Martyr John- Delorme (NY) c.1868 Flanders
[My date, when Delorme was 9. From Flanders; Ancient Ballads, 1966. Notes by Coffin follow. The informant, “Grandma” Lily Delorme, of Hardscrabble on the Saranac, NY, learned songs from parents and her grandfather, Gideon Baker, who fought in the War of 1812.
Delorme was one of the best informants of Flanders and Olney (also Porter who recorded 100 of her songs). Most of her ballads date back into the 1800s since she was born in 1869 and learned them from her family. Mrs. Lily Delorme's offficial residence was Cadyville, New York. She was born in Schuyler Falls, New York, in 1859. Her father was born in Starksboro, Vermont; her mother, in Schuyler Falls, New York.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
The Twa Brothers
(Child 49)
This ballad. which seems to be unknown in England (Child's versions are all from Scotland) is quite easy to find in the New world. The story, however, is seldom constant, except in the fact that one brother is slain. Child A-F give a mutual sweetheart as a cause of trouble between the brothers, but the killing is nor always purposeful or even over the girl. In Child A, E, and F the killing is accidental; in other Anglo-American versions it is over land disputes, birds, or simply due to frustration during a scuffle. Frequently, a testament ending is attached; sometimes, as in Child D-G, the entire "Edward" ballad concludes the story.
The dying brother may send messages to his roved ones; sometimes he wants them to know the truth, other times he wants to mislead them. Phillips Barry (BFSSNE, V, 6 f.) presents the idea that the motivation for the crime is in an incestuous love the two boys hotd for their sister, and versions such as the Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles K text in English Folk songs from the Southern Appalachians [Oxford, 1932], I, 76 f.) support his thesis. Bur one is never quite certain what the details of the story are going to be when he encounters a new text of "The Twa Brothers." Barry (British Ballads from Maine, 105) argues that the
American texts of the song may be older than the Child texts. He could well be right. Certainly, the borrowing of the testament from "Edward" and the request for a dead man's kiss from "Sweet William's Ghost" might lead one to think the Child versions lvere losing their individuality" At any rate, a study of the ballad should take into account Barry's thesis. One might also consult Alton Morris' article in SFQ, VIII, 140, and the discussion by Jane Zielonko, "Some American Variants of Child Ballads" (Master's thesis, Columbia University, 1945), 76 t- Coffin, 60-62; and Belden, 33-34, are helpful in starting a complete bibliography.
The A version below has been printed twice as "Edward" (Child 13). It is actually a rather confused remodeling of "The Twa Brothers" story after an "Edward" ending has become attached in the fashion typical to Child D-G. The implication of the mother in the crime (stanza 26), after stanza 5 informs us that the killing occurred because of frustration during the fight, makes little sense. The Flanders B version is more orthodox and like Child B. Here, the sweetheart is called Susan (the usual American name; Child has "Margaret"); the body which has been mourned from its grave is asked for a kiss; and the crime seems purposeful.
However, the opening needs some explanation. At first glance, line I makes the reader think the killing is over by the time the song opens. But this is merely confusing syntax and line I makes reference only to that Martyr John who was lately killed. C and D are fragments also in the general tradition of which Child B is a Part.
The six tunes for Child 49 can be divided into three groups, as follows: 1) Kennison tune I, Kennison tune III, and Barry, which correspond to BCI group A; 2) Delorme, and possibly Kennison tune II, which correspond to BCI group B; and 3) the Edwards tune, which corresponds to the Appendix to Child 49 in BCI.
B. Martyr John. Sung by Mrs. Lily Delorme of Cadyville, New York, as learned when a small child from her parents. Her father was born in Starksboro, Vermont. Printed in Ballads Migrant in New England, 23A. M. Olney, Marjorie Porter, Collectors
August 16, 1943;
Structure: A B1 A B2 (2,2,2,2); Rhythm C; Contour: each half an arc; Scale: hexatonic, with two half tones; t.c. E. For mel. rel. see SharpI, 7 3 (distant); possibly DV, 563(I I E).
Martyr John
It was Martyr John who died of late
By his older brother's hand
As he walked forth to take the air
And to view the pleasant land.
"O brother dear, when shall we return
From a-viewing the pleasant land?"
He answered him, "You never can return
For I have mercy none."
"Then what will you tell to my old father
When he'll call for his son John?"
"Oh, I'll tell him that you've gone to the merry greenwood
A-learning your hounds to run."
"Then what will you tell to my old mother
When she calls for her son John?"
"Oh, I'll tell her that you've gone to fair Starksborotown
Your lessons for to learn."
"Then what will you to tell my pretty Susan
When she calls for her true love John?"
"Oh, I'll tell her that you are dead and in your grave laid
Never, never more to return."
Then he drew his dagger from his side
And he pierced his brother through
And he laid him down by the clear running brook
Saying, "Now, there's an end of you!"
Then he went home to his old father
Who said, "Where is my son John?"
"Oh, he is in the merry greenwood
A-learning his hounds to run."
And then up spoke his old mother
Saying, "Where is my son John?"
"Oh, he has gone to fair Starksborotown
His lessons for to learn."
And then up spoke his pretty Susan
Saying, "Where is my true love John?"
"Oh, he is dead and in his grave laid
Never, never more to return."
Oh, she took her dagger in her hand
And she run along the clear running brook
And she run to the place where in the field
And the birds were in their nest.
And she mourned her true love out of his grave.
Oh, I'm sure that he could not rest.
"Oh, what do you want, my pretty Susan,
Oh, why do you mourn for me?"
"One kiss from your clay-cold lips
It's all that I want of thee."
"Go home! Go home! my pretty Susan,
And worry no more for me
For you must have known from the day of your doom
I never can return to you."