The Shooting of his Dear

O come all you young fellows that carry a gun,
I'd have you get home by the light of the sun,
For young Jimmy was a fowler and a-fowling alone,
When he shot his own true love in the room of a swan.

Then home went young Jimmy with his dog and his gun,
Saying, "Uncle, dear uncle, have you heard what I've done?
Cursèd be that old gunsmith that made my old gun,
For I've shot my own true love in the room of a swan."

Then out came bold Uncle with his locks hanging grey,
Saying, "Jimmy, dear Jimmy, don't you go away.
Don't you leave your own country till the trial come on,
For you never will be hangèd for the shooting a swan".

So the trial came on and pretty Polly did appear,
Saying, "Uncle, dear uncle, let Jimmy go clear,
For my apron was bound round me and he took me for a swan.
And his poor heart lay bleeding for Polly his own."

While it is understandable that Britten would wish to create a more male orientated arrangement considering that he was indeed arranging it with a male performer in mind. However, in my adaptations I wished to create a performance with more sensitivity to the traditional songs and therefore while I have not made any changes to Britten's score, I have sung the music in a much more mocking tone, and rather than having the strident guitar accompaniment it is played in a much more jaunty manner in order to contextually and musically include the purpose and context of the original, unedited text. 

This particular version was picked up and collected from a Canadian Sea Captain by Leo le Blanc. 

An entire thesis in itself could be written on the variants in texts within this song. However, once again as I have found to be a theme within this research. I chose to sing this in a somewhat satirical style which harks to the bitterness and mocking in the majority of collected versions of this song. 

Vocally I chose for a more raw style, with pauses and a softening in the voice to emphasise the 'Amen', and with a much more sloppy 'drunken' style for the final verse. 

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Master Kilby 

In the heat of the day
When the sun shines so freely,
There I met Master Kilby,
So fine and so gay.

Then I pull'd off my hat
And I bowed to the ground
And I said: "Master Kilby,
Pray where are you bound?"

"I am bound for the West,
There in hopes to find rest,
And in Nancy's soft bosom
I will build a new nest.

"And if I were the master
Of ten thousand pounds
All in gay gold and silver
Or in King William's crowns.

"I would part with it all
With my own heart so freely,
But it's all for the sake
Of my charming Nancy.

"She's the fairest of girls,
She's the choice of my own heart,
She is painted like waxwork
In every part".

The Soldier and the Sailor is the most controvertial song in this collection. Britten's arrangement, faithful to the collected song of Cecil Sharp in Oxfordshire in 1909 is the very definition of the 'cleaning up' and editing of middle class collectors within folk music. 

The collection of this song in 1909 is remarkably late, however from around this period a large quantity of variants on this song appeared. They all have a deciding texual factor in common, except the Britten. Every other version I have discovered or heard is a political curse. Whereas the Britten arrangement remains very patriotic, with only the final verse lapsing into comic effect with the mention of a wish for unlimited good liqour to bring up the spirits of the soldier and sailor. While the majority of the other versions pray for the wellbeing of fellow military members and for good women and alcohol, good will towards the monarchy or ruling classes is negligable with one version stating: 

"Now who shall we pray for let's pray for the Queen.
Glory, O Glory, long may she reign
And if she has one child, may she also have ten".
"May she have a bloody regiment", said the sailor, "Amen".

"Now who shall we pray for, let's pray for the Duke.
That wonderful handsome, great smiling plook
And if he loses one hair may he also lose ten".
"May the b*st*rd go baldy", said the sailor, "Amen".

Variants of this song can be found throughout the United Kingdom, but once again also in Canada. Variants in the text allow for colloquialisms in accordance to the county or indeed country they are being performed in. In more landlocked areas the solider is the primary character, however in more seabound areas it is the sailor who is the protagonist. 

Bonny at Morn

The sheep's in the meadows, the kye's in the corn,
Thou's ower lang in thy bed, bonny at morn.
Canny at night, bonny at morn,
Thou's ower lang in they bed,
Bonny at morn.

The bird's in the nest, the trout's in the burn,
Thou hinders thy mother in many a turn.
Canny at night, bonny at morn,
Thou's ower lang in they bed,
Bonny at morn.

We're all laid idle wi' keeping the bairn,
The lad winnot work and the lass winnot lairn.
Canny at night, bonny at morn,
Thou's ower lang in they bed,
Bonny at morn.

The background and context of Master Kilby is arguable the most convoluted of this book. Britten took his text from the 'Folk Songs for Schools' collected by Cecil Sharp, who was also known for 'cleaning up' folk songs. This is a strong argument for that at the beginning of this chapter, how the songs being collected by artists such as Sharp and Britten would no longer be recognised by the 'merry ploughboys' mentioned in so many of the songs. 

In the folk circuit, and in many recordings of Master Kilby, there is an extra verse. Some believe that this is from a Music Hall arrangement 'gone rogue', however the earliest appearences of this verse would suggest otherwise. The verse in question reads; 

'Then I give her more kisses,
it was on the sea shore,
But still she lay asking,
Lay asking for more' 

This verse is commonly found either as the penultimate or final verse. 

The Shooting of his Dear or Polly Vaughan or The Fowler as this song may be known are all variants on this popular Broadside Ballad. A song well known and widely recorded. There are many theories about the origin of this song. Whether it was the recounting the sad true story of quite literally a case of mistaken identity and the untimely death of a young women with the embellished addition of a ghostly apparition at the court case, or the entirely fabricated ballad based on the story of Cephalus and Procris. 

This song has been recorded and collected throughout the UK and once again as far as Canada and a handful of states in the USA. This song has proved so popular that even Bob Dylan has been known to sing the ballad.

Many collecters considered this song to be that of little consequence.

'Because the early great ballad scholars had a very rigid model in mind by which they judged the excellence and authenticity of the ballads they chose to publish, they frequently missed songs of great antiquity and beauty that came into their hands in broadside form. This song is a case in point. Jamieson, in Popular Ballads (1806), commented, “This is indeed a silly ditty, one of the very lowest descriptions of vulgar English ballads which are sung about the streets in country towns and sold four of five for a alfpenny.” In fact, however, this story probably enshrines a fragment of one of the age-old myths of North Europe—the transformation of a maiden into a bird by some jealous person. ' ^{The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 7; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1970)}

While there are so very many textual variants on this song, primarily once again due to geographical colloquialisms the Britten text while it is a 'cleaned up' version, in the Queen's English, stays true to the fundamental meaning of the song. Therefore as this song can also be found in my own area of East Anglia, I sing with the ornaments I learned in my younger years and in my own accent. 

As a singer with an interest in the visitation ballads, such as 'She Moves through the Fair', I extended even further Britten's directions to slow the tempo and diminish the  considerably 

The Soldier and the Sailor 

As the soldier and the sailor
Was a-walking one day,
Said the soldier to the sailor:
"I've a mind for to pray".
"Pray on then", said the sailor,
"Pray on once again,
And whatever you do pray for,
I will answer "Amen'".

"Now the first thing I'll pray for,
I'll pray for the Queen,
That she have peace and plenty
All the days of her reign,
And where she got one man
I wish she had ten;
And never want for an army".
Said the sailor, "Amen".

"Now the next thing I'll pray for,
I'll pray for the Queen,
That she have peace and plenty
All the days of her reign,
And where she got one ship
I wish she had ten;
And never want for a navy".
Said the sailor, "Amen".

"Now the next thing I'll pray for,
Is a pot of good beer,
For good liquor were sent us
Our spirits to cheer,
And where we got one pot,
I wish we had ten,
And never want for liquor".
Said the sailor, "Amen

Sailor-boy as it is known in the Britten Folksongs was previously brought to the state of Virginia in the early 1900s and was performed under the name 'Solider Boy'. ^{“Soldier Boy for Me.” Kodály Center for Music Education - Song. Accessed February 10, 2020. http://kodaly.hnu.edu/song.cfm?id=561} 

It was then arranged by Britten after having recieved it from the collection of Cecil Sharp^{Benjamin Britten - Complete Folksong Arrangements 61 Songs. Boosey & Hawkes, 2006.}

The original text is vastly different to the Britten edition. It is considerably longer, consisting of six verses and contains a dialogue between female and male characters. 

Bonny at Morn is a very unusual folk song. Britten uses the text and melody from W G Whittaker's collection, 'North Country Folk Songs'. This is a song which is from Northumberland, and the musical line harks to that of the Northumbrian pipes which is the explanation for the very unusual melody. Northumberland folk songs and melodies have an immensely individual character and are easily established with elements such as large intervals and the feeling of stripped back Scottish melodies being predominant features. 

Having sung and shown the Britten arrangement to folk musicians and alongside research at the Vaughan Williams Memorial library, the text of this song has been left textually unedited by Britten. I believe this is due to the lack of political or sexual nature. 

The basis of the song is an outline of family life, the 'bairn' (baby) wakes up too early and 'hinders' his mother throughout the day disrupting her work and the older lad will not go to work and the older lass won't learn because they are more concerned with sleeping. It sets a typical family scene, the only contradictory texts I have been able to find is one in which the words are the same they are however written in dialect, therefore with localised spelling. 

The yowie's in the meadow and the kye is in the corn,
Thou's ower lang in thee bad, bonny at morn. 

But thou's canny at neet, bonny at morn,
Thou's ower lang in thee bed, bonny at morn.

The bordie's in the bush and the troot's in the born,
Thou hinders thee mither at mony's a torn.

We're all laid idle wi' keeping the bairn,
The lad winnot work and the lass winnot learn

In my recording I have followed the lullaby feeling, only pushing the tempo and intention of the song forwards in the second verse to emphasise the irritation of the parents at their older children being lazy and lothe to wake up in the morning and go about their duties. As the ornaments should be slightly different in this recoding due to the geographical origins of the song, I shortened the turns and flicks to be more akin to the ornamentation used in Northumbrian pipe melodies and Northumbian songs.

This analysis of the first song in the Sixth Book outlines the basis for my own editions of each song in a musical and vocal setting. The important words in each phrase are the emphasis points for ornamentation. These ornaments are very similar to classical turns and mordents. and are used in a similar was in their musical emphasis. This is continued throughout the recordings, following a very similar trend. With even the songs collected from American soures such as Sailor-boy, due to it's English heritage I have ornamented and sung this in an English style.

It is also to be noted the accent in which I sing each of the folk songs in my own dialect, that of the Midlands. A number of the songs are from close by regions were the differences in the accents are minimal. Due to the nature of my research, to blend the two styles with a focus on the text, then it felt the most accurate to sing in a local dialect. Having cross referenced this with interviewees and professional musicians such as Gordon Jackson, Tielhard Frost and Mick Ryan, it was in unanimous agreement that this was the most appropriate decision. 

Sailor-boy

We go walking on the green grass
Thus, thus, thus,
Come all you pretty fair maids,
Come walk along with us.
So pretty and so fair
As you take yourself to be,
I'll choose you for a partner,
Come walk along with me.

We go walking on the green grass
Thus, thus, thus.

I would not be a blacksmith
That smuts his nose and chin,
I'd rather be a sailor-boy
That sails thro' the wind.
Sailor-boy, sailor-boy,
Sailor-boy for me,
If ever I get married
A sailor's wife she'll be.

In my recording I have placed a focus on the final Britten verse, which lends a subtle acknowledgement towards this more sexual nature of the song which is missed in the majority of Britten's arrangements, not just in the sixth book but throughout his arrangements. The suggestion of being 'painted' like waxwork historically in folk music is the suggestion of the woman in question being a sex worker. The comic guitar ending to the accompaniment also leans towards the joke of the song being built as a love song to a woman who will never fall in love with the singer, not because she dislikes the singer or loves another, but purely because it is her job. An example of this in other folk songs can be found in Bellowhead's 'New York Girls'

I will give my love an Apple is a folk song with its first recorded collection occuring in 1906 in Sherborne, Dorset, making this a relatively contemporary song in its collection. In 1907 there is also another occurence of the song being collected by a different individual in a similar area and being printed in the Folk Song Journal vol.11 Reeves, James (1960) The Everlasting Circle. London: Heinemann; pp. 161-6.

There are however also strong connections to the song being taken by travellers to Canada in a similar period and these collections reveal a missing verse which transforms the entire tone and sentiment to the song. While it remains a love song with the first verse a riddle. The Canadian denomination brings the roots of the song to be from 'Child's Ballads 46', Captain Wedderburn's Courtship.Fowke, Edith. “'I'll Give My Love an Apple'.” 'I'll Give My Love an Apple' | The Canadian Encyclopedia, August 11, 2014. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ill-give-my-love-an-apple-emc.

I will give my love an apple without e'er a core,
I will give my love a house without e'er a door,
I will give my love a palace wherein she may be,
That she can unlock without e'er a key.

How can there be an apple without e'er a core?
How can there be a house without e'er a door?
How can there be a palace wherein she may be,
That she can unlock without e'er a key?

My head is an apple without e'er a core?
My mind is a house without e'er a door?
My heart is a palace wherein she may be,
That she can unlock without e'er a key.

The simplistic tone of the Britten accompaniment gives hints at the uncertainty of the missing verse and a midly disorientating undertone due to the individualistic nature of the accompaniment.  the verses and add gravitas to the conclusion of the verse and in 20-23, the song.

I will give my love an Apple

MudCat is one of the most important online communities within folk musicians. It was fascinating to come accross this post with a little searching into the wider folk communities opinions on the Britten Folksong Arrangements. 

Within my fieldwork I had recieved very similar reactions to this online thread when presenting both professional and fans of traditional English folk music alike. 

'Its all middle class people recreating folk music in a way that the actual merry ploughboys wouldn't have recognised.'    https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=143307#3307144

While this may appear a somewhat generalised view, found online which is notably not a typically reliable source. However, alongside my outside conversations and interviews it holds up as the most consistent opinion of the Britten arrangements, having spoken to historian and folk musician Gordon Jackson, there is a strong sense of the songs having lost their identity and home being taken from a working or social environment and placed in a 'glass cabinet' of sorts. However, speaking with classical musicians familiar with the Britten arrangements, the origins of the song cause much less concern. 

I felt that as these arrangements are still so frequently being performed in both practices there must be parallels that would provide an opening to bringing the two performance styles togehter a little more.

In his book Musicking, Christopher Small analyses the performance styles and practices in folk music and classical music.

'A festival of folk music shows a similar quest more coherently, through a deliberate inormailty of presentation that goes beyond that of the usual concert. There is a studious avoidance of glamour.' 

'Performers are expected to avoid the kind of forceful self-presentation and domination of the audience that charazterizes te rock star and, in a different way, the concert soloist.'Small, Christopher. Musicking: the Meanings of Performing and Listening. Middletown: Wesleyan Univ. Press, 2010.

It is from this research that I began to create the conecpt of mixing the two musical styles in a 'halfway house' performance venue of sorts with a combination of elements from both classical performances and folk performances. 

In Singing From the Floor, A History of British Folk Clubs through a considerable quantity of archived images and interviews, JP Bean creates a clear image of the 1980s folk revival, alongside historial references of performances. 

I have also drawn on my own experiences of both classical and folk performances to create a performane experience drawing on elements of both classical and folk to create a new performance experience. 

The venue is a jazz music venue within The Hague, 'Murphy's Law'. While the venue is famed for its jazz concerts and jam sessions, twice a month it plays host to a traditional music session.

The informal setting is structured by the clear stage area and concert setting more familiar in a classical setting. 

Book Six

In the1950s Julian Bream established a position for himself as one of the most sought after guitarists and accompanists in the musical scene. Therefore, Britten composed the Songs from the Chinese and a number of individual songs which would eventually culminate into the Sixth Book in the Folk Song Arrangements.

I will give my love an Apple, collected in Dorset, is also present in Vaughan Williams, Folk Songs for Schools.

The middle three were collected by Cecil Sharp: Sailor-boy is found in his Seventeen Nursery Songs from the Appalachian Mountains. Master Kilby found in Somerset is also present in Sharp’s Folksongs for Schools and The Soldier and the Sailor is in Cecil Sharp’s Collection of English Folksongs which was collected be Sharp in Bampton and sung by a local shepherd. Bonny at Morn was located in 'North Country Folk Songs'.

The Shooting of his Dear is a ballad from a collection aquired by Moeran. 

Spiegel, Max. “Is This Murdering a Folk Song?” The Mudcat Cafe.https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=143307#3307144.

She Moves Through The Fair (Anon) 

Sung at the Murphy's Law Irish Session 

Nic Jones, performing Master Kilby with the additional verse and with excellent examples of traditional ornamentation.