The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #62408 Message #1009004
Posted By: Malcolm Douglas
27-Aug-03 - 11:54 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: The Two Magicians (A. L. Lloyd)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A. L. Lloyd's Two Magicians
Further:
Verse 3: Well may you dress
Verse 12: Pink-necked
The DT text is Lloyd's re-write, though with some mistakes. Aside from them, it's as "authentic" as Roberto's transcription, though filtered through other people since Lloyd. The text above comes directly from a recording by Lloyd, though, and includes verses not so often sung, so is in that sense more complete and, I suppose, "authentic".
So far as recall, all known traditional texts (there are very few) have been posted in one of the earlier discussions (see links above); together, of course, with a number of modern verses made up by other people and tacked onto both William Sparks' traditional version and Bert Lloyd's rewrite. Sadly, some of those "fake" verses had found their way into the text of the former I posted three years ago. Nothing against people adding to songs, but such additions should be indicated so that no one imagines that they are authentic and proceeds to use them as "evidence" of something (in the case of this particular song that tends to be the "pagan origins" canard).
It is also time that the Traditional Ballad Index removed that remark accusing Sharp of bowdlerising Mr Sparks' set. They may think that the word ought to be "maidenhead", but that isn't what the man sang. He sang "maiden name", and Sharp wrote it down.