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01 Jan 04 - 03:36 PM (#1084078) Subject: Lyr Add: KEMP OWEN (from Frankie Armstrong) From: Roberto Kemp Owen as sung by Frankie Armstrong, The Garden Of Love, Fellside. Please, someone to check and correct this transcription. I've read Child's texts, A e B, and tried to listen carefully to Frankie Armstrong's recording, but not everything is all right. Thank you. Roberto Come list a while my bonny child Lay your head low on my knee A dreadful tale I'll tell to you Concerning of a fair lady Her mother died when she was young Causing her to weep and mourn Her father wed the worst woman That ever lived in Christendom She served her well, both hand and foot But O, her stepmother loved not she She has cast this bonnie maid And cast her in the salt, salt sea O lie you there, dove Isabel A dreadful beast condemned to be Till Kemp Owen, the king's own son Shall climb the craig and borrow thee Her neck grew long, her teeth grew strong On her four feet she did fall Every breath blew smoke and fire On Eastmuir craig condemned to crawl It's from this rock I'll never rise No man on earth shall set me free Till Kemp Owen, the king's own son Shall climb the craig and thrice kiss me Now word has come to Kemp Owen The fiery beast was in his land He has got on a bonny boat And steered it with his own fair hand A mile before he's reached the shore The sky glowed red though the sun grew dim As he put his foot on shore The fiery beast blistered his skin It's from this rock I'll never rise No man on earth shall set me free Till Kemp Owen, the king's own son Shall climb the craig and thrice kiss me He's mounted up the Eastmuir craig He has given her kisses one Away she went and back she came The foulest beast in Christendom It's from this rock I'll never rise No man on earth shall set me free Till Kemp Owen, the king's own son Shall climb the craig and thrice kiss me He's mounted up the Eastmuir craig He has given her kisses two Away she went and back she came But from her mouth the fire still flew It's from this rock I'll never rise No man on earth shall set me free Till Kemp Owen, the king's own son Shall climb the craig and thrice kiss me He's mounted up the Eastmuir craig He has given her kisses three Away she went and back she came The fairest woman your eyes did see O was it wolf into the wood Was it fish into the sea Was it man or woman My own dear love, that changed thee? It was not wolf into the wood It was not fish into the sea It was my own cruel stepmother Forever cursed may she be A heavier curse light her upon Than ever fell on wile woman In Wormie's Wood she'll walk along None take pity her upon And relieved shall she never be Till all the saints sail o'er the sea |
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01 Jan 04 - 05:46 PM (#1084164) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: frankie armstrong's kemp owen From: Malcolm Douglas This isn't a traditional text, but a modern re-write collated from the three examples in Child. I don't know who made it; Brian Peters recorded it too (several years earlier), and wasn't specific. Does Frankie say where she got it? Only one tune has ever been found in tradition for this rare ballad, and that came from Mrs Anna Brown of Falkland, Aberdeenshire; as noted it's a bit peculiar, but Brian uses it (regularised somewhat) and I should imagine that Frankie does, too. I could check your transcription against Brian's singing, but presumably you want the exact words that Frankie recorded; these seem to be a little changed in places from what Brian recorded a few years earlier. Both arrangements are certainly from the same source, whatever that might be. |
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01 Jan 04 - 08:41 PM (#1084275) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: frankie armstrong's kemp owen From: GUEST, NOMADman Frankie cites Brian Peters as her source. The attribution is, "Trad. arr. Brian Peters/Frankie Armstrong." She mentions that she had nearly given up trying to create a singable version of the ballad until she heard Brian Peters' version. Regards, John |
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01 Jan 04 - 09:12 PM (#1084294) Subject: Lyr Add: KEMP OWYNE (from Brian Peters) From: Malcolm Douglas Ah, thank you for that. Brian's singing is clear, so here it is. I suppose it's simpler to post the whole thing rather than just emendations. I'd recommend his recording (Sharper than the Thorn, Pugwash PUGCD002, 1996). Frankie has made some minor alterations, but nothing of great consequence. KEMP OWYNE (Text collated and modernised by Brian Peters, based upon the three traditional texts in Child) Oh come list awhile my bonny child Lay your head low on my knee A dreadful tale I'll tell to you Concerning of a fair lady Her mother died when she was young Causing her to weep and moan Her father wed the worst woman That's ever lived in Christendom She servèd her with foot and hand But oh, her stepmother loved not she She has cursed that bonny maid And thrown her in the salt, salt sea Saying, Oh lie you there, dove Isabel A dreadful beast condemned to be Till Kemp Owyne, the king's son Shall borrow you with kisses three Her neck grew long, her teeth grew strong On her four feet she did fall Every breath brought smoke and fire On Eastmuir crag condemned to crawl Oh it's from this rock I'll never rise No man on earth shall set me free Till Kemp Owyne, the king's son Shall climb the crag and thrice kiss me Now word has gone to Kemp Owyne The fiery beast was in his land He has taken a bonny boat And steered it with his own fair hand A mile before he reached the shore The sky glowed red, though the sun was dim And as he set his foot on land The fiery heat blistered his skin Oh it's from this rock I'll never rise No man on earth shall set me free Till Kemp Owyne, the king's son Shall climb the crag and thrice kiss me So he's mounted up the Eastmuir crag He has given her kisses one Away she went and back she came The foulest beast in Christendom Oh it's from this rock I'll never rise No man on earth shall set me free Till Kemp Owyne, the king's son Shall climb the crag and thrice kiss me So he's mounted up the Eastmuir crag He has given her kisses two Away she went and back she came But from her mouth the fire still flew It's from this rock I'll never rise No man on earth shall set me free Till Kemp Owyne, the king's son Shall climb the crag and thrice kiss me So he's mounted up the Eastmuir craig He has given her kisses three Away she went and back she came The fairest lady that e'er was seen Oh was it wolf into the wood Was it fish into the sea Was it man or vile woman My own dear love, that changèd thee? Oh it was not wolf into the wood It was not fish into the sea But it was my cruel stepmother Forever cursèd may she be A heavier curse fall her upon Than ever fell on vile woman In Wormie's Wood she'll walk alone None take pity her upon And relieved shall she never be Till all the saints sail o'er the sea |
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02 Jan 04 - 05:19 AM (#1084427) Subject: Lyr Add: KEMP OWEN (from Frankie Armstrong) From: Roberto Thank you, Malcolm. So, with possibly some minor impefections, the the text sung by Frankie Armstrong should be the following: Kemp Owen Frankie Armstrong, The Garden of Love, Fellside FECD144, 1999 Come list a while my bonny child Lay your head low on my knee A dreadful tale I'll tell to you Concerning of a fair lady Her mother died when she was young Causing her to weep and mourn Her father wed the worst woman That ever lived in Christendom She servèd her well, both hand and foot But O, her stepmother loved not she She has cursed this bonnie maid And cast her in the salt, salt sea O I lie you there, dove Isabel A dreadful beast condemned to be Till Kemp Owen, the king's own son Shall climb the crag and borrow thee Her neck grew long, her teeth grew strong On her four feet she did fall Every breath blew smoke and fire On Eastmuir crag condemned to crawl It's from this rock I'll never rise No man on earth shall set me free Till Kemp Owen, the king's own son Shall climb the crag and thrice kiss me Now word has come to Kemp Owen The fiery beast was in his land He has got on a bonny boat And steered it with his own fair hand A mile before he's reached the shore The sky glowed red 'though the sun grew dim As he put his foot on shore The fiery heat blisterd his skin It's from this rock I'll never rise No man on earth shall set me free Till Kemp Owen, the king's own son Shall climb the crag and thrice kiss me He's mounted o'er the Eastmuir crag He has given her kisses one Away she went and back she came The foulest beast in Christendom It's from this rock I'll never rise No man on earth shall set me free Till Kemp Owen, the king's own son Shall climb the crag and thrice kiss me He's mounted o'er the Eastmuir crag He has given her kisses two Away she went and back she came But from her mouth the fire still flew It's from this rock I'll never rise No man on earth shall set me free Till Kemp Owen, the king's own son Shall climb the crag and thrice kiss me He's mounted o'er the Eastmuir crag He has given her kisses three Away she went and back she came The fairest woman your eyes did see O was it wolf into the wood Was it fish into the sea Was it man or woman My own dear love, that changèd thee? It was not wolf into the wood It was not fish into the sea It was my own cruel stepmother Forever cursed may she be A heavier curse light her upon Than ever fell on vile woman In Wormie's Wood she'll walk alone None take pity her upon And relieved shall she never be Till all the saints sail o'er the sea |
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20 May 10 - 09:48 AM (#2910536) Subject: RE: Req/ADD: frankie armstrong's kemp owen From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies) ***REFRESH*** Anyone got the traditional tune for this? |
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20 May 10 - 05:33 PM (#2910837) Subject: RE: Req/ADD: frankie armstrong's kemp owen From: Richard Mellish CS asked > Anyone got the traditional tune for this? It's in Bronson, which you can get on CD: see this thread |
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20 May 10 - 06:01 PM (#2910852) Subject: RE: Req/ADD: frankie armstrong's kemp owen From: Susan of DT Bronson has one tune, from the Mrs. Brown Malcolm mentioned above, which is the one in the DT. Margaret MacArthur also recorded it on Ballads Thrice Twisted Roberto - get rid of that "I" in the 4th verse. It's "Oh, lie you there..." |
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21 Nov 12 - 02:17 PM (#3439961) Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: Kemp Owen (from Frankie Armstrong) From: GUEST,Davy B I've just found this thread! Anyone interested in Kemp Owen should get a copy of Fay Hield's CD "Looking Glass" from 2010, as she has reworked the text further to include the belt, ring and sword from Child's A-version. Her text is given in full in the CD insert, so I won't reproduce it here, as we'd probably be breaching her copyright. Fay has also modified the tune to produce occasional B-music (as in Nic Jones' "Little Musgrave"). Although the result may be some way from Mrs Brown's original tune, all I can say is, it works extremely well. |
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12 Feb 13 - 07:39 AM (#3478594) Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: Kemp Owen (from Frankie Armstrong) From: Brian Peters I've just noticed this thread after we discussed 'Kemp Owyne' at the Glasgow Ballad Workshop the other day. I must admit I was very flattered when Frankie asked to use my rewrite, which is based mostly on Child 34B (Anna Brown's), with a couple of verses from 34A (Buchan's Ballads) and at least one that I seem to have made up (I'll never say rude things about Bert Lloyd again). I did use Mrs. Brown's tune - which, incidentally, we can't be confident was notated accurately at the time - more or less as written, but with the 'Scottish snap' removed. When you put a ballad together from more than one version, especially if none of the versions is terribly coherent, you have to make up your mind which bits to keep and which bits to leave out. I chose to leave out Kemp Owyne's rather useless brother Segramour and, despite the attractions of the protective gifts that the monster gives him, decided that they would complicate matters and get in the way of the story I was trying to tell. It's good that Fay put them in her version - I'm all for alternative interpretations. |