Recordings & Info 58. Sir Patrick Spens
[A. Lang says in Folklore, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Dec., 1896), pp. 416-417: "The mystery of "The Maid of Norway," and the strange affair of "The False Maid," are unnoticed in Mr. Child's preface to Sir Patrick Spens."
R. Matteson 2012]
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Folk Index
4) Child Collection Index
5) 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
6) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 41: Sir Patrick Spens (Listings)
Alternative Titles
Patrick Spenser
Sir Patrick Spence
Traditional Ballad Index: Sir Patrick Spens [Child 58]
DESCRIPTION: The King, needing a good sailor, calls upon Sir Patrick Spens to sail (to Norway?) in the dead of winter. Though both Captain and crew fear the trip, they undertake it, and are drowned
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: sea storm wreck death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1286 - Death of Alexander III of Scotland
1290 - Death of his granddaughter Margaret "Maid of Norway"
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MA,SE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (21 citations):
Child 58, "Sir Patrick Spens" (18 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5}
Bronson 58, "Sir Patrick Spens" (12 versions+1 in addenda)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 98-102, "Sir Patrick Spence" (1 text)
GlenbuchatBallads, p. 155-158, "Patrick Spence" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 17, "Sir Patrick Spens" (3 texts, 2 tunes) {B=Bronson's #3}
BrownII 16, "Sir Patrick Spens" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 179-184, "Sir Patrick Spens" (3 texts)
Friedman, p. 297, "Sir Patrick Spens (Spence)" (2 texts, 1 tune)
OBB 75, "Sir Patrick Spens" (1 text)
PBB 66, "Sir Patrick Spens" (1 text)
Niles 25, "Sir Patrick Spens" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gummere, pp. 144-1445+331-332, "Sir Patrick Spens" (1 text)
Scott-BoA, pp. 25-27, "Sir Patrick Spens" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 121, "Sir Patrick Spens" (1 text)
DBuchan 50, "Sir Patrick Spens" (1 text)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 2, "Sir Patrick Spens" (1 text, a recited version)
TBB 20, "Sir Patrick Spens" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 60-63, "Sir Patrick Spens" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 74-76, "Sir Patrick Spence" (1 text)
DT 58, PATSPENS*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #418, "Sir Patrick Spence" (1 text, with several variants in the notes)
ST C058 (Full)
Roud #41
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lord Derwentwater" [Child 208] (opening lyrics)
cf. "Young Allan" [Child 245] (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Patrick Spenser
Sir Patrick Spence
NOTES: Whether this song is historical is disputed. If it *is* historical, it is based on one of the oldest incidents known to balladry: The succession of Scotland in the thirteenth century.
Alexander III of Scotland came to the throne in 1249, a boy not yet ten years old (Magnusson, pp. 96-97). Two years later, he went to England to be knighted and to marry Margaret, the daughter of the English King Henry III and the sister of the future Edward I (Magnusson, p. 97).
Alexander came of age in 1259. Within a couple of years, he was sending embassies to Norway, trying to gain control of the Western Isles and Orkney -- which for many centuries had given their allegiance, such as it was, to Norway (Magnusson, p. 97). Eventually negotiations gave way to war: Alexander wanted the Hebrides, while Norwegian king Haakon wanted to keep them and strengthen his control.
Fry/Fry, p. 74, report that one of Alexander's vassals attacked Skye in 1262. Our sources are all Norwegian, so we don't know whether Alexander was really involved, or how extensive the attack was. What is clear is that both sides sent forces to the western isles, though the ensuing Battle of Largs (1263) was more a series of meeting engagements than a full-scale battle. More damage was done to the combatants by a storm, and king Haakon, having seen his fleet badly damaged, headed for home and died soon after in the Orkneys (Mitchison, p. 33).
With Haakon dead, the Norwegians decided to negotiate once again. A treaty was concluded in 1266, by the terms of which Scotland in effect bought the Hebrides (and at a surprisingly low price; Magnusson, p. 103, thinks the Norwegians demanded the cash only so they could justify giving away land they were no longer willing to fight for).
In practice, the result didn't matter; the folk of the Islaes "paid no more heed to their Scottish than they had to their Norwegian overlords" (MacLean, p. 33). But at least it ended the war. The countries became friendly enough that Alexander's daughter Margaret, by then 19 years old, was married to the 14-year-old grandson of King Haakon in 1281. Margaret's young husband was already Norway's King Eric II; he had ascended in 1280 (Mitchison, p. 37). Margaret didn't see much of his reign, though; she died in 1283, probably in childbirth; the baby girl would come to be known as "Margaret Maid of Norway" (Magnusson, p. 104).
At the time of the elder Margaret's betrothal, the Norwegian connection seemed minor; although Alexander III was a widower (his wife Margaret having died in 1275), he had two living sons. But the younger son, David, died in 1281, and then the heir, who would have been Alexander IV, died in 1284 (Magnusson, p. 105).
Alexander finally decided he had to marry again; he married Yolande (or Yolette) de Dreux in 1285. But it was too late for him. Indeed, the marriage brought his downfall, and led to the end of one of the few relatively peaceful period in Scottish history. On a dark night, on his way to visit his wife after a feast, he somehow fell from his horse and died in 1286 (Magnusson, pp. 106-107; Cook, p. 65). This, incidentally, led to one of Thomas of Ercildoune's most famous prophecies; see the notes to "Thomas Rymer" [Child 37].
When Alexander died in 1286, the only heir of his body was his granddaughter Margaret, daughter of the King of Norway by Alexander's daughter. She was four years old, but was made queen (not without some concern, since Scotland till then had never had a ruling queen; Cook, p. 65). Naturally with a guardian council.
At first, Edward I of England left things mostly to the Scots; he and Alexander III had been cordial (Prestwich, pp. 357-360). But it should be recalled that Edward I had already conquered Wales, and claimed a degree of authority over Scotland. And Margaret was such a tempting target.... For one thing, she was a girl who could potentially be married to his son; for another, Margaret of Norway was not too distantly related to Edward himself, and a potential claimant to the English throne. And Edward, being Edward, had no respect for Scotland, or for anything else that stood in his way (Prestwich, p. 361). Edward firmly interjected himself into the process of trying to bring the girl back to Scotland (Cook, p. 69).
The negotiations were intricate (Magnusson, pp. 110-111; Prestwich, pp. 360-361), since Norway, England, and Scotland were interested in her dynasty (because she stood fairly high in the succession for each), and England, Scotland, and the Papacy were involved in negotiations for her marriage (since she and her proposed husband, the future Edward II, were within the prohibited degrees, being first cousins once removed. A dispensation was eventually obtained; Cook, p. 70).
Poor little Margaret! So much rested on her fate that the histories give us no idea of what she was like; on paper a queen, she was in fact a pawn. Oram says, p. 107, "There is surely no more poignant passage in Scottish history than the tragically short 'reign' of this child monarch." One can only feel sorry for her. She lost her mother, who was only 23, at birth (Oram, p. 107); heir to the thorne before her first birthday she became queen of Scotland at three (Oram, p. 108). Her marriage was decided upon by the time she was six (Oram, p. 108), she left her childhood home at seven, and died at sea without even viewing the land of which she was titular queen! (Oram, p. 109). It was the forceful Edward I, not the Scots, who conducted most of the negotiations with the Norwegians. And one can't help but wonder if Edward's bluster didn't cause the Norwegians to drag things out. Eric II delayed Margaret's return for years.
Edward had theoretically agreed to leave Scotland an independent state after the marriage, and it was agreed that, if Margaret's marriage produced no heirs, Scotland would remain independent (Magnusson, p. 111). But it was quite clear that Edward had every expectation of running things (MacLean, p. 34); he was already acting as if he were regent of Scotland, even though there was a guardian council and the wedding between Margaret and Edward hadn't taken place anyway (Prestwich, p. 363).
Finally Edward fitted out a well-provisioned ship to carry the Queen, and perhaps her father (Cook, p. 71). Eric didn't like that; he preferred to use one of his own ships. It didn't help the poor girl; she died on the trip -- surrounded by the usual rumours of poisoning and murder. And now Scotland *really* had a succession problem. But that is an issue for another song.
Thus the texts of the ballad match some of the facts (fetching home "the king's daughter of Norrowa'"), but ignore the fact that the old king was long dead when the Scottish ship sailed to bring home the princess.
Some have proposed emending the text to describe sending Alexander's daughter *to* Norway, noting that a ship containing several Scottish lords sank on the way home. This is ingenious, but does not seem to fit the rest of the ballad; I would regard this emendation as highly suspect. (Of course, I don't like emendation.)
Just about every recording I've heard of this song seems to use the highly majestic tune sung by Ewan MacColl, but Bronson admits only one other traditional version with a tune akin to MacColl's; nine of his twelve versions are of a different type, and the twelfth (from Johnson) he believes inauthentic.
The song was probably well known in the late eighteenth century, however. Coleridge's 1798 poem "Dejection: An Ode" opens by citing the ballad (the "Late late yestreen I saw the new Moon" verse) and opens "Well! If the bard was weather-wise, who made The grand old ballad of Sir Patrick SPence...." - RBW
Bibliography
Cook: E. Thornton Cook, Their Majesties of Scotland, John Murray, 1928
Fry/Fry: Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, The History of Scotland, 1982 (I use the 1995 Barnes & Noble edition)
MacLean: Fitzroy MacLean, A Concise History of Scotland, Beekman House, 1970
Magnusson: Magnus Magnusson, Scotland: The Story of a Nation, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000
Mitchison: Rosalind Mitchison, A History of Scotland, second edition, Methuen, 1982
Oram: Richard Oram, editor, The Kings & Queens of Scotland, 2001 (I use the 2006 Tempus paperback edition)
Prestwich: Michael Prestwich, Edward I, 1988 (I use the revised 1997 edition in the Yale English Monarchs series)
Folk Index: Sir Patrick Spens [Ch 58]
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p298 [1760s]
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p299 [1806]
Luboff, Norman; and Win Stracke (eds.) / Songs of Man, Prentice-Hall, Bk (1966), p196
Johnson, James & Robert Burns (eds) / Scots Musical Museum, Amadeus, Bk (1991/1853), #482 [1796] (Sir Patrick Spence)
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p179
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p180
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p182 [1700s]
Leach, MacEdward / The Heritage Book of Ballads, Heritage, Bk (1967), p 46
Bell, Christopher. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p133/N 25 [1934] (Patrick Spencer)
Cooney, Michael. Still Cooney After All These Years, Front Hall FHR 016, LP (1979), trk# A.05
Fairport Convention. Fairport Convention Chronicles, Island 982 255-7, CD (2005), trk# 2.08
Langstaff, John. John Langstaff Sings American and English Folk Songs and Ballads, Tradition TLP 1009, LP (1960), trk# A.03
Langstaff, John. Nottamun Town, Revels 2003, CD (2003/1964), trk# 4
MacColl, Ewan. Scott, John Anthony (ed.) / Ballad of America, Grosset & Dunlap, Bk (1967), p 25
MacColl, Ewan. MacColl, Ewan / Folk Songs and Ballads of Scotland, Oak, Sof (1965), p72
MacColl, Ewan. English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Vol. 4, Washington WLP 718, LP (196?), trk# B.01
McCauley, Clara J.. Kirkland Recordings, Tennessee Folklore Soc. TFS 106, LP (1984), trk# 12 [1937/08/05]
McCurdy, Ed. Ballad Record, Riverside RLP 12-601, LP (1955), trk# A.01
Redpath, Jean. Scottish Ballad Book, Elektra EKL 214, LP (1962), trk# 11
Redpath, Jean. Father Adam, Philo 1061, LP (1979), trk# A.03
Sainte-Marie, Buffy. Little Wheel Spin and Spin, Vanguard VRS 9211, LP (1966), trk# B.02
Tabor, June. Echo of Hooves, Topic TSCD 543, CD (2003), trk# 11
Wilcox, Jon. Close to Home, Sierra/Briar BR 4210, LP (1980/1977), trk# A.06
Child Ballad Index 058: Sir Patrick Spens
Child-- Artist --Title --Album-- Year-- Length-- Have Recording
058 Alex Robb Sir Patrick Spens (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
058 Alex Robb Sir Patrick Spens (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
058 Birdloom Sir Patrick Spens ? 2006 4:10 Yes
058 Black Jimmie Mason Sir Patrick Spens (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
058 Black Jimmie Mason Sir Patrick Spens (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
058 Black Jimmie Mason Sir Patrick Spens (3) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
058 Black Jimmie Mason Sir Patrick Spens (4) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
058 Bob Coltman Patrick Spencer Son of Child 1976 4:53 Yes
058 Brian Peters Sir Patrick Spens Fools of Fortune 1990 4:29 Yes
058 Buffy Sainte-Marie Sir Patrick Spens Little Wheel Spin and Spin 1966 5:09 Yes
058 C. Glen Williams Sir Patrick Spens Post-Millennial Heebie-Jeebies 2007 3:47 Yes
058 Concerto Caledonia Sir Patrick Spens Late Night Sessions - Live at the Edinburgh International Festival 2009 2010 No
058 Chris Downing Sir Patrick Spens ? 1985 3:59 Yes
058 Claire Gilbert (catuvellauni1) Sir Patrick Spens <website> 2008 3:09 Yes
058 Clara J. McCauley Sir Patrick Spens The Kirkland Recordings - Newly Discovered Field Recordings from Tennessee and North Carolina 1937-39 1984 No
058 Dan Keding Sir Patrick Spens MacPherson's Lament and Other Ballads 1995 3:57 Yes
058 David John Hart (Hartistry) Sir Patrick Spens <website> 2006 2:24 Yes
058 David Kilpatrick The Maid of Norway David Kilpatrick 2005 4:54 Yes
058 Dee Strickland Johnson Sir Patrick Spence The Unquiet Grave and Other British Ballads 1976 No
058 Duncan Williamson Sir Patrick Spens Put Another Log on the Fire: Songs and Tunes from a Scots Traveller 1994 6:46 Yes
058 Duncan Williamson Sir Patrick Spens The Fife Traditional Singing Weekend - Here's a Health to the Company 2005 No
058 Duncan Williamson Sir Patrick Spens (1) Jim Carroll & Pat Mackenzie Collection No
058 Duncan Williamson Sir Patrick Spens (2) Jim Carroll & Pat Mackenzie Collection No
058 Duncan Williamson Sir Patrick Spens John Howson Collection 1970-1995 No
058 Ed McCurdy Sir Patrick Spens The Ballad Record 1955 3:28 Yes
058 Ewan MacColl Sir Patrick Spens Sir Patrick Spens + Eppie Morrie 1951 2:59 Yes
058 Ewan MacColl Sir Patrick Spens The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 2 1956 5:45 Yes
058 Ewan MacColl Sir Patrick Spens The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Child Ballads) - Vol. 1 1961 5:33 Yes
058 Ewan MacColl Sir Patrick Spens Blood and Roses - Vol. 4 1986 5:03 Yes
058 Ewan MacColl Sir Patrick Spens The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 4 [Reissue] 196? No
058 Ewan MacColl Sir Patrick Spens Poetry and Song, Vol. 3 1967 No
058 Ewan MacColl Sir Patrick Spens [Scots] The Long Harvest, Vol. 7 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1967 4:55 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens The Guv'nor Vol 2 1995 3:54 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens Fairport unConventioNal - Classic Convention 2002 3:48 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens A Boxful of Treasures 2004 3:48 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens Full House 1970 3:35 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens House Full - Live at the LA Troubadour 1977 3:28 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens Encore, Encore [Farewell, Farewell] 1999 3:54 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens Fiddlestix - The Best of Fairport 1972-1984 1998 3:27 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens From Past Archives 1992 3:42 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens The Harvest of Gold - The English Folk Almanac 2003 3:30 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens The English and Scottish Popular Ballads - Digital Child Companion CD 2003 3:25 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens Studio Outtakes, Home Demos, Unheard Songs, Complete Studio Recordings 2010 4:02 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens (1) Liege & Lief 1969 4:03 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens (2) Liege & Lief 1969 3:46 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens Now Be Thankful - The Full House BBC Sessions 1999 3:29 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens Now Be Thankful - The Full House BBC Sessions 1999 2:15 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens Cropredy 2006 2006 4:08 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens The Philadelphia Folk Festival 08-29-70 1970 5:14 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens Scarborough Fair - the Best of English Folk 2006 3:51 Yes
058 Fairport Convention & Richard Thompson, Dave Swarbrick & Bruce Rowland Sir Patrick Spens Cropredy Capers - 25 Years of the Festival 2004 3:26 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens RT - The Life and Music of Richard Thompson 2006 3:27 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens Live in Chicago 1970 1970 3:49 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens [1] Live at the BBC 2007 3:34 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens [2] Live at the BBC 2007 3:46 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens A Lasting Spirit - The Collection 2006 3:52 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens Meet on the Ledge - an Island Records Folk-Rock Anthology 2009 3:26 Yes
058 Fairport Convention Sir Patrick Spens The All New Electric Muse - The Story of Folk Into Rock 2008 3:31 Yes
058 Frederick Worlock & C.R.M. Brookes Sir Patrick Spens Poetry of Robert Burns & Scottish Border Ballads 1959 No
058 Geoff Kaufman Sir Patrick Spens Fair Stood the Wind 1987 3:21 Yes
058 Gordon Bok Patrick Spencer In Concert [Gordon Bok] 2006 3:37 Yes
058 Hermes Nye Sir Patrick Spens Ballads Reliques - Early English Ballads from the Percy and Child Collections 1957 2:52 Yes
058 Jack Beck Sir Patrick Spens Half Ower, Half Ower Tae Aberdour - Scots Songs & Ballads 2001 6:56 Yes
058 Jackie Leven Sir Patrick Spens Fairy Tales for Hard Men 1997 2:50 Yes
058 James Christie Sir Patrick Spens The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
058 James Mason Sir Patrick Spens The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
058 James Yorkston Sir Patrick Spens Hoopoe 2005 4:44 Yes
058 Jean Redpath Sir Patrick Spens Father Adam 1979 4:27 Yes
058 Jean Redpath Sir Patrick Spens Jean Redpath's Scottish Ballad Book 1962 No
058 Jim Malcolm Sir Patrick Spens Live in Glenfarg 2003 No
058 Jim Malcolm Sir Patrick Spens Home 2002 No
058 Jock Duncan Sir Patrick Spens Tae the Green Woods Gaen 2001 No
058 Jock Duncan Sir Patrick Spens Old Songs & Bothy Ballads - There's Bound to Be a Row 2010 No
058 John Langstaff Sir Patrick Spens Nottamun Town: British and American Folk Songs and Ballads 2003 4:24 Yes
058 John Langstaff Sir Patrick Spens John Langstaff Sings - Archival Folk Collection 1949-1961 2004 3:32 No
058 John Paxton (Haltse) Sir Patrick Spens <website> 2006 1:32 Yes
058 John Roberts Sir Patrick Spens Sea Fever - Songs of Ships and the Sea 2007 4:43 Yes
058 Jon Boden Sir Patrick Spens A Folk Song a Day - February 2011 4:45 Yes
058 Jon Wilcox Sir Patrick Spens Close to Home 1978 3:50 Yes
058 Jonathan Francis Sir Patrick Spens Love These Songs 2010 No
058 June Tabor Sir Patrick Spens An Echo of Hooves 2003 7:05 Yes
058 June Tabor Sir Patrick Spens Always 2005 7:05 Yes
058 Keenan & Tyler Sir Patrick Spens <website> 2005 3:40 Yes
058 Kris Drever Patrick Spence Black Water 2006 3:46 Yes
058 Kris Drever Patrick Spence Live 2008 No
058 Louis Killen Patrick Spens The Rose in June 2001 5:01 Yes
058 Martin Carthy Sir Patrick Spens Signs of Life 1998 5:38 Yes
058 Martin Carthy Sir Patrick Spens The Carthy Chronicles 2001 5:38 Yes
058 Martin Carthy Sir Patrick Spens The Folk Collection 1999 5:40 Yes
058 Martin Carthy Sir Patrick Spens fRoots 12 1999 5:35 Yes
058 Martin Carthy Sir Patrick Spens Guitar Maestros 2006 No
058 Martin Carthy Sir Patrick Spens Heart of England - In Aid of Teenage Cancer Trust 2000 No
058 Martin Carthy Sir Patrick Spens Essential 2011 5:38 Yes
058 Martin Simpson Sir Patrick Spens True Stories 2009 3:56 Yes
058 Martin Simpson Sir Patrick Spens BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2010 2010 No
058 Michael Cooney Sir Patrick Spens Still Cooney After All These Years 1979 3:54 Yes
058 Mike (Ichingiching) Sir Patrick Spens <website> 2007 4:45 Yes
058 Nic Jones Sir Patrick Spens Ballads and Songs 1970 3:53 Yes
058 Paul & Liz Davenport Sir Patrick Spence Under the Leaves 2006 No
058 Peggy Seeger Sir Patrick Spence [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 7 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1967 3:19 Yes
058 Peter Bellamy Sir Patrick Spens The Maritime England Suite 1982 4:37 Yes
058 Rainy Days The Last Voyage of Sir Patrick Spens Homecoming [Rainy Days] 1996 3:04 Yes
058 Ray Driscoll Sir Patrick Spens Wild, Wild Berry - The Songs of Ray Driscoll 2008 No
058 Ray Driscoll Sir Patrick Spens (1) The Gwilym Davies Collection No
058 Ray Driscoll Sir Patrick Spens (2) The Gwilym Davies Collection No
058 Raymond Crooke Sir Patrick Spens <website> 2007 7:19 Yes
058 Richard Thompson Sir Patrick Spens Denver Botanic Gardens 06-24-02 2002 5:11 Yes
058 Rick Lee & Lorraine Lee Hammond Patrick Spencer (Coltman Revision) Living in the Trees 1975 4:25 Yes
058 Rick Fielding Patrick Spencer This One's the Dreamer 1999 4:44 Yes
058 Robin Williamson Sir Patrick Spens The Iron Stone 2006 7:26 Yes
058 Roderick Williams Sir Patrick Spens, Op. 23 Herbert Howells - Hymnus Paradisi + Sir Patrick Spens 2007 No
058 Steve Suffet Sir Patrick Spens Low Rent District 2008 No
058 The Village Wakes Sir Patrick Spens Sir Patrick Spens and Other Stories 2006 5:50 Yes
058 Unknown Sir Patrick Spens The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
058 Wendy Grossman Sir Patrick Spens Roseville Fair 1980 4:23 Yes
058 Wendy Weatherby Sir Patrick Spens A Shirt of Silk or Snow 2009 No
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
58. SIR PATRICK SPENS
Texts: Brown Coll | SFLQ, I, #i, 10; #4, i.
Local Titles: Sir Patrick Spens.
Story 'Types: A ; The king needs a skipper to sail his ship to Norway and "bring home 5 ' Qu&en Margaret's lass. On a counsellor's advice, he writes Sir Patrick Spens. Sp&ns rues the assignment because of the season, but sets out anyway. After a number of insults thrown at him and his crew in Norway, Spens from pride sets sail in the face of an impending storm. The gale strikes, and in spite of cloth wrapped about its sides the ship flounders. The ladies may sit and wait a but Sir Patrick Spens will never come home.
Examples : SFLQ, I, #i, 10; #4,1.
Discussion; FOE a discussion of the discovery of this ballad in America see SFLQ., I, #1,3. The text given in that issue is excellent, with the famous "old moon" and closing stanzas intact.
Child, II, 19 20 cites events that are possible historical bases for the story. The most likely are the voyages centering about the marriage of Margaret and Eric of Norway in 1281 and the subsequent return of their daughter to marry Edward I of England in 1290.
The American story follows the Child G-J series. The Tennessee ( $4, i) text is abbreviated, however, and leaves out the "moon" stanza, the "wrapping" of the ship during the storm, and the poetic end. The reasons for Spens' leaving Norway and for his being sent have been obscured, and the King is looking for a new sailor in the end. The mood is cold and objective.
Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music
Sir Patrick Spens
[Roud 41; Child 58; Ballad Index C058; trad.]
Ewan MacColl sang Sir Patrick Spens in 1956 on his and A.L. Lloyd's Riverside anthology The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Volume II.
Fairport Convention rehearsed Sir Patrick Spens in 1969 during their Liege and Lief recording sessions with Sandy Denny singing. This track was left out of the final LP, however, but it was included in 1995 on Ashley Hutchings' anthology The Guv'nor Vol 2 with an early fade out, and as bonus track on the 2002 CD reissue of Liege and Lief.
A BBC radio version from the “Top Gear” session recorded on September 23, 1969 can be found on Fairport Convention's semi-bootleg From Past Archives with Sandy taking lead vocals and having some trouble on the low notes. IMHO, this version is better than the later studio one. This track was re-released on the Fairport unConventioNal 4CD set (even though this record's sleeve notes incorrectly claim this to be the Liege and Lief sessions out-take), and on the 5CD Fledg'ling Sandy Denny anthology A Boxful of Treasures.
In 1971, Fairport “officially” recorded and released Sir Patrick Spens for their album Full House with Dave Swarbrick taking lead vocals. A Fairport live version from the 1970 Los Angeles gigs appears on the album Live at the L.A. Troubadour and on the compilation Fiddlestix: The Best of Fairport 1972-1984. A further version—most likely from a BBC Radio “Sounds on Sunday” session at the Royal Albert Hall early in 1971—is on the compilation The Harvest of Gold.
Nic Jones sang Sir Patrick Spens in 1970 on his first solo album, Ballads and Songs. He commented in his album sleeve notes:
Three very common ballads are included in this record: Sir Patrick Spens, The Outlandish Knight and Little Musgrave. All three are well-known to anyone with a knowledge of balladry, as they are well represented in most ballad collections.
The tune of Sir Patrick Spens is basically that which appears in Christie's Traditional Ballad Airs, a collection well worth working through for anyone after some good tunes.
Peter Bellamy sang Sir Patrick Spens in 1982 on his privately issued cassette The Maritime England Suite, which was intended for a proposed BBC radio broadcast, We Have Fed Our Sea.
Martin Carthy sang Sir Patrick Spens on his 1998 album Signs of Life, accompanied by himself on guitar and by Eliza Carthy on fiddle. This track was also included in 2001 on The Carthy Chronicles. He also sang it live in studio in July 2006 for the DVD Guitar Maestros. Martin Carthy commented in his original recording's sleeve notes:
It was when I was about seven or eight that my mother first showed me Sir Patrick Spens, and it was many years before I understood that these things are supposed to be sung. The first tune I heard was from Ewan MacColl and subsequently others from Fairport and the great and marvellously inventive Nic Jones, who dug out what I think is the best tune to carry that song, and which I sing here. Nic recorded it on his first album which lies, along with 80% of his recorded output and a very large chunk of the work of other '70s musicians in a record company's maw. Or should that be mausoleum? Either way, it's sad that such spring heeled guitar playing and singing should lie unheard.
And June Tabor recorded Sir Patrick Spens in 2003 for her album An Echo of Hooves, and this track was also included in her anthology Always. She commented in her original recording's sleeve notes:
First appearing in Percy's Reliques, 1765, Child “does not feel compelled to regard this ballad as historical” but Margaret, daughter of Alexander the Third of Scotland was married in 1281 to Eric, King of Norway. She was taken by ship to Norway in the August of that year with a large escort of Noblemen, many of whom were drowned on the voyage home.
Martin Simpson sang Sir Patrick Spens in 2009 on his Topic CD True Stories.
Jon Boden sang Sir Patrick Spens as the February 25, 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. He commented in his blog:
One of the finest ballad melodies going, as discovered by Nic Jones. I heard this first from a brilliant version on Martin Carthy’s Signs of Life album, and have had the great privilege of playing on Martin Simpson’s equally brilliant version. No surprise then that I didn’t opt for a guitar accompaniment on this one…
Lyrics
Fairport Convention's Sir Patrick Spens
The King sat in Dunfermline town
Drinking of the blood red wine.
“Where can I get a good sea captain
To sail this mighty ship of mine?”
Then up there spoke a bonny boy
Sitting at the King's right knee,
“Sir Patrick Spens is the very best seaman
That ever sailed upon the sea.”
The King has written a broad letter
And sealed it up with his own right hand,
Sending word unto Sir Patrick
To come to him at his command.
“An enemy then this must be
Who told a lie concerning me,
For I was never a very good seaman
Nor ever do intend to be.”
“Last night I saw the new, new moon
With the old moon in her arm,
And that is the sign since we were born
That means there'll be a deadly storm.”
They had not sailed upon the sea
A day, a day, but barely three,
When loud and boisterous grew the wind
And loud and stormy grew the sea.
Then up there came a mermaiden,
A comb and glass all in her hand,
“Here's a health to you, my merry young men,
For you'll not see dry land again!”
“Oh, long may my lady look
With a lantern in her hand
Before she sees my bonny ship
Come sailing homewards to dry land.”
Forty miles off Aberdeen
The water's fifty fathoms deep.
There lies good Sir Patrick Spens
With the Scots lords at his feet.
from the Liege and Lief recording sessions Fairport Convention's 1969 BBC “Top Gear” session
(The verses are the same as above except for the two verses below)
“Last night I saw the new moon
With the old moon in her arm,
A sign, a sign, since we were born
That means there'll be a deadly storm.”
Then up there came a mermaiden,
A comb and glass all in her hand,
“A health to you, my merry young men,
For you'll not see dry land again!”
Martin Carthy sings Sir Patrick Spens
Oh the king sits in Dunfermline town
A-drinking the blood-red wine,
Says, “Where will I get me a brave young skipper
Sail this ship of mine?”
And up and spoke an old, old man,
Who sat at the king's right knee.
He says, “Patrick Spens is the very best sailor
Who ever did sail on the sea.”
So the king he has written him a long, long letter
Sealed it with his hand,
And he sent it along to Patrick Spens
Who was walking down on the sand.
And the very first line that Patrick read
So loud, so loud laughed he,
And the very next line that Patrick read
Down he fell to his knee.
“Oh, who is this, who has done this deed
Telling the king on me,
For to send us out this time of the year
To sail on the salt, salt sea?”
“To Norway, to far Norway,
To Norway over the foam.
It is the king's daughter of far Norway
And we must bring her home.”
Now they set sail with all good speed
On a Monday in the morn,
And they have arrived far over the sea
On a Wednesday in the eve.
And they'd not been in far Norway
A week but barely three,
When all those lords of far Norway
Began out aloud for to say:
“Oh, you Scots foreigners spend our king's gold,
Swallow up our money.”
“Oh, weary weary the tongue that lies,
See how it lies on thee.”
“Make ready, ready my good men all,
The little ship sails in the morn.
Be it wind, be it wet, be it hail, be it sleet,
Be it fair or deadly storm.”
But up and spoke our own weatherman,
“I fear we'll all be drowned.
For I saw the new moon late last night,
The old moon in her arm.”
And they'd not sailed a league and a league,
A league but barely three
When through and through the little ship's side
[They?] spied the green-walled sea.
“Oh, where will I get me a brave young boy,
Take my helm in hand,
While I climb up to the tall topmast,
See can I spy land.”
And he'd not gone a step and a step,
A step but barely one,
When the whirling winds and the ugly jaws
Came a-driving to their shin.
“Oh, fetch me a web of the silken cloth,
Another web of the twine,
And lay them around our little ship's side
Let not the sea come in.”
And they got a web of the silken cloth,
Another web of the twine,
And they laid them around the little ship's side,
Still the sea come in.
Oh, the anchor snapped, the topmast cracked,
It was a deadly storm.
And the whirling winds and the ugly jaws
Came a-driving to their chin.
And there came a gale from the north-north-east,
So loud, so loud it weep,
It cried, “Patrick Spens and all of his men
Are drowning in the deep.”
And loath, loath were the good Scots lords
To wet their shining shoen,
But long and ere this day was done
Their hats were soaking through.
And many were the fine feather bed
Flattering over the foam,
And many were the good lords' sons
Never, never more come home.
And long, long will the ladies sit,
Their gold combs in their hand,
Before they see Sir Patrick Spens
Come a-sailing to dry land.
Oh, it's east by north from Aberdour,
It's fifty fathom deep.
And it's there it lies Patrick Spens,
The Scots lords at his feet.
Notes
Regarding “feather beds”: a note from Roy Palmer, Everyman's Book of British Ballads: “The image of so domestic an object as a feather bed floating in the sea conveys a powerful feeling of desolation. However, the truth is more prosaic; from earliest times sailors used feather beds, partly because they were comfortable, but also because the feathers' extreme buoyancy made them excellent life rafts.”
Regarding “shoen”: Bill Bryson notes in Mother Tongue (1990), p. 55: “In Old English there were at least six endings that denoted plurals, but by Shakespeare's time these had by and large shrunk to two: -s and -en. But even then the process was nowhere complete. In the Elizabethean Age, people sometimes said shoes and sometimes shoen, sometimes houses and sometimes housen.”
A note from The Penguin Book of Folk Ballads of the English Speaking World: “... The chronicles fail to mention Sir Patrick Spens, though his mission seems to have been the high matter of transporting a Scottish princess to Norway or a Norwegian princess to Scotland. A daughter of Alexander III was married to Eric, King of Norway, in 1281. The courtiers who accompanied the new queen to Norway in August of that year were drowned on the return voyage. ... [the ballad also] might refer to Margaret of Norway, shipwrecked off the Scottish coast in 1290...”
The Contemplator's page for this song gives more details, as well as another set of words.
Acknowledgements
Transcribed by Garry Gillard; many thanks to Wolfgang Hell.