"The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington" is a traditional English folk song. It is numbered as Child ballad 105, and as Roud number 483.
"The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington" is a traditional English folk song. It is numbered as Child ballad 105, and as Roud number 483.
The ballad concerns a young squire's son who falls in love with a bailiff's daughter from Islington, to the north of London. This is considered to be an unsuitable pairing, so his family dispatches him to the City. There a seven-year apprenticeship affords him worldly success, although servitude sharpens his ardour for the maiden he once knew.
The bailiff's family falls on hard times. The daughter survives, but is alone, and one day on a roadside encounters the well-beloved youth.
She begs a penny. In reply, he asks: "I prithee, sweetheart, canst thou tell me / Where that thou wast born?"; and does she know of the bailiff's daughter of Islington?
"She's dead, sir, long ago", the girl asserts sorrowfully. The youth is heartbroken and offhandedly pledges the girl his horse and tack, for he feels like nothing but departing into exile. She cries: "O stay, O stay, thou goodly youth! / She's alive, she is not dead; / Here she standeth by thy side, And is ready to be thy bride."
The earliest known text was published (as a broadside) by Phillip Brooksby between 1683 and 1696. The tune dates from 1731 (ballad opera, The Jovial Crew). [1]
The song was recorded by such performers as Albert Beale, Tony Wales. [1]
One celebrated recording was by Owen Brannigan and Elizabeth Harwood under Sir Charles Mackerras in 1964. It found considerable success in Japan. [2]
A version by Jon Rennard was included on his album Brimbledon Fair (1970).
There was a youth, and a well beloved youth,
For he was the squire’s son
He loved the bailiff's daughter dear
Who lived in Islington.
But she was coy and would not let
on him her heart bestow
And he went away to London Town
Because he loved her so.
The "Lyke-Wake Dirge" is a traditional English folk song and dirge listed as number 8194 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song tells of the soul's travel, and the hazards it faces, on its way from earth to purgatory. Though it is from the Christian era and features references to Christianity, much of the symbolism is thought to be of pre-Christian origin.
"Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" is an old Scottish ballad dating from 1785 or earlier. It is Child Ballad #46, Roud 36. It is known by a number of titles, including "Lord Roslin's Daughter" and "The Laird of Rosslyn's Daughter".
Jephtha is an oratorio (1751) by George Frideric Handel with an English language libretto by the Rev. Thomas Morell, based on the story of Jephtha in Judges and Jephthes, sive Votum (1554) by George Buchanan. Whilst writing Jephtha, Handel was increasingly troubled by his gradual loss of sight, and this proved to be his last oratorio. In the autograph score, at the end of the chorus "How dark, O Lord, are thy decrees" he wrote "Reached here on 13 February 1751, unable to go on owing to weakening of the sight of my left eye."
"Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" is the English common name representative of a very large class of European ballads.
"Young Hunting" is a traditional folk song, Roud 47, catalogued by Francis James Child as Child Ballad number 68, and has its origin in Scotland. Like most traditional songs, numerous variants of the song exist worldwide, notably under the title of "Henry Lee" and "Love Henry" in the United States and "Earl Richard" and sometimes "The Proud Girl" in the United Kingdom.
The New-Slain Knight is Child ballad number 263.
"Fair Margaret and Sweet William" is a traditional English ballad which tells of two lovers, of whom either one or both die from heartbreak. Thomas Percy included it in his folio and said that it was quoted as early as 1611 in the Knight of the Burning Pestle. In the United States, variations of Fair Margaret have been regarded as folk song as early as 1823.
"The Kitchie-Boy" is Child ballad number 252; Roud number 105.
Fause Foodrage is a Scottish murder ballad of the 17th or 18th century. It was first printed by Walter Scott in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802). Scott cited Elizabeth, Lady Wardlaw as the ballad's probable author.
Brown Robin is the 97th Child ballad from the collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century. The ballad tells the story of a king's daughter who brings her lover, Brown Robin, into the castle and back out without being discovered by the king. The second variant comes from the ballad "Love Robbie."
Will Stewart and John is Child ballad 107, indexed as such in Francis James Child's 19th century collection of English and Scottish ballads.
"Bonnie Annie" is a folk ballad recorded from the Scottish and English traditions. Scottish texts are often called Bonnie Annie or The Green Banks of Yarrow, English texts are most often called The Banks of Green Willow. Other titles include The Undutiful Daughter, The High Banks O Yarrow, The Watery Grave, Green Willow, There Was a Rich Merchant that Lived in Strathdinah and The Merchant's Daughter.
Billee Taylor, or The Reward of Virtue is "a nautical comedy opera" by Edward Solomon, with a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens.
The Suffolk Miracle is Child ballad 272 and is listed as #246 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Versions of the ballad have been collected from traditional singers in England, Ireland and North America. The song is also known as "The Holland Handkerchief" and sometimes as "The Lover's Ghost".
Lang Johnny More is a traditional ballad and folk song, also known as Lang Johnnie More, Lang Johnnie Muir or other variants. It is Child ballad number 251.
Jon Rennard was an English folksinger who recorded two record albums of traditional material as well as his own songs.
True Love Requited, or the Bailiff's Daughter of Islington is an English broadside ballad from the 17th century. It tells the story of a young couple from Islington who are separated by a seven-year apprenticeship, only to encounter each other once more along the road to London and live happily ever after. Copies of the broadside can be found in the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and Magdalene College, Cambridge. Facsimile transcriptions are also available on-line for public consumption.
Rev. John Broadwood was the first English folk song collector.
The Golden Glove is an English folk song also popular in Scotland, Ireland and North America. It tells the tale of a young woman who falls in love with a farmer and devises a somewhat far-fetched ruse to win his love. This song is also known as Dog and Gun and The Squire of Tamworth
The Banks of Sweet Dundee is a folk song very popular with and frequently collected from traditional singers in Britain and Ireland, fairly common in North America, and also performed by revival singers and groups. A young woman escapes a forced marriage by shooting dead both the squire who is her intended husband and her uncle who attacks her.
 | This folk song–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
