem to have been commonly known in country districts where poaching is a strong reality; it has been much printed on broadsides To fill local requirements the birthplace of young Henry is varied The ballad is in date about 1835 – 40 I should say.
BB p91, tune and words. ‘It is my contention that this ballad first appeared in about 1830, perhaps in response to a number of well-publicised trials of poachers in the previous year or two.’
73 Young Indian Lass (Roud 2326)
Tune: vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/127 sung by Mr Joe Anderson on January 13th 1905 at King’s Lynn Union
Words: From a broadside by Such of London on BBS 75
The Tunes:
74 Gypsies in the Wood vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/53 played by Mr Stephen Poll, of Tilney St Lawrence on January 7th 1905
Notes: See Chris Holderness’ notes at the end of the Narrative section
75 Ladies’ Triumph vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/55 played by Mr Stephen Poll, of Tilney St Lawrence on January 7th 1905
Notes: See Chris Holderness’ notes at the end of the Narrative section
76 Low-Backed Car vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/54 played by Mr Stephen Poll, of Tilney St Lawrence on January 7th 1905
Notes: See Chris Holderness’ notes at the end of the Narrative section
77 Trip to the Cottage vwml.org/record/rvw2/3/52 played by Mr Stephen Poll, of Tilney St Lawrence on January 7th 1905
Notes: See Chris Holderness’ notes at the end of the Narrative section
90 songs, 77 titles, including 4 tunes