| Author | Topic: Add: Babes in the Wood | |
| dmcg | Posted - 28 Apr 03 - 01:36 pm | |
Babes in the Wood Oh, don't you remember, a long time ago, When two little babies, their names I don't know, Were stolen away one bright summer day, And lost in the woods, I've heard people say. And when it was night, oh, sad was their plight, The moon had gone done, the stars gave no light; They sobbed and they sighed, and bitterly cried, Then the poor little babes, they lay down and died. And when they were dead the robins so red, Brought strawberry leaves and over them spread, And sang them a song the whole summer long, Poor babes in the woods, who never did wrong. Source: Randolph, V, 1982. Ozark Folksongs, Illinois Press, Urbana Notes: Collected by Vance Randolph from Marie Wilbur, Pineville, Mo., June 30, 1929. Randolph wrote:
Compare with the Copper Family version. Database entry is here. | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 29 Apr 03 - 06:01 pm | |
Roud 288 Laws Q34 Another song much found in tradition on both sides of the Atlantic. It was still being reported in versions beginning Now ponder well, as when the ballad was first licensed in 1595, well into the mid-20th century; though the set here belongs to the condensed version of the story, which was apparently written by the musician and composer William Gardiner (1770-1853) in the early 19th century, to a new tune which is still used, though in rather modified forms. (Ref. Steve Roud, notes, Come Write Me Down: Early Recordings of the Copper Family of Rottingdean, Topic TSCD534, 2001). Sheet music (without any writers credits) can be seen at The Lester Levy Sheet Music Collection: Sweet Babes in the Wood. A Ballad. Founded on the well known Legend. Philadelphia: B. Carr's Musical Repository, n.d. Broadside editions of the earlier ballad at Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads run from the 17th to the 19th centuries: The children in the wood, or The Norfolk gentleman's last will and testament. A true story The Norfolk gentleman his last will and testament Babes in the Wood 17th century editions usually prescribe the tune Rogero; later it was most associated with the tune Now Ponder Well, which was quite widely used for other broadside songs and in nineteen ballad operas (including Gay's Beggar's Opera of 1728). The "original version" to which Randolph refers was not the broadside ballad of 1595, but a play by Rob. Yarrington, first published in 1601 (but allegedly written some years earlier) entitled Two lamentable Tragedies: The one of the murder of Maister Beech, a chandler in Thames streete, &c. The other of a young child murthered in a wood by two ruffins, with the consent of his unkle. It has occasionally been suggested that the wicked uncle was intended to represent Richard III, but this fanciful interpretation was no longer taken seriously by the end of the 19th century. Henry B. Wheatley, in his edition of Percy's Reliques (1887), adds: "Wailing, or Wayland Wood, a large cover near Walton in Norfolk is the place which tradition assigns to the tragedy, but the people of Wood Dalling also claim the honour for their village." Edited By Malcolm Douglas - 30/04/2003 12:12:05 | ||