Child Ballad chorus song

Subject: Child Ballad chorus song
From:
Date: 20 Jan 97 - 05:38 AM

My father used to sing Child Ballads while driving long distances. One I really loved as a kid, but I haven't been able to find had a very catchy chorus. The chorus goes: Hey down and ho down It is sung after every line of the song. The ballad tune pattern was A-B--very monotonous; like a chant.

Sound familiar to anyone?

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From:
Date: 20 Jan 97 - 02:20 PM

song is 'The Keeper" it is in the database...a search under 'hey down' would have found it!!!..the data base search is a very powerful and flexible thing...you can save a lot of time by practicing with it!!!

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From:
Date: 21 Jan 97 - 03:07 AM

No, the Keeper isn't the song. The chorus line "Hey down and Ho Down" is repeated after every line. Each verse line is the exact same melody as the next verse line. The tune (very primitively) is as follows:

VERSE: D D B G G B C D

CHORUS: E D B A B A G G

VERSE: D D B G G B C D

CHORUS: E D B A B A G G

Over and over again. I am certain it is a Child Ballad.

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From:
Date: 21 Jan 97 - 06:09 PM

If you're near a good public library, or a university with a good music program, it may be that they have ballads in a book.

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Susan of DT
Date: 30 Jan 97 - 04:01 AM

Hey down ... is extrememly common as a refrain on child ballads. Can you give us a hint as to any other words so we can try to track it for you?

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Moira Cameron
Date: 31 Jan 97 - 04:42 AM

'Fraid not. Sorry. Now you can see why it's been so difficult for me to find it in a Child Ballad Collection. I only heard my father sing it, and unfortunately he died a number of years ago. All I have to go on is the tune, as I wrote it above. I have a vague notion that it was about a king, but that doesn't help me at all. Since I have moved to Yekkowknife, Northwest Territories, I have not had the access to resources that I would like (until the DT database and discussion group!)

Thanks for your help; I'll find it someday.

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Ralph Butts
Date: 31 Jan 97 - 08:26 AM

Moira....

I have an old ballad called "Down, Down Derry Down" which tells the story of a farm boy sent to town to sell a cow. He is later accosted by a highwayman who tries to get his money, but thee is a happy ending.

This is very old, but doesn't have any reference to a king. Also, doesn't appear to be your melody.

I thought, "Well, maybe."

.....Tiger

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Susan of DT
Date: 01 Feb 97 - 04:14 PM

How about King John and the Abbot [bishop, archbishop, etc] of Canterbury? It has the Derry downs and a long story about a "fool" answering the questions the king sets for the abbot

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From:
Date: 01 Feb 97 - 04:26 PM

I remember a song from my youth which went something like:

Hey down, Ho down, Derry derry down,

Among the leaves so greeno.

To my hey down down

To my ho down down

Hey down, ho down, derry dery down

Among the leaves so greeno.

-----------

But that's all I can remember -

Tony Hurley

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Susan of DT
Date: 02 Feb 97 - 11:35 AM

That's "The Keeper" referenced above. Look up any phrase in the song to find the rest.

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: GUEST,Limulus
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 01:34 AM

I remember the song a bit too. Heard it a very young child. The one I knew was about the cow. "The cow looked so sad that he had to let him go, among the leaves oh greeno" Then the same chorus as written above

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: GUEST,J C
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 04:09 AM

King John and The Bishop was the one I thought of too.
There's a wonderful Library of Congress recording of it by Warde H Ford of Central Valley, California, made in 1938.
Failing that, find a library with Bronson's 'Traditional Tunes of The Child Ballads (4 large volumes), and plough through them - you're almost certian to come across what you are looking for (if it is a Child ballad)

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: masato sakurai
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 05:56 AM

Warde Ford's "The Bishop of Canterbury" is at California Gold Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties. Hope the following links are effective.

The Bishop of Canterbury, sung by Warde Ford.

The Bishop of Canterbury [textual and melodic transcriptions with notes]

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 12:53 PM

I can't get in directly....evidently, you have to go in thru the first link, then go to the performers page and scroll down to Warde Ford. It works finr that way.

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 05:43 AM

THe song is The Keeper

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 07:19 AM

Almost certainly 'The Keeper' ; but 'hey down' is a refrain in versions of 'Hind Horn'.

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Snuffy
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 09:23 AM

The OP already said nearly 12 years ago that it is definitely not the Keeper.

The song structure is very primitive - just repeated call and response, like a simple sea shanty. Any other suggestions?

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 11:02 AM

Probably Child 5, 'Gil Brenton'; perhaps the version from Motherwell, for which the tune survives.

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 11:13 AM

I seem to remember a version of Young Rambleaway which had a verse

"As I went a-walking to Derrydown Fair
I spied pretty Nancy a-coiling her hair . . . "

The Coal Owner and the Collier's Wife, from the singing of Harry Bordman (RIP) had the refrain 'Derry down, down, down derry down'

It has been observed that tis is not an uncommon refrain, chorus.

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Brian Peters
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 11:18 AM

'Three Ravens', surely?

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Snuffy
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 12:25 PM

Thanks Malcolm. Gil Brenton certainly looks very likely: 5F in particular displays the refrain that Moira remembered.

Subject: RE: Child Ballad chorus song
From: Brian Peters
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 01:01 PM

Malcolm is correct as usual. The Motherwell tune looks very like what Moira notated. Apologies for top-of-head red herring.