| Author | Topic: Add: Lay the bent to the bonny broom | |
| dmcg | Posted - 15 Oct 02 - 12:18 pm | |
Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom The was a lady in the North Countrie (Lay the bent to the bonny broom) And she had lovely daughters three (Fal la la la la la la la la) There was a knight of noble worth (Lay, etc) Who also lived in the north (Fal, etc) THE KNIGHT If you canst answer me questions two This very day I will marry you Oh what is longer than the way? Or what is deeper than the sea? THE LADY Oh true love is longer than the way And hell is depper than the sea THE KNIGHT Or what is louder than the horn Or what is sharper than the thorn? THE LADY And thunder is louder than the horn, And hunger is sharper than the thorn. When she these questions answered had The knight became exceeding glad And after it was verified He made of her his lovely bride Source: North Countrie Folk Songs for Schools, Ed Whittaker, 1921, Pub Curwen Notes: This is a cut-down version of Child 1A. For some reason, knights in Child 1 seem to have a lot of trouble counting! Database entry is here Below is the ABC from Bronson (Child 1 Tune 1) taken from "The Digital Tradition" database, held at The Mudcat Cafe for comparison, This will enable you to make a subjective judgement on how closely the "North Countrie Folk Songs for Schools" keeps to the original source. X:1 T:Riddles Wisely Expounded (Bonnie Broom) S:Bronson B:The Digital Tradition Database F:/songs M:3/4 L:1/8 K:F z2 z A B A |G G A B c B |A2 B c |d2 d d e c | w: There was a la-dy in the North Coun-try. Lay the bend tae the bon-nie d2 z d d c |B2 d2 c B |A3 z G A |A B A G A B |G2 z4 | w: broom. And she had love-ly daugh-ters three. Fa la la la la la la la la. Edited By dmcg - 10/15/2002 12:35:28 PM | ||
| Watson | Posted - 15 Oct 02 - 12:29 pm | |
Much as I hate to criticise Dave - isn't it usual to put a URL in the link to the Database? | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 15 Oct 02 - 12:33 pm | |
I consider myself suitably chastised! The links are now in place. | ||
| Watson | Posted - 15 Oct 02 - 12:36 pm | |
Thank you. | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 15 Oct 02 - 12:58 pm | |
Several copies are held at the Bodleian Ballad Site. The older copies were printed by Coles, F. (London); Vere, T. (London); Wright, J. (London); Clarke, J. (London) between 1674 and 1679 Copies: 4o Rawl. 566(193) Wood E 25(15) | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 15 Oct 02 - 05:09 pm | |
The Whittaker text was taken from Bruce and Stokoe's Northumbrian Minstrelsy, and has indeed been shortened. That text was found by J.H. Dixon in the Bodleian Collection (presumably one of the examples in the above links), and published in The Local Historian's Table Book, whence Bruce and Stokoe got it. The tune they gave was that printed by Thomas D'Urfey in Pills to Purge Melancholy (1699), though (like Chappell in Popular Music of the Olden Time) they regularise the time signature from cut-common to 3/4, and also change some notes. Bronson, on the other hand, uses D'Urfey's note values but emends the barring; two bars are in 2/4 rather than 3/4 throughout as given above. Perhaps someone at the DT didn't know how to change time signatures in a midi! | ||
| Mr Happy | Posted - 16 Oct 02 - 01:47 am | |
what does it mean- 'Lay the bent to the bonny broom'? i understand that 'bent' is a grass & 'broom' is gorse. is there some significance to these words? | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 16 Oct 02 - 02:00 am | |
Discussed at some length in old Mudcat threads, and very recently at rec.music.folk, where I gave up trying to explain to somebody why he had missed the point. Not much you can do with someone who has based an entire argument on a misunderstanding based on either a misprint or a false memory, but who is too full of himself to admit the possibility that he might have made a mistake. (moan, grumble). Essentially, if there has to be a meaning, the likely options are 1. Magic. 2. Sex. Magic was more popular in the early analyses (19th century and early 20th) and remains so with the romantics, but my money's on sex in this case. Think in terms of straightforward metaphor involving genitals. | ||
&id=25252.gif&seq=1&size=1){kind=link}
&id=24493.gif&seq=1&size=1){kind=link}