Req: WormWood Carol / Worthywood Carol

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: WormWood Carol
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 05 Aug 01 - 11:54 AM

Ah... I knew I recognised the criss-cross tree from somewhere.  It's hardly surprising that the song was difficult to find; it is taken from the folklorist Ruth L. Tongue's book The Chime Child, or Somerset Singers (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967), and described by her as "Sung by Mrs. Cordelia Cooper above Ashley Coombe, August 1943.  Composed by an Exmoor Gipsy, probably a Lock, in the 1920's or earlier".

Ms. Tongue describes her first meeting with Mrs. Cooper, a Romany resident on Exmoor between 1942 and 1943, at Worthy Wood near Porlock (hence the name of the song).  There is another song from Mrs. Cooper already in the forum, with tune in abc and miditext formats:  The Broom Squire's Bird Song.

Now the caveat as to the songs in this book.  With (I think) one exception only, none of them have ever been found anywhere else, and many of them, and their tunes, have oddly similar structures which are not generally found in tradition.  Additionally, Ms. Tongue's sources are given pseudonyms, and cannot be identified.  Many people have come to the conclusion that the book is at least in part a work of fiction, and that the songs were made by Ms. Tongue herself.  However that may be (and there is no way of knowing for sure), some of them are very powerful pieces; people should be wary of describing them as "traditional", though, at least without referring specifically to the printed source, as there is a good chance that they are nothing of the kind.

I have made midis of the tune as given in the book; until they appear at the  Mudcat Midi Pages,  they can be heard via the  South Riding Folk Network  site:

The Worthy Wood Carol
The Worthy Wood Carol  [Tune variation in bar 6].

The tunes were transcribed from a tape recording of Ms. Tongue and "a friend", so the variation may be hers rather than her (putative) source's.  There are several other songs from Ms. Tongue in the Forum:

On Sedgemoor (The Marsh Fever)   -With tune; from The Chime Child.
The Broomsquire's Bird Song   -With tune; from The Chime Child.
The Quaker's Wife  -With tune from another source.  Text from The Quaker's Wife and other Somerset Folk Songs, Ruth Tongue and Felton Rapley (Chappell & Co., 1965).
The Green Lady  -With tune; from The Chime Child.
Three Danish Galleys  -With tune; from The Chime Child.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE WORTHY WOOD CAROL
From: DMcG
Date: 05 Aug 01 - 06:05 AM

I've found a version by Geoff and Sue Harris, which they say is 'reputedly of Gypsy origin' and they call it the Worthy Wood Carol

Sleep my darling, darling little son,
Sleep my lovely, lovely little one,
For the world is heavy gold
For your little hand to hold
Sleep then!
Sleep my darling, lovely little son

Sleep my darling, darling little son,
Sleep my lovely, lovely little one,
You were come to die for we
All upon the criss-cross tree
Sleep then!
Sleep my darling, lovely little son

Sleep my darling, darling little son,
Sleep my lovely, lovely little one,
For the Dear God, he don't mind
If you finds us too unkind
Sleep then!
Sleep my darling, lovely little son

Sleep my darling, darling little son,
Sleep my lovely, lovely little one,
For the world is heavy gold
For your little hand to hold
Sleep then!
Sleep my darling, lovely little -
Sleep my darling, lovely little -
Sleep my darling, lovely little, lovely little, lovely little son

---

Line breaks added,and thread title changed: "add" replaces "req" so harvesters find the song. --JoeClone

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: WormWood Carol
From: okthen
Date: 01 Aug 01 - 05:52 AM

Nothing about the song, however,wormwood I'm told is the english translation of "Chernobyl"

Cattle use wormwood as an emetic

Lads love or southernwood ( a variety of wormwood) is used to deterr moths from cupboards

wormwood scrubs is a prison in UK

perhaps you'd get a better response from the "hard hitting carols" thread ?

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: WormWood Carol
From: Sorcha
Date: 31 Jul 01 - 11:17 PM

I looked, and found nothing about a carol, just the plant and Biblical references.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: WormWood Carol
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 31 Jul 01 - 10:34 PM

This web page about Sicily says that the Nebrodi pine is known in local dialect as "l'alburo cruci cruci," the criss-cross tree. Do you suppose your carol could be a translation from Italian?

If so, one could hope for a better translation. After all, "to die for we" is hardly exemplary grammar!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: WormWood Carol
From: Roger in Sheffield
Date: 31 Jul 01 - 04:00 PM

Sorry never heard of it, though I did try a goggle search and predictably came up with lots of wormwood (the plant) and absinthe references
Perhaps someone at Mudcat will try searching lyric/song sites, I wouldn't know where to start

If you don't get any replies please don't start another thread on this same subject as it will get confusing - instead just bring it back to the top of the forum where people who may have missed it will see it. To do this just submit a reply to this thread, any comment you like or just the word refresh

Subject: WormWood Carol
From: DMcG
Date: 31 Jul 01 - 03:24 PM

I tried to create this thread a couple of days ago, so apologies if you've seen it before

I am searching for a carol whose first verse is:

Sleep, my darling little son Sleep my lovely, lovely little one For the world is heavy gold For you little hand to hold Sleep, then!

============ Other verses have couplets

You were born to die for we All upon the criss-cross tree

.... you won't mind If we treat you too unkind

===============

I think it is called the 'wormwood carol', but I could be entirely wrong

Subject: WormWood Carol
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Jul 01 - 10:28 AM

I'm hunting for a carol I last heard in the '80s (ok, so I'm a slow typist!)

I believe it is called the Wormwood Carol and some of the words are

Sleep, my lovely little, son,
Sleep my lovely, lovely little one
You were born to die for we
All upon the criss-cross tree
Sleep, then!

....

... you won't mind, If we treat you too unkind,
Sleep, then!

... For the world is heavy gold
For your little hand to hold
Sleep then!

---

This message moved from a duplicate thread.
-Joe Offer-