ADD: Jamie by Vulcans Hammer

Subject: RE: ADD: Jamie by Vulcans Hammer
From: The Doctor
Date: 17 Oct 25 - 11:26 AM

This is what I took down from the LP:

                                           Jamie

      Cm               Gm                      Cm      Gm
And Jamie he has made a vow, and keep it well if he may,
       Cm                   Gm                  Ab         Bb
That he would be in merry London on St. James’ day.
Eb                   Ab                   Eb                   Bb
‘On St. James’ day at noon in London I will be,
       Eb                   Cm                   Ab             G7          Cm
And all the lords in merry Scotland there shall dine with me.’

Then up spoke Queen Margaret, the tears fell from her eye,
‘Leave off these wars, my noble king, and keep your fidelity.
For the water is wide and wondrous deep from the bottom unto the brim.
My brother Henry has men good enough. England is hard to win.’

‘Away, away this silly fool, in prison let her lie,
For she comes of the English blood, and for these words she shall die.’
Then up spoke Lord Thomas Howard, the Queen’s chamberlain that day,
Saying, ‘If you kill Queen Margaret Scotland shall rue it alway.’

Then Jamie, in a rage, said, ‘Away this foolish mome.
He shall be hanged, the other burned, as soon as I come home.’
At Flodden Field the Scots came in, which made our English men faine.
At Bramstone Greene this battle was seen, and there was Jamie slain.

Then presently the Scots did fly, their cannon they left behind.
Their banners gay all won away, our soldiers beat them blind.
For to tell you plain, twelve thousand were slain, that’s how the fight did stand.
And many’s the prisoner took that day, the best in all Scotland.

That day left many the fatherless child and many the widow poor,
And many a Scottish lady gay sat weeping in her bower.
Jack with a feather was wrapped all in leather, his boastings were all in vain.
For he had such a chance with a new Morris dance, but he never came home again.

And Jamie he has made a vow, and keep it well if he may,
That he would be in merry London on St James's Day

Vulcan's Hammer used to sing at Farningham, which is where I first herd them. If I think hard enough I might remember where they said the tune came from. Phil's wife, Kay, has sadly died, but I believe Phil is still going.

Subject: ADD: Jamie by Vulcans Hammer
From: GUEST,Caprice
Date: 15 Oct 25 - 03:04 PM

I gave it a go; the biggest departure seems to be in the seventh verse where the king declares he'll kill both his wife and her chamberlain:

JAMIE

And Jamie he had made a vow
And keep it well if he may
That he would be in merry London
On St. James’s Day

“On Saint James’s Day at noon
In London I will be
And all the lords in merry Scotland
There should ride with me"

Then up spoke Queen Margaret
The tears fell from her eye
“Leave off these wars, O noble king
And keep your fidelity

For the water's wide and it's wondrous deep
From the bottom unto the brim
Me brother Henry has men good enough
England is hard to win”

“Away, away, this silly fool,
In prison let her lie
For she is of the English blood
And for these words she will die!”

Then up spoke Lord Thomas Howard
Queen chamberlain that day
Saying “If you kill Queen Margaret
Scotland'll rue it alway”

Jamie, all in a rage
Said “Away, this silly mome
One shall be hanged and the other burned
When I return anon”

At Flodden Field the Scots came in
Which made our Englishmen fain
At Branxton Green the battle was seen
And there was Jamie slain

And presently the Scots did fly
Their cannon they left behind
Their banners gay were all run away
Our soldiers beat them blind

For to tell you plain, twelve thousand were slain
And that's how the fight did stand
And many was a prisoner took that day
The best in all Scotland

That day left many a fatherless child
And many the widow poor
And many the Scottish gay lady
Sat weeping all in her bower

But Jack with a feather was wrapped all in leather
For his boasting was all in vain
But he had such a chance with a new Morris dance
But he never came home again

And Jamie he had made a vow
And keep it well if he may
That he would be in merry London
On St. James’s Day

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jamie by Vulcans Hammer
From: The Sandman
Date: 27 Apr 25 - 12:07 PM

his name has just come back to me Phil Burkin

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jamie by Vulcans Hammer
From: The Sandman
Date: 27 Apr 25 - 12:06 PM

Apologies for capitals

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jamie by Vulcans Hammer
From: The Sandman
Date: 27 Apr 25 - 12:06 PM

Vulcans Hammer were from the Rochester, kent area, the main ssinger Phil dances with Hartley morris men, AND SHOULD BE CONTACTABLE VIA THAT MORRIS SIDE AND MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP YOU

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jamie by Vulcans Hammer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 25 - 05:31 PM

I love it. 45 minutes later a comprehensive answer for a question about song lyrics. I look forward to watching the post of and tweaking of lyrics. Mudcat at its best. :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jamie by Vulcans Hammer
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Apr 25 - 04:30 PM

Hi - I've linked all the possibly related threads together, along with the Digital Tradition Database lyrics for Flodden Field, which is Child Ballad #168.
I've pasted the Vulcan's Hammer recording of "Jamie" below. It's very close to the traditional lyrics for "Flodden Field," but I can't make out enough of the "Jamie" version to come up with a good transcription. Can you post the lyrics you have, and then we can work together to come up with a full transcription?
Thanks.
Joe Offer, Mudcat Music Editor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyrFdc7Raso

Subject: Lyr Req: Jamie by Vulcans Hammer
From: GUEST,Doormouse
Date: 22 Apr 25 - 03:45 PM

Hello!
I am hoping someone could help me figure out the lyrics to this song, I can't tell what he says before "ride with me" in the chorus. I saw that someone else had a thread on here about this in 2005, but I couldn't find the "database" that contained these lyrics that they mentioned. They said it might also go by "flooded field"