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Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries

[ Roud 300 ; Ballad Index FaE034 ; Bodleian Roud 300 ; trad.]

Ted Culver sang the transportation ballad Judges and Juries in 1966 on the Critic Group's Argo anthology of London songs, Sweet Thames Flow Softly.

Martin Carthy sang Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries on his 1971 album Landfall. He commented in its sleeve notes:

The Bold Poachers and Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries come from roughly the same time in history, being early 19th century transportation songs from Norfolk and Sussex respectively. They convey, along with O'er the Hills (which hails from the late 17th century), something within the simple factual almost journalistic framework of the writing, more than simple resentment at being forced to leave home, proving for me the truth of the maxim, that it's not what a song says, necessarily, but what it does that counts. Thousands of songs have very little apparent, but layers and layers underneath.

Derek and Dorothy Elliott sang Adieu to All Judges and Juries in 1972 on their eponymous Trailer album, Derek & Dorothy Elliott. This track was also included in 2006 on the anthology of tracks from Trailer albums, Never the Same.

Shirley Collins recorded Adieu to All Judges and Juries in 1976 for her album Amaranth.

David Littlefield sang Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries in 2004 on the anthology 25th Annual Sea Music Festival at Mystic Seaport.

Laura Smyth sang Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries on her and Ted Kemp's 2017 CD The Poacher's Fate. They noted:

A beautiful and heartfelt song about the loss of a loved one through transportation. During the 18th century, transportation was seen as a solution for a whole range of crimes including petty theft. Although sentences may have been for a fixed term, transportees often never returned. Learned from the singing of Dorothy Elliot on her and Derek's first album, with an additional verse..

Lyrics

Martin Carthy sings
Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries		 Shirley Collins sings
Adieu to All Judges and Juries

Here's adieu to all judges and juries!
Justice and Old Bailey, too.
Seven years you've transported my true love,
Seven years he's transported, you know.

Here's adieu to all judges and juries,
Justice and Old Bailey too.
Seven years you have transported my true love,
Seven years he's transported, you know.

Oh, hard is the place of confinement
That leads me from my heart's delight.
Cold irons and chains all bound round me
And a plank for my pillow at night.

Oh, hard is the place of confinement
That keeps me from my heart's delight.
Cold irons and chains all bound round me
And a plank for my pillow at night.

Oh, if I had the wings of an eagle
High up on these pinions I'd fly.
I'd fly to the arms of my true love
And in her soft bosom I'd lie.

If I had the wings of an eagle
I would lend you my wings for to fly.
I would fly to the arms of my Polly
And it's in her soft bosom I'd lie.

Oh, my love she is dark and she's proper,
My love's like the linnet in spring.
Oh the nightingale sleeps in her bosom
And love do fly high on her wing.

Oh if e'er I return from the ocean,
Stores of riches I'll bring for my dear.
And it's all for the sake of my true love,
I will cross the salt seas without fear.

And if e'er I return from the ocean,
Stores of riches I'll bring to my dear.
And it's all for the sake of my Polly,
I will cross the salt seas without fear.

Here's adieu to all judges and juries!
Justice and Old Bailey, too.
Seven years you've transported my true love,
Seven years he's transported, you know.

So adieu to all judges and juries!
Justice and Old Bailey, too.
Seven years you have transported my true love,
Seven years he's transported, you know.

Laura Smyth sang Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries

Here's adieu to all judges and juries,
Justice and Old Bailey too.
Seven years I'm parted from my true love,
Seven years I'm transported, you know.

O Polly, I'm going for to leave you
For seven long years, love, or more.
But the time it won't seem but one moment
When I think on the girl I adore.

How hard is a place of confinement
That keeps me from my heart's delight.
Cold irons and cold chains bound around me,
And a plank for my pillow at night.

If I had the wings of an eagle
Over the seas I would fly,
I'd fly to the arms of my true love
And forever contented we'd lie.

And if ever I return from the ocean,
Stores of riches I'll bring for my dear.
And it's all for the sake of my true love,
I'll cross the salt seas without fear.

Acknowledgements and Links

Transcribed from the singing of Martin Carthy by Garry Gillard. See also the Mudcat Café thread Lyr Add: Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries.