4149 FLYCOCK4   WESTRON WYND (3)   The text was quoted from James Reeves, The Everlasting Circle, Heinemann, 1960. It was noted by H.E.D. Hammond from Farmer Mills at Knowle Farm, Beaminster, Dorset. Date unknown, but around 1905-7 as like as not. Verse 4 was completed from a set noted by Hammond from Robert Barratt, Piddletown, Dorset, in 1905, Hammond having noted only the first line followed by "etc". This is unlikely to have been an attempt at "bowdlerisation", as one of several people whose conversation is quoted in the file suggested (I can't find the original thread at present, so can't check identities); more likely he just didn't bother writing it down because it was identical to the verse in the other set.

We have one of those perennial difficulties over titles, here. Hammond published Barratt's set in The Journal of the Folk Song Society (vol. VIII, issue 34, 1930) as Oh, Once I Loved a Lass, while Reeves re-named both texts The Grey Cock. Joan Brocklebank and Biddie Kindersley (A Dorset Book of Folk Songs, EFDSS, 1948) printed Barratt's set as O Once I Loved a Lass, and Frank Purslow (Marrowbones, EFDSS, 1965) printed a text collated from both sets, and set to Barratt's tune, as The Light of the Moon. It seems a little perverse to re-name it Westron Wynd at this late date, even if there is a connection (by no means certain) between it and the famous fragment. Presumably, Farmer Mills' text was only quoted because of this perceived connection; so far as I know, his tune has never been published.

Midi made, then, from Robert Barratt's set, which is the closest we can get without referring to Hammond's MSS. I have used the notation given by Purslow, since he used some of Mills' text (including the first verse) and has modified the tune a bit to accomodate the different line lengths. It should be noted that this is a compromise tune, and not the one actually used by Mills; nor, strictly, is it, any more, Barratt's tune; though made from it.

Roud 179, Child 248.

4201 ERICHDAU   WILLIE AND EARL RICHARD'S DAUGHTER   Child 102A. Originally printed in Jamieson, Popular Songs and Ballads from Tradition, 1806. From Mrs. Anna Brown of Falkland. The tune for this version was not noted.

4202 ERICHDAU   WILLIE AND EARL RICHARD'S DAUGHTER (A)   Child 102A: this file is a duplicate of the above, and should be deleted.

4203 ERICDAU2   WILLIE AND EARL RICHARD'S DAUGHTER (BIRTH OF ROBIN HOOD)   Child 102B: originally printed in Peter Buchan, Ancient Ballads and Songs of the North of Scotland, 1828. Buchan printed text only, but Dean Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, vol. I, 1876, gives a tune, saying: "This Air is arranged from the way it was sung by the Editor's maternal grandfather to The Birth of Robin Hood. The words he sung to the air were somewhat, so far as the Editor can remember, like those given by Buchan II 1. Some slight alterations are here made on Mr. Buchan's version from the way the Editor heard the ballad sung."

Midi made from Christie's notation, then, with the trills and gracenotes omitted. This is not ideal, but is necessary in this case to prevent the midi from becoming too cluttered. So as not to misrepresent the tune too much, though, I append it here in abc, with all the decorations intact and the uneven triplets given as written (in the midi I have had to fudge them). Most abc programs appear incapable of translating the notation precisely, however; I have given the notation as best I can according to my incomplete understanding of abc standards, which don't appear to have been developed sufficiently -so far- to express many of the normal, but less often used, forms of staff notation. If anybody can work out how to do it more successfully, please do! If anyone would like a scan of Christie's staff, I'll be happy to oblige.

X:1
T:The Birth of Robin Hood
T:Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter
B:Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, vol.I 1876.
N:Child 102B, Roud 3910.
N:The ~ symbol should be read as a trill.
N:The double gracenotes indicated in bars 4,8,12 and 16 should be tied to the preceding note in each case. The latter 3 may not be displayed by many abc programs.
L:1/8
Q:1/4=100
M:3/4
K:F
G3/2A/|((3B3/2c/d) d2 ((3cd)f|{d}c3/2G/ G2 {A}G3/2F/|Bd ~d2 {cd}f3/2A/|
w:Mo-ny ane__ talks o'_ the grass, the grass, And_ mo-ny ane o' the
{A}G4 (G3/2A/)|{A}c3/2A/ {A}G2 (F3/2G/)|{B}AG/F/ {F}D2 (C3/2D/)|
w:corn; And_ mo-ny talk o'_ gude Ro-bin Hood, That_
FA ~G2 {FG}((3AG)F|{F}D4 (C3/2D/)|FA G2 (F3/2G/)|
w:ken-na whare he_ was born. His_ fa-ther was the_
{B}A(G/F/) {F}D2 (C3/2D/)|FA ~A2 {GA}(c3/2A/)|{A}G4 (G3/2A/)|
w:earl's own_ steward, Sprung_ frae sma' pe-di-*gree; His_
(3B3/2c/d d2 {d}c3/2B/|(B/A/)(G/F/) {F}D2 C3/2D/|FA {A}~G2 {FG}((3AGF)|{F}D4|]
w:mo-ther, Earl Hunt-ing-don's ae_ daugh-*ter, For he had nane else but__ she.

Christie sets verses 1 and 3 of Buchan's text (slightly changed) to the two-part tune; I follow his text. Anybody who can't work out how to fit it to the DT text probably has no business trying to sing it!