King John & the Bishop- George (VT) 1939 Lomax
[From Flanders' Ancient Ballads, pp. 281-298, notes by Coffin follow. This is sung by Elmer George as recorded by Lomax in 1939 (B2) and also as recorded in 1953 (B3).
R. Matteson 2014]
King John and the Bishop
(Child 45)
"King John and the Bishop" is a ballad version of a well-known folk tale (Aarne-Thompson, Mt. 922) that is probably oriental in origin. At least a ninth-century Arabic work contains a story about a wicked king, his viziers, and a potter that is basically similar. This is about as far back as the tale can be safely traced. It became quite popular in the Middle Ages, both in the East and west, and has been the subject of a good bit of study. Walter Anderson's monograph, "Kaiser und Abt" (FFC, No. 42 [Helsinki, 1923]); the citations in the Aarne-Thompson Types of the Folktale; and the notes in Child, I, 405 f., make a good start on a bibliography of the tale's variations and history.
The American ballad versions, almost all from the North, follow the child's Brooksby broadside pretty closely, usually even to the "derry down" refrain. The Flanders texts are of interest more because of the way they interrelate to each other than because of anything unusual in their make-up. After all, the story, with its set situation, questions, and answers, is about as variation-proof as folklore can ever be. A1 and A2, below, were learned by two men from a mutual grandmother, and, except for the fact that most of is is forgotten, they are much alike. However, it should be noted that the singer of A1 did not recall a good portion of his text until later. B1, B2, and BB make an interesting series. B1, sung word for word the same in 1933 by a brother and sister, was re-collected from the brother in 1939 and again in 1951. The 1939 B2 and 1951 B2 texts have two stanzas (8 and 9) not found in the 1933 version and add two new stanzas to the material covered in B1 from stanza 3 to stanza B. Otherwise the three texts do not differ greatly. The fact that neither Mr" George nor his sister recalled the additional stanzas in 1933 makes one wonder why the material should crop up six and eighteen years later. C, it will be noted, is also from the Slayton family that Mrs. Daniels, Elmer George's sister, gave as the source of her text. D is interesting in the singer's comment that the Bishop "was arrested for having too much money"--a compact statement of the Child B motivation. For a start on a bibliography of the song, see Coffin, 58-59.
All three of the tunes given here are related, corresponding to BC1 group A. The two George tunes are almost identical.
B2. King John and the Bishop. As sung by Elmer George of East Calais, Vermont. A. Lomax, Collector; November, 1939; Tr. H. E. F. B.
I will tell you the story, a story of one
Who was a young prince whose name was King John;
He was a man, a man of great mirth;
Who sawed great rights and downed all wrongs.
Timmy down, down, derry-I-down.
One day the King to make himself merry,
He sent for the Bishop of Canterbury;
He says, "Mr. Bishop, they tell to me
That you keep a far better house than me.
"Now if you don't answer to my questions three,
Your head should be taken from your bodee
And if you don't answer to them all right
Your head shall be taken from your body quite.
"Now the first one: I sit on my royal estate
With my golden crown all on my pare
And with my nobility, joy and great mirth
You're to tell to one penny just what I am worth.
"Now the second one is, without all doubt,
How long I'd be travelling the whole world about
And the third one is that when I do wink
You're to tell to me presently what I do think.',
The Bishop on returning home,
He met an old shepherd and that all alone;
"Good morning, Mr. Bishop,', the shepherd did say,
"What news do you bring us from court today?"
"O if I don't answer the King's questions three,
My head shall be taken from my bodee
And if I don't answer to them all right,
My head shall be taken from my body quite.
"Now the first one: he sets on his royal estate
With his golden crown all on his pate
And with his nobility, joy and great mirth
I'm to tell to him presently what he is worth.
Timmy down, down, down, derry-I-down.
"The second one is without all doubt
How long he'd be travelling this whole world about
And the third one is that when he does wink
I'm to tell to him presently what he does think."
"Now are you a man of learning and wit
To answer those questions, so soon put to it?"
"O for one suit of your apparel
I'd go to King John and answer the quarrel." [1]
"One suit of my apparel I'll give
And five pounds a year, as long as I live."
So the shepherd is gone and that all alone
To answer the questions to royal King John.
"Good morning, Mr. Bishop," the King replied,
"Have you come here to live or to die?"
"O I hope your faith will pardon me;
I've come to answer to your questions three.
"Now the first one: you sit on your royal estate
With your golden crown all on your pate
And with your nobility, joy and great mirth,
I'm to tell you presently what you are worth.
"Now for thirty pieces our Saviour was sold
Among the Jews so barb'rous and bold;
So about twenty-nine would be your just due
For I think He was one piece better than you!
"The second one is, without all doubt
How long you'd be travelling this whole world about;
Now begin with the sun and keep up the same pace
And in twenty-four hours you'll finish the race.
"Now the third one is that when you do wink
I'm to tell to you presently what you do think
And that I can do, so make Your Grace merry:
You think I'm the Bishop of Canterbury.
"But you're mistaken in that all alone
For I'm the old shepherd; the Bishop's t'home!"
"O that is all right," the Bishop said with a smile,
"But I'll make you Bishop another while!"
"For there's no use in talking; there's no use to fight
For I can neither read. nor write,
But tell the old Bishop, go tell him for me
That he'll get a frisky one if he gets met."
1. "quarrel" was pronounced "querrel."
B3. King John and the Bishop. As sung by Elmer George for a long-playing record in 1953. Tune same as B2. See page 290.
A story, a story, a story of one-
It was a young prince whose name was King John;
He was a man, a man of great mirth,
He set up great rights and he's downed all wrongs.
To me down, down, derry-I-down.
(This refrain is repeated, after each stanza.)
One day the King to make himself merry,
He sent for the Bishop of Canterbury.
FIe says, "Mr. Bishop, they tell to me
That you keep a far better house than me.
"Now unless you can answer to my questions three,
Your head should be taken from your bodee
And if you don't answer to them all right
Your head should be taken from your body quite.
"Now the first one: I sit on my royal estate
With my golden crown all on my pate
And with my nobility, joy and great mirth
You're to tell to one penny just what I am worth.
" 'N' the second one is, without any doubt,
How long I'll be travelling this whole world about;
And the third one is that when I do wink'
You're to tell to me presently just what I think"'
'N' the old shepherd on returning home'
He met an old shepherd and that all alone;
(He says,) "Good' mooning, Mr. Bishop," the shepherd did say,
"What news do you bring us from court today?"
"Oh, if I don't answer the King's questions three
My head should. be taken from my bodee
And if I don't answer to them all right
My head" should be taken from my body quite.
"The first one is, he sets on his royal estate
With his golden crown all on his old pate
And with his nobility, joy and great mirth
I'm to tell to one penny just what he is worth.
" 'N' the second one is without any doubt
How long he'd be travelling this whole world about
And the third one is that when he does wink
I'm to tell to him presently just what he thinks."
"'Well, are you a man of learning and wit,
To answer those questions' so soon put to it?
Oh, for one suit of your fine apparel, [1]
I'd go to King John and answer the quarrel"[2]
"One suit of my 'apperil' I'll give
And five pound a year, as long as I live"'
So the shepherd is gone and that all alone
To answer the questions to royal King John.
"Good morning, Mr' Bishop"' the shepherd replies,
"Have you come here to live or to die?"
"Oh, I hope Your Grace will pardon me;
I've come to answer to your questions three.
"Now the first one: you sit on your royal estate
With your golden crown all on your pate
And with your nobility, joy and great mirth,
I'm to tell to one penny just what you are worth.
"Now for thirty pieces our Saviour was sold
Among the Jews so barb'rous and bold;
So about twenty-nine would be your just due
For I think He was one piece better than you!
"And the second one is, without any doubt
How long you'd be travelling this whole world about.
Just begin with the sun and keep up the same pace;
In twenty-four hours you'd finish the race.
"The third one is that when you do wink,
I'm to tell to you presently just what you think,
And that I can do, so make Your Grace merry:
You think I'm the Bishop of Canterbury.
"But you are mistaken in that one alone,
For I'm an old shepherd 'n' the Bishop's t'home!"
"Oh, that is all right," the King said with a smile,
"But you shall be Bishop another while!"
"Oh, there's no use in talking; there's no use to fight,
For I can neither read nor write,
But tell the old Bishop, go tell him for me,
That he'll get a frisky one if he gets me!"
1 "Apparel" was pronounced "apperil''
2 "quirrel" pronounced "querrel"'