Subject: Penguin: John Barleycorn ^^ From: Alan of Australia Date: 19 Mar 00 - 12:02 AM G'day, From the Penguin Book Of English Folk Songs, Ed Pellow's rendition of the tune of John Barleycorn can be found here.
JOHN BARLEYCORN
There was three men came out of the west,
Then they let him lie for a very long time
They hired men with the scythes so sharp
They wheeled him round and round the field
Here's little Sir John in a nut-brown bowl, Other versions are here, here, and here.
Previous song: Jack The Jolly Tar.
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Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 18 Aug 00 - 01:56 PM From the notes to the Penguin Book (1959): "This ballad is rather a mystery. Is it an unusually coherent folklore survival of the ancient myth of the slain and resurrected Corn-God, or is it the creation of an antiquarian revivalist, which has passed into the popular currency and become "folklorized"? It is in any case an old song, of which an elaborate form was printed in the reign of James I. It was widespread over the English and Scottish countryside, and Burns re-wrote a well-known version. During the present century, versions have been collected in Sussex (FSJ vol.I [issue 3] p.81), Hampshire (FSJ vol.III [issue 13] pp.255-6), Surrey (FSJ vol.VI [issue 21] pp.27-8), Somerset (Folk Songs From Somerset, Cecil Sharp, 1904-9, vol.III p.9 and vol.IV p.32) and Wiltshire (Folk Songs of the Upper Thames, Alfred Williams, 1923, p.246). The tune is a variant of that usually associated with the carol, Dives and Lazarus." -R.V.W./A.L.L.
This version was collected by Cecil Sharp from "Shepherd" Haden of Bampton, Oxfordshire, in 1909. It was first published in the Folk Song Journal, vol.VIII [issue 31] p.41.
Other versions on the DT:
John Barleycorn Robert Burns' version; tune specified as Lull me beyond thee ¹ but not given.
John Barleycorn No source or tune are given. It is, however, a (not quite accurate) set of the John Barleycorn's a Hero Bold ² text commonly found in 19th. century English broadsides. A traditional version, very close to the text given here but with an additional verse, was collected, with tune, by Bob Copper from John Attrill of Fittleworth in Sussex, in 1954, and published in Folksongs of Britain and Ireland (Kennedy, 1975). A midi of the melody goes to Alan's Mudcat Midi site.
John Barleycorn No source is specified, and the tune given -more or less the Penguin version- doesn't fit the text, which bears a certain resemblance to the 1972 recording made by Steeleye Span; this was an arrangement of a version collected by Fred Hamer from Billy Bartle of Bedfordshire.
John Barleycorn My Jo A temperance song using the same metaphor, based on John Anderson My Jo, with tune. From the Grieg-Duncan Folksong Collection.
Curiously, there is a stray soundfile in the Download version of the DT, JBARLEY3, which has embedded lyrics that don't match any of the texts. The tune does bear a vague resemblance to Lull me beyond thee, though. Perhaps Dick can solve the problem when he gets back from England.
@drink
Bruce Olson has the text of a 16th century Scots version from the Bannatyne MS at his website, Roots of Folk: Old English, Scots, and Irish Songs and Tunes:
There are some early texts at Steven Earnshaw's site; Altered State: England, Literature, and the Pub. Not given elsewhere here are:
As might be expected, there are a quite a few broadside versions of this song at Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads. Here is a selection of the easily-legible ones:
² John Barleycorn's a Hero Bold:
John Barleycorn Printed in 1859; printer unknown.
John Barleycorn Printed between 1863 and 1885 by H.P. Such, Machine Printer and Publisher, 177, Union Street, Boro', S.E. London
John Barleycorn Printed between 1858 and 1885 at the "Catnach Press," by W. Fortey, Monmouth Court, Bloomsbury London
John Barleycorn Printed between 1840 and 1866 by J. Harkness, Preston.
John Barleycorn Printed between 1863 and 1885 by H. Such, Machine Printer and Publisher, 177, Union St., Boro'. S.E. London.
John Barleycorn Printed between 1860 and 1883 by H. Disley, Printer, 57, High Street, St. Giles London
Sir John Barleycorn:
Sir John Barleycorn Printed between 1849 and 1862 by H. Such, Such's Song Mart, 123, Union Street, Borough, London.
Sir John Barleycorn Printed between 1849 and 1862 by H. Such, London.
Sir John Barleycorn Printer and date unknown.
A pleasant new ballad to sing ev'ning and morn, of the bloody murder of sir John Barley corn To the tune of: Shall I lye beyond thee ¹ Printer and date unknown.
These are large images.
X:284
There is some discussion of the evolution of this tune from Stingo (John Playford, 1650), through Lulle me beyond thee and Up in the Morning Early (Select Songs of Scotland, Gall and Inglis) to the Shetland fiddle tune Sister Jean, at Jack Campin's Scales and Modes in Scottish Traditional Music.
The Winning of the Mead in the Icelandic Prose Edda (Snorri Sturluson, c.1200) offers an interesting parallel to John Barleycorn. When the two tribes of gods, the Æsir and the Vanir, made peace between each other, they all spat into a vessel and made from the contents the god Kvasr, who was able to answer all questions. Kvasr was later murdered by two dwarfs, who fermented his blood with honey in three vats, to make the Mead of Inspiration. This was subsequently taken from them by the giant Suttung, from whom Óðinn reclaimed it through a mixture of trickery and the seduction of the giant's daughter. Drinking the entire contents of the three vats, he escaped in the form of an eagle and returned the mead to Ásgarðr. A little leaked out on the way, falling to earth, where it bestowed a scattering of Poetry upon Humankind. Kvas was "the word for strong beer used by the eastern neighbours of the Germans, and [is] still used in Jutland for crushed fruit". (Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, H.R. Ellis Davidson, 1964.)
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Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: Joe Offer Date: 18 Aug 00 - 02:31 PM I'm having a great time watching all this develop, Malcom. -Joe Offer- |
Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 17 Feb 02 - 07:59 PM The recent revival of another John Barleycorn thread reminds me that I didn't list Forum entries here. These are the ones that contain substantive information:
Barleycorn/Songwainers
Non-Barleycorn Modern parody.
John Barleycorn
There are rather a lot of copies at Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads of a broadside edition, by Brereton of Dublin, of the song in pretty much the form printed in O Lochlainn's book, though the final couple reads
The drunkard is a durty man he used me worse than all
Somehow I neglected to mention this in my earlier list. As is usual with Brereton, the sheets are plentiful but badly printed; this is one of the more legible copies:
Lines written on the barley corn Printed c.1867 by P. Brereton, 1, Lr. Exchange St., Dublin.
A completely unrelated song using the familiar metaphor can be seen at the Lester Levy Sheet Music Collection:
John Barleycorn Good-Bye A comic song on Prohibition. Words and Music by John Stark. St. Louis, MO: Stark Music Co., 1919.
The Roud Folksong Index assigns the following reference numbers:
(Sir) John Barleycorn: Roud 164
There is some overlap in classification at the moment between the first two; the third appears to be known in one example only (see my first post in this thread). |
Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: Clinton Hammond Date: 18 Feb 02 - 12:09 PM Oh great... just what I need... More versions to learn! LOL!!! Very cool read, all of that... ;-) |
Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: Kernow John Date: 19 Feb 02 - 03:46 AM Cracking thread Thanks Alan and Malcom. KJ |
Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: GUEST,Paul Burton Date: 15 Mar 02 - 08:48 AM Thanks for the post of these lyrics, which looks like the version recorded by Traffic on their 1970 album, still one of the great albums ever... but that's another issue. I can't imagine a better version than Traffics but will check other sources and recordings mentioned on these lists. Thanks again. Paul Burton Woodkerne western Mass., usa |
Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: Dead Horse Date: 16 Mar 02 - 07:22 AM So put your version forward Sing it at the top of your lungs For John Barleycorn in a nasal twang Has versions yet unsung. |
Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: michaelr Date: 16 Mar 02 - 07:46 PM It's always bothered me that the traditional lyrics make no link between the threshing and milling and the final product, the ale. So I wrote (and have been singing) the following additional lyrics: They wheeled him around and around the fields `Til they came unto a barn *And waiting there were men with clubs *To thresh poor Barleycorn *They put Sir John in the malting kiln *To roast and dry his bones And the miller he has served him worse than that For he's ground him between two stones *They poured him into the mashing tun *To boil and scald his tail They called him nut-brown ale Now it makes sense! Michael |
Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: michaelr Date: 16 Mar 02 - 07:49 PM OOps, something got lost there... *They poured him into the mashing tun *To boil and scald his tail And the next time they saw John Barleycorn They called him nut-brown ale NOW it makes sense! Cheers, Michael |
Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: GUEST,campion Date: 16 Mar 02 - 11:37 PM I believe that the "Penguin" variant was the one that I heard Ian Anderson croak out circa 1993. Too bad he doesn't do more of this sort of thing, really. |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BARLEY GRAIN FOR ME From: Chris Amos Date: 17 Mar 02 - 04:14 AM Here's a slightly different version, I got it from an old songbook many years ago and would be interested to discover where it came from etc. THE BARLEY GRAIN FOR ME
Oh, three men went to market to sell three loads of rye.
CHORUS: Ti rie Icherie eerie an
The ploughman came with a heavy plough. He ploughed me under the sod,
The reaper came with a sharp knife. He made me for to cry.
The binder came with a heavy thong. She bound me all around,
The pitcher came with a sharp fork. He pierced me to the heart,
The thresher came with a heavy flail. He swore he'd break my bones,
They took me out of that. They put me in a well.
The brewer came with all her art. She put me in the pan,
They drank me in the kitchen. They drank me in the hall, Chris |
Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: lady penelope Date: 17 Mar 02 - 08:09 AM I like that version! It would be nice to have tune to go with that. Stonking thread! TTFN M'Lady P. |
Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: Chris Amos Date: 17 Mar 02 - 11:02 AM M'Lady I will try to sort out an MP3 this week Chris |
Subject: RE: Penguin: John Barleycorn From: Garry Gillard Date: 22 Mar 02 - 04:50 AM The only new thing about my (Bob Copper's) contribution is a picture of the singer from whom the words were collected in about 1954. Garry |
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