Lyr Add: The Shepherd's Daughter

Subject: Lyr Add: The Shepherd's Daughter
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 13 Feb 11 - 09:07 PM

Having searched for this by both title, and distinctive line "A shepherd maid"" It appears not to be in the DT
This version is from:
"English Folk-Songs for Schools" (Curwen Edition 6051)
collected and arranged by S Baring Gould, M.A. and Cecil J. Sharp, B.A.

A shepherd maid to London came,
Her feet her there did bring.
She hasted to the King's palace,
And knock-ed at the ring.
Line, twine, the willow and the dee.

There was no servant in the hall,
Nor noble heard the din,
And so there came the King himself,
And let the fair maid in.

"What would'st thou have of me?" he said,
"Oh, what dost seek?" said he.
"Thou hast a man in thy fair court,
That hast a robbèd me."

He hath not robb'd me, gentle sir,
Of purple or of pall,
But he hath stol'n my heart away,
Which grieves me most of all."

"How dost thou know this robber knight,
What dost thou know him by?"
"By his locks which are as yellow wheat,
And by his bright blue eye."

"Oh! if he be a married man,
I'll hang him on a tree,
But if he be a bachelor
His body I'll give thee."

The King he call-ed down his men
By one, by two, by three;
Sir William once was first of all,
And now the last came he.

Then he held out full fifty pound
All wrappèd in a glove,
"Fair maid, I'll give the same to thee;
Go seek another love,"

"Oh! I want nothing of thy gold,
Nor nothing of thy fee,
But I will have thy body whole,
The King hath granted me."

"A shepherd's maiden tho' I was,
My heart if left but free,
I ne'er had come to London town,
To ask of aught from thee."

He set her on a milk-white steed,
Himself upon a grey,
And forth he rode with the shepherd maid,
From London town away.

The very first town they came unto,
He bought her a golden ring,
the very next town they came unto,
He made her a gay wedding.
Line, twine, the willow and the dee.


As with other songs from this songbook, if someone wishes to add the ABC, I can scan the dots.
I can't be sure whether Line, twine, the willow and the dee. is intended to be only at the end of verses 1 & 12, or after every verse.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Shepherd's Daughter
From: Artful Codger
Date: 13 Feb 11 - 09:37 PM

John Roberts and Tony Barrand sang a similar song titled (if memory serves) "Knight William and the Shepherd's Daughter." It tells the backstory as well. The knight is forced by the king to marry the shepherd's daughter, though quite unwillingly:

"Oh God forbid, oh God forbid, o God forbid," cried he;
"Oh little did I think that a beggar's brat would have to make a wife for me."
Chorus
With your roses all in bloom,
Go no more a courting so late in the afternoon!

And there the song ends. Ah, another evil Willie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Shepherd's Daughter
From: Snuffy
Date: 14 Feb 11 - 09:05 AM

In the Young Tradition's version of Knight William, she turns out to be really a duke's daughter.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Shepherd's Daughter
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 14 Feb 11 - 09:29 AM

Child 110, The Knight & The Shephersd's Daughter. You will find a version thus titled, incl elements of yours above, incl the chorus, but without her being "a duke's daughter & he but a squire's son" as rendered in some versions like the YT's mentioned above, on my youtube channel ~~

http://www.youtube.com/user/mgmyer

tune IIRC from Dave Burland, words collated.


~Michael~

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Shepherd's Daughter
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 14 Feb 11 - 09:35 AM

"Ah, another evil Willie."

A perspicacious observation, Artful. This creeping anti-willie-ism! It's not fair!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Shepherd's Daughter
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 14 Feb 11 - 09:35 AM

Several versions in DT in fact, as The Knight & The Shepherd's Daughter.

~M~

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Shepherd's Daughter
From: RTim
Date: 14 Feb 11 - 12:20 PM

Here is a version of The Knight & The Shepherd's Daughter, collected by Dr. George Gardiner in Bartley, Hampshire from Gyspy and Wood Merchant - Albert Doe in 1909.
I have augmented Doe's version with 3 verses (Verses 7 to 9 ) - from Alfred Emery
Of Othery, Somerset, collect by Cecil Sharp April 1908. The story then makes more sense.

Tim Radford
=====================================

THE KNIGHT & THE SHEPHERDS DAUGHTER.
(Doe H1320 - Child 110.)
ItÕs of a shepherds daughter
Kept sheep upon the hill
And a squire he came riding by
Of her he had his will
- Twankum down in the dillo
- Twankum down in the dillo, dillo day

ItÕs now youÕve had your will of me
Pray tell to me your name
That when my baby it is born
It might be called the same

ItÕs some that call me Jack sweetheart
And some do call me John
But when I come to the kingÕs castle
My name is Sweet William.

He mounted on his milk white steed
And over the valleys he rode
She tucked her apron round her waist
And ran by the horses side.

She ran till she came to the broad water
She bent her breast and swam
And itÕs when she came to the land again
She wrung her tails and ran.

She ran till she came to the kingÕs castle
She tapped all at the ring
Who should be there but the king himself
To let this fair maid in.
.
Good morning to you kind sire said she
Good morning fair maid said he
Have you got a Knight all in your house
This day has a-robbed me.

Have he robbed you any of your gold
Or any of your store?
Have he robbed you of your golden ring
Which you wear on your little finger?

He ainÕt robbed me of any of my gold
Nor any of my store
But he robbed me of my maidenhead
That grieves my heart so sore.

And if he is and a married man
Hang-ed he shall be
And if he is and a singe man
His body IÕll give to thee.

Then the king he called his merry men all
By one, by two, by three
Sweet William that used to be the very first
The last man down was he.

And then he took five hundred pound
Tied fast all in a purse
Saying you take this my fair pretty maid
And I hope youÕre none the worse.

IÕll not have your gold sweetheart
Nor IÕll not have your purse
But I will have your fair body
For the king gave it to me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Shepherd's Daughter
From: Artful Codger
Date: 14 Feb 11 - 05:59 PM

I miscited the title John & Tony used on their album Spencer the Rover: it was also "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter."


To RTim: Your quotes, apostrophes and such aren't viewed by most people the way you see them; they need to be escaped. See this thread: Entering special characters

(FWIW, you probably have a similar problem with text posted by most Windows users, because they also fail to encode such characters.)

Here's your text reposted, with the offending characters encoded:


THE KNIGHT & THE SHEPHERDS DAUGHTER.
(Doe H1320 - Child 110.)
It’s of a shepherds daughter
Kept sheep upon the hill
And a squire he came riding by
Of her he had his will
- Twankum down in the dillo
- Twankum down in the dillo, dillo day

It’s now you’ve had your will of me
Pray tell to me your name
That when my baby it is born
It might be called the same

It’s some that call me Jack sweetheart
And some do call me John
But when I come to the king’s castle
My name is Sweet William.

He mounted on his milk white steed
And over the valleys he rode
She tucked her apron round her waist
And ran by the horses side.

She ran till she came to the broad water
She bent her breast and swam
And it’s when she came to the land again
She wrung her tails and ran.

She ran till she came to the king’s castle
She tapped all at the ring
Who should be there but the king himself
To let this fair maid in.
.
Good morning to you kind sire said she
Good morning fair maid said he
Have you got a Knight all in your house
This day has a-robbed me.

Have he robbed you any of your gold
Or any of your store?
Have he robbed you of your golden ring
Which you wear on your little finger?

He ain’t robbed me of any of my gold
Nor any of my store
But he robbed me of my maidenhead
That grieves my heart so sore.

And if he is and a married man
Hang-ed he shall be
And if he is and a singe man
His body I’ll give to thee.

Then the king he called his merry men all
By one, by two, by three
Sweet William that used to be the very first
The last man down was he.

And then he took five hundred pound
Tied fast all in a purse
Saying you take this my fair pretty maid
And I hope you’re none the worse.

I’ll not have your gold sweetheart
Nor I’ll not have your purse
But I will have your fair body
For the king gave it to me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Shepherd's Daughter
From: RTim
Date: 14 Feb 11 - 07:54 PM

Dodger - Your text looks identical to mine!! So as far as I am concerned - it's you with the problem.

Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Shepherd's Daughter
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 18 Feb 11 - 06:29 PM

In RTim's text, I see Õ wherever there should be an apostrophe.

And in both cases, the apostrophe in "shepherd's" is invisible!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Shepherd's Daughter
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 19 Feb 11 - 11:15 AM

Here's my theory about this ballad:

Somewhere around the 15th/16th century the European royalty and nobility discovered the pastoral poetry of the Ancient Greek/Sicilian poet, Theocritus (c. 310 - 250 BC) - which was all about shepherds and shepherdesses poncing about in idealised rural landscapes.

Once the said royalty and noblity had discovered this stuff they developed a voracious appetite for 'nouveau-pastoral' poetry (Sir Philip Sidney, Spenser, Drayton, Shakespeare etc.) and even resorted to dressing up as shepherds and shepherdesses and poncing about in real, but idealised, rural landscapes. Sometimes, in an effort to create the idealised landscapes to ponce about in, they first drove the ordinary inhabitants out of them - probably using force if necessary.

Now of course, in those days, royalty and nobility didn't marry for love but in order to form alliances (they had mistresses and 'toy boys' for the romantic stuff).

So perhaps the 'Shepherd's Daughter' really was a Duke's daughter and said Duke wanted to form an alliance with Knight William's family - but KW was too dim and befuddled with drink to take the hint.

So the Duke says to his daughter: "Right, put on that 'Shepherdesses' outfit - you know, that outrageously revealing one that I usually forbid you to ponce about in - and go and wait for KW at the crossroads."

So, the 'Shepherd's Daughter' accosts the befuddled KW (he is on his way home from the tavern) and says: "Well, hello, big boy, what a big horse you've got!"

And you know the rest.