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Origins: Serving Girl's Holiday
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Origins: Serving Girl's Holiday |
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Subject: Serving Girl's Holiday From: LaMarca Date: 25 Aug 97 - 09:59 AM I'm looking for a written source or background info for "Serving Girl's Holiday".. I learned the song from a Maddy Prior and Tim Hart record, but they had no liner notes about the songs and where they came from. The first verse goes:
I've waited longing for this day,
What joy that it's our holiday! |
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Subject: Lyr Add: SERVING GIRL'S HOLIDAY From: LaMarca Date: 10 Sep 97 - 06:41 PM Oh, good - since I see that Bruce, the possessor and reference librarian of all obscure folk reference works in our area is now a regular, I will re-post this to the top and hope that maybe he (or someone else new) has the info I'm looking for. The words I have for this song are: SERVING GIRL'S HOLIDAY
I've waited longing for today, Chorus:
What joy that it's a holiday!
The dirt upon the floor's unswept,
The milk into the pails must go,
The cooking (pans? hams?) must be brought in
And when we stop along the track Repeat first verse and chorus Transcribed from "Summer Solstice", Maddy Prior and Tim Hart |
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Subject: RE: Serving Girl's Holiday From: Bruce Date: 10 Sep 97 - 07:18 PM Sorry Mary, but I've never seen it before. Nice though. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE SERVING MAID'S HOLIDAY From: Bruce Date: 11 Sep 97 - 12:30 PM Looks like a reworking of the following. The earlier serving-maid had a more adventurous holiday. Rossell Hope Robins, Secular Lyrics of the 14th and 15th Century [thorns expanded to 'th' and yogh to 'gh' or 'z'] 29. The Serving Maid's Holiday Caius Coll. Cambridge MS. 383 [Chorus] Wybbe ne rele ne sypyyn yc ne may ffor ioyze that it is holyday Al this day ic han sought, spyndul ne werue ne wond y nought; To myche blisse ic am brout azen this holyday. Wybbe &c. All vnswope ys owre vleth, & owre fyre ys vnleth, Oure ruschen ben vnrepe zeth, azen this hy halyday. ye moste feschun worton In; thredele my kerchef vndur my khyn; leue iakke, lend me a pyn To thredele me this holiday. Now yt draweth to the none & al my cherrus ben vndone; y moste a lyte solas mye schone to make hem dowge this holyday. y most mylkin in his payl; Outh me bred al this schayl, zut is the dow vndur myy nayl as ic knad this holyday. Iakke wol brynge me onward in my wey, Wyth me desyre for te pleyze; Of my dame stant me non eyze an neuer a god haliday Iacke wol pay for my scoth a sonday atte the ale-schoth; iacke wol sowse wel my troth eury god haliday. sone he wolle take me be the hand, & he wolle legge me on the lond, that al my buttockus ben of sond, opon this hye holyday. In he pult & out he drow, & euer yc lay on hym y-low; 'by godus deth, thou dest me wow vpon this hey holyday!' sone my wombe began to swelle as greth as a belle; durst y nat my dame telle Wat me betydde this holyday. |
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Subject: RE: Serving Girl's Holiday From: Bert. Date: 11 Sep 97 - 01:35 PM You're giving away your age there Bruce. |
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Subject: RE: Serving Girl's Holiday From: Bruce Date: 11 Sep 97 - 03:29 PM This is difficult enough without my misspelling, let's try again.
Rossell Hope Robbins, Secular Lyrics of the 14th and 15th Century [thorns given as cap. P, and yoghs as cap. Z]
29. The Serving Maid's Holiday
[Chorus] Wybbe ne rele ne spynne yc ne may.
Al Pis day ic han souZt,
All vnswope ys owre vleth,
yc moste feschun worton In;
Now yt draweP to Pe none
y moste mylkyn in Pis payl;
Iakke wol brynge me onward in my wey, an neuer a god haliday.
Iacke wol pay for my scoth iacke wol sowse wel my Proth euery god haliday.
sone he wolle take me be Pe hand,
In he pult & out he drow,
sone my wombe began to swelle
[Note: Robbins corrected some words spelled incorrectly in the MS. In his notes Robbins translates 'Outh me bred al Pis schayl' as 'I ought to spread out all this bowl [full of dough].'] |
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Subject: RE: Serving Girl's Holiday From: Bruce Date: 11 Sep 97 - 05:41 PM Bert, the trouble with getting old is you can't remember half the words and can't spell the other half, and you're too old to learn how to do html right. |
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Subject: RE: Serving Girl's Holiday From: LaMarca Date: 12 Sep 97 - 10:19 AM Thank you, Bruce! Any Old or Middle English scholars out there who could attempt a translation for me? I particularly like the line that seems to say: "By God's Death, thou didst me WOW!" Some holiday, eh? |
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Subject: RE: Serving Girl's Holiday From: MMario Date: 06 Feb 01 - 04:27 PM while searching for this I found out that it is sung to the tune of "orientus partibus" |
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Subject: RE: Serving Girl's Holiday From: GUEST,Bruce O. Date: 17 Apr 01 - 11:28 PM refresh for women's bawdy songs, Apr 17, 2001 |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Serving Girl's Holiday From: GUEST,Sarahbyrdd Date: 18 Jan 12 - 04:36 PM Is there any evidence for the middle English version using the "Orientis Partibus" melody like the modern English version does? |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Serving Girl's Holiday From: Noreen Date: 02 Jul 14 - 08:33 PM Unlikely, Sarahbuyrdd (if you're still around, 2 years later!) Maddy Prior is quoted as saying: I found this poem in a book that I suspect had a translation from Middle English of The Serving Maid's Holiday from Rossell Hope Robbins, Secular Lyrics of the 14th and 15th Century. I set it to the tune of Orientus Partibus which I heard on a David Munroe album. (Liner notes for 2012 CD "3 for Joy" Maddy Prior with Hannah James and Giles Lewin.) |
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Subject: LYR ADD: Serving Girl's Holiday From: Noreen Date: 02 Jul 14 - 08:51 PM SERVING GIRL'S HOLIDAY I've waited longing for today: Spindle, bobbin, and spool, away! In joy and bliss I'm off to play Upon this high holiday. Spindle, bobbin, and spool, away, For joy that it's a holiday! The dirt upon the floor's unswept, The fireplace isn't cleaned and kept, I haven't cut the rushes yet Upon this high holiday. Spindle, bobbin, etc. The cooking herbs I must fetch in, And fix my kerchief under my chin. Darling Jack, lend me a pin To fix me well this holiday! Spindle, bobbin, etc. Now midday has almost come, And all my chores are still not done I'll clean my shoes till they become Bright for a high holiday. Spindle, bobbin, etc. In pails the milk has got to go; I ought to spread this bowl of dough - It clogs my nails and fingers so As I knead this holiday! Spindle, bobbin, etc. Jack will take me on my way, And with me he will want to play: I needn't fear my lady's nay On such a high holiday! Spindle, bobbin, etc. And when we stop beside the track At the inn this Sunday, Jack Will wet my whistle and pay my whack As on every holiday. Spindle, bobbin, etc. Then he'll take me by the hand And lay me down upon the land And make my buttocks feel like sand Upon this high holiday. Spindle, bobbin, etc. In he'll push and out he'll go, With me beneath him lying low: 'By God's death, you do me woe Upon this high holiday.' Spindle, bobbin, etc. Soon my belly began to swell As round and great as any bell; And to my dame I dared not tell What happened to me that holiday. Spindle, bobbin, and spool, away, For joy that it's a holiday! No. 58 in Medieval English Verse (Penguin) Copyright Brian Stone, 1964, 1971 |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Serving Girl's Holiday From: Joe Offer Date: 07 Aug 23 - 04:36 PM What's the name of the melody for this? Sounds like a Christmas carol. Friendly Beasts. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Serving Girl's Holiday From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 07 Aug 23 - 05:42 PM This is a place where a reference to the Traditional Ballad Index really can help, because, other than the 1997 reference by Bruce, no one is going to the source. :-) Note that Bruce is citing the first of the sources cited in the Ballad Index entry. Any tune you have heard is modern. I won't fully redo Bruce's transcription, but I'll give you one verse of the full-bore Middle English transcription at the end. First, the Ballad Index entry: Serving Maid's Holiday, TheDESCRIPTION: Middle English. "Al þis day ic han sou?t." The maid has sought this day "for ioy?e þat yit ys holyday"; she sets out even though her work is undone. She and Jack meet. Soon "my wombe began to swelle"; she dares not tell her mistressAUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: Before 1600 (Cambridge, Gonville & Caius College MS 383) KEYWORDS: servant sex pregnancy MiddleEnglish FOUND IN: REFERENCES (9 citations): Greene-TheEarlyEnglishCarols, #452, pp. 306-307, "All this day ic han sou[ght]" (1 text) Brown/Robbins-IndexOfMiddleEnglishVerse, #225 DigitalIndexOfMiddleEnglishVerse #393 ADDITIONAL: Rossell Hope Robbins, Secular Lyrics of the XIVth and XVth Century, Oxford University Press, 1952, pp. 24-25, "The Serving Maid's Holiday" (1 text) Richard Greene, editor, A Selection of English Carols, Clarendon Medieval and Tudor Series, Oxford/Clarendon Press, 1962, #95, pp. 162-263, "(Rybbe ne ree ne synne yc ne may)" (1 text) Maxwell S. Luria & Richard Hoffman, Middle English Lyrics, a Norton Critical Edition, Norton, 1974, pp. 86-88, #88 (no title) (1 text) Celia and Kenneth Sisam, The Oxford Book of Medieval English Verse, Oxford University Press, 1970; corrected edition 1973, #204, pp.452-453, "A Servant-girl's Holiday" (1 text) Brian Stone, translator, Medieval English Verse, revised edition, Penguin, 1971, #58, pp. 104-105, "The Servant Girl's Holiday" (1 text, rendered in Modern English) MANUSCRIPT: {MSCaiusCollege383}, Cambridge, Gonville & Caius College MS. 383, page 41 NOTES [320 words]: I have no particular reason to think this is traditional -- although the subject matter hints that it was preserved by the folk rather than the clergy! But a version both modernized and cleaned up was recorded by Maddy Prior and Tim Hart, so perhaps people should have references for the original song. In addition, Richard Leighton Greene, editor, The Earliest English Carols, Oxford/Clarendon Press, 1935, p. xcv, while admitting he has no proof, thinks this one of two carols in Cambridge, Gonville & Caius College MS. 383 that, "because of their homeliness, their directness of speech, and their theme of the betrayed girl, have a strong case for consideration as authentic folk-song" -- although E. K. Chambers, English Literature at the Close of the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1945, 1947, p. 113, responds that "I see nothing in them but the work of some graceless minstrel." (Personally, I am more inclined to agree with Greene.) The other one, which also ends with a girl getting pregnant, is "Led I the Dance on a Midsummer's Day (Jack and the Dancing Maid)." Greene thinks this is a Midsummer Day song, which makes sense since the couple lay down in the sand. ("Led I the Dance..." is certainly set on Midsummer's Day.) Greene dates the text to the fifteenth century. Sisam/Sisam, p. 596, estimates the date as c. 1475. Despite its thoroughly secular content, the manuscript of this piece seems to have been written by a cleric, since he signs his name "Johannes." Apart from the Middle English lyrics, it contains grammatical treatises. The text is on page 41 of the manuscript. The Index of Middle English Verse lists an even dozen poems in the manuscript, most of which (based on their descriptions in the Index) are secular but few of which look likely to have come from tradition. In addition to this and "Led I the Dance," a much less secular piece, "Saint Thomas of Canterbury," is also in the Index. - RBW Last updated in version 6.5 File: RHRXV024 Transcription of Robbins, verse 1: 29. The Serving Maid’s Holiday Caius Coll. Cambridge MS. 383 Wybbe ne rel ne spynne yc ne may, [p. 41] for ioy?e þat it ys holyday. Al þis day ic han sou?t, spyndul ne werue ne wond y nou?t; To myche blisse ic am brout a?en þis hy?e holyday. Wybbe &c; |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Serving Girl's Holiday From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 07 Aug 23 - 05:48 PM Well, that didn't work. I thought mudcat would use Unicode by now! I'll try it with HTML entities, but if this doesn't work, I can only refer you to the books cited, and apologize for wasting your time. This is a place where a reference to the Traditional Ballad Index really can help, because, other than the 1997 reference by Bruce, no one is going to the source. :-) Note that Bruce is citing the first of the sources cited in the Ballad Index entry. Any tune you have heard is modern. I won't fully redo Bruce's transcription, but I'll give you one verse of the full-bore Middle English transcription at the end. First, the Ballad Index entry: Serving Maid's Holiday, TheDESCRIPTION: Middle English. "Al þis day ic han souȝt." The maid has sought this day "for ioyȝe þat yit ys holyday"; she sets out even though her work is undone. She and Jack meet. Soon "my wombe began to swelle"; she dares not tell her mistressAUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: Before 1600 (Cambridge, Gonville & Caius College MS 383) KEYWORDS: servant sex pregnancy MiddleEnglish FOUND IN: REFERENCES (9 citations): Greene-TheEarlyEnglishCarols, #452, pp. 306-307, "All this day ic han sou[ght]" (1 text) Brown/Robbins-IndexOfMiddleEnglishVerse, #225 DigitalIndexOfMiddleEnglishVerse #393 ADDITIONAL: Rossell Hope Robbins, Secular Lyrics of the XIVth and XVth Century, Oxford University Press, 1952, pp. 24-25, "The Serving Maid's Holiday" (1 text) Richard Greene, editor, A Selection of English Carols, Clarendon Medieval and Tudor Series, Oxford/Clarendon Press, 1962, #95, pp. 162-263, "(Rybbe ne ree ne synne yc ne may)" (1 text) Maxwell S. Luria & Richard Hoffman, Middle English Lyrics, a Norton Critical Edition, Norton, 1974, pp. 86-88, #88 (no title) (1 text) Celia and Kenneth Sisam, The Oxford Book of Medieval English Verse, Oxford University Press, 1970; corrected edition 1973, #204, pp.452-453, "A Servant-girl's Holiday" (1 text) Brian Stone, translator, Medieval English Verse, revised edition, Penguin, 1971, #58, pp. 104-105, "The Servant Girl's Holiday" (1 text, rendered in Modern English) MANUSCRIPT: {MSCaiusCollege383}, Cambridge, Gonville & Caius College MS. 383, page 41 NOTES [320 words]: I have no particular reason to think this is traditional -- although the subject matter hints that it was preserved by the folk rather than the clergy! But a version both modernized and cleaned up was recorded by Maddy Prior and Tim Hart, so perhaps people should have references for the original song. In addition, Richard Leighton Greene, editor, The Earliest English Carols, Oxford/Clarendon Press, 1935, p. xcv, while admitting he has no proof, thinks this one of two carols in Cambridge, Gonville & Caius College MS. 383 that, "because of their homeliness, their directness of speech, and their theme of the betrayed girl, have a strong case for consideration as authentic folk-song" -- although E. K. Chambers, English Literature at the Close of the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1945, 1947, p. 113, responds that "I see nothing in them but the work of some graceless minstrel." (Personally, I am more inclined to agree with Greene.) The other one, which also ends with a girl getting pregnant, is "Led I the Dance on a Midsummer's Day (Jack and the Dancing Maid)." Greene thinks this is a Midsummer Day song, which makes sense since the couple lay down in the sand. ("Led I the Dance..." is certainly set on Midsummer's Day.) Greene dates the text to the fifteenth century. Sisam/Sisam, p. 596, estimates the date as c. 1475. Despite its thoroughly secular content, the manuscript of this piece seems to have been written by a cleric, since he signs his name "Johannes." Apart from the Middle English lyrics, it contains grammatical treatises. The text is on page 41 of the manuscript. The Index of Middle English Verse lists an even dozen poems in the manuscript, most of which (based on their descriptions in the Index) are secular but few of which look likely to have come from tradition. In addition to this and "Led I the Dance," a much less secular piece, "Saint Thomas of Canterbury," is also in the Index. - RBW Last updated in version 6.5 File: RHRXV024 Transcription of Robbins, verse 1: 29. The Serving Maid’s Holiday Caius Coll. Cambridge MS. 383 Wybbe ne rel ne spynne yc ne may, [p. 41] for ioyȝe þat it ys holyday. Al þis day ic han souȝt, spyndul ne werue ne wond y nouȝt; To myche blisse ic am brout aȝen þis hyȝe holyday. Wybbe &c; |
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