Recordings & Info 112. The Baffled Knight
[Versions of Katie Morey (Katie Morie, Katy Mory) have been classified under Child 112 The Baffled Knight by Eddy and more recently Steve Roud. This is a US ballad resembling the plot of Child 112: The Baffled Knight. I've put them under 112 A (or 112 Appendix). See 112 A for versions of Katie Morey.
R. Matteson 2012]
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Child Collection Index
4) Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
5) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
6) Wiki
7) Folk Index
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 11: The Baffled Knight (144 Listings)
Alternative Titles
The Shepherd's Son
Traditional Ballad Index: Baffled Knight, The [Child 112]
DESCRIPTION: A (knight/shepherd) sees a lady (bathing), and wishes to lie with her. She convinces him not to touch her until they reach her father's gate. She jumps in, locks him out, and scolds him for his base thoughts and/or his lack of assertiveness.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1609 (Ravenscroft)
KEYWORDS: seduction escape trick knight
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(All),Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(MW,NE,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (21 citations)
Child 112, "The Baffled Knight" (6 texts)
Bronson 112, "The Baffled Knight" (40 versions+3 in addenda) -- but #26-33 (his Appendix A) are "The New-Mown Hay," which may be separate, and #34-#39 (his Appendix B) are "Katie Morey" [Laws N24] which is certainly separate
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 336-342, "The Baffled Knight, or Lady's Policy" (1 text; tune in Chappell)
GreigDuncan2 301, "The Shepherd's Son" (3 texts, 2 tunes) {A=Bronson's #9, B=#8}
Lyle-Crawfurd1 30, "The Shepherd's Son" (1 text)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 112-113, "Blow the Winds I-Ho!" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #6}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 454-456, "The Baffled Knight" (notes plus a modified version from Ravenscroft=Child A, also a claimed link to "Katey Morey")
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 89-99, "The Baffled Knight" (5 texts, but the "A" text is from "The Charms of Melody" rather than tradition and "B-I" through "B-IV" are "Katie Morey" [Laws N24] rather than "The Baffled Knight")
Creighton/Senior, pp. 63-65, "The Baffled Knight" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #25}
Peacock, pp. 272-275, "The Foolish Shepherd" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 16, "The Baffled Knight" (1 text fragment, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 320-321, "The Baffled Knight" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 154, "The Baffled Knight" (1 text)
PBB 35, "Blow the Winds, I-Ho" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 19, "Blow Away the Morning Dew" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #16}
Reeves-Sharp 14A,14C, "Blow Away the Morning Dew" (2 texts)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, p. 136, "Yonder Comes a Courteous Knight" (1 tune, partial text) {Bronson's #1}; Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 69-70, "The Baffled Knight" (1 tune, partial text; full text is in Percy/Wheatley) {Bronson's #2}
Silber-FSWB, p. 190, "Blow Away The Morning Dew" (1 text)
BBI, ZN2505, "There was a Knight was drunk with Wine"; cf. ZN2506, "There was a knight was wine-drunke"
DT 112, MORNDEW* MORNDEW2
ADDITIONAL: [Ambrose Phillips?,] A Collection of Old Ballads Vol III, (London, 1725), #31, pp. 178-186, "The Baffled Knight, or the Lady's Policy"
Roud #11
RECORDINGS:
Emily Bishop, "The Baffled Knight (Clear Away the Morning Dew" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2)
Sam Larner, "Blow Away the Morning Dew" (on SLarner02)
George Samms, "The Foolish Shepherd" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 739 [mostly illegible], "Blow the Wind, I, O", J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 13(224), Harding B 11(337), Harding B 15(21b), Firth b.27(27), "Blow the Winds I[.] O"; Harding B 5(5), Douce Ballads 3(52b), "The Baffled Knight" or "The Lady's Policy"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Katie Morey" [Laws N24] (plot)
cf. "The New-Mown Hay" (plot)
cf. "The Lovely Banks of Mourne" (plot)
cf. "Jock Sheep" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Blow Ye Winds High-O
Clear Away the Morning Dew
The Shepherd Laddie
NOTES: Child relegates the Percy text, and a similar one in the Roxburghe collection, to an appendix to this piece. I really don't see why. The result is long and complex, and may well have been retouched, but it's certainly a variant of this song.
It is noteworthy that Bronson classifies most versions of this song into a large tune group -- but that none of the early printed texts (e.g. Ravenscroft's and D'Urfey's) fit this form.
A handful of versions of this end with the rather ornate couplet
If you would not when you might
You shall not when you would.
This appears to be older; according to Richard Garnett and Edmund Gosse, _English Literature: An Illustrated Record_ four volumes, MacMillan, 1903-1904 (I used the 1935 edition published in two volumes), volume I, p. 296, the couplet
The man that will nocht whan he may,
Sall have nocht quhen he wald
is found in the so-called "lyrical pastoral" "Robin and Makyne" of Robert Henryson (fl. 1462), which has a vaguely similar plot: Makyne loves Robin, who is not interested. Makyne renounces him, which spurs him to affection, which she rejects.
The song "Jock Sheep" is clearly a rewrite of this, with an anti-feminist ending, and as such was lumped with Child 112 in earlier versions of this index. But it is distinct enough, and survives widely enough on its own, that we now split the two. As does Roud. (Thanks to Ben Schwartz for doing the research to split them.) - RBW
re _A Collection of Old Ballads Vol III_: Ambrose Philips, whose name does not appear in the Google Books copy is, according to Google Books, the editor. The New York Public Library catalog says "Compilation usually attributed to Ambrose Philips"
Reeves-Sharp 14A is a composite of three texts. Reeves-Sharp p. 42: "no extraneous words or lines are interpolated." He gives three versions of the chorus on p. 42. - BS
Child Collection- Child Ballad 112: Blow Away the Morning Dew
Child --Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have
112 Adrienne Jones The Baffled Knight All My Days & Nights 2001 3:25 Yes
112 Alex Robb The Baffled Knight (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Alex Robb The Baffled Knight (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Alfred Deller Blow Away the Morning Dew The Three Ravens - Elizabethan Folk and Minstrels Songs 2003 3:17 Yes
112 Alfred Deller Blow Away the Morning Dew The Wraggle Taggle Gypsies - Folk Songs & Ballads of Elizabethan England 1996 3:13 Yes
112 Alfred Edgell Among the New-Mown Hay A Century of Song - A Celebration of Traditional Singers Since 1898 1998 :41 Yes
112 Andrew Rowan Summers Blow Away the Dew Seeds of Love 1951 No
112 Andy Frost Blow Away the Morning Dew <website> 2010 4:46 Yes
112 Andy Turner Stroll Away the Morning Dew A Folk Song a Week 2011-2012 2:49 No
112 Artus Moser Katty Morey (A Clever Fellow) North Carolina Mountain Folksongs and Ballads 1974 1:58 Yes
112 Battlefield Band Shepherd Lad Happy Daze 2001 3:45 Yes
112 Battlefield Band Shepherd Lad Battlefield Band - Boxed 1998-2006 2012 No
112 Bell Duncan The Baffled Knight The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Bob Gibson Katie Morey I Come for to Sing 1957 2:18 Yes
112 Bob Gibson Katey Morey Folksongs of Ohio 1956 2:26 Yes
112 Bob Gibson Katie Morey Live at Cornell 1957 2011 3:01 Yes
112 Bob Green Clear Away the Morning Dew Jim Carroll & Pat Mackenzie Collection No
112 Burl Ives Blow Away the Morning Dew Philco's Friendly Troubadour - 20 Vintage Radio Broadcasts 1946-47 2004 No
112 Charlie Showers Blow Away the Morning Dew Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
112 Cilla Fisher & Artie Trezise The Shepherd Lad For Foul Day and Fair 1978 3:02 Yes
112 Custer LaRue Yonder Come a Courteous Knight Ballads 1999 6:16 Yes
112 Cynthia Gooding Lady's Policy Faithful Lovers and Other Phenomena 1957 3:11 Yes
112 Cyril Barber Hail the Dewy Morning Songs Sung in Suffolk - Popular Folk Songs, Old Songs and Ballads 2001 No
112 David Edwards The Baffled Knight The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Debby Saperstone & George Wilson Shepherd Boy Kissing Is a Crime - Music of the Appalachian South & British Isles 1979
No
112 Doc Watson Katie Morey Home Again! 1966 2:25 Yes
112 Ed McCurdy There Was a Knight When Dalliance Was in Flower .. and Maidens Lost Their Heads, Vol. I 1956 2:10 Yes
112 Ed McCurdy There Was a Knight Bawdy Ballads of Shakespeare's Time 1971 2:08 >Yes
112 Edward 'Soldier' Cornelius Blow Away the Morning Dew Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
112 Eliza Carthy Blow the Winds + the Game of Draughts Rice 1998 7:54 Yes
112 Emily Bishop Blow the Windy Morning Country Songs & Carols 1975 No
112 Emily Bishop Blow the Windy Morning BBC Recordings No
112 Emily Bishop Clear Away the Morning Dew (The Baffled Knight) The Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 5: The Child Ballads 2 1961 1:46 Yes
112 Emily Bishop The Baffled Knight The Baffled Knight - The Classic Ballads 2 1976 No
112 Emily Bishop The Baffled Knight (Clear Away the Morning Dew) Classic Ballads of Britain & Ireland - Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales, Vol 2 2000 1:50 Yes
112 Emily Bishop Blow the Windy Morning The Voice of the People, Vol. 23: Good People, Take Warning - Ballads sung by British and Irish Traditional Singers 2012 No
112 Ewan MacColl Blow Away the Morning Dew English and Scottish Love Songs 1958 No
112 Ewan MacColl Clear Away the Morning Dew [English] The Long Harvest, Vol. 1 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 1:50 Yes
112 Ewan MacColl The Shepherd Lad The Wanton Muse 1968 2:55 Yes
112 Ewan MacColl The Shepherd Lad [Scots] The Long Harvest, Vol. 1 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 3:10 Yes
112 Ewan MacColl The Shepherd Lad (The Baffled Knight) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 1 1956 No
112 Ewan MacColl The Shepherd Lad (The Baffled Knight) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 2 [Reissue] 196? No
112 George & Gerry Armstrong Blow Ye Winds I-O Simple Gifts 1961 3:27 Yes
112 George Withers Blow Away the Morning Dew John Howson Collection 1970-1995 No
112 Halali The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter Halali 2003 4:25 Yes
112 Ian Robb and Hang the Piper Clear Away the Morning Dew Ian Robb and Hang the Piper 1979 No
112 James Reid The Baffled Knight The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Jamie O'Brien Blow Away the Morning Dew + Murray River Jig Many's the Mile, Love. 2007 No
112 Jim Douglas The Baffled Knight Weevily Wheat 1977 No
112 Jim Mageean Blow Away the Morning Dew Short Sharp Shanties - Sea Songs of a Watchet Sailor - Vol. 3 2012 No
112 Joel Frederiksen & Ensemble Phoenix Munich Yonder Comes a Courteous Knight The Elfin Knight - Ballads and Dances 2007 5:48 Yes
112 John Campbell The Baffled Knight Early Ballads in Ireland 1968-1985 1985 2:15 Yes
112 John Langstaff Blow Away the Morning Dew Nottamun Town: British and American Folk Songs and Ballads 2003 2:56 Yes
112 John Langstaff Blow Away the Morning Dew John Langstaff Sings - Archival Folk Collection 1949-1961 2004 No
112 John Shaw Clear Away the Morning Dew Regional Curiosity - Songs and Tunes on Solo Mountain Dulcimer 2006 No
112 Johnnie Mowat The Baffled Knight The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Lehto & Wright The Raveled Hank of Yarn + the Baffled Knight The Further Adventures of Darling Cory 2002 5:20 Yes
112 Lorna Anderson & Haydn Trio Eisenstadt Scottish Songs for William Napier V – The Shepherd’s Son Haydn Edition 2008 1:32 Yes
112 Lorna Anderson, Jamie MacDougall & Haydn Trio Eisenstadt Scottish Songs for William Whyte II – The Shepherd's Son Haydn Edition 2008 2:06 Yes
112 Mark Page The Baffled Knight (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Mark Page The Baffled Knight (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick The New Mown Hay Skin and Bone 1992 3:49 Yes
112 Mary Thain The Baffled Knight The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Mitzie Collins Blow Away the Morning Dew A Sampler of Folk Music 1976 3:25 Yes
112 Otis Hubley Baffled Knight The Helen Creighton Collection No
112 Paul Clayton The Baffled Knight Folk Ballads of the English-Speaking World 1956 1:25 Yes
112 Peggy Seeger Katie Morey [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 1 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 2:18 Yes
112 Peggy Seeger Katie Morey Penelope Isn't Waiting Anymore 1977 2:19 Yes
112 Rachael McShane Shepherd Lad No Man's Fool 2009 6:03 Yes
112 Richard Dyer-Bennet The Lady's Policy Richard Dyer-Bennet Vol. 3 1956 4:05 Yes
112 Richard Rodney Bennett Blow Away the Morning Dew Far from the Madding Crowd - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 1991 No
112 Roger McGuinn Katie Morey Folk Den Podcast 1995- 2:40 Yes
112 Rosaleen Gregory The Baffled Knight Serpent's Knee 2012 No
112 Roy Harris Clear Away the Morning Dew Utter Simplicity 1981 3:53 Yes
112 Sam Bennett Blow Away the Morning Dew Jacky-Boy Master 1975 No
112 Sam Bennett Blow Away the Morning Dew (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Sam Bennett Blow Away the Morning Dew (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Sam Bennett Blow Away the Morning Dew (3) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Sam Larner Blow Away the Morning Dew Now Is the Time for Fishing 2000 2:32 Yes
112 Sam Larner Blow Away the Morning Dew BBC Recordings No
112 Sam Larner Clear Away the Morning Dew Sailin' Over the Dogger Bank 1975 No
112 Steve Benbow & Jimmie MacGregor The Baffled Knight Sinful Songs 1958 No
112 Ted Ashlaw Katey Morey Adirondack Woods Singer 1976 1:20 Yes
112 The Ancient Orphic Mystery Band The Baffled Knight Traditional Folk Music of Britain & Ireland 1977 2:58 Yes
112 The Baltimore Consort Yonder Comes a Courteous Knight The Ladyes Delight 1994 6:15 Yes
112 The City Waites The Baffled Knight A Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions 1974 2:38 Yes
112 The King's Singers & The Gordon Langford Trio Blow Away the Morning Dew Original Debut Recording 1974 1:57 Yes
112 The Spinners The Shepherd Laddie 20 Golden Folk Songs 1979 No
112 The Yetties Blow Away the Morning Dew Dorset, My Dorset 2001 No
112 Toady Rudd Hail the Dewy Morning Songs and Stories from East Coast Fishermen 2000 No
112 Walter Ede The Baffled Knight The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 Wendy Weatherby Fair Annie A Breath on the Cold Glass 2002 No
112 William Fender The Baffled Knight The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
112 William Gilkie Baffled Knight The Helen Creighton Collection No
112 William Rew The New Mown Hay Blackbirds & Thrushes - Songs of Seduction 1975 No
112 William Rew The New-Mown Hay Songs of Seduction - Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales 2000 3:29 Yes
Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America
by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
112. THE BAFFLED KNIGHT
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 454 (trace) / BFSSNJS, XII, 12 / Green Mountain Songster, 51.
Local Titles: The Shepherd's Son.
Story Types: A: A man out walking meets a pretty girl and asks her where she is going. She smiles and flees. He chases and catches her with the remark "pretty maid, now let us understand".
Examples: SFSSNE, XII, 12.
B: The shepherd's son discovers a girl swimming in a brook, and, although he says he will not take her clothes, he swears to have his will of her. They mount horses and come to a meadow where he decides to have her. She asks him to wait till they get home, however, as the dew will ruin her gown. He consents. But, once home, she slips through the gates, locks him out, and mocks him. He threatens her, but leaves.
Examples: Green Mountain Songster.
Discussion: Type A has the "blow ye winds" chorus of Child Db (See also IV, 495) and follows the tradition of JFSS, II, 18 and W. B. Whall, Sea Sgs & Chanties, 24. The Green Mountain Songster text is close to Child D for the first four stanzas and to IV, 495 in the first stanza, but then it varies from the Child texts, although at many points a similarity to Child E can be seen. The
parting threat of the knight is not in Child, however.
Barry, Brit Bids Me, 455 states that a similar story was well-known in Maine under the title, Katie Morey. This song is printed in Shoemaker, Mt Mnstly, 131 from Pennsylvania as Kitty Maury; in SharpC, Eng F-S So Applchns, 211 from Tennessee and North Carolina as Katie Morey; in Eddy, Bids Sgs Ohio, 64 from Ohio as The Shrewd Maiden; and in Perry, Carter Cnty, 122 from Tennessee as Katy Morley. However, these versions and others like them are secondary at best.
Mainly Norfolk:The New Mown Hay / Blow the Winds / Shepherd Lad
[Roud 11 ; Child 112 ; Ballad Index C112 ; trad.]
Martin Carthy sang The New Mown Hay on his and Dave Swarbrick's 1992 album Skin and Bone. He commented in the record's sleeve notes:
Percy Grainger ought in fact to have opened something of a can of worms when he started using recording techniques in his song gathering, but others, after tinkering with the idea and making a few recordings, put the lid back on and the can back in the cupboard. Among the recordings that have survived is this version of The New Mown Hay sung probably by Mr Alfred Edghill and recorded by Cecil Sharp. The rest of the verses are from here and there.
Eliza Carthy sang Blow the Winds in 1998 on her album Rice, accompanying herself on fiddle and djembe, and with Ed Boyd playing bouzouki. They followed it by Eliza's tune The Game of Draughts. This track was reissued in 2003 on Eliza's anthology The Definitive Collection.
Rachael McShane sang this song as Shepherd Lad in 2009 on her CD No Man's Fool.
Andy Turner sang this song as Stroll Away the Morning Dew as the May 20, 2012 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week. He noted in his blog:
This was a song which, in [Maud Karpeles'] The Crystal Spring, is given the title of The Baffled Knight, and which Sharp collected in Warehorne on 23 September 1908 from James Beale. Even at 18 I realised, I think, that The Baffled Knight was a ballad scholar’s title, not what a traditional singer would have used (it doesn’t even mention a knight in Mr Beale’s song—it’s a shepherd’s son who is “baffled”). A few years later, when I looked at the copy of Sharp’s manuscripts in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, I found that in fact Mr Beale had also sung “Stroll away the morning dew”, rather than the more usual “Blow away the morning dew”. So that’s what I’ve sung ever since, and that’s how I refer to the song.
Lyrics
Martin Carthy sings The New Mown Hay
As I strolled out one bright new morn
All under the new mown hay-a
I there did espy a fair pretty maid
Under the new mown hay-a
Under the new mown hay-a
I asked of her to lay her down
All under the new mown hay-a
But the answer that she gave to me
Was young man leave me alone-a
Young man leave me alone-a
For there is a dew that is on the grass
Will spoil my cambric gown-a
And it cost my father into his purse
Many a pound and crown-a
Many a pound and crown
He says there is a wind that blows from the north
Will blow the dew away-a
And I will lay my riding cloak
Under the new mown hay-a
Under the new mown hay-a
Oh if you come to my father's garden
It is walled all around-a
There you can have my maidenhead
And thirty thousand pound-a
Thirty thousand pound-a
So he's gone down to her father's garden
It is walled all around-a
But she give him the slip and she skipped inside
She locked him out of door-a
Locked him out of door-a
Says there is a cock in my father's garden
He never will tread the hen-a
He struts all day and he flaps his wings
And I think you're just like him-a
I think you're just like him-a
And there is a flower in my father's garden
It's called the merry girl-a
And if you are wanting when you can
You can want when you will-a
You can want when you will-a
For when you met me out on the road
You thought you'd met a fool-a
Go take your bible in your hand
Go a little more to school-a
Go a little more to school-a
Eliza Carthy sings Blow the Winds
There was a shepherd's son,
He kept sheep on the hill.
He laid his pipe and his crook aside
And there he slept his fill.
Chorus (after each verse):
And blow the winds high-o, high-o
Sing blow the winds high-o
Well he looked east and he looked west,
He took another look
And there he saw a lady gay
Was dipping in a brook.
She said: “Sir, don't touch my mantle,
Come let my clothes alone.
I will give you as much bright money
As you can carry home.”
“I will not touch your mantle,
I'll let your clothes alone,
But I'll take you out of the water clear
My dear to be my own.”
He mounted her on a milk white steed,
Himself upon another,
And there they rode along the road
Like sister and like brother.
And as they rode along the road
He spied some cocks of hay,
“Oh look!” he says, “there's a lovely place
For men and maids to play.”
And when they came to her father's house
They rang long at the ring,
And who is there but her brother
To let the young girl in.
When the gates were opened
This young girl she jumped in,
“Oh, look!” she says, “you're a fool without
And I'm a maid within!
“There is cock in my father's yard,
A double comb he wears,
He shakes his wings and he crows full loud
But a capon's crest he bears.
“And there is a flower in my father's garden,
It's called the marigold,
The fool that will not when he can,
He shall not when he would.”
Says the shepherd's son as he doffed his shoes,
“My feet they shall run bare
And if I ever meet another girl
I'll have that girl, beware.”
Rachael McShane sings Shepherd Lad
Once there was a shepherd lad,
Kept sheep on yonder hill.
And he laid his pipe and crook aside
And there he slept his fill.
He looked east and he looked west,
He took another look
And there he spied a lady gay,
Swimming in a brook.
Chorus (after every other verse):
Blow the winds i-o,
Blow the winds i-o,
Clear away the morning dew
And blow the winds i-o
He raised his head from his green bed
And he approached the maid,
“Put on your clothes my dear,” he said,
“And do no be afraid,
“It's fitter for a lady fair
To sew a silken seam
Than to rise up un a May morning
And swim against the stream.”
“If you'll not touch my mantle
And you'll leave my clothes alone.
Then I'll give you as much money, sir,
As you can carry home.”
“I'll not touch your mantle
And I'll leave your clothes alone.
But I'll take you out of the clear water,
My dear, to be my own.”
And when she out of the water came,
He's took her in his arms.
“Put on your clothes, my dear,” he said,
And hide those lovely charms.”
And he's put her on a milk white steed,
Himself upon another,
And it's all along theway they rode
Like sister and like brother.
And as they rode along the way
He spied some bails of hay,
He said, “That is a lovely place
For men and maids to play.”
And when they came to her father's gate
She's tirled at the pin,
And ready stood the proud porter
To let this fair maid in.
And when the gates were open
It's so nimbly she's stepped in.
She said, “You are a fool without
And I'm a maid within!
“There is a horse in my father's stable,
He stands behind the thorn,
He shakes himself above the trough
But dares not pry the corn.
“Oh so fare you well my modest boy,
I thank you for your care,
But had you done as you should do,
I'd never have left you there.”
Acknowledgements
Transcribed from the singing of Martin Carthy and Eliza Carthy by Garry Gillard.
The Baffled Knight From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Baffled Knight or Blow Away the Morning Dew is Child ballad 112 (Roud 11), existing in numerous variants. A version is recorded in Thomas Ravenscroft's Deuteromelia (1609) with a matching tune, making this one of the few early ballads for which there is extant original music.
Synopsis
A knight (or in later versions a farmer's son or a shepherd's son) meets a maid away from house and town, sometimes swimming in a brook. He proposes intimacy. She persuades him that they will be more comfortable upon her richly-appointed bed, or that if he brings her to her father's house, she will marry him and bring a rich dowry. When they arrive at her home she goes in first and locks him out; in most variants, once safely inside she taunts him for his gullibility.
The ballad generally includes advice to young men not be put off by maidenly protests when they meet defenseless women;
There is a gude auld proverb,
I’ve often heard it told,
He that would not when he might,
He should not when he would.[1][2]
In one variant, he finds her again, and she tricks him by claiming her lover is near, so that he falls into the river, and a third time, in which she pulls his boots halfway off, so he is unable to get them on or off quickly enough to catch her.
Notes
1.^ i.e., he that won't do something when he could, won't be allowed to when he wants to.
2.^ An interesting use of this proverb occurs in the literary poem by Robert Henryson, Robene and Makyne
External links several variants
Blow Away the Morning Dew
Blow Away the Morning Dew
Folk Index: The Baffled Knight [Ch 112]
Rt - Katie Morey/Mory/Morie ; Blow Away the Morning Dew
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p154 [1700s]
Babad, Harry (ed.) / Roll Me Over, Oak, fol (1972), p 20
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p320
Ancient Orphic Mystery Band. Ancient Orphic Mystery Band, Troubadour TR 09, LP (1977), trk# B.02
Bishop, Emily. Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 5. The Child Ballads, Vol. II, Caedmon TC 1146, LP (1961), trk# A.02 [1950s]
Dyer-Bennet, Richard. Richard Dyer-Bennet 3, Dyer-Bennet 3000, LP (1957), trk# A.01 (Lady's Policy)
Fisher, Cilla; and Artie Trezise. For Foul Day and Fair, Folk Legacy FSS 069, LP (1978), trk# 9 (Shepherd Lad)
Gooding, Cynthia. Faithful Lovers and Other Phenomena, Elektra EKL 107, LP (1956), trk# A.06 (Lady's Policy)
MacColl, Ewan. English & Scottish Popular Ballads, Vol. 2, Washington WLP 716, LP (1963/1956), trk# A.03 (Shepherd Lad)
McCurdy, Ed. When Dalliance Was in Flower, Elektra EKL 110, LP (1956), trk# a.05 (There Was a Knight)
The Baffled Knight
Barnes, Peter (ed.) / English Country Dance Tunes, Barnes, fol (1986), --
Blow Away the Morning Dew [Ch 112]
Rt - Baffled Knight ; New-Mown Hay
Luboff, Norman; and Win Stracke (eds.) / Songs of Man, Prentice-Hall, Bk (1966), p236
Armstrong, George and Gerry. Simple Gifts, Folkways FW 2335, LP (1961), trk# B.08 (Blow Ye Winds I-O)
Barnard, Jack. Reeves, James (ed.) / Idiom of the People, Norton, Sof (1958), p 80/# 14C [1908]
Collins, Mitzie. Sampler of Folk Music, Sampler aafm 7601, LP (1976), trk# B.01
Daugherty, Minnie. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p 84/# 31 [1930s] (Man and a Maid)
Dyer-Bennet, Richard. Sing Out Reprints, Sing Out, Sof, 7, p28 (1965)
Langstaff, John. Nottamun Town, Revels 2003, CD (2003/1964), trk# 5
MacColl, Ewan. English and Scottish Love Songs, Riverside RLP 12-656, LP (195?), trk# b.02
Price, Mrs.. Reeves, James (ed.) / Idiom of the People, Norton, Sof (1958), p 77/# 14A [1904]
Saperstone, Debby; and George Wilson. Kissing Is a Crime, Front Hall FHR 019, LP (1979), trk# A.02 (Shepherd Boy)
Smithers, Mr.. Reeves, James (ed.) / Idiom of the People, Norton, Sof (1958), p 79/# 14B [1908]
Summers, Andrew Rowan. Seeds of Love, Folkways FA 2021, LP (1951), trk# B.04
Summers, Andrew Rowan. Asch, Moses (ed.) / 124 Folk Songs as Sung and Recorded on Folkways Reco, Robbins, fol (1965), p 23
Womenfolk. Never Underestimate the Power of the Womenfolk, RCA (Victor) LPM 2919, LP (1964), trk# a.04 (Morning Dew)
New-Mown Hay
Rt - Blow Away the Morning Dew
Rew, William. Kennedy, Peter (ed.) / Folksongs of Britain and Ireland, Oak, Sof (1984/1975), #184, p414 [1954]