Lord Bakeman- Doten (VT) c.1871 Flanders B
[My date, no date given, it probably dates back to the 1840s since it was an "old" song book. From Flanders; Ancient Ballads, 1966. Notes by Coffin follow. This patterned after the broadside versions published in the New England area. The original source is probably the 1810 Coverly broadside, however there are some contractions and minor changes not found in that document.
It was copied from an old song book by Ella E Doten (b. 1861) of Calais, Washington, Vermont, who was married to Edward H. Doten. Wareham A. Chase who knew this version was born Feb. 24, 1817 died in 1911. According to the informant, Ella Doten she heard this version as a child (c. 1871).
R. Matteson 2014]
Young Beichan
(Child 53)
This ballad has an extensive Anglo-American tradition and still is well known on both sides of the Atlantic. The American songs all trace back to early broadsides[1] and song books and quite generally refer to the hero as Lord Bateman or Bakeman. These texts vary somewhat in minor detail, but follow the Child L pattern as to plot outline, significant facts, and length. Nevertheless, a good many scholars have devoted a good bit of time to the minor variations of the American versions and more particularly to identifying the printed sources of the ballad in the New World. George L. Kittredge JAF, XXX, 295-97) used "the hole bored in the hero's shoulder" as a means of distinguishing texts closely akin to Child L from those related to the Coverly broadside in the Isaiah Thomas Collection, Worcester, Massachusetts, and Phillips Barry, British Ballads from Maine, 106 f., continues the probings and points out the "hole in the shoulder" stanza is characteristic of the South. There is also a good bit of information along similar lines in Jane Zielonko's Master's thesis, "Some American Variants of Child Ballads" (Columbia University, 1945), 83 f.
The Flanders versions below have been divided according to the findings of these researchers. Texts A-J seem to be similar to the Coverly broadside or to the version printed in the J. S. Locke of Boston Forget-Me-Not Songster (See A particularly) that goes back to an earlier broadside Coverly may have used. K-S are close to the text printed by Lucy E. Broadwood and J. A. F. Maitland in English Country Songs (London, 1893) and cited by Barry, op. cit., 116. This is a form of the song still known in Britain that evidently found its way into print in New England. In this series (see K-O) the hero's shoulder is not bored through as in many Child texts, but Bateman is tied to a tree[2]. T, it will be noted, contains further modifications and a compression
of the narrative. But, all in all, the Flanders texts are pretty typical of the northern findings for this ballad. Child, I,455 f., discusses the affinities of this song and the legend associated with Gilbert a Becket in the Middle Ages. However, analogous stories are known about Henry of Brunswick, Alexander von Metz, and a host of other heroes in Scandinavian and southern European balladry. A start on a bibliography can be had in Coffin, 63-65 (American); Dean-Smith, 5 (English) ; Greig and Keith, 40-43 (Scottish) ; and the notes in Child. Kittredge's JAF article contains a number of references, not easily available elsewhere, to printed American texts of "Lord Bateman" and its relative "The Turkish Lady." The latter, listed by Laws as O 26 and possibly derived from "Lord Bateman," is also immensely popular in America. Laws, AEBB,238, and Coffin, 65, give a
good many references for it.
The eight tunes for Child 53 are all related, and all correspond to tune group A in BC1. Two subfamilies appear: 1) the Davis, Kennison, Pierce, and Burke tunes, characterized by a triad at the beginning, this group corresponds to BCI group Aa. The other tunes together fit in with BCI group Ab, the Morton tune being relatively divergent from the others, however.
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1. In my opinion, this statement is simply inaccurate, "the American songs all trace back to early broadsides." Consider, for example, the Hick/Harmon version (Susan Price/Young Behan) which was collected from three different family members which they brought from Virginia (circa late 1600s) to the Carolina mountains probably around 1770 and has been passed strictly through oral tradition since then. [R. Matteson 2014]
2. It's likely that the "tied to a tree" reference is, in fact, derived from the "hole in the shoulder" texts, via faulty oral transmission. After all, there aren't many prisoners tied to a tree in a jail cell. [R. Matteson 2014]
B. Lord Bakeman. This song was known to Mrs. EIla Doten, North Calais, Vermont, and contributed as she heard it sung when a child. Mrs. Doten says, "I have written just as I found it in Mr. Tabor's old song book. An old man by the name of Wareham Chase, who lived in this place, used to repeat it. He called it 'Lord Bateman.' He invented the first electric motor. . "
1. In India liv'd a noble Lord,
His riches were beyond compare,
He was the darling of his parents,
And of their estate an only heir.
2 He had gold and he had silver,
And he had houses of a high degree,
But still he never could be contented,
Until a voyage he had been to sea.
3 He sailed east, and he sailed west,
Until he came to the Turkish shore,
Where he was taken and put in prison,
Where he could neither see nor hear.
4 For seven long months he lay lamenting,
He laid lamenting in iron bands,
There happened to be a brisk young lady,
Which set him free from his iron chains.
5 The jailor had one only daughter,
A brisk young lady gay was she, -
As she was walking across the floor,
She chanced Lord Bakeman for to see.
6 She stole the keys of her father's prison,
And said Lord Bakeman she would set free.
She went unto the prison door,
And opened it without delay.
7 Have you got gold, or have you got silver?
Or have you got houses of a high degree?
What will you give to the lady fair,
If she from bondage will set you free?
8 Yes, I've got gold, and I've got silver,
And I've got houses of a high degree,
I'll give them all to the lady fair,
If she from bondage will set me free.
9 It's not your silver, nor your gold,
Nor yet your houses of high degree,
All I want is to make me happy,
And all I crave is your fair body.
10. Let us make a bargain, and make it strong,
For seven long years it shall stand,
You shall not wed no other woman,
Nor I'll not wed no other man.
11. When seven long years were gone and past,
And seven long years were at an end,
She packed up all her richest clothing,
Saying, now I'll go and seek my friend.
12 She sailed east, and she sailed west,
Until she came to the Indian shore,
And there she never could be contented,
Till for her true love she did enquire.
13 She did enquired for Lord Bakeman's palace,
At every corner of the street,
She enquired after Lord Bakeman's palace,
Of every person she chanced to meet.
14 And when she came to Lord Bakeman's palace,
She knock'd so loud upon the ring,
There's none so ready as the brisk young porter,
To arise and let this fair lady in.
15 She ask'd if this was Lord Bakeman's palace,
Or is the Lord himself within?
Yes, yes, replied the brisk young porter,
He and his bride have just entered in.
I6 She wept, she wept and wrung her hands,
Crying alas! I am undone;
I wish I was in my native country,
Across the sea there to remain."
17 Ask him to send me one ounce of bread,
And a bottle of his wine so strong.
And ask him if he's forgot the lady,
That let him free from his iron chains.
18 The porter went in unto his master,
And bowed low upon his knees,
Arise, arise, my brisk young porter,
And tell me what the matter is.
19 There is a lady stands at your gate,
And she doth weep most bitterly,
I think she is as fine a creature,
That ever I wish my eyes did see.
20 She's got more rings on her four fingers,
And round her waist has diamond strings,
She's got more gold about her clothing,
Than your new bride and all her kin.
21 She wants you to send her one ounce of bread,
And a bottle of your wine so strong,
And asks if you have forgot the lady,
That set you free from your iron chains.
22 He stamped his foot upon the floor,
He broke the table in pieces three,
Here's adieu to you, my wedded bride,
For this fair Lady I will go see.
23 Then up spoke the new bride's mother,
And she was a lady of a high degree,
'Tis you have made a bride of my daughter,
Well, she is none the worse for me.
24 But since my fair one has arrived,
A second wedding there shall be,
Your daughter came on a horse and saddle,
She may go home in her coach and three.
25 He took this fair lady by the hand,
And led her over the marble stones,
He changed her name from Susannah fair,
And now is the wife of Lord Bakeman.
26 He took her by her lily white hand,
And led her through from room to room,
He changed her name from Susannah fair,
And she is called the wife of Lord Bakeman.