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Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor
Lord Thomas and Fair Annet/Eleanor / The Bold Forester
[
Roud 4
; Master title: Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor
; Child 73
; G/D 2:212
; Ballad Index C073
; Bodleian
Roud 4
; GlosTrad
Roud 4
; Wiltshire
103
; Mudcat 19416
; trad.]
Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor is a song from the repertoire of the Copper Family. It is printed in The Copper Family Song Book. Jim Copper sang The Bold Forester (Lord Thomas) in a recording made by Séamus Ennis for the BBC on 24 April 1952 (BBC 17989). Bob Copper recorded Lord Thomas for his 1977 album of countryside songs from South England, Sweet Rose in June. Mike Yates noted:
Although most of the songs on this record date from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, at least two are of considerable antiquity. Lord Thomas (Child 73) was first printed in England c. 1663—though foreshadowing it, as a French lyric song, De la vile issoit pensant is known to date from at least the 12th century. The central theme of the ballad is that of Eleanor's appearance at the wedding in rich clothes—a factor that distinguishes it from the similar ballad Fair Margaret and Sweet William (Child 74).
Jessie Murray of Buckie, Banffshire sang Lord Thomas and Fair Ellen to Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson in the beginning of the 1950s. Her recordings were included on the anthologies The Child Ballads 1 (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 4; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1968), The Muckle Sangs (Scottish Tradition 5; 1975), 1951 Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh (2005) and Whaur the Pig Gaed on the Spree (2011).
A.L. Lloyd sang Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor in 1956 on Volume IV of his and Ewan MacColl's anthology of Child ballads, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. This track was also included in 2011 on Lloyd's Fellside reissue Bramble Briars and Beams of the Sun. Lloyd also printed this ballad in 1959 in his and Ralph Vaughan Williams' Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.
Queen Caroline Hughes sang four verses of Fair Ellen to Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger in 1963 or 1966. This recording was included in 2015 on her Musical Traditions anthology Sheep-Crook and Black Dog. She also sang Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender to Peter Kennedy in her caravan near Blandford, Dorset. on 19 April 1968. This recording was included in 2012 on the Topic anthology I'm a Romany Rai (The Voice of the People Volume 22). Rod Stradling noted in the Musical Tradition's booklet:
Although quite an old ballad, Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender has remained popular with ballad singers over the years. This may be partly to do with the story, with its dramatic ending, and partly because it was frequently printed on broadsides. The earliest known text can be dated from between 1663 to 1685, and there are several eighteenth century broadsides. In Norway and Denmark the ballad is known by the title Sir Peter and Liten Kerstin which, again, was frequently printed on eighteenth century broadsides.
Roud lists 754 entries, with the great majority from the USA—but England has around 90 and Scotland 40. Of the 80 sound recordings, the great majority are also American, but Bob Copper and Charlie Wills recorded it in England, as did Willie Edward and Jessie Murray in Scotland.
Hedy West sang The Brown Girl in 1963 on her eponymous Vanguard album Hedy West.
Peter Bellamy learned Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor from the repertoire of the Copper Family. He sang it live at the Cockermouth Folk Club in January 1991. This concert was published on his cassette Songs an' Rummy Conjurin' Tricks.
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger sang Lord Thomas and Fair Annie in 1956 on their Tradition album Classic Scots Ballads. He also sang it as The Brown Girl (Lord Thomas and Fair Annet) on his 1961 Folkways album The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol. 1—Child Ballads. He noted on the first album:
Child thought the Scottish version of this ballad included in Bishop Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry was “one of the most beautiful of our ballads, and indeed of all ballads.” The validity of Child's evaluation is borne out by the continued popularity of this ballad both in Britain and America. There are two forms of this ballad, the first telling how the preferred girl is slain by her rival, and the other relating that she dies of grief on the night of the wedding. The latter form seems to hail from Northeast Scotland. I learned the ballad in fragmentary form from my mother and collated her version with stanzas from Gavin Greig's Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs.
Mike Birch sang Lord Thomas live at the Thetford Folk Club, Green Dragon. It was included in ca. 1970 on the club's privately issued album The Mole Catcher.
Cas Wallin sang Fair Ellanor and Lord Thomas at his home in Sodom Laurel, Madison County, North Carolina, to Mike Yates on 27 August 1980, and His nephew Doug Wallin sang Fair Eleanor and Lord Thomas at his home at Crane Branch, Madison County, North Carolina, on 24 May 1983. Both recordings were included in 2002 on the Musical Tradition anthology of songs, tunes and stories from Mike Yates' Appalachian collections, Far in the Mountains Volume 3.
Colin Thompson sang Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor in 1980 on his Fellside album Three Knights.
Jim Eldon sang The Three Lovers on his 1984 album I Wish There Was No Prisons.
Tim Eriksen sang Brown Girl in 2001 on his eponymous CD Tim Eriksen. He noted:
From the Warners' unreleased 1960 recording of Frank Proffitt which I got from Peter Kennedy. Proffitt's singing and writing are beautiful, understated and full of insight.
Mary Humphreys and Anahata sang Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor in 2006 on their WildGoose CD Fenlandia. Mary Humphreys noted:
I first found this Somerset song collected by C.J. Sharp from Mrs Anna Pond of Shepton Beauchamp in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, but as I have been singing it for well over 30 years some of the words have inevitably changed. I used to sing it to my two sons. Children love songs about blood and guts. Just think of all those horrific Grimms fairy tales.
Martin Carthy sang Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor on his and Dave Swarbrick's 2006 album Straws in the Wind. He noted:
Lord Thomas is a twerp whose mother thinks that the sun shines out of his saddle sores. Does a lot of riding does our Thomas, what with all the to-ing and fro-ing between his place, his mother's place, the penniless but very lofty and fragrant (where O where have we heard that word before?) Fair Eleanor in her gaff and his imminent wedding. Seems that Thomas and Eleanor think of the Brown Girl as nothing more than some nouveau riche arriviste unworthy of his attentions—except (as far as he is concerned) for that damnably interesting “rich” part following on from the loathed “nouveau” and preceding the equally contemptible “arriviste” bit. Eleanor's mother, however, is possessed of at least half a brain and is far from blind to this disaster waiting to happen, but even her focused warnings fail to stem her daughter's drive to impale herself on her own spite. The one truly lamented casualty here is the Brown Girl, whose love is thrown back in her face but whose riposte is swift, silent and final. Costs her her own life though. A.L. Lloyd is right when he says that some of the Scots oral versions have small illuminating extras, so while ditching the last two “Rose and Briar” verses which seem to me our of place, I've taken a couple of others from those Scots sets in order to underline the fragrant Eleanor's real malice aforethought. It's from Somerset and Cecil Sharp.
Malinky sang a very long version of Sweet Willie and Fair Annie with 32 verses on their 2008 album Flower & Iron. They noted:
Mary Arrott (née Bafour) was a doctor's wife in Arbroath in the late 18th century, and the sister of a local poet. As ‘Mrs Arrott of Aberbrothick’, the old name for Arbroath, she was a contributor to the ballad collector Robert Jamieson's Popular Ballads and Songs, published in 1806, and later featured in the Child collection.
It was a real delight for Steve [Byrne] to discover this singer's repertoire so close to home and he's had great fun researching her. Given that Mary learned this from an elderly maid-servant when she was a child, it makes her version around 250 years old; the song is thought to date as least as far back as the mid-17th century.
James Findlay sang Lord Thomas and Fair Ellenor in 2009 on his first CD, As I Carelessly Did Stray. He noted:
Child no. 73. This a take on the ballad Lord Thomas and Fair Annet. It's basically a tale of a man who has a muntjack fetish*, and his wedding that doesn't quite go to plan. In fact it was a monumental cock-up. It took a recording of Peter Bellamy singing this for me to really realise what a fantastic song it is.
*Take a closer listen to the first verse
Martin Simpson sang Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender in 2009 on his Topic CD True Stories.
Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender comes from a recording of Mike Seeger. I've been singing it on and off for 40 years. When I decided to re-do it, I mentioned it to Martin Carthy who, as ever, knew some lesser known verses which make the story yet more clear and more unbearable. It is originally a Scots ballad, Lord Thomas and Fair Annet, and the first printed English version appeared in the late 17th century.
Lucy Pringle & Chris Wright sang The Dun Broon Bride on their 2010 CD The Speaking Heart. They noted:
Lucy first heard this traditional ballad sung by the celebrated Scots singer Gordeanna McCulloch. The song was originally collected as a fragment by Peter Shepheard from Duncan Johnstone of Birnam in June 1967; Peter later added some verses and lines from other variants, yielding the complete song below. Duncan and his wife, Martha ‘Peasie’ Reid, had many such fine songs and ballads.
Alasdair Roberts sang The Dun Broon Bride on his, Amble Skuse and David McGuinness' 2018 CD What News. They noted:
This is a version of the ballad more widely known as Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor (in England) or Lord Thomas and Fair Annet (in Scotland). It was learnt from a recording of the Glaswegian singer Gordeanna McCulloch. She in turn learnt the song from Peter Shepheard, who recorded it from Duncan Johnstone of Birnam, Perthshire in the 1960s. A version appears in Percy's Reliques of 1765, based with alterations on a broadside of the time of Charles II and licensed by L'Estrange, who was censor from 1663 to 1685; according to Francis James Child in his collection The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, this is the version which had become traditional in Ireland and Scotland in his time (the late 19th century).
Lyrics
Bob Copper sings Lord Thomas
Lord Thomas he was a bold forester
And the keeper of our Lord's deer.
Fair Eleanor being a young woman,
𝄆 Lord Thomas he loved her so dear. 𝄇
“Come me, riddle me, mother,” Lord Thomas he said,
“Come riddle me all at one,
Whether I shall have Fair Eleanor
𝄆 Or bring the Brown Girl home.” 𝄇
“The Brown Girl she's got riches and land,
Fair Eleanor she's got none,
And this I think to my blessing,
𝄆 Bring me the Brown Girl home.” 𝄇
Lord Thomas he rode to Fair Eleanor's bower
And boldly the bell did ring,
There was none so willing as Fair Eleanor
𝄆 To let Lord Thomas in. 𝄇
“What news? What news, Lord Thomas?” she said,
“What news has thou brought me?”
“I have come to invite thee to my wedding,
𝄆 And that's bad news for thee.” 𝄇
She dressed herself all in milk white,
and her merry men all in green.
And every town that she went through,
𝄆 They took her to be some queen. 𝄇
Then she rode till she came to Lord Thomas' bower
And boldly the bell did ring,
There was none so willing as Lord Thomas
𝄆 To let Fair Eleanor in. 𝄇
He caught hold of her lily-white hand
And led her up the hall.
He set her above his own bride
𝄆 Above the gay ladies all. 𝄇
“Is this thy bride, Lord Thomas,” she said,
“I'm sure she looks wondrous brown.
When thou could'st have had me, as fair a lady
𝄆 As ever trod toot to ground.” 𝄇
“Despise her not,” Lord Thomas he said,
“Despise her not unto me.
For better I love thy little finger
𝄆 Than I do her whole body.” 𝄇
The Brown Girl had a little penknife
That cut both keen and sharp
And between Fair Eleanor's long and short ribs
𝄆 She plunged it into her heart. 𝄇
Then off he cut his own bride's head
And dashed it against the wall:
He leaned his sword upon the ground
𝄆 And on the point did fall. 𝄇
“Oh, dig me a grave,” Lord Thomas he cried,
“Both long and wide and deep.
And lay Fair Eleanor at my side
And 𝄆 the Brown Girl at my feet.” 𝄇
Lord Thomas was buried beneath the church wall,
Fair Eleanor in the choir;
Out of Fair Eleanor grew a red rose
And 𝄆 out of Lord Thomas a briar. 𝄇
They grew and grew to the chancel top
Till they couldn't grow any higher,
And there they entwined in a truelover's knot
𝄆 For all the people to admire. 𝄇
Peter Bellamy sings Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor
Lord Thomas, he was a bold forester
And the keeper of our lord's deer.
Fair Eleanor, she was a lady gay,
𝄆 Lord Thomas he loved her so dear. 𝄇
“So come riddle to me, dear mother,” he said,
“Come riddle it all as one,
Whether I should marry with Fair Eleanor
𝄆 Or bring the brown girl home.” 𝄇
“Well, the brown girl she has riches and land,
Fair Eleanor she has none.
And so I charge you do my bidding
𝄆 And bring the brown girl home.” 𝄇
So he's rode till he's come to Fair Eleanor's bower
Loudly the bell he did ring.
There was none so ready as Fair Eleanor herself
𝄆 For to rise and bid him in. 𝄇
“And what news, what news, Lord Thomas,” she said,
“What news have you brought to me?”
“I have come to invite you to my wedding
𝄆 And that's sad news for thee.” 𝄇
“Come riddle to me, dear mother,” she said,
“Come riddle it all as one,
Whether I should go to Lord Thomas's wedding
𝄆 Or bide with thee at home.” 𝄇
“Well, many are your friends,” she said,
“But thousands are your foes.
And so I charge you do my bidding
𝄆 And bide with me at home.” 𝄇
But she has dressed herself in the shining white,
Her merry men all in green.
And every town that they rode through,
𝄆 They took her to be some queen. 𝄇
And she's rode till she's come to Lord Thomas's hall
Loudly the bell she did ring.
There was none so ready as Lord Thomas himself
𝄆 For to rise and bid her in. 𝄇
And he's taken her by the lily-white hand,
He's led her through the hall,
He sat her down at his right side
𝄆 Above the ladies all. 𝄇
Now the brown girl she had a little pen knife,
It was ground both keen and sharp,
And between the long ribs and the small
𝄆 She's pierced Fair Eleanor's heart. 𝄇
“What ails you, lady?” Lord Thomas said,
“For you look most wondrous wan,
And you used to have the fairest colour
𝄆 That e'er the sun shone on.” 𝄇
“Oh are you blind, Lord Thomas?” she said,
“So blind that you cannot see?
For I fear, I fear my own heart's blood
𝄆 Run trickling to my knee?” 𝄇
With his sword he cut off the brown girl's head
And he dashed it against the wall.
Then he set the hilt upon the ground
𝄆 And upon the point he did fall. 𝄇
“Now come dig my grave,” Lord Thomas said,
”Dig it long, wide, and deep,
And place Fair Eleanor in my arms
𝄆 And the brown girl at my feet. 𝄇
Martin Carthy sings Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor
Lord Thomas, he was a bold forester
And chasener of the King's deer.
Fair Eleanor, she was a fair woman,
Lord Thomas he loved her dear.
“Oh riddle, oh riddle, dear mother,” he cries,
“Oh riddle it both as one,
Whether I'll marry fair Ellen or not
And leave the brown girl alone.”
“Oh, the brown girl she's got houses and land,
Fair Eleanor she's got none.
Therefore I charge thee to my blessing
To bring the brown girl home.”
Lord Thomas, he went to fair Eleanor's tower
And he knocked so loud on the ring.
There was none so ready as Ellen herself
To let Lord Thomas in.
“What news, what news, Lord Thomas,” she cries,
“What news do you bring unto me?”
“Oh, I've come to invite you to my wedding
Beneath the sycamore tree.”
“Oh God forbid, Lord Thomas,” she cries,
“That any such thing should be done.
For I thought to have been the bride myself
And you to have been the groom.”
“Oh riddle, oh riddle, dear mother,” she cries,
“Oh riddle it both as one,
Whether I go to Lord Thomas's wedding
Or better I stay at home.”
“There's a hundred of your friends, dear child,
A hundred of your foes.
Therefore I beg you with all my blessing
To Lord Thomas's wedding don't go.”
But she dressed herself in best attire,
And her merry men all in green.
And every town that she went through,
They took her to be some queen.
Lord Thomas, he took her all by the hand,
And he led her all through the hall,
And he sat her down in the noblest chair,
Among the ladies all.
“Is this your bride, Lord Thomas,” she cries,
“I'm sure she looks wonderful brown.
When you used to have the fairest young lady
That ever the sun shone on.”
“Despise her not,” Lord Thomas, he cries,
“Despise her not unto me.
For more do I love your little finger
Than all of her whole body.”
And he'd a rose all in his hand,
And he's given it kisses three,
And reaching across the brown girl herself,
He laid it on Eleanor's knee.
Oh, the brown girl, she had a little pen-knife,
And it was both long and sharp,
And between the long ribs and the short,
She pierced fair Eleanor's heart.
“Oh, what is the matter?” Lord Thomas he cries,
“Oh cannot you very well see?
And can you not see my own heart's blood
Come trickling down my knee?”
Lord Thomas's sword is hung by his side
As he walked up and down the hall.
And he took off the brown girl's head from her shoulders
And flung it against the wall.
Oh, he put the handle to the ground
And the sword unto his heart.
No sooner did these three lovers meet,
No sooner did three lovers part.
Oh he put the handle to the ground
And on it he did fall.
And there was an end of these three lovers
Through spite and malice and gall.
Lucy Pringle & Chris Wright sing The Dun Broon Bride
“Come riddle me, riddle me dear mother,” he says
“Come riddle me, all alone, o
Whether should I marry the dun broon bride
Or fetch fair Annie hame, o?”
“O the dun broon bride, she has horse and kye
Fair Annie, she's got nane, o
And if ye wid tak yer auld mother's advice
Ye'd bring the dun bride hame, o”
And when he cam tae fair Annie's gate
He tirled at the pin, o
There was nane sae ready as fair Annie hersel
Tae rise and let him in, o
“O ye're welcome here, Lord Thomas,” she said
“What news, what news wid ye tell me, o?”
“I've come tae bid ye tae my weddin
And that's bad news for you, o”
“O come riddle me, riddle me dear mother,” she says
“Come riddle me, all alone, o
Whether should I got to Lord Thomas's weddin
Or should I stay at hame, o?”
“O Lord Thomas he has freens eneuch
Fair Annie ye've got nane, o
And if ye wid tak yer auld mother's advice
You'd just noo stay at hame, o!”
O she's dressed hersel all in the white
And her merry maids all in green, o
And every toon that they cam to
They took her for a queen, o
And when she cam tae Lord Thomas's gates
She tirled at the pin, o
There was nane sae ready as Lord Thomas himsel
Tae rise and let her in, o
Ah, he's taen her by the lily white hand
And he's led her through the hall, o
He's sat in her in a chair o gowd
Amangst her merry maids all, o
Then up and spak the dun broon bride
And oh so bold says she, o
“Oh whaur did ye get that watery flooer
That washèd you sae white, o?”
Then oot an spak fair Annie dear
And oh so bold says she, o
“I got it in my mither's womb
Where you'll ne'er get sic like, o!”
Ah, the dun broon bride had a wee penknife
That hung doon by her side, o
She's ripped it through fair Annie's breist
And ne'er a word she cried, o
Lord Thomas he had a gey broadsword
That hung doon by his side, o
And he's ripped it through the dun broon bride
And ne'er a word she cried, o
“O dig a grave,” Lord Thomas, he said
“And dig it wide and deep, o
And bury fair Annie at ma side
And the dun bride at my feet, o”
Acknowledgements
Lyrics taken from The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, ed. Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd, Penguin, 1959:70, and adapted to the actual singing of Martin Carthy by Garry Gillard.