Author Topic: Add: Maria Marten

Ed

 Posted - 21 Nov 02 - 09:13 pm
Maria Marten

Come all you bold young thoughtless men,
A warning take by me;
And think of my unhappy fate
To be hanged upon the tree

My name is William Corder,
The truth I do declare;
I courted Maria Marten,
Most beautiful and fair.

I promised her I?d marry her,
All on one certain day;
Instead of that I was resolved
To take her life away.

I went unto her father?s house
Upon the eighteenth day of May.
?0 come my dearest Ria,
And we?ll fix the wedding day.

?If you will meet me at the Red Barn,
As sure as I have life,
I will take you down to Ipswich Town
And there make you my wife.?

He straight went home and fetched his gun,
His pick?axe and his spade;
He went unto the Red Barn,
And there he dug her grave.

With heart so light she thought no harm,
To meet him she did go;
He murdered her all in the barn,
And he laid her body low.

And all things being silent,
They could not take no rest,
Which appeared in her mother?s house
When suckled at her breast.

Her mother had a dreadful dream,
She dreamed it three nights o?er,
She dreamed that her dear daughter
Lay beneath the Red Barn floor.

They sent her father to the barn,
And in the ground he thrust;
And there he found his daughter dear
Lay mingling with the dust.

Come all you young thoughtless men,
Some pity look on me;
On Monday next will be my last,
To be hanged upon the tree.



Source: Palmer, R (1979) Everyman's Book of English Country Songs London, Dent & Sons


Notes:

Sung by Mr George Hall, Hooton Roberts, Yorks; collected by R. A. Gatty, 1907. (MS no. 661164 in Birmingham Reference Library)

Palmer notes:

By the age of 26, Maria Marten, who was born at Polstead, Suffolk in 1801, had produced three illegitimate children, all by different fathers. The last, which lived for only six weeks, was the child of William Corder, also of Polstead. He was two years the junior of Maria, the son of a farmer, and a sort of confidence man, 'with an ungovernable propensity for forming intimate connexions with females.'

Shortly after the child?s death, the couple left Polstead, ostensibly to go to Ipswich to be married so that Maria could avoid being charged with having had a bastard child. In fact, Corder took her to the Red Barn, murdered her, and buried her beneath the floor. He later said that Maria was staying at Yarmouth, and absented himself from Polstead for progressively longer intervals.

In November, 1827, having married a lady he had obtained by advertising in the Morning Herald (he did not bother to collect the 45 replies to a further advertisement in the Sunday Times) he moved to Brentford, Essex, where his wife set up a ?school for young ladies'.

In April, 1828, after a long period of anxiety as to her fate, Maria?s father dug up the floor of the Red Barn and found the corpse of his daughter. His action was at the suggestion of his wife, Anne (who was Maria?s step-mother and not her natural mother, as the song suggests), who claimed that she had repeatedly dreamed that the girl had been murdered at that spot. (Recent commentators have suggested the possibility of her complicity with Corder as the source of her information, rather than dreams). Corder was arrested, tried, and found guilty of murder. He was hanged outside Bury St Edmund?s Gaol on 11 August 1828.

The song, originally published as a street ballad by Catnach, purported to have been written by William Corder, whose 'last night? or 'farewell to the world? it was. The sheet sold well over one-a half million copies, and the story, in the form of song, novelette and melodrama, enjoyed a vogue lasting for a hundred years or so. Corder?s skeleton is still preserved in the museum of the College of Surgeons.

Database entry is here

Ed

Edited By Ed - 11/21/2002 11:01:02 PM




Ed

 Posted - 21 Nov 02 - 11:41 pm
There are numerous broadsheets about this, but I'm too tired to post the details now.

In the meantime, for an in-depth look at the story, go to The Red Barn Murder

Ed




IanC

 Posted - 22 Nov 02 - 10:12 am
OK - heere's my transcription of the original Catnach broadside.

MURDER OF MARIA MARTEN
A ballad about William Corder
originally published in Catnach Press Ballads (1828, 1968 ed.)

"Come all you thoughtless young men, a warning take by me,
And think upon my unhappy fate to be hanged upon a tree;
My name is William Corder, to you I do declare,
I courted Maria Marten, most beautiful and fair.

I promised I would marry her upon a certain day,
Instead of that I was resolved to take her life away.
I went into her father's house the 18th day of May,
Saying, "My dear Maria, we will fix the wedding day.

If you will meet me at the Red Barn, as sure as I have life,
I will take you to Ipswich town, and there make you my wife."
I then went home and fetched my gun, my pickaxe and my spade,
I went into the Red Barn, and there I dug her grave.

With heart so light, she thought no harm to meet me she did go,
I murdered her all in the Barn and laid her body low;
After the horrid deed was done, she lay weltering in her gore,
Her bleeding, mangled body I buried under the Red Barn floor.

Now all things being silent, her spirit could not rest,
She appeared unto her mother, who suckled her at her breast;
For many a long month or more, her mind being sore oppress'd,
Neither night nor day she could not take any rest.

Her mother's mind, being so disturbed, she dreamt three nights o'er,
Her daughter she lay murdered beneath the Red Barn floor;
She sent the father to the barn when he the ground did thrust,
And there he found his daughter mingling with the dust.

My trial is hard, I could not stand, most woeful was the sight,
When her jaw-bone was brought to prove which pierced my heart quite;
Her aged father standing by, likewise his loving wife,
And in her grief her hair she tore, she scarcely could keep life.

Adieu, adieu, my loving friends, my glass is almost run,
On Monday next will be my last, when I am to be hang'd;
So you young men who do pass by, with pity look on me,
For murdering Maria Marten I was hanged upon the tree."

:-)
Ian


IanC

 Posted - 22 Nov 02 - 10:36 am
I suspect that the notes from Palmer (posted by Ed above) were summarised from the entry in The Newgate Calendar.

:-)


IanC

 Posted - 22 Nov 02 - 11:21 am
For even more detailed (and largely accurate) information about the murder etc. (the location is still a tourist attraction to this day, though the barn burned down in the 1840s) the St Edmondsbury Borough Council site is unrivalled.




Ed

 Posted - 22 Nov 02 - 11:32 am
That's why I posted a link to it, Ian... :-)




Jon Freeman

 Posted - 22 Nov 02 - 11:53 am
Fascinating stuff, thanks both of you!

Jon




masato sakurai

 Posted - 01 Dec 02 - 07:24 am
From an interesting collection of broadsides: Confession and Execution of William Corder, for the Murder of Maria Marten in the Red Barn, from Charles Hindley, Curiosities of Street Literature (London 1871, p. 189). The Newgate Calendar (William Corder) is also HERE

~Masato




Edited By masato sakurai - 12/2/2002 10:42:17 AM






Ed

 Posted - 01 Dec 02 - 08:30 am
Thanks a lot for that link, Masato. Interesting stuff.

Ed




Malcolm Douglas
 Posted - 01 Dec 02 - 02:22 pm
Roud 215.

Quite the cause célèbre of its day. Apart from the melodrama (which is still staged from time to time), several films were made in the early 20th century; the most recent being Maria Marten or The murder in the Red Barn (1935, King/MGM), directed by Milton Rosmer and starring Tod Slaughter and Hilary Eaves. Apparently it's available on video.

There are fewer broadside copies at the Bodleian than one might at first expect; it's often the case, though, that the most popular ephemerals don't get collected because they are so common.

Murder of M. Marten, by W. Corder Printed by G. Henson, Lower end of Bridge street, Northampton. Firth b.25(379)

Murder of Maria Marten by W. Corder Printed between 1860 and 1883 by H. Disley, 57, High-street, St. Giles, London. Firth c.17(110)

Murder of Maria Marten, by William Corder Printed between 1855 and 1861 by E. Hodges, Wholesale Toy and Marble Warehouse, 26 Grafton Street, Soho [London]. Harding B 14(239)

Murder of Maria Martin by W. Corder Printer and date unknown. Two copies; Firth c.17(111) and Harding B 12(198).


masato sakurai

 Posted - 02 Dec 02 - 01:45 am
At least two articles have been written on this ballad:

(1) Thomas Pettitt, "The Later English Ballad Tradition: 'The Outlandish Knight' and 'Maria Marten'". In The Ballad as Narrative, edited by Flemming G. Andersen, Otto Holzapfel and Thomas Pettitt (Odense University Press, 1982, pp. 71-84)

(2) Flemming G. Andersen and Thomas Pettitt, "'The Murder of Maria Marten': The Birth of a Ballad?" In Narrative Folksong -- New Directions, edited by Carol L. Edwards and Kathleen E.B. Manley (Westview Press, 1985, pp. 132-178)

Note to the second article (which includes several versions) says:

The real-life tragedy of Maria Marten and its impact on popular culture at large ... is throughly explored in Donald McCormick's The Red Barn Mystery (London: John Long, 1967). See also Leslie Shepard's essay, "Murder in the Red Barn: In Drama and Verse," prefaced to Great Newspapers Reprinted, No. 12, Special Issue, Sunday Times 150th Anniversary (1972), p. 3. This issue also includes long accounts of the trial and execution of Corder from The Sunday Times, August 10th and 17th, respectively, 1828.



Edited By masato sakurai - 12/2/2002 10:43:17 AM



Edited By masato sakurai - 12/2/2002 11:39:30 AM






masato sakurai

 Posted - 02 Dec 02 - 11:32 am
Some contemporary texts below are found at the GASLIGHT site. It's best to use "Search the Gaslight website" and enter words: Maria Marten (THIS is the menu but internal links are broken):

The Mysterious Murder of Maria Marten, pts. 1, 17, 58, 64 (1828, 1928 ed.), by J. Curtis

The Trial of William Corder (1828), part one, pp. 1-8, published by Knight and Lacey

A ballad about William Corder (1828, 1968 ed.), originally published in Catnach Press Ballads

The Mole-Catcher's Daughter (1841) [From Chronicles of Crime, 1841]






Jon Freeman

 Posted - 03 Dec 02 - 06:40 am
Thanks again... Another usless post by me I know but: The song(s) I'd never heard of, and a murder tale that is really fascinating me... Did she dream it, were the dreams revenge, etc.

Jon




masato sakurai

 Posted - 17 Dec 02 - 03:58 pm
Other "Maria Marten/William Corder" broadsides in the Bodleian collection:

Printer: [s.n.] ([s.l.])
Date: [s.a.]
Ballads on sheet: 2
Copies: Johnson Ballads 2416
Ballads: 1. A copy of verses, on the execution of Wm. Corder, for the murder of Maria Marten, in the Red Barn, Polstead ("Hark! 'tis the dreary midnight bell ...")
Subject: Murder - 19th century; Polstead (England)
2. A copy of verses, on the dreadful murder of G. Ansell, committed by George Partridge ("A cruel act of murder dread ...")
Subject: Murder - children; Polstead (England)

Printer: Lindsay, J. (Glasgow)
Date: between 1851 and 1910
Imprint: Sold by James Lindsay, Printer and wholesale stationer, &c., 9 King street, (off Trongate,) Glasgow. Printer's Series: (72).
Illus. Ballads on sheet: 2
Copies: 2806 c.13(96) [link to enlarged image is broken]
Ballads: 1. The Red barn tragedy ("Come all you young lovers, I pray you attend ...")
Subject: Murder - 19th century
2. General Monro ("Come all you good people and listen to me ...")
Subject: Munro, Henry, 1768-1798

Printer: [s.n.] ([s.l.])
Date: [1827]
Illus. Ballads on sheet: 1
Note: The illustration is printed on a different orientation.
Copies: Johnson Ballads 2889
Ballads: 1. The Suffolk tragedy or The Red barn murder ("[Y]oung lovers all I pray draw near and listen unto me ...")
Subject: Murder; 1827; Pregnancy; Disguise

Printer: Thompson, G. (Liverpool)
Date: between 1789 and 1820
Imprint: [G. Thompson, Printer]
Illus. Ballads on sheet: 1
Note: Slip. Originally a sheet with 2806 c.17(225). The same setting of type as 2806 c.17(471), but containing misprints.
Copies: 2806 c.17(470)
Ballads: 1. Wm. Conder [sic] ("Good people I pray draw near ...")
Subject: Murder - 19th century; Pregnancy

Printer: Thompson, G. (Liverpool)
Date: between 1789 and 1820
Imprint: [G. Thompson, Printer]
Illus. Ballads on sheet: 1
Note: Slip. Originally a sheet with 2806 c.17(226). The same setting of type as 2806 c.17(470), but corrected.
Copies: 2806 c.17(471)
Ballads: 1. Wm. Corder ("Good people I pray draw near ...")
Subject: Murder - 19th century; Pregnancy

~Masato







Phil Taylor

 Posted - 19 Dec 02 - 02:56 am
Just noticed that this tune is in the Lydian mode, which is rarer than hen's teeth in Britain (although quite common in Scandinavia).






Phil Taylor

 Posted - 04 Jan 03 - 02:22 pm
I'm having second thoughts about this tune. While it sounds really good as a Lydian tune, I suspect a mistake in the transcription. If you change the abc K: field from FLyd to FDor (i.e. three flats instead of the null key signature) the tune sounds much more like the usual tune for this song. It's a variant of Brigg Fair.

Can you check the original, Ed, and see if it's printed in three flats?






Ed

 Posted - 04 Jan 03 - 02:53 pm
Oops. Yes, I did make a mistake. My apologies. It was actually printed with 3 sharps. I've updated the database accordingly.

Would it be better to label this as F#m or F#Aeo?




Phil Taylor

 Posted - 04 Jan 03 - 04:14 pm
OK. Three sharps makes it F#m, which is fine. It's actually hexatonic, and missing the note which distinguishes between aeolian and dorian modes, so you could also make it F#dor. That would give it four sharps, but since the fourth sharp is on the unused note it makes no difference. It doesn't matter whether you write the minor key signature as m or aeo; probably the first is preferable since it's more familiar to most people.

Pity, though. I'd got rather fond of the tune as it was. I might take to singing it that way.






Jon Freeman

 Posted - 16 Aug 04 - 07:29 pm
On BBC Look East tonight: William Corder's skeleton was released today and "he" has been cremated in London. I think they said there is to be a small service tommorrow.

Jon



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