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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
Stewie Origins/Versions: Matty Groves / Mattie Groves (60* d) Lyr Add: LITTLE MUSGRAVE AND LADY BARNARD 05 Dec 99


Here's another one.

LITTLE MUSGRAVE AND LADY BARNARD
(Little Matthy Groves)

Oh a high holiday, on a high holiday,
The very first day of the year,
Little Matthy Groves to church did go
God's holy word to hear, hear,
God's holy word to hear.

The first that come in was a gay lady,
And the next that came in was a girl,
And the next that came in was Lord Arnold's wife,
The fairest of them all, all,
The fairest of them all.

She stepped right up unto this one
And she made him this reply,
Saying, 'You must go home with me tonight,
All night with me for to lie'.

'I cannot go with you tonight,
I cannot for my life;
For I know by the rings that are on your fingers
You are Lord Arnold's wife'.

'And if I am Lord Arnold's wife,
I know that Lord Arnold's gone away.
He's gone away to Old England
To see King Hen-e-ry'.

A little footpage was standing by,
And he took to his feet and run.
He run till he came to the waterside,
And he bent on his breast and swum.

'What news, what news, my little footpage,
What news have you for me?
Are my castle walls all tor-en down,
Or are my castles three?'

'Your castle walls are not tor-en down
Nor are your castles three,
But little Matthy Groves is in your house
In bed with your gay lady!'

He took his merry men by the hand
And placed them all in a row,
And he bade them not one word for to speak
And not one horn for to blow.

There was one man among them all
Who owed little Matthy some good will,
And he put his bugle horn to his mouth
And he blew both loud and shrill.

'Hark, hark! hark! hark!' said little Matthy Groves,
'I hear the bugle blow,
And every note it seems to say
Arise, arise and go!'

'Lie down, lie down, little Matthy Groves,
And keep my back from the cold,
It is my father's shepherd boys
A-blowing up the sheep from the fold'.

From that they fell to hugging and kissing,
And from that they fell to sleep,
And next morning when they woke at the break of day,
Lord Arnold stood at their feet.

'And it's how do you like my fine featherbed,
And it's how do you like my sheets?
And it's how do you like my gay lady
That lies in your arms and sleeps?

'Very well do I like your fine featherbed,
Very well do I like your sheets,
But much better do I like your gay lady
That lies in my arms and sleeps'.

'Now get you up, little Matthy Groves,
And all your clothes put on,
For it never shall be said in Old England
That I slew a naked man'.

'I will get up', said little Matthy Groves,
'And fight you for my life,
Though you've two bright swords hanging by your side
And me not a pocket knife'.

'If I've two bright swords by my side,
They cost me deep in purse,
And you shall have the better of the two
And I will keep the worse'.

The very first lick that little Matthy struck
He wounded Lord Arnold sore,
But the very first lick that Lord Arnold struck,
Little Matthy struck no more.

He took his lady by the hand,
And he downed her on his knee,
Saying, 'Which do you like the best, my dear,
Little Matthy Groves or me?'

'Very well do I like your rosy cheeks,
Very well do I like your dimpled chin,
But better do I like little Matthy Groves
Than you and all your kin'.

He took his lady by the hand
And led her o'er the plain,
He took the broadsword from his side
And he split her head in twain.

"Hark, hark, hark', doth the nightingale sing,
And the sparrows they do cry;
'Today I've killed two true lovers,
And tomorrow I must die!'

Collected from Mrs Eva Warner Case, Harrison County, Missouri, 1916. In H.M. Beldon 'Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society' Columbia 1940 (reprint edition 1966), p 58. With Music. Also printed without music in Duncan Emrich 'American Folk Poetry: An Anthology' Little, Brown and Company 1974. Child #81, Coffin #79, Bronson, II, 267.


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