Young man come from hunting, faint and weary
"What doth ail my lord, my dearie?"
"Oh mother dear, let my bed be made
For I feel the gripe of the woody nightshade."
Lie low, sweet Randal
Now all you young wains that do eat full well
And they that sup right merry
'Tis better, I entreat, to have toads for your meat
Than to eat of the wild, wild berry.
This young man, he died eftsoon
By the light of a hunter's moon
'Twas not by bolt, nor yet by blade,
But the deathly gripe of the deadly nightshade.
Lie low, sweet Randal
Now all you young men that do eat full well
And they that sup right merry
'Tis better, I entreat, to have toads for your meat
Than to eat of the wild, wild berry.
This lord's false love, they hanged her high
For her deeds were the cause of her love to die
And within her locks, they entwined a braid
Of the leaves and berry of the deadly nightshade.
Lie low, sweet Randal
Now all you young men that do eat full well
And they that sup right merry
'Tis better, I entreat, to have toads for your meat
Than to eat of the wild, wild berry.
abc | midi | pdf
Source: Ray Driscoll of Dulwich, London, 1993.
Notes:
Printed in English Dance and Song, vol. 56 no. 3, Autumn 1994. Ray was born in Ireland in 1922, but grew up in London. He learned this song and its unusual tune while living in Shropshire, from an itinerant farmworker called Harry Civil, who used to work on a nearby farm and sleep in the barn. Harry was infamous in the locality and was thrown out of pubs on more than one occasion.
Davies comments:
"This...song is, to my knowledge and that of several folk song experts that I have consulted, unique... The connection with Lord Randall, which he also sings and for which he has two different tunes, is obvious, but whether the song is an ancient survival or a more recent reworking of the old ballad, is difficult to say. I suspect the latter."
Ray can be heard singing this song on the English Folk Dance and Song Society CD, A Century of Song (EFDSSCD02, 1998). That recording was made by Mike Yates in 1989.
The tune for verses two and three begins differently; this is indicated in the abc file.
Roud: 10 (Search Roud index at VWML) Take Six
Laws:
Child: 12
Related Songs: Henry, My Son (thematic) Lord Ronald My Son (thematic) Willie Doo (thematic)