The Bird Song

Table of Contents

I. Prose and Poetical Predecessors
1. The Conference of the Birds (CB) circa 1177
2. Parlement of Foules (PF) circa 1342-1400
3. Parlament of Byrdes (PB) circa 1487-1520
4. A Proper New Boke of the Armony of Byrdes (HB) circa 1530-1555
5. Cawwood the Rook (CW) circa 1638

II. Broadside Ballads
1. The Turtle Dove (TD) circa 1619-1629
2. Birds Harmony (BH) circa 1680-1682
3. The Birds Lamentation (BL) circa 1672 – 1696
4. The Woody Queristers (WQ) circa 1685

III. The Bird Song (TBS)
A. Ottawa Citizen, 1899 #OC
B. Cecil Sharp Collections, 1916-1918
1. Lily Roberts, May 1916
2. Jane Gentry, Sept. 1916
3. Mr. Bridges, Aug. 1918
4. Ida Banks, Sept. 1918
5. Nursery Songs from the Appalachian Mountains, 1921
C. The Atwood Family
1. James Atwood, 1919
2. Fred Atwood, 1974
D. African American Versions
1. Negro Folk Rhymes, 1922
2. On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, 1925
E. Other Recordings
1. Agnes Presley, Arden, NC, 1922
2. Alexander “Uncle Eck” Dunford, Galax, VA, 1937

IV. The Tune

I. Prose & Poetical Predecessors

Birds appear in myth, allegory, folklore, art, song, and dance around the world. Bird debates are a genre of their own. In his book Two Early Renaissance Bird Poems, author Malcolm Andrew describes three categories of debate: 1) between a bird and a human, 2) between two birds, and 3) between many birds (such as in a parliament, conference, or chorus).

“The Bird Song” (TBS), with its sundry birds voicing their woes and advice falls into the third category. But the song did not spring up overnight like a mushroom. To really appreciate the song, I think it’s important to place it in its historical context. I begin with some of the earliest written bird debates.

1. The Conference of the Birds, or the Speech of Birds, by Farid ud-Din Attar, circa 1177

“The Conference of Birds,” also called “The Speech of Birds” or “The Concourse of the Birds,” is a Persian poem by Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar, commonly known as Attar of Nishapur.

“In the poem, the birds of the world gather to decide who is to be their sovereign, as they have none. The hoopoe, the wisest of them all, suggests that they should find the legendary Simorgh. The hoopoe leads the birds, each of whom represents a human fault which prevents human kind from attaining enlightenment.”

“The Conference of the Birds,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Conference_of_the_Birds

The only translation in the public domain is an abridged translation by Edward FitzGerald, published posthumously in Letters and literary remains of Edward FitzGerald, Volume II, in 1889, which he titled “Bird-Parliament.” It is viewable at Archive.org, and I have embedded it below:

The first few lines are:

Once on a time from all the Circles seven
Between the stedfast Earth and rolling Heaven
THE BIRDS, of all Note, Plumage, and Degree,
That float in Air, and roost upon the Tree;
And they that from the Waters snatch their Meat,
And they that scour the desert with long Feet:
Birds of all Natures, known or not to Man,
Flock’d from all Quarters into full Divan,
On no less solemn business than to find
Or choose, a Sultan Khalif of their kind,
For whom, if never their’s, or lost, they pined.

Letters and literary remains of Edward FitzGerald, Volume II, p. 433

The king of birds, and the choosing of the king, is a common theme in bird folklore. Particularly common in Europe is the tale of how the Wren became king of the birds, but as we’ll see later, the eagle is also regarded as king.

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2. The Parlement of Foules, by Geoffrey Chaucer, circa 1342-1400

The Parlement of Foules [Parliament of Fowls], also known as the Parlement of Briddes [Parliament of Birds] and the Assemble of Foules [Assembly of Fowls], is an approximately 700 line poem by Geoffrey Chaucer, the well-known medieval author of the Canterbury Tales.

In summary, the narrator takes a dream journey and “enters and passes through Venus’s dark temple with its friezes of doomed lovers and out into the bright sunlight. Here Nature is convening a parliament at which the birds will all choose their mates” (Parlement of Foules, Wikipedia).

You can view the entire illuminated manuscript with the poem through the British Museum here. Embedded below from HathiTrust.org is a 1914 translation by C. M. Drennan.

Here are a few verses of note:

A garden saw I ful of blosmy bowes,
Upon a river, in a grene mede,
Ther as that swetnesse evermore i-now is,
With floures whyte, blewe, yelowe, and rede;
And colde welle-stremes nothing dede,
That swimmen ful of smale fisshes lighte,
With finnes rede and scales silver-brighte.

On every bough the briddes herde I singe,
With voys of aungel in hir armonye,
Som besyed hem hir briddes forth to bringe;
The litel conyes to hir pley gunne hye;
And further al aboute I gan espye
The dredful roo, the buk, the hert and hinde,
Squyrels, and bestes smale of gentil kinde.

…

And in a launde, upon an hille of floures,
Was set this noble goddess Nature;
Of braunches were hir halles and hir boures,
Y-wrought after hir craft and hir mesure;
Ne ther nas foul that cometh of engendrure,
That they ne were prest in hir presence,
To take hir doom and yeve hir audience.

For this was on Seynt Valentynes day,
Whan every brid cometh ther to chese his make,
Of every kinde, that men thenke may;
And that so huge a noyse gan they make,
That erthe and see, and tree, and every lake
So ful was, that unnethe was ther space
For me to stonde, so ful was al the place.

…

Ther mighte men the ryal egle finde,
That with his sharpe look perceth the sonne;
And other egles of a lower kinde,
Of which that clerkes wel devysen conne.
Ther was the tyraunt with his fethres donne
And greye, I mene the goshauk, that doth pyne
To briddes for his outrageous ravyne.

The gentil faucon, that with his feet distreyneth
The kinges hond; the hardy sperhauk eke,
The quayles foo; the merlion that peyneth
Himself ful ofte the larke for to seke;
Ther was the douve, with hir eyen meke;
The jalous swan, ayens his deth that singeth;
The oule eek, that of dethe the bode bringeth;

The crane, the geaunt, with his trompes soune;
The theef, the chogh; and eek the jangling pye;
The scorning jay; the eles foo, the heroune;
The false lapwing, ful of trecherye;
The stare, that the counseyl can bewrye;
The tame ruddok; and the coward kyte;
The cok, that orloge is of thorpes lyte;

The sparow, Venus sone; the nightingale,
That clepeth forth the grene leves newe;
The swalow mordrer of the flyes smale
That maken honey of floures fresshe of hewe;
The wedded turtel, with hir herte treww;
The pecok, with his aungels clothes brighte;
The fesaunt, scorner of the cok by nighte;

The waker goos; the cukkow ever unkinde;
The popinjay, ful of delicasye;
The drake, stroyer of his owne kinde;
The stork, the wreker of avouterye;
The hote cormeraunt of glotonye;
The raven wys; the crow with voice of care;
The throstel olde; the frosty feldefare.

Select verses from “Chaucer Parlement of Foules, with an introduction, notes & glossary” by C. M. Drennan

As an etymological point of interest, the word “bird” comes from the Old English word “bridde,” which originally meant “young bird or nestling.” The usual Old English word for bird was “fugol,” (related to the German word for bird, “vogel”) which became our “fowl,” more exclusively related to domestic birds like chickens. The process changing “bridde” to “bird” is called metathesis, or the transposition of sounds or letters in a word. Like a child saying “pasketti” instead of “spaghetti.”

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3. “The Parlament of Byrdes,” anonymous, circa 1487-1520

We now skip ahead a hundred years or so, to approximately the reign of King Henry VII of England (1485-1509). He was the first Tudor king of England, and the last to win his throne on the battlefield, defeating Richard III, of Shakespeare’s famous, “A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!” For more historical context, the Spanish Inquisition began around this time as well, in 1478.

“The Parlament of Byrdes,” also known as the “Parlyament of Byrdes” and the “Parliament of Birds,” is a late medieval/early renaissance poem that Malcolm Andrew dates to circa 1487 – 1520 in his 1984 book Two Early Renaissance Bird Poems (TERBP). The poem survives in 4 variant texts, described in TERBP and in A. S. G. Edwards’ article “Variant Texts of The Parliament of Birds,” in The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, Vol. 69, No. 1 (First Quarter, 1975), pp. 77-79, distinguished by four letters: W, L, K, V.

W: “Parlyament of Byrdes,” printed by Wynkyn de Worde, circa 1520
– STC 19303.7
– ESTC S4812
– digitized by Early English Books Online, but not in the public domain and only available with institutional access
– Source Library: British Library
– Imperfect copy, missing title page and first and last text leaves

L: “The Parlament of Byrds,” British Library MS Lansdowne 210, c. 1560
– Source Library: British Library
– Manuscript copy, “A Volume formerly belonging to Mr. John Strype, consisting of miscellaneous articles drawn up or transcribed by one William Smyth, or his father John Smyth of Walden in Essex, in the reign of Queen Mary.”
– No digital copy found; library record contains the note “A poem. Beg. “Thys the plament of byrdys.” fo. 74. It has been printed. See Mr. Garrick’s collection of old plays, among the romances,” but I have not been able to find the reference

K: “The Parlament of Byrdes,” printed by Anthony Kytson, c. 1565
– STC 19304
– ESTC S120797
– digitized by Early English Books Online, but not in the public domain and only available with institutional access
– Source Library: Bodleian Library
– text only available through the Oxford Text Archive
– Reprinted in Remains of the Early Popular Poetry of England, Volume III, by William Carew Hazlitt, 1866, p. 164

V: “The Parlement of Byrdes,” printed by Abraham Veale [Vele], circa 1745?
– original copy lost
– reprinted in The Harleian Miscellany, Volume V, by Thomas Osborne, 1745, p. 479

In TERBP, Malcolm Andrew has collated the texts and provides extensive notes on the differences between the four versions, as well as commentary on the poem itself. His book is not in the public domain, so here I include several verses I transcribed from K:

The Parlament of Byrdes,

THis is the parlyament of byrdes
For hye and lowe and them amyddes
To ordayne a meane how it is best
To keep among them peace and rest
For muche noyse is on euery syde
Agaynst the hauke so full of pride
Therfore they shall in bylles bryng,
Theyr complaints to the Egle theyr kyng,
And by the kynge in parlyament
Shall be sette in lawful Iudgement.

The Grype.
The great Grype was the fyrst that spake,
And sayd owne is owne, who can it take.
For thyne and mynne, make much debate,
With great and small in euery estate.

The Cuckow.
I synge sayd the Cuckowe euer one song
That the waeke taketh euer the wrong
For he that hath wyth vs most myght,
Taketh his wyll, as reason is ryght.

The Fawcon.
Than answered the fawcon to that same,
That pleaseth a Prynce, is iust and law,
And he that can no song but one,
Whan he hath song, his wytte is gonne.

The Commons.
Than all the byrdes that could speake
Said, the Hauke doth vs great wreake,
Of them so many diuers there be,
That no Foule nor byrde may fro them flye.

The Parlament of Byrdes, printed for Anthony Kytson, circa 1565

You can see more of the K edition in Remains of the Early Popular Poetry of England embedded below:

It is interesting to note that in this case, the eagle, not the wren, is the king. In the poem, the birds complain that the hawk is taking their feathers and they want justice from the king. The hawk tries to defend himself. Interwoven is the fable of the crow’s borrowed feathers, as well as general moralizing. In the end the king declares that no birds shall steal the feathers of another:

The Kynge
Than sayd the kynge in his maiestye,
We wyll disseuer this greate sembly,
He commanded his chauncelere,
The best statutes to rede that he myght here
Thus the fynall Iudgemente,
He redde of the byrdes parlyment,
Whether they be Whyte or blacke
None shall others fethers take,
Nor the Rauyn plucke the Pecockes tayle,
To make him freshe for his auayle,
For the commons fethers want,
For with some they be right skant.

They Iaye.
Thus sayeth the chosen of the Iaye,
That none shall vse others araye,
For who so mounteth wyth Egle an hye,
Shall fayle fethers whan he would flye.

Sapiencia.
Be not greedy glede to gader,
For good fadeth and foules fether,
And though thy fether be not gaye,
Haue none anuye at the Swannes aray,

Concludent.
For thoughe an astryche may eate Nayle,
Wrath wyll plucke his winge and tayle,
And yf thou lye in swallowes nest,
Let not slouth in the fethers rest,
Be trewe as turtyll in thy kynde,
For lust wyll part as fethers in wynde,
And he that is a glotonous gull,
Death wyll soone his fethers pull,
Thoughe thou be as hasty as a wype,
And the fethers flyght rype,
Loke thy fethers and wrytynng be dene,
What they saye and what they mene,
For here is none other thynge,
But fowles fethers and wrytyng,
Thus endeth the byrdes parlament,
By theyr kynnges commaundement.

The Parlament of Byrdes, printed for Anthony Kytson, circa 1565

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4. The Harmony of Birds, “A Proper New Boke of the Armony of Byrdes,” printed by John Wight, circa 1530-1555

The only known copy of another early renaissance poem, “A Proper New Boke of the Armony of Byrdes,” also known as “The Harmony of Birds,” is at the Huntington Library, Call Number 88841. The STC number is 3368.2 and the ESTC number is S104627. Early English Books Online has digitized the original here, but the digitization is not in the public domain and can only be viewed if you have institutional access.

The text was reprinted in two publications which are in the public domain and viewable online. First, by the Percy Society in 1843 in The Harmony of Birds: A Poem. From the only known copy, printed by John Wight in the middle of the sixteenth century. With an introduction and notes. Second in William Carew Hazlitt’s 1866 Remains of the Early Popular Poetry of England, starting on p. 184.

In TERBP, however, Malcolm Andrew notes that, “the two nineteenth-century texts (Collier and Hazlitt) have no independent value. Neither is particularly accurate, and errors in these texts are not recorded.” He dates the poem to circa 1530 – 1555, which puts this text more in the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547) or early reign of his son Edward VI. In addition to providing a great amount of background and context for the text, Malcolm Andrew also provides his own transcription of the text from the original. You can borrow his book by the hour from Archive.org.

Given the limited accessibility of the primary text and the inaccuracies of the reprints, I decided to make my own transcription of poem from the original and share it in its entirety in a separate post. Here are the first few verses so you can get a feel for the style and meter:

Whan Dame Flora
In die aurora
Had couerd ye medowes with flowers
And all the fylde
Was ouer distylde
With lusty Aprell showers.

I for my disporte
Me to conforte
Whan the day began to spring
Foorth I went
With a good intent
To here the Byrdes syng,

I was not past
Not a stones cast
So nygh as I could deme
But I dyd se
A goodly tree
Within an herbor grene.

Wheron dyd lyght
Byrdes as thycke
As sterres in the skye
Praisyng our lorde
Without discorde
With goodly armony.

The Popyngay
Than fyrst dyd say
Hoc didicit per me
Emperour and kyng
[?]hont lettyng
Discite semper a me.

Therfore wyll I
The name magnify
Of God above all names
And fyrst begyn
In praisyng to him
This song. Te desi laudamus.

Then sang the Auys
Called the Mauys
The treble in ellamy
That from the ground
Her notes round
Were herde into the skye

Than all the rest
At her request
Both Meane, Basse, et Tenur
With her dyd respond
This glorious song
Te dominum confitemur.

The Partryge sayd
It may not be denayd
But that I vse my bath
In flood and land
In earth and sand
In highway and in path.

Than with the erth
Wyll I make merth
Accordyng to my nature
She tuned then
Te eternum patrem
Omnis terra veneratur.
…

Finis,
Imprinted at Londō by John
Wyght dwelling in Poules church
yarde at the Sygne of the Rose.

A Proper New Boke of the Armony of Byrdes, printed by John Wight, circa 1530-1555

“Poules church yarde” mentioned in the imprint at the end refers to the churchyard surrounding St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. According to the article “Bookselling at Paul’s Churchyard,” written for the website Map of Early Modern London,

“By 1597, St. Paul’s was used not only as a church; in fact, one might say it was used not even primarily as a church. It had become the bookshop of London.

“Parts of the cathedral and its surrounding areas had been used as markets since the fourteenth century. By the beginning of the sixteenth century, St. Paul’s Churchyard was the chief centre of the book trade, not only for London, but for the whole country (Mumby 45).”

Carlone, Dominic. Bookselling at Paul’s Churchyard. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 05 May 2022, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/BOOK2.htm.

You can see St. Paul’s Cathedral and Churchyard on the Civitas Londinum/”Agas” Map, circa 1561, on The Map of Early Modern London, here. The image below is from Layers of London. They explain that the Civitas Londinum is a bird’s-eye view of London first printed from woodblocks in about 1561, which is about the same time that “Armony of Byrdes” was printed.

Notice the church is labeled “Poles Church,” so clearly spelling at this time was fluid, and “Poules church yarde” is no surprise.

The drawing above shows the cathedral as it looked before it was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666.

But getting back to the poem itself, HB is more religious than the other poems discussed so far. The Latin lines come from the praise hymn “Te Deum.” Here the birds are singing praises rather than vocalizing complaints. Still, it contains echos of the Parliament of Fowls, in that the narrator, amongst the beauty of nature, comes upon a tree filled with birds. This opening is frequently repeated in many later ballads, eg “As I went walking one morning in May,” etc, in addition to the ballads discussed below.

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5. Cawwood the Rooke, circa 1638

“The history of Cawood the Rooke or the Assembly of Birds” (CW), was entered into the Stationer’s Register, a precursor to the copyright office, on July 23, 1638, under the name “ffrancis Groue,” aka Francis Grove. (See A Transcript of the Registers of the Company of Stationers of London, Volume IV, p. 399).

Over the next several decades many editions were published, starting in 1640. I outlined the various editions with links to their physical and digital locations in a separate post: Cawwood the Rooke. We do not need to discuss them all here, but there are several key features worth noting. I’ll begin by discussing the woodcuts, then move on to the text itself.

The woodcut on the title page, which I’ll call “Assembly of Birds 1” (AB1), features the eagle king surrounded by his subjects. Later editions have a slightly altered woodcut, which I’ll call “Assembly of Birds 2” (AB2) which is also used on several editions of the broadside ballad “The Woody Queresters” (WQ), which is direct ancestor of “The Bird Song.” Later editions of WQ feature altered “Assembly of Birds” woodcuts, which I number AB3, AB4, and AB5. A reworked woodcut featuring a couple on a bench with many of same birds but without the eagle king appears on some of the prints of “The Birds Lamentation” (BL). Clearly the printers saw a connection between the later ballads and this story.

Another woodcut of note appears in the 1683 edition. In her article “Picturing Song across Species: Broadside Ballads in Image and Word,” Megan Palmer describes it as a partridge. It also appears in the WQ prints of about the same time. Finally, in the circa 1700 edition we see another woodcut that also appears in several of the WQ prints: 3 small birds on pedestals.

In addition to the woodcuts and the overall theme of a bird debate, there are two phrases in Chapter 1 that reinforce the connection between this work, earlier works, and the broadside ballad ancestors of TBS. Here is the text:

Chap. I.

IN the heate of Summer, when the Woods were lined with pleasant shade, and filled with the cheerefill Musicke of the feather’d Quiresters. It hapned that the Eagle, the royall King of Birds, intending to leave off his goverment & a while, and to live solitary inn the Desarts of Arabia, made a Proclamation to be drawn in this manner. That seeing he purposed for some reasons best knowne unto himselfe, to retire unto the Arabian Desart, & for some few Moneths to leave off all rule and dominion; he therefore tendring the welfare of his Subjects, and being carefull they might not lacks ane in his absence to administer Iustice unto them, thought good to signifie his Royal Will and Pleasure, which was that all Birds; of what name, colour, or degree soever, should repair unto the Wood, called Sylvia; and that there he purposed to chuse amongst them to rule the rest; who could declare himselfe to be most worthy in merit and desert. This Proclamation being written and subscribed with Aquila Rex avium, which is in English, The Eagle King of Birds: It was no sooner made knowne through all thickets, hedges, and bushie fields where Birds doe resort, but that presently their hearts were inflamed with ambition, every one de­siring to prove himselfe worthy of the Vice-regency or government, during the retiring of the King. So that in a short time there were come unto the Court of Sylvia. Ru­bert the Robin, Mavis the Magpie, Phillip the Sparrow, [Page]the Blackbird, Starling, and Iackdaw, with Philomel the Nightingall, Tom Titmouse, Parvis the Wren, Spincke the Finch, Columber the Dove, and Maybird the Cuckoo, with many others which came with prepared speeches to make knowne their owne worth. But now the Eagle having seated himselfe on a high Cedar tree, began to looke downe upon the Assembly of Birds, who sate upon the lower boughes round about him, and by the piercing quicknesse of his eye, hee soone perceived that his cosen Ra­pax the Hawke, who was somewhat a kin unto him, and Cawwood the Rooke were onely absent. So that before he would make knowne his minde unto them, he sent Flywill the Buzzard for his cosen Rapax the Hawke, and Cawwood the Rooke; and withall fearing that the Hawke kept out of the way, because he had committed many outrages, upon the smaller birds, hee sent him a free pardon for all his former offences, bidding Flywill to command him to come away with all speede.

The Pleasant History of Cawwood the Rooke, 1640

This story clearly echoes elements of the earlier “Parlament of Byrdes,” with the eagle king and the hawk who has been causing the small birds trouble.

In addition to theme, two phrases tie into the later ballads. The first phrase, “feather’d Quiresters,” is fairly straightforward and seems to have inspired the later title “The Woody Queresters.”

The second phrase, “the Wood, called Sylvia,” is a little more subtle. The first line of the introductory verse of the ballad “The Birds Harmony,” is “The Silvan woods seem’d to complain.” Interestingly, the words silvan and sylvia come from the Latin “silvanus,” meaning “pertaining to the woods.” As in the names Pennsylvania, meaning “Penn’s Woods,” named for the father of the owner of the land, and as in Transylvania, meaning “beyond the woods.” The Silvan Woods must have been some very woody woods.

Finally, the last evidence of connection is the inclusion at the end of the circa 1700 edition of CW of a poem titled “The Birds Harmony,” which is in fact the ballad (discussed in greater detail below) originally titled “The Woody Querristers,” and later, “The Woody Queresters: or, The Birds Harmony.”

This connection bring us nicely to a discussion of broadside ballads.

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II. Broadside Ballads

Broadsides were the inexpensive media of the late 1500s to 1800s. They were a print, often a ballad, rhyme, or news, usually with a woodcut image, on a single side of paper known as a broadsheet, or broadside.

The “social media” of their day, I imagine the woodcut images as akin to today’s memes, and the ballads to today’s podcasts or YouTube videos. These were of varying quality, and the content often reflected the political and moral leanings of their authors.

Most ballads only printed the words and named the tune they were meant to accompany. A few printed the musical notation as well, an innovation which eventually caught on and evolved into today’s “sheet music.” First I’ll discuss the history of the words of “The Bird Song,” and I’ll address the history of the tune in greater detail later.

Before we get to the direct ancestors of “The Bird Song,” I’d like to highlight a few other broadside ballads in which birds play a role. Their themes are varied, but often containing a warning to lovers:

• “The Nightingale,” circa 1624-1680, in which the narrator tells of how all kinds of people enjoy hearing the nightingale sing in the woods, with euphemistic references to May and the hay;
• “The Birds Noats on May day last,” circa 1640-1674, in which the narrator tells of the birds who saw all the couples “gathering May,” and includes a warning to young maids;
• “A pleasant Song made by a Souldier, whose bringing up had been dainty: / and partly by those affections of his unbridled youth is now beaten with his own / rod: and therefore termeth this his Repentance, or the fall of Folly.” circa 1658-1664, with reference to walking in nature in the spring, the “pretty Birds with sugred notes,” and the nightingale setting her breast against a briar;
• “The Nightingales Song; Or The Souldiers rare Musick,” circa 1681-1684, a euphemistic ballad warning young maids against flattering young men; and,
• “England’s Joy in the merry month of May,” circa 1689, featuring Flora in the spring and singing birds.

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1. The Turtle Dove, circa 1619-1629

First, we have “The Turtle Doue [Dove], Or, The wooing in the Wood, being a pleasant Song of two constant Lovers,” circa 1619-1629. I debated quite a bit about whether to include this ballad with the direct ancestors of “The Bird Song” (TBS). It contains many striking similarities to the later verses, but there are many differences, as well. It is certainly in the “bird debate” genre, strongly echoing the Parliament of Fowls in places, but it covers not just a debate between birds, but also a debate between humans, and between the birds and humans.

In the end, however, I have decided to discuss it with the direct ancestors, even if it is not quite as direct as those that follow. I base this decision on the fairly shaky evidence of the ascription, “To the tune of, the North Countre Lasse.” I will go into more detail about the history of TBS tune later, but I base the connection on the research of Claude M. Simpson in his book The British Broadside Ballad and Its Music, who in turn based his research on that of William Chappell’s Popular Music of the Olden Time, Volume II. Chappell writes,

“I WOULD I WERE IN MY OWN COUNTRY.

This tune is in Sir John Hawkins‘ Transcripts of Music for the Virginals; also in The Dancing Master, from 1650 to 1701, under the name of Goddesses.

A black-letter copy of the ballad, I would I were in my own country, is in the Roxburghe Collection, ii. 367, entitled “The Northern Lasses Lamentation; or The Unhappy Maid’s Misfortune;” … “To the tune, I would I were in my own country.“”

Chappell’s Popular Music of the Olden Time, Volume II, circa 1859, p. 456

The name “North Country Lass” comes from the first line of the ballad “The Northern Lasses Lamentation,” which begins with the lines, “A North Countrey Lass / Up to London did pass …” What is unclear from Chappell’s work is why he titled the tune “I would I were in my own country.” Presumably that was the name it bore in “Sir John Hawkins’ Transcripts of Music for the Virginals,” but this cannot be verified because researchers are uncertain which manuscript Chappell is referring to. He refers to the MS several times in Volume I with various names; for example, on p. 174 he writes “in a transcript of virginal music made by Sir John Hawkins, now in the possession of Dr. Rimbault.”

In her Yale dissertation “Seventeenth-Century English Keyboard Music: A Study of Manuscripts Res. 1185, 1186, and 1186BIS of the Paris Conservatory Library (Volumes I and II),” Martha Mass discusses the history of Dr. Rimbault’s library on p. 51-53. She writes that the Hawkins MS is often considered to be the Drexel MS 5609 at the New York Public Library (which has not been digitized). She explains that when he died, Rimbault’s library was sold at auction. Many items were bought by Joseph Drexel, who in turn left his library to the Lenox Library, a forerunner to the New York Public Library.

Much of Drexel 5609 was copied from British Library Add. 10337 (the Elizabeth Rogers Virginal Book) and Bibliothéque Nationale ms. Rés. 1186, both of which have been digitized by their respective libraries. Still, Simpson cautions,

“The identity of Hawkins Transcripts has not been established. The most likely candidate is New York Public Library MS Drexel 5609, an eighteenth-century compilation of keyboard pieces from many sources. This tune appears on p. 130 of the manuscript, evidently copied from the earlier Paris Conservatoire MS Res. 1186, fol. 46 (Fig. 226). In neither manuscript, however, is the setting titled, and since it differs in detail from other musical texts, including the one Chappell printed, the case for the Drexel MS remains shaky. Furthermore, until it can be confirmed that this tune is somewhere called “I would I were in my own country,” its association with ballads cited in the present discussion must be considered tenuous.”

Simpson, The British Broadside Ballad & Its Music, p. 352

Other ballads mentioned in connection with the tune “North Country Lass” are:

• “The Lancashire Lovers: or, The Merry Wooing of Thomas and Betty,” to the tune of “Loves Tide: Or, At home I would be in my own Country,” circa 1681-1684,
• “The Dumb Maid: or, the Young Gallant Trappan’d,” “To a new Tune, call’d Dum, dum, dum: or, I would I were in my own Country,” circa 1680, and,
• “Newes from the Tower-hill: OR, A gentle warning to Peg and Kate, To walke no more abroad so late,” “To the tune of the North countrey Lasse,” circa 1631.

Simpson also notes that “Dum, dum, dum” is another name for “I am the Duke of Norfolk,” which is closely related to this tune.

The other shaky element of this connection is the dating of the ballads. The earliest “Northern Lasses Lamentation” in EBBA is dated circa “1672-1696?;” “The Dumb Maid” is 1678-1680; and, Broadside Ballads Online dates “Lancashire Lovers” to “between 1681 and 1684.” These are all much later than “The Turtle Dove.” On the other hand, “Newes from the Tower-hill” is closer in age to “The Turtle Dove,” and also to be sung to “North Country Lass.” It is possible that the other ballads, including “Northern Lasses Lamentation” from which the tune name comes, were older than the surviving prints, and of course the tunes themselves are usually much older as well.

So why, with all the uncertainty related to the tune, do I still think there’s a connection with TBS? Because in addition to being in the same family as “I am the Duke of Norfolk,” “I would I were in my own Country” is in the same family of tunes as the those later collected as TBS. I’ll demonstrate this here. First, I’ve transcribed the melody exactly as written in Res-1186 (which Simpson recorded as “Fig. 226”).

Next, I’ve evened out the measures so each line has 4 measures, and I’ve worked in the later “Bird Song” lyrics with chorus by slightly altering the rhythms of the notes, e.g. turning the second quarter note into two eighth notes to accommodate two syllables in the same beat.

The lyrics fit well, and the tune resembles some of those collected later (see below). I think it isn’t too far of a leap that one “bird debate” ballad inspired later bird debate/chorus ballads sung to the same tune. So without further ado, here is the broadside itself. I have transcribed the words and included them below the image.

Here’s my transcription:

“Ousell,” now spelled “ouzel,” comes from Old English “osle,” which was another name for the common blackbird. Today the name can also refer to a slightly different bird.

How well do these lyrics fit the tune “Would I were in my own Country”? Below I have the melody and words as it appeared in Chappell’s Popular Music, followed by the words of the first verses of “The Turtle Dove” and “The Bird Song” for comparison, with minor adjustments to the rhythm that a ballad singer would make for each verse.

I think the lyrics work better with the melody from Res-1186, but they do fit here as well if you don’t try to cram them all in.

The next few ballads are very clearly predecessors to TBS. Not to use too many bird puns, but it’s difficult to say for certain which came first, as all their estimated date ranges overlap. I’ve decided to arrange from least to most similar to TBS, which I think has fair odds of representing how the words evolved, although the progression could have gone many ways.

There are several surviving copies of most of the following broadsides. I usually only include one or two versions of each in the sections below, but I did transcribe them all in a spreadsheet. If you’re interested in comparing all of the texts and seeing the minor spelling and punctuation difference, check out “The Bird Song Broadside Ballads Text Comparison.”

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2. Birds Harmony, circa 1680-1682

The first “direct ancestor” to TBS that I’m going to discuss is “The Birds Harmony” (BH). This ballad has 13 six-line stanzas, plus 4 introductory lines. It is the most different of these last three ballads from the later TBS. It has more in common with the earlier poems and “The Turtle Dove.” It begins with a verse of familiar exposition, walking in the shade, coming upon birds in a tree. It also contains three concluding moralizing verses, and, to me at least, has an overall feeling of being a more complete idea or story than the later ballads. All that said, however, its kinship with TBS is clear.

Here is a summary and comparison with “The Birds Lamentation” (BL) and “The Woody Queresters” (WQ), considering only the first four lines of each stanza in BH:

• Birds unique to this ballad: wren (renn)
• Birds and verses shared with BL and WQ: cuckoo, blackbird, nightingale, and sparrow
• Birds shared with BL but verses different: (sky) lark, robin, swallow, thrush
• Birds shared with WQ but verses different: robin, swallow, thrush
• Birds and verses shared with only BL:
• Birds and verses shared with only WQ: lark

There are two imperfect surviving copies of the same edition of “The Birds Harmony” (BH):

• Pepys IV 268, available in the English Broadside Ballad Archive online, and
• Douce I(13b), available in the Bodleian Libraries Broadside Ballads Online collection.

Between the two, we can read the whole ballad.

Here’s my transcription:

The Birds Harmony

The Silvan woods seem’d to complain
of gross inconstancy, the Birds in vain
Did warble forth their griefs to ease their minds,
and all did Sympathize, though ease none finds.

Tune, The delights of the bottle, etc.

As I was walking in the Shade
which Summers heat with leaves has made
The Birds did seem for to lament.
and did complain of grief and discontent;
But as they fled from Tree to Tree,
they made such moan as sorely troubled me.

Then came the Cookooe bold and stout,
flying the Country round about,
While other birds her young ones feed,
and they for help of others stand in need,
The Syre unkind no care doth take,
but leaves the young ones some strange shift to make

Then said the Black-bird as she fled,
I had a Love but now she’s dead,
And now my love I dearly lack,
which is the cause that I do go in black,
And by my self I sadly mourn,
like one forsaken, helpless, and forlorn.

Then said the pretty Nightingale,
attend and hear my mournful tale,
Whilst other Birds do sleep, I mourn,
leaning my brest against some prickly thorn,
And in the silent darksome night,
to send forth mournful Notes I take delight.

Then said the Sparrow from her Nest,
I had love but ’twas in jest,
And ever since for that same thing
I made a promise I would never sing,
Which I intend for my loves sake,
that I will keep, and will by no means break.

Then said the Lark upon the grass,
once I did love a pretty Lass,
But she’d not hear her true Love sing,
although she had a voice would please a King;
And since on high into the Air
I fly, that none my warbling voice may hear.

Then next poor Robin she exprest,
what change’d the colour of her brest
Because her love he would not yield:
she would desert the Grove and flowy field?
And near the Houses there complain
in Winter Morn, how she did love in vain.

The Swallow with the wings so long,
complain’d that she received wrong,
And being past all of kind of hopes
of love, complain’d in strange confused Notes:
No one can understand her tale,
in such disorder she doth brawl and raile.

The Thresh also did make her moan,
and sayes that kindness she found none,
But love to be in silent holes,
where none may hear how she her case condoules
Far from the Houses in the wood
she chants her Notes, so little understood.

The little Renn whose love unkind
did cause those griefs to cease her mind:
Which hindred her to grow or thrive,
because her love no longer could survive;
This was the cause she was so small,
her love being dead she could not thrive at all

Thus may you see how little Birds
do grieve for love in mournful woods,
Let men and women then be true
and constant to each others, so that you
In peave may live, and when you die,
you then may boast of Truth and Loyalty,

Let nor your minds be discompos’d
when your poor eyes must needs be clos’d,
But rather let your faithful mind
be such as you from thence may comfort find
Be kind, be true, that so you may
find peace on Earth, comfort another day.

Who so proves faithful, firm, and true,
shall have no reason for to rue,
But Triumph over grim fac’d death,
when he shall come to stop his latest breath;
Young people all let this you move,
For to be true and loyal in your love.

The Birds Harmony, circa 1680-1682

The broadside names the tune “Delights of the Bottle,” which appeared originally in 1675 in the play Psyche. However, Simpson, in his book The British Broadside Ballad & Its Music, writes that “instead of six anapestic tetrameter lines, its stanza pattern is a mixture of four- and five-foot iambics which do not fit the tune.”

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3. The Birds Lamentation, circa 1672 – 1696?

“The Birds Lamentation” (BL) has 19 four-line stanzas, plus 4 introductory lines. It has no exposition verses, 2 moralizing concluding verses, and 17 verses with birds. Here is a summary and comparison with BH and WQ:

• Birds unique to this ballad: titmouse, jackdaw, goldfinch, linet
• Birds and verses shared with BH and WQ: cuckoo, blackbird, nightingale, and sparrow
• Birds shared with BH but verses different: (sky) lark, robin, swallow, thrush
• Birds shared with WQ but verses different: (sky) lark, robin, thrush, owl, bullfinch, and magpie
• Birds and verses shared with only BH:
• Birds and verses shared with only WQ: swallow, water wag-tail, and rook and crow

I have found 4 surviving editions of BL:

1. Pepys IV 269 (EBBA 21930)
   • ESTC: R170662
   • circa 1672-1696 ?
   • woodcuts: large – 3 birds in a tree; small – left facing partridge, left facing owl
2. Crawford EB 937 (EBBA 33433)
   • ESTC: R170662
   • circa 1672-1696 ?
   • woodcuts: large – modified “Assembly of Birds” with couple on a bench; ornamental banner with triangle design
3. Hazlitt EC65 1.138, 1.139 (EBBA 35502)
   • ESTC R232884
   • circa 1700 ?
   • woodcuts: large – modified “Assembly of Birds” with couple on a bench; ornamental banner with rose and petals design
   • Harvard Library also hosts a digitized copy of this broadside
   • Douce 1(17b) is the same edition
4. Percy 280
   • ESTC: N15639
   • circa 1730
   • woodcut: large – hilly landscape featuring a couple, trees, and many birds

There are no substantial differences in the texts of the four editions, mostly minor spelling or punctuation differences, and only a couple slight changes in wording, e.g. poor melody to sweet melody. Here is my transcription of EBBA 21930:

The Birds Lamentation

When Birds could speak, and Women they
Had neither good nor bad to say,
The pretty Birds then fill’d with pain
Did to each other thus complain.

To the Tune of, The Bird-catcher’s delight.

OH says the Cuckoo loud and stout,
I flye the Country round about,
While other Birds my yound ones feed,
And I myself do stand in need.

Then said the Sparrow on her Nest,
I lov’d a Lass but it was in jest:
And ever since that self same thing,
I made a vow I ne’r would sing.

Then said the Black-Bird as she fled
I loved one but she is dead;
And ever since my love I do lack,
This is the cause I mourn in black.

Oh says the Water-wag-tail then,
I ne’r shall be my self agen:
I loved one, but could not prevail,
And this is the cause that I wag my Tail.

Then did begin the chattering Swallow,
My Love she is fled but I could not follow;
And now upon the Chimney high
I sing forth my poor Melody.

Oh says the Rook and eke the Crow,
The reason why in Black we go,
Is because we are forsook
Come pity us poor Crow and Rook.

Oh! says the Owle that flies by night,
I have quite lost my hearts delight,
But since my Love is gone away,
I never fly out in the day.

Oh! says the squealing little Thresh,
my sorrows now begin afresh;
For my Lover grows exceeding proud,
and that is the cause that I squeale so loud

Oh! says the Robin-red-Breast, when
you do me see, conclude it then
The cold hard Winter’s drawing nigh,
which makes me towards the houses fly.

Oh! says the pretty Skie-Lark, I
up to the Element do fly;
I lost my love, that caus’d my pain,
and strive to sing it away in vain,

Oh! says the little Titty-mouse,
In secret holes I keep my house,
Where mournfully I do complain,
and curse my Lovers rash disdain.

Oh! says the Bull-finch mind my moan,
like my great loss you ne’r had none;
Then to my Lamentation hark,
as I sit singing in the dark.

Oh! says the Magpye, what’s the matter
that you admire me when I chatter?
I lost my Love and dearest Mate;
I think ’tis then high-time to prate.

Oh! says the Jack-Daw I’me perplext,
I lost my Love, and am strangely vext;
And now I am forc’d to lodge in straw,
most people still call me Jack-daw.

Oh! says the Goldfinch mind me well,
while my sad story I do tell,
It often puts me in a rage,
to see me penn’d up in a Cage.

Oh! says the pretty little Linet,
I loved well, but the duce was in it;
For I’me forsook for good and all,
though oft in cain on him I call.

Oh! says the pretty Nightingale,
come listen a while unto my tale;
While other Birds do sleep I mourn,
leaning my brest against a thorn,

When they had mourn’d thus every one
telling the cause they made such moan;
All of a suddain away they flew,
and ne’r so much as said adieu.

But I suppose to their Nests they went,
to sleep all night was their intent,
But when the morning came again,
then they began for to complain.

Finis.

Printed for P. Brooksby at the Golden Ball
in Py-corner.

The Birds Lamentation, circa 1672-1696 ?, Pepys IV 269, EBBA 21930

In The Roxburghe Ballads, Volume VI, William Chappell writes,

“If the original “Bird Catcher’s Delight,” to the tune of which our present “Woody Choristers” is marked to be sung, was as pleasant a ditty as its name and its imitation indicate, the loss by the world sustained through its disappearance is grievous. … but we can recover lost tunes and words of ballads!

“From the United States we retrieve the tune, and one stanza: –

Out spoke a Wood-pecker sitting on a Tree,
“I once courted a fair Ladie;
She prov’d fickle, and from me fled,
And ever since then my head’s been red.”

“Having thus recovered the tune of The Bird-Catcher’s Delight, we may hope some day to find the words also. Meantime, an even greater gain has been found in an earlier version of “The Woody Choristers” entitled “The Birds’ Lamentation.” Of these two ballads eight stanzas are virtually in common, four others agree as to the birds named, but are recast, and the remaining eight are wholly distinct. We print each version separately in extenso.”

The Roxburghe Ballads, Volume VI, William Chappell, 1889, p. 299-300 (emphasis added)

He then prints WQ and BL, followed by the “Second Part” of “The Birds Harmony,” which is actually originally printed with later editions of WQ. It isn’t until the Appendix in Volume VI – Part 3, p. 782, that he prints the actual BH.

There are two points I’d like to make about the passage quoted from Chappell. First, it is unclear on what evidence Chappell is basing his assertion that BL is older than WQ. And in fact, he dates his WQ to “circa 1656” and BL to “circa 1676,” which would seem to speak to the opposite. On the other hand, his dating for BL seems to be in keeping with the estimated dates from EBBA, while his dating for WQ is much earlier than EBBA estimates. Still, at this point, it seems impossible to really be certain of the evolution of the ballads.

Secondly, regarding the tune “The Bird Catcher’s Delight” – it is quite the assumption that the tune collected in the US as TBS is the same tune as “The Bird Catcher’s Delight.” It might be. Or it might be another tune completely. Unfortunately, we have no evidence one way or the other, and no reason to think that another popular tune that fit the words was not substituted at any time in the intervening 200 years.

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4. The Woody Queristers, circa 1685

The original “The Woody Querristers” has 20 four-line stanzas, plus 4 introductory lines, featuring no exposition verses, only one concluding verse, and 19 verses with birds. Here is a summary and comparison with BH and BL:

• Birds unique to this ballad: jay, leather winged bat, greenbird, lapwing, canary, and chaffinch
• Birds and verses shared with BH and BL: cuckoo, blackbird, nightingale, and sparrow
• Birds shared with BH but verses different: robin, swallow, thrush
• Birds shared with BL but verses different: robin, lark, thrush, owl, bullfinch, and magpie
• Birds and verses shared with BH: lark
• Birds and verses shared with BL: swallow, thrush, water wag-tail, and rook and crow

There are many editions of WQ, progressing from “querristers” to “choristers,” and adding the subtitle “The Birds Harmony,” as well as a “Second Part.” Here is a summary of all of the surviving copies I could find:

1. “The Woody Querristers.”
   • Magdalene College Pepys IV 267 (EBBA 21928)
   • ESTC: R187764
   • circa 1684-1686
   • woodcuts: large – AB2, small – partridge, 3 small birds on pedestals
2. “The Woody Queristers”
   • British Library Roxburghe II 581 (EBBA 31200)
   • ESTC: R228753
   • circa 1684-1686?
   • woodcuts: large – AB2 reversed, small – partridge reversed, 3 small birds on pedestals reversed
3. “The Woody Queresters: or, The Birds Harmony”
   • National Library of Scotland Crawford EB 936 (EBBA 33432)
   • ESTC: none?
   • circa 1688-1709?
   • woodcuts: large – AB2, small – 3 small birds on pedestals
4. “The Birds Harmony”
   • included at the end of the c. 1700 edition of Cawwood the Rook
   • woodcuts: AB2 and 3 small birds on pedestals are printed in CW, but not directly associated with the ballad
5. “The Woody Queresters: Or, The Birds Harmony. In Two Parts”
   • Bodleian Libraries Douce Ballads II 243 ro
   • ESTC: N69927
   • circa 1711 – 1732
   • woodcuts: large – AB2, small – none
6. “The Woody Choristers: Or; The Birds Harmony. In Two Parts.”
   • Bodleian Libraries Douce Ballads 3(110a)
   • ESTC: N70885
   • circa 1750?
   • woodcuts: large – AB3, small – none
7. “The Woody Quiristers; or, The Birds Harmony. In two parts.”
   • Houghton Harvard Library Percy 281
   • ESTC: N25216
   • circa 1760
   • woodcuts: large – AB4, small – none
8. “The Woody Choristers; Or; The Birds Harmony. in Two Parts.”
   • British Library Roxburghe III 594,595 (EBBA 31294)
   • ESTC: T52700 (and probably ESTC: N482990 is a duplicate listing)
   • circa 1763-1775?
   • woodcuts: large – AB3, small – none
9. “The Woody Choristers: or, The Birds of Harmony. In Two Parts”
   • Bodleian Libraries Douce Ballads 3(108a)
   • identical to Huntington Library HEH 289739 (EBBA 32462)
   • ESTC N68222
   • circa 1775?
   • woodcuts: large – AB5, small – none

Across the nine editions there are some minor variations in punctuation and spelling, and just a few more significant variations in the text, other than the addition of the “Second Part.” The most significant changes are that:

• “pretty coloured Jay” becomes “party coloured Jay” in later editions;
• “green Bird” becomes “Green finch” in later editions, and in two later editions, the final line of the verse changes from “Like a Love-sick Maid…” to “Love like a sick-Maid;”
• in the Chaffinch verse, “I grieve so for my only Dear,” becomes “I grieve for you, it doth appear,” or “it don’t appear” in two later versions;
• Chaffinch becomes Goldfinch in Douce 3(108)s; and,
• in the Rook and Crow verse, “in black we go” becomes “in black we grow” in two later versions.

“Woody Queristers” (WQ) appears 28th from the bottom of the second column of William Thackeray’s List of Ballads (also referred to the as the Bagford List of Ballads), a print titled “These small Books, Ballads and Histories undernamed, are all / Printed for and Sold by WILLIAM THACKERAY,” Bagford Collection, Volume II, page 2. This printing has been digitized by the English Broadside Ballad Archive (EBBA) and can be viewed online here. (Incidentally, “Kawwood the Rook” is on the print as well, listed under “Double Books). In The Bagford Ballads: Illustrating the Last Years of the Stuarts, editor Joseph Woodfall Ebsworth dates the list to 1685, so we know that the “Woody Queristers” dates to at least 1685.

Here is the one of the earliest surviving copies version, “Printed for I. Clarke, W. Thackeray, and T. Passinger.” followed by my transcript:

The Woody Querristers.

When Birds could speak, and Women they
Had neither good nor bad to say;
The pritty Birds then fill’d with pain.
Did to each other thus complain.

To the Tune of, The Bird-catchers Delight.

OH says the Cuckoo, loud and stout,
I flye the Country round about:
While other Birds my young ones feed,
And I my self do stand in need.

Then says the Sparrow on her nest,
I lov’d a Lass but it was in jest:
And ever since that self same thing,
I made a vow I ne’r would sing.

In comes th Robin, and thus he said,
I lov’d once a well favour’d Maid:
Her Beauty kindled such a spark,
That on my breast I bear the mark.

Then said the Lark upon the Grass,
I lov’d once a well-favour’d Lass:
But she would not hear her true love sing,
Though he had a voice would please a King

Then said the Blackbird as she fled,
I loved one but she is dead;
And ever since my love I do lack,
This is the cause I mourn in Black.

Then said the bonny Nightingale,
Thus I must end my mournful tale,
While others sing, I sit and mourn,
Leaning my breast against a thorn.

Oh! says the Water-wag-tail then,
I ne’r shall be my self agen:
I loved one, but could not prevail,
And this is the cause that I wag my tail.

Then said the pritty-colour’d Jay,
My dearest love is fled away,
And in remembrance of my dear,
A Feather of every sort I wear.

Then said the Leather-winged Batt,
Mind but my tale, and i’le tell you what
Is the cause that I do flye by night,
Because I lost my hearts delight.

Then said the Green-Bird as she flew,
I loved one that prov’d untrue:
And since she can no more be seen,
Like a love-sick Maid I turn to green.

Then did begin the Chattering Swallow,
My love she is fled, but I would not follow;
And now upon the Chimney high,
I sing forth my poor malady.

Oh! says the Owl, my love is gone,
That I so much did dote upon:
I know not how my love to follow,
But after her I hoop and hollow.

Then says the Lapwing as she flies,
I search the Meadows and the Skies:
But cannot find my Love again.
So about I flie in deadly pain.

Then said the Thrush, I squeak and sing,
Which doth to me no comfort bring,
For oftentimes I at midnight,
Record my love and hearts delight.

The Canary-bird she then comes in,
To tell her tale she doth begin;
I am of my dear love bereft.
So I have my own Country left.

The Chafinch then begins to speak,
For love, quoth she, my heart will break;
I grieve so for my only dear,
I sing but two months in the year.

Then, quoth the Magpye, I was crost
In love, and now my dear is lost;
And wanting of my hearts delight,
I mourn for him in black and white.

Oh says the Rook, and eke the Crow ,
The reason why in black we go,
It is because we are forsook,
Come pitty us poor Crow and Rook.

The Bullfinch he was in a rage,
And nothing could his wrath asswage
So in the Woods he would not dwell,
But spends his time in lonesome Cell.

Thus have you heard the Birds complaint
Taking delight in their restraint
Let this to all a pattern be,
For to delight in Constancy.

Pepys IV 267 | “The Woody Querristers” | circa 1684-1686 | Magdalene College Pepys 4.267 | EBBA 21928 | https://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/ballad/21928/

The “Second Part” first appears in “The Woody Queresters: Or, The Birds Harmony. In Two Parts” Douce II(243)r, circa 1711 – 1732. There is no evidence that it the original “The Birds Harmony” ever had a second part. This addition is in a different meter than both WQ and BH. Most editions include the 4-line verses, probably to conserve space, but the latest surviving edition, Douce 3(108)a, circa 1775, splits the verses into 6 lines each instead. I think the 6-line arrangement works better, but it is the most altered, compared to the other editions.

Here’s my transcripts for an easier comparison:

What I think is the most interesting development in WQ, and what links it most closely with TBS, is the addition of the verse about the “leather winged batt.” Many other verses were lost, altered, or added, but the leather wing bat has carried through the next 300+ years almost unchanged. “The Leather-Winged Bat” was recorded by Burl Ives and Peter, Paul and Mary, on the same album as Puff the Magic Dragon.

While it might seem odd to us today to include the bat in a song about birds, but before modern taxonomy bats seem to have been a bit of a puzzle, an in-between creature, not quite bird, not quite animal. At one time it was thought to have been even more bird than animal – in Aesop’s fable of “The Birds, The Beasts, and the Bat,” we learn that in a battle between the birds and the beasts, the bat could not decide whose side to take, and first took one side, then the other. After the battle both sides wanted the bat punished for its treachery, so the bat was stripped of its feathers and banished from the day.

You can see the fable in Old French in an illuminated manuscript from the 13th century, written by Marie de France. The fable conveniently begins at the top of the page, folio 46r. If you can read French or Old French, you can read transcriptions in Poésies de Marie de France, 1820, p. 164, and in Die fabeln der Marie de France, 1898, p. 78.

I could not find an English translation in the public domain, but you can preview “The Bat” on page 83 of Mary Lou Martin’s The Fables of Marie de France on Google Books. It’s a very nice translation and a fun little story.

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III. The Bird Song

A. Ottawa Citizen, 1899

A few “Bird Song” verses appear in an article on page 2 of the Ottawa Citizen, April 19, 1899. The title of the article is “Sweet Briar, A Love Story of Early Days in the Old Dominion,” which appears to be a fictional serial story. There is no music.

“Says the blackbird to the crow,
‘What makes white folks hate us so.
Ever since the first Old Adam was born
It’s been our trade to pull up corn,
Caw! caw! caw!’

“‘Oh!’ says the nightingale sitting in the grass,
‘Once I loved a handsome lass;
But, though my voice would charm a king,
She wouldn’t so much as let me sing'”
(An excellent imitation of the unwritable “jug-jug-jug” of the nightingale.)

“‘Ah!’ says the woodpecker, drumming on a tree,
‘Once I wooed a fair ladye;
She grew fickle, and from me fled;
Ever since then my head’s been red.'”
“Tap-tap-tap! Tap-tap-tap!” (with the finger on the wood of the banjo).

“‘To-whoo!’ cries the owl with head so white,
All alone on a dark, rainy night,
‘Oft I hear the young men say,
“Court by night and sleep by day!”
To-whit! To-whoo!'”

The Ottawa Citizen, April 19, 1899

The nightingale verse is almost the same as the lark verses in BH and WQ. The nightingale has been substituted for the lark and the last two lines have been reversed.

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B. Cecil Sharp Collections, 1916-1918

1. Lily Roberts, May 1916

Cecil Sharp MSSs: Folk Tunes and Folk Words

1. Hi, said the blackbird sitting on a chair,
Once I courted a lady fair;
She proved fickle and turned her back
And ever since then I’m dressed in black.

2. Hi, says the blue-jay as she flew;
If I was a young man I’d have two;
If one proved fickle and chanced for to go,
I’d have a new string to my bow.

3. Hi, says the little leather winged bat:
I will tell you the reason that,
The reason that I fly in the night
Is because I lost my heart’s delight.

4. Hi, says the little mourning-dove,
I’ll tell you how to gain her love
Court her night and court her day
Never give her time to say ‘O nay’.

5. Hi, says the woodpecker sitting on a fence,
Once I courted a handsome wench;
She proved fickle and from me fled,
And ever since then my head’s been red.

6. Hi, says the owl with my eyes so big,
If I had a hen, I’d feed like a pig;
But here I sit on a frozen stake,
Which causes my poor heart to ache.

7. Hi, says the swallow sitting on a barn,
Courting, I think, is no harm.
I pick my wings and sit up straight,
And hope every young man will choose him a mate.

8. Hi, says the hawk unto the crow,
If you ain’t black then I don’t know.
Ever since old Adam was born,
You’ve been accused of stealing corn.

9. Hi, says the crow unto the hawk,
I understand your great big talk.
You’d like to pounce and catch a hen,
But I hope the farmer will shoot you then.

10. Hi, says the robin with a little squirm,
I wish I had a great big worm;
I would fly away into my nest;
I have wife I think is the best.

Towdy owdy dil do dum
. . . . . . . . . . day
. . . . . . . . . . dum
Tal lal li di dil do day

Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Words p.2303-2304 (https://www.vwml.org/record/CJS2/9/2303)

Cecil Sharp Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, 1917

Sharp included Lily Roberts’ version as version B of No. 113 The Bird Song, on page 310. The key signature is the same as in Folk Tunes, with Bb and Eb.

He adds more detail to the source information, stating that Lily Roberts “learned it from Mr. Attwood in Vermont.” See “The Atwood Family” (below) for more information.

He notes that it is “Hexatonic. Mode 2, b.” He describes the different modes on p. xvi. “Hexatonic Mode 2 b” means there is no 2nd. Since there are no A notes, Sharp seems to have intended the scale to be G Aeolian. Which I find odd because the G Aeolian scale is G A Bb C D Eb F, but the only E note in the song (second measure, fourth note) is an accidental, E natural. The G Dorian scale fits much better as the key: G A Bb C D E F. I do not know why Sharp chose not to notate the song that way instead.

He also slightly altered some of the words:

• Verse 7: “choose him a mate” -> “choose his mate”
• Verse 10: “with a little squirm” -> “with a squirm”
• Chorus: “li di” -> “lie die.”

It should also be noted that Lily Roberts was not an American folk singer. According to the “Organization History” of the Country Dance Society Boston Centre, Lily Roberts was “one of Sharp’s Stratford-on-Avon teachers [a dance school he taught at in England],” who “came to help Sharp with the masque interludes he was arranging, to teach dancing at the Eliot, Maine summer school, and to direct folk dancing for a pageant at Wellesley College. Lily Roberts “came under Mrs. Storrow’s wing.” She and Mrs. Storrow [patroness of the Boston EFDS] changed the School of Dance into a place for teaching English country, Morris, and sword dancing.”

I’m unclear on Sharp’s justification for including this “second-hand” version collected in Amherst, Massachusetts, in a book about songs from the Southern Appalachians, but he did.

Cecil Sharp Nursery Songs from the Appalachian Mountains, 1921

Sharp uses Lily Roberts’ exact words in this version, without the chorus, but the melody is different. See Nursery Songs below.

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2. Jane Gentry, Sept. 1916

Cecil Sharp MSSs: Folk Tunes and Folk Words

Says the robin as he flew:
When I was a young man I choosed two.
If one didn’t love me the other one would.
And don’t you think my notion’s good?

Says the blackbird to the crow:
What makes white folks hate us so?
For ever since old Adam was born,
It’s been our trade to pull up corn.

Hoots! says the owl with her head so white:
A lonesome day and a lonesome night.
Thought I heard some pretty girl say,
She’d court all night and sleep next day.

No, no says the turtle dove,
That’s no way for to gain his love.
If you want to gain his heart’s delight,
Keep him awake both day and night.
One for the second and two for the go,
And I want another string to my bow, bow, bow.

Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Words p.2521 (https://www.vwml.org/record/CJS2/9/2521)

Cecil Sharp Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, 1917

Sharp included Jane Gentry’s version as version A of No. 113 The Bird Song, on page 310. In Folk Tunes the key signature has no sharps or flats; in this version the key signature has Bb and Eb.

He notes that it is “Pentatonic. Mode 2.” He describes the different modes on p. xvi. “Pentatonic Mode 2” means there is no 2nd and no 6th. There are no As or Es in the this version, which are the 2nd and 6th notes of the G Aeolian scale (G A Bb C D Eb F G). Because there are no E notes, however, we don’t know whether they are flat or natural, so the tune could have been notated using the G Dorian scale as well (G A Bb C D E F G). I don’t know why Sharp chose Aeolian.

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3. Mr. Bridges, Aug. 1918

There is no listing on the VWML for this in version in Sharp’s Folk Words MSS.

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4. Ida Banks, Sept. 1918

There is no listing on the VWML for this in version in Sharp’s Folk Words MSS.

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5. Nursery Songs from the Appalachian Mountains, 1921

1. Hi, said the blackbird sitting on a chair,
Once I courted a lady fair;
She proved fickle and turned her back,
And ever since then I’m dressed in black.

2. Hi, says the blue jay as she flew,
If I was a young man I’d have two;
If one proved fickle and chanced for to go,
I’d have a new string to my bow.

3. Hi, says the little leather winged bat,
I will tell you the reason that,
The reason that I fly in the night
Is because I lost my heart’s delight.

4. Hi, says the little mourning dove,
I’ll tell you how to gain her love;
Court her night and court her day,
Never give her time to say “O nay.”

5. Hi, says the woodpecker sitting on a fence,
Once I courted a handsome wench;
She proved fickle and from me fled,
And ever since then my head’s been red.

6. Hi, says the owl with my eyes so big,
If I had a hen, I’d feed like a pig;
But here I sit on a frozen stake,
Which causes my poor heart to ache.

7. Hi, says the swallow sitting on a barn,
Courting, I think, is no harm.
I pick my wings and sit up straight,
And hope every young man will choose him a mate.

8. Hi, says the hawk unto the crow,
If you ain’t black then I don’t know.
Ever since old Adam was born,
You’ve been accused of stealing corn.

9. Hi, says the crow unto the hawk,
I understand your great big talk.
You’d like to pounce and catch a hen,
But I hope the farmer will shoot you then.

10. Hi, says the robin with a little squirm,
I wish I had a great big worm;
I would fly away into my nest;
I have wife I think is the best.

Nursery Songs from the Appalachian Mountains, Cecil Sharp

Cecil Sharp does not indicate his sources in Nursery Songs from the Appalachian Mountains. The words are the same as the Lily Roberts MSS version, without the “towdy owdy” chorus, and with a few minor differences in punctuation.

The tune does not correspond to any in versions in the Cecil Sharp collection available online through the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.

Given that the key signature includes Bb and Eb, it seems clear that Sharp intended the key to be G Aeolian (G A Bb C D Eb F G); however, since there are no Es in the song, it could also be written as G Dorian (G A Bb C D E F G). It actually lays out quite nicely on the dulcimer in the Dorian tuning DGC. I include fret numbers for the melody string in place of the lyrics in the notation below:

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C. The Atwood Family

1. James Atwood, 1919

The book Songs of the Hills of Vermont was published in 1919. All the songs in the book were “Sung by James and Mary Atwood and Aunt Jenny Knapp,” “Texts Collected and Edited by Edith B. Sturgis,” and “Tunes Collected and Piano Accompaniments Arranged with Historical Notes by Robert Hughes.”

In the preface, Edith Sturgis writes,

There are many quaint and delightful characters in the village, as it is a community of unusual people of the good old Vermont stock. Many of them have never gone out of the state. We number them all among our friends. But the poet and his wife, James and Mary Atwood, are the two that are now uppermost in our minds, as they and their intimate friend, “Aunt Jenny” Knapp, who spent the summer with them last year, gave us all the songs in this little book.

Mary and James are farmers in their everyday life, cultivating their little farm and living off its produce. They belong in their simplicity to the rugged strength of all that hill country, the pointed fir, the brooks and the abundant wild flowers. Mary is a delightful character, full of generous, open-hearted hospitality and affection, with a whimsical side that makes her excellent company. She has a truly delicious sense of the ridiculous and yet a real appreciation of songs and poetry (especially James’s poetry). For, besides singing the old songs learnt from boyhood up, James makes verses of his own to suit every occasion. Nothing is too lowly or too high for his pen. …

They still behold each other in the light of romance and affection, and as Mary sits by James’s side and gently reminds him of a word or verse in his song over which he may be hesitating, one feels that one is far away from unhappiness and discord, that here is peace. Surely it is a privilege to be counted as their friend.

James has always sung, and is above everything else a Folk-Singer, just as his father and grandfather were before him, and one of the delightfully modest remarks with which he is apt to preface his singing is, “I’m not what you’d call a regular singer, you know, for I never learned by book nor never saw nothin’ writ down. But-” and there comes over his face a gentle smile, “I’ve allus sung just ’cause I can’t help it. My father was the same way and my grandfather too. Guess you’d call us of the old school singing.”

Years ago he must have had a fine baritone voice. Even now, while the strength and quality may be lacking, it is as true as ever and never quavers or hesitates, whether it be in the strange old minor ballads in the ancient modes or in the early American songs – may we not call them American Folk-Songs?- which have been handed down from father to son in this country. Fixing his eye on space James sings for the love of the song, for the story it tells, often stopping to laugh gently to himself, often ending with tears in his eyes. He cares not at all for the effect that he makes, but he dearly loves for you to love the song, too, and will often enter into a dissertation on its history and probable origin. …

In most of the songs we have adhered strictly to the original script; but in a few of the oldest ballads we have thought it best to make some slight alterations to render the text suitable for present-day publication. In our generation we do not deal quite so frankly with all subjects as writers formerly did, and certainly we could not sing the original versions of some of the old ballads with the unconscious simplicity of James and Mary. They accept these ballads in their entirety and feel in no way obliged to apologize for them, although James will occasionally prepare the hearer with some such remark as “There ain’t nothin’ bad about this song, so fur ez I can see, ‘ceptin’ its criminality.”

Songs from the Hills of Vermont, 1919

1. “Hi!” said the blackbird, sitting on a chair,
“Once I courted a lady fair;
She proved fickle and turned her back,
And ever since then I’ve dressed in black.”
Towdy, owdy, dil-do-dum,
Towdy, owdy, dil-do-day,
Towdy, owdy, dil-do-dum,
Tol-lol-li-dy, dil-do-day!

2. “Hi!” said the little leather-winged bat,
“I will tell you the reason that,
The reason that I fly in the night
I because I lost my heart’s delight.”
Towdy, owdy, etc.

3. “Hi!” said the little mourning dove,
“I’ll tell you how to regain her love:
Court her night and court her day,
Never give her time to say ‘O nay!'”
Towdy, owdy, etc.

4. “Hi!” said the woodpecker, sitting on a fence,
“Once I courted a handsome wench;
She got scary and from me fled,
And ever since then my head’s been red.”
Towdy, owdy, etc.

5. “Hi!” said the bluejay as she flew,
“If I was a young man I’d have two.
If one proved faithless and chanced for to go,
I’d have a new string to my bow.”
Towdy, owdy, etc.

Songs from the Hills of Vermont, 1919, p. 40-45

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2. Fred Atwood, 1974

The article “The Search for More Songs From the Hills of Vermont: Songs and Ballads of the Atwood Family of West Dover, Vermont,” was published in 1981 in Country Dance and Song 11/12, in 1981, by the Country Dance and Song Society of America. It was written by Margaret C. MacArthur, and based on a lecture she gave at Marlboro College in January 1976.

In the article she tells the story of how she tracked down the descendants of the Atwoods and Edith Sturgis in a search for the songs that were collected but not published. I highly recommend reading the article. It’s a very interesting story, especially how all the pieces ended up fitting together, and the article includes other old tunes.

It turns out Margaret MacArthur actually recorded James’s son Fred Atwood singing “Bird Song” on July 17, 1974. The Vermont Folklife Center digitized her collection. You can view the digital record here, and I’ve embedded the audio file below:

Fred sings the leather-wing bat, hawk to crow, and crow to hawk verses, and comments “There’s probably more to it.” The leather-wing bat verse was included in “Songs from the Hills of Vermont,” but not the two hawk/crow verses. The hawk and crow verses, however were included in Sharp’s Lily Roberts version (see above). In “Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians,” Sharp notes that she learned it from “Mr. Attwood,” so presumably James Atwood sung the verses as well but there were editorial reasons for not including them all in “Songs from the Hills of Vermont.”

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D. African American Versions

1. Negro Folk Rhymes, 1922

It was refreshing to read the following paragraphs in the introduction to the book Negro Folk Rhymes, by Thomas W. Talley. Too often in the early collecting literature the music of African Americans was either ignored (as Cecil Sharp seems to have), or treated with disdain and even outright contempt. The rhymes in this collection are treated as worthy of recording, with its own merit.

“In Negro Folk Rhymes is to be found no inconsiderable part of the musical and poetic life-records of a people; the compiler presents an arresting volume which, in addition to being a pioneer and practically unique in its field, is as nearly exhaustive as a sympathetic understanding of the Negro mind, careful research, and a labor of love can make it. Professor Talley of Fisk University has spared himself no pains in collecting and piecing together every attainable scrap and fragment of secular rhyme which might help in adequately interpreting the inner life of his own people.

“Being the expression of a race in, or just emerging from bondage, these songs may at first seem to some readers trivial and almost wholly devoid of literary merit. In phraseology they may appear crude, lacking in that elegance and finish ordinarily associated with poetic excellence; in imagery they are at times exceedingly winter-starved, mediocre, common, drab, scarcely ever rising above the unhappy environment of the singers. The outlook upon life and nature is, for the most part, one of imaginative simplicity and child-like naïveté; superstitions crowd in upon a worldly wisdom that is elementary, practical, and obvious; and a warped and crooked human nature, developed and fostered by circumstances, shows frequently through the lines. What else might be expected? At the time when these rhymes were in process of being created the conditions under which the American Negro lived and labored were not calculated to inspire him with a desire for the highest artistic expression. Restricted, cramped, bound in unwilling servitude, he looked about him in his miserable little world to see whatever of the beautiful or happy he might find; that which he discovered is pathetically slight, but, such as it is, it served to keep alive his stunted artist-soul under the most adverse circumstances. He saw the sweet pinks under a blue sky, or observed the fading violets and the roses that fall, as he passed to a tryst under the oak trees of a forest, and wrought these things into his songs of love and tenderness. Friendless and otherwise without companionship he lived in imagination with the beasts and birds of the great out-of-doors; he knew personally Mr. Coon, Brother Rabbit, Mr. ‘Possum and their associates of the wild; …

“In some of these folk-songs, however, may be found certain qualities which give them dignity and worth. They are, when properly presented, rhythmical to the point of perfection. I myself have heard them chanted with and without the accompaniment of clapping hands, stamping feet, and swaying bodies. Unfortunately a large part of their liquid melody and flexibility of movement is lost through confinement in cold print; but when they are heard from a distance on quiet summer nights or clear Southern mornings, even the most fastidious ear is satisfied with the rhythmic pulse of them. That pathos of the Negro character which can never be quite adequately caught in words or transcribed in music is then augmented and intensified by the peculiar quality of the Negro voice, rich in overtones, quavering, weird, cadenced, throbbing with the sufferings of a race.”

Introduction, by Walter Clyde Curry, Negro Folk Rhymes

There are three rhymes in the collection that are related to the verses of The Bird Song, and one that echoes the last two lines of the Jane Gentry version recorded by Cecil Sharp. Unfortunately, no accompanying music, if there was any, was recorded with the words.

Sheep Shell Corn

Oh: De Ram blow de ho’n an’ de sheep shell co’n;
An’ he sen’ it to de mill by de buck-eyed Whippoorwill.
Ole Joe’s dead an’ gone his *Hant blows de ho’n;
An’ his hound howls still from de top o’ dat hill.

Yes: De Fish-hawk said unto Mistah Crane;
“I wishes to de Lawd dat you’d sen’ a liddle rain;
Fer de water’s all muddy, an de creek’s gone dry;
If it ‘twasn’t fer de tadpoles we’d all die.”

Oh: When de sheep shell co’n wid de rattle of his ho’n
I wishes to de Lawd I’d never been bo’n;
Caze when de Hant blows de ho’n, de sperits all dance,
An’ de hosses an’ de cattle, dey whirls ‘round an’ prance.

Oh: Yonder comes Skillet an’ dere goes Pot;
An’ here comes Jawbone ‘cross de lot.
Walk Jawbone! Beat de Skillet an’ de Pan!
You cut dat Pigeon’s Wing, Black Man!

Now: Take keer, gemmuns, an’ let me through;
Caze I’se gwineter dance wid liddle Mollie Lou.
But I’se never seed de lak since I’se been bo’n,
When de sheep shell co’n wid de rattle of his ho’n!

*Hant = spirit or ghost

p. 59-60, Negro Folk Rhymes

Regarding the “Oh,” “Now,” and “Yes,” this seems to have been a call and response type song.

The Hated Blackbird and Crow

Dat Blackbird say unto de Crow:
“Dat’s why de white folks hates us so;
For ever since ole Adam wus born,
It’s been our rule to gedder green corn.”

Dat Blackbird said unto de Crow:
“If you’s not black, den I don’t know.
White folks calls you black, but I say not;
Caze de kittle musn’ talk about de pot.”

p. 183, Negro Folk Rhymes

Why the Woodpecker’s Head is Red

Bill Dillix say to dat woodpecker bird:
“W’at makes yo’ topknot red?”
Says he: “I’se picked in the de red-hot sun,
Till it’s done burnt my head.”

p. 203, Negro Folk Rhymes

How to Plant and Cultivate Seeds

Plant: One fer de blackbird
Two fer de crow,
Three fer de jaybird
An’ fo’r fer to grow.

Den: When you goes to wuk,
Don’t never stand still;
When you pull de grass,
Pull it out’n de hill.

p. 208, Negro Folk Rhymes

Similar to the Oh/Now/Yes above, “Plant” and “Den” seem to be part of a call and response type of lyric.

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2. On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, 1925

This is another refreshingly respectful collection of African-American folk songs. The author Dorothy Scarborough has an obvious appreciation for not only the music but also the people who shared it with her. She writes,

“One of the most fascinating discoveries to be made in a study of southern folk-lore is that Negroes have preserved orally, and for generations, independent of the whites, some of the familiar English and Scotch songs and ballads, and have their own distinct versions of them. I was vastly interested in this fact when I chanced upon it in research I was making in ballad material some years ago in Texas and Virginia. Unaware that other cases existed, I thought at first that what I found were only exceptions, accidents of folk-song, though I began to look for similar instances. …

“To discuss this subject adequately would require research work and writing more extensive than I have time for now, and so I can hop only to give suggestion as to the material, and leave it to some investigator who can spend much time in the field, to work it out in detail. …

“Such a survival among the Negroes was remarkable, far more so then song-preservation among the whites, who in many instances kept old ballads by writing them down in notebooks, and learning them from old broadsides or keepsake volumes; while the Negroes had none of these aids, but had to sing each song as they learned it from hearing others sing it, and must remember it of themselves. And yet they cherished the old songs and had their own versions of them.”

Excerpted from “The Negro’s Part in Transmitting the Traditional Songs and Ballads,” in On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, p. 33

In the “Songs About Animals” chapter, Scarborough includes a verse of interest, related to “Why the Woodpecker’s Head is Red” above,

What camaraderie is shown in such lines as those to a woodpecker, sent in by Elsie Brown, of Asheville, North Carolina!

Peckerwood, peckerwood,
What makes your head so red?
You peck out in the sun so long,
It’s a wonder you ain’t dead.

On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, p. 193

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E. Other Recordings

1. Agnes Presley, Arden, NC, 1922

This version appears in the book Mountain Songs of North Carolina, Collected by Susannah Wetmore and Marshall Bartholomew, published circa 1926. In their notes they write,

No. 4. The Blackbird and the Crow. Sung by Miss Agnes Presley at Arden, N. C., August 1922.

Of ancient origin, this melody has retained its modal scale. Of the several known variants, coming from many different sources, the words of the second, third and fourth verses are the same as those of No. 113, Variant B [Lily Roberts version], in Mr. Sharp’s volume, in which the title of the song is given as “The Bird Song.”

Mountain Songs of North Carolina, p. 1

1. Blackbird says unto the crow:
“The reason why we’re hated so,
Ever since old Adam’s been born
It’s been our trait to pull up corn.”

2. “Hi!” says the black-bird, sittin’ on a chair,
“Once I courted a lady fair,
She proved fickle and turned her back,
And ever since then I’ve dressed in black.”

3. “Hi,” says the woodpecker, sittin’ on a fence,
“Once I courted a handsome wench;
She proved fickle and from me fled,
And ever since then my head’s been red.”

4. “Hi,” says the robin as away he flew,
“When I was a young man I chose two;
If one didn’t love me, the other one would,
And don’t you think my notion’s good?”

Mountain Songs of North Carolina, p. 10-12

Although the key signature as originally published has no sharps or flats (key of C), the mode of this song appears to be E Dorian (E F# G A B C# D E) or E Aeolian (E F# G A B C D). There are no Fs or Cs in the tune, so the mode is impossible to determine one way or another.

This version is certainly noteworthy for its authenticity. The collectors write in their “Introduction,”

“In preparing the present collection of “Mountain Songs of North Carolina,” the main purpose has been musical rather than historical. The simple beauty of these songs, their singableness, their interesting rhythms and the alternating pathos and humor of their verses, will surely make new friends for them in many hearts…

“In arranging them [the songs] for publication, only such minor alterations have been made as to remedy phrases which seemed unnecessarily clumsy or incoherent. Where several variants of the same song came to our attention, those verses and tunes have been selected which appear to be most authentic and most typical. The piano accompaniments have been made as much in the spirit of the original material as is possible and practical for general use. Of course, the piano is almost unknown among the mountain people. Their instruments are the fiddle, the guitar and the banjo; also occasionally the dulcimer and the harmonium. In some cases it has been possible to imitate directly the style of accompaniment used upon one or another of these instruments.”

Mountain Songs of North Carolina, p. iii

So, while it is unfortunate that they made minor changes, at least they have admitted it, and tried to keep the adjustments to a minimum. It is also clear from the arrangements that they did attempt to stay as close as possible to keep to the original rhythms. While all other other versions so far transcribed were an even 8 bars, this one is 12, making it “crooked.”

Additionally, while I only transcribed the notation for the first verse above, Bartholomew wrote out each verse, demonstrating the slightly changing rhythms in each to make the words fit the tune.

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2. Alexander “Uncle Eck” Dunford, Galax, VA, 1937

This variant was recorded by John A. Lomax in October, 1937 in Galax, Virginia. The recording is not available online, but the Library of Congress call number is AFC 1938/003, and you can view the catalog record here. The Lomaxes were in Galax, VA recording the Old Fiddler’s Convention on Oct. 22-25, 1937.

This version has wedded the bird verses to the minstrel song “De Blue Rail Fly,” also known as “Jim Crack Corn.” “Uncle Eck” was a fairly well known fiddle player; you can learn more about him here.

Ruth Crawford Seeger included the tune in her 1948 book American Folk Songs for Children. In the Acknowledgements she writes,

And to the following publishers, societies, institutions, and individuals, for permission to use the various songs as indicated: …

Library of Congress, and the collectors and singers of the following songs, transcribed from field recordings in the Archive of American Folklore: …

John A Lomax, collector, for: … “Big Old Owl” (“Jim Crack Corn”), sung by Alec Dunford;

p. 4-5, American Folk Songs for Children

With the music she notes,

This version of the well-known minstrel song Jim Crack Corn was notated from the phonograph recording of the singing of an old man, who states on the record that he in turn learned it from an aged banjo player when he himself was a small boy.

p. 125, American Folk Songs for Children

Here is the melody for the bird verses:

The bird-related verses are:

1. Big old owl with eyes so bright,
On many a dark and starry night,
I’ve often heard my true-love say,
“Sing all night and sleep all day!”

2. Said the blackbird to the crow:
Down to the cornfield let us go;
Pulling up corn has been our trade,
Ever since Adam and Eve was made.

3. Said the shagpoke to the crane:
When do you think we’ll have some rain?
The farm’s so muddy and the brook so dry,
If it wasn’t for the tadpoles, we’d all die.

American Folk Songs for Children, p. 124 – 125

The recording was included on a record released in 1977 called “Old Mother Hippletoe: Rural and Urban Children’s Songs.” New World Records has a digital version for sale here, where you can listen to a sample of “Uncle Eck” singing “Jim Crack Corn.” The liner notes for the album include the following bird verses, with differences from Seeger’s noted in bold.

Big old owl with his eyes so bright,
On many a dark and stormy night
I’ve often heer’d my true-love say:
“Work all night and sleep all day!”

Said the blackbird to the crow:
“Down to the cornfield let us go.
Pulling up corn has been our trade
Ever since Adam and Eve was made.”

Said the shagpoke to the crane:
“When do you think we’ll have some rain?
The pond’s so muddy and the brook‘s so dry,
If it wasn’t for the tadpoles we’d all die.”

Liner notes, Old Mother Hippletoe: Rural and Urban Children’s Songs, New World NW 291, https://nwr-site-liner-notes.s3.amazonaws.com/80291.pdf accessed 9/21/22.

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IV. The Tune

Coming soon!! 🙂

Update 11/22/22 – I didn’t realize it would take me so long to tackle this section of the article. Several sources mention this tune family dating back to the Gregorian chant “Congaudeat Turba Fidelium.” I started looking into the history of the chant, and now, several weeks of research in, I’ve found 7 manuscripts and 2 early prints of the song (some with and some without notation), and I have 73 pages and counting of notes and quotes in a Google document. I’m getting towards the end of compiling my research for this tune, which will end up with a post of its own. I hope the rest of the documentation of tunes in the family goes a little quicker. I’ll just keep chipping away at it as time allows and post updates and information here as it comes together.

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