Origins: Drowsy Sleeper

Subject: RE: Origins: Drowsy Sleeper
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 11 Jul 16 - 05:37 PM

Well researched, Richie!

Subject: RE: Origins: Drowsy Sleeper
From: Richie
Date: 13 Jul 16 - 12:12 AM

Hi,

I finally put all the Grig-Duncan versions on my site. Version V is by the same informant as version P so there are 21 versions. I have two questions maybe someone could help:

1) Footnote 1- is that right for "couthie"?
2) Who is James M. Taylor- I guessed but I don't like to presume anything :)

From: The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection - Volume 4; edited by Patrick N. Shuldham-Shaw, Emily B. Lyle - 1981. Collected in North Scotland in early 1900s by Gavin Greig (1856–1914), and the minister James Bruce Duncan 1848-1917).

I'm guessing that this is James M. Taylor (1872-1944), a poet, of Alford, Aberdeenshire.

A James M. Taylor wrote this in the WFP, "18 April 1914, p 12 [warm appreciation of work of Gavin Greig and the way it is changing the popular perception of folk song]. Greig, of course, ran the most famous folk-song column of all, in the Buchan Observer, . . ."


T. "I Will Put My Ship" - Sung by James M. Taylor (1872-1944) of Alford, Aberdeenshire. Collected by Gavin Greig.

1.   I will put my ship all in good order,
And I will sail far across the sea,
I will sail on to my true love's window,
And see if my love minds on me.

2. I sail-ed east, sae did I west,
I sail-ed up, sae did I down,
Until I came to my true love's window,
I knock-ed loudly and fain would be in.

3. "Who is that at my bedroom window,
That speaks sae couthie[1] unto me?"
It's the voice of my true love Johnnie,
But I'm afraid that it is not he.

4.   It's you'll arise, love, go and ask your mother
And see if she be willing you my bride to be,
And if she refuse you, come back and tell me,
It'll be the last time I'll visit thee.

5. My mother's in her bedroom sleeping,
And talks of love, cannot reach her ear
She bids you to go love and court another,
And whisper softly in her[2] ear.

6. It's you'll arise, love, go and ask your father
And see if he be willing you my bride to be,
And if he refuse you, come back and tell me,
It'll be the last time I'll visit thee.

7. My father's in his count room counting,
He's counting o'er his merchandise;
And he has a letter into his pocket,
Which bears note to your dispraise.

8. To my dispraise love, to my dispraise,
To my dispraise love, how can it be?
For I never denied you nor never slighted you,
Until this night ye have slighted me.

9. It's she 'rose, putting on her clothes,
It was a' to let her ain true love in,
But before she got the door unbolted,
The ship was sailing across the main.

10. "Come back, come back, come back my Johnnie,
Come back and speak one word to me,"
It's "How could I come back to you love,
When the ship she's sailing across the sea?"

11. The fish may fly, the seas gang dry,
And a' the rocks melt wi' the sun,
Husbandmen may give over their labour,
Before that I return again.

12. She turned herself right 'round about,
And she's flang herself into the sea
Saying, "Ye may come back again when ye think proper,
But ye'll never hae to come back to me."

1. uncouthly; i.e boisterously or loudly
2. originally "my"

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: Drowsy Sleeper
From: Richie
Date: 13 Jul 16 - 12:49 AM

Hi,

Here are the UK versions so far: http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/british--other-versions-2-the-drowsy-sleeper.aspx

Please let me know if I'm missing any versions. I haven't thoroughly looked at every possible UK version or put them all on (the Butcher version is not on yet- but I have it).

I have used Steve Gardham's composite for the "I Will Put My Ship" versions (23 total, some just one stanza) and have roughed in the headnotes (see link above to read them). These Scottish stanzas (16) are some of the finest traditional examples-- yet they have no age or provenance, going back to the mid-1800s.

It seems like quite a leap to have Irish versions (and broadsides) dated 1834 and 1892 which are based on The Drowsy Sleeper British broadsides to then jump to "Sweet Bann Water" in 1937 which is totally different but closer to the traditional ballad.

The more recent Irish versions by John Butcher, Joe Holmes and Len Graham seem almost to have been recreations of the 1937 version. I'm not sure of any connecting versions from the 40s or 50s.

Any help is appreciated,

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: Drowsy Sleeper
From: Richie
Date: 15 Jul 16 - 07:27 PM

Hi,

I've finished the headnotes on the Drowsy Sleeper, a ballad that encompasses 6 different ballads. You may read the headnotes on my site: http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/2-the-drowsy-sleeper-awake-awake.aspx There are also separate headnotes for the US versions and UK versions.

I want to thank everyone who participated in this study and particularly Steve Gardham who sent me the Greig-Duncan versions- they are all on my site. I also want to thank other mudcatters who participated in the earlier threads: East Virginia.

This is a complex ballad and the six groups have subgroups as well as related ballads (The Lover's Ghost/ East Virginia etc.). All suggestions or additional comments are welcomed.

TY

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: Drowsy Sleeper
From: Tradsinger
Date: 16 Jul 16 - 01:04 PM

I haven't absorbed all the above information but if it helps, here's what I recorded from Rita Emerson, aged 90, from WVa in 1998:


Drowsy Sleepers

Arouse, arouse, you drowsy sleepers
Arouse, arouse, 'tis almost day.
Throw open your doors and armour your windows
And hear what your true lover has to say.

'Go away, dear Willie, you'll wake up my mother.
Tales of love she will not hear.
Go away, dear Willie and court another
Or whisper softly in my ear.'

'I will not go 'way and court any other
For by my love I mean no harm
I would only take you away from your mother
To rescue in your true lover's arms.'

'Go away, dear Willie, you'll wake up my father.
And he is taking of his rest
And in his broad arms he carries a weapon
To slay the one that I love best.

I wish I were in some lonely valley
Where I could neither see nor hear
My food it would be of grief and of sorrow
My drink would be of the briny tears.

For down in yon meadow there is a sharp arrow
I wish it were through my breast,
It'd drive away all grief and all sorrow
And take my troubles home to rest.

Tradsinger

Subject: RE: Origins: Drowsy Sleeper
From: Richie
Date: 16 Jul 16 - 05:27 PM

Ty Gwilym,

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: Drowsy Sleeper
From: Richie
Date: 16 Jul 16 - 09:37 PM

By the way Gwilym, the version you collected is part of the second type of US traditional ballad where no suicide by silver dagger occurs. A very similar version was collected by Cox in West Virginia that dates back to 1880. In it the lover leaves but kills himself with an arrow (in your collected version it's only a wish that the suicide would happen). Another version with the arrow suicide is "Awake, Awake" in James Ashby's MS from Missouri in 1874 (Belden C).

The usual versions without a suicide have similarly this excellent stanza,

I wish I were in some lonely valley
Where I could neither see nor hear
My food it would be of grief and of sorrow
My drink would be of the briny tears.

which is followed by the "Come back" stanza found in Scotch "I Will Put My Ship" versions.

A very nice and somewhat rare version,

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: Drowsy Sleeper
From: Richie
Date: 17 Jul 16 - 02:44 PM

Hi,

I'm reviewing the US/Canada versions. I've seen three references to a Nithdale ballad from Cunningham but I believe that is not the source. Here's what he said:

From Alan Cunningham's Works of Robert Burns: With His Life, Volume 4 (1834). Cunningham writes: 'An old Nithsdale song seems to have been in the Poet's thoughts when he wrote this exquisite lyric. Martha Crosbie, a carder and spinner of wool, sometimes desiring to be more than commonly acceptable to the children of my father's house, made her way to their hearts by singing the following ancient strain:-

    "Who is this under my window?
    Who is this that troubles me?"
    "O, it is I, love, and none but I, love,
    I wish to speak one word with thee.

I don't see where Cunningham says it's a Nithdale ballad and I think it was collected in London at his father's house. Do you agree? Was father's house in London in 1834? Where is Martha Crosbie from?

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: Drowsy Sleeper
From: Richie
Date: 17 Jul 16 - 03:19 PM

Hi,

I've found out that Allan's father John Cunningham (1743-1800) was a neighbor of Burns when Robert lived in Ellisland.

Apparently it is a Nithsdale song. From "Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song" by Robert Hartley Cromek, Allan Cunningham, William Gillespie, 1880 (reprinted from 1810):


O WHO IS THIS UNDER MY WINDOW?

This old song is taken down from the singing of Martha Crosbie, from whose recitation Burns wrote down the song of "The Waukrife Minnie."
It has a fine affecting tune, and is much sung by the young girls of Nithsdale. Burns has certainly imitated the last verse of it in his "Red, red Rose."

O Who is this under my window?
O who is this that troubles me?"
"O it is ane wha is broken-hearted,
Complaining to his God o' thee."

"O ask your heart, my bonnie Mary,
O ask your heart gif it minds o' me!"
"Ye were a drap o' the dearest bluid in't,
Sae lang as ye were true to me."

"If e'er the moon saw ye in my arms, love,
If e'er the light dawned in my ee,
I hae been doubly fause to heaven,
But ne'er ae moment fause to thee.

"My father ca'd me to his chamber,
Wi' lowin' anger in his ee;
Gae put that traitor frae thy bosom,
Or never mair set thy ee on me.

"I hae wooed lang love—I hae loved kin' love,
An' monie a peril I've braved for thee;
I've traitor been to monie a ane love,
But ne'er a traitor nor fause to thee.

"My mither sits hie in her chamber,
Wi' saute tears happin' frae her ee;
O he wha turns his back on heaven,
O he maun ay be fause to thee!"

"Gang up, sweet May, to thy ladie mother,
An' dight the saute tears frae her ee;
Tell her I've turned my face to heaven,
Ye hae been heaven owre lang to me!"

O up she rose, and away she goes,
Into her true love's arms to fa';
But ere the bolts and the bars she loosed,
Her true love was fled awa.

"O whare's he gane whom I lo'e best,
And has left me here for to sigh an' mane;
O I will search the hale world over,
'Till my true love I find again.

"The seas shall grow wi' harvests yellow,
The mountains melt down wi' the sun;
The labouring man shall forget his labour,
The blackbird shall not sing but mourn,
If ever I prove fause to my love,
Till once I see if he return."

Here's a link p. 219-221: https://archive.org/stream/remainsofnithsda00cromiala#page/220/mode/2up
This is obviously the same version of "Drowsy Sleeper". The question is why is it so different from the version published in 1834?

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: Drowsy Sleeper
From: Richie
Date: 17 Jul 16 - 03:27 PM

Here's Crosbie's version given by Cunningham in 1834:

    "Who is this under my window?
    Who is this that troubles me?"
    "O, it is I, love, and none but I, love,
    I wish to speak one word with thee.

    Go to your mother, and ask her, jewel,
    If she'll consent you my bride to be;
    And, if she does na, come back and tell me,
    This is the last time I'll visit thee."

    "My mother's in her chamber, jewel,
    And of lover's talking will not hear;
    Therefore you may go and court another,
    And whisper softly in her ear."

The song proceeds to relate how mother and father were averse to the lover's suit, and that, exasperated by their scorn, and the coldness of the maiden, he ran off in despair: on relenting, she finds he is gone, and breaks out in these fine lines:-

    "O, where's he gone that I love best,
    And has left me here to sigh and moan?
    O I will search the wide world over,
    Till my true love I find again.

    The seas shall dry, and the fishes fly,
    And the rocks shall melt down wi' the sun;
    The labouring man shall forget his labour,
    The blackbird shall not sing, but mourn,
    If ever I prove false to my love,
    Till once I see if he return." '

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: Drowsy Sleeper
From: Richie
Date: 18 Jul 16 - 07:27 PM

Hi,

Any help would be appreciated.

Robert Burn was a neighbor of John Cunningham (Allan's father) at Ellisland Farm, Dumfries from 1788-1791. According to Cromek's notes (provided by Cunningham) in 1810 Martha Crosbie the informant of "O who knocks at my Window" was also the informant for the "Seventeen Come Sunday" song, "The Waukrife Minnie" which was collected from recitation by Burns himself.

Cromek's Notes: This old song is taken down from the singing of Martha Crosbie, from whose recitation Burns wrote down the song of "The Waukrife Minnie."

According to Cunningham: Martha Crosbie, a carder and spinner of wool, sometimes desiring to be more than commonly acceptable to the children of my father's house, made her way to their hearts by singing the following ancient strain:

Since Allan Cunningham was born in 1784 I assume he was one of the children that Crosbie sang to.

So did Cromek meet Allan Cunningham in 1808 while working on his 1808 book, "Reliques of Burns, consisting chiefly of Original Letters, Poems, and Critical Observations on Scottish Songs"?

Then I assumed he had Allan collect songs in 1808-1809 and Alan submitted his recreated "O who knocks at my Window" as well as other recreations?

Since Allan provided the traditional text in 1834, what date should be given to "O who knocks at my Window"? 1809? Or earlier when Burns collected his version "How Old are you My pretty Little Miss?"

TY

Richie