The Brake o' Briars- Sebbage (Sx) 1911 Gillington
[From: Alice E. Gillington in Songs of the Open Road, pp. 10. The Brake o' Briars, is given by Miss Alice E. Gillington as a New Forest Gypsies Ballad. However the first part is "The Brisk Young Country Lady." that text is not included first but is found at the bottom of this page.
R. Matteson 2016]
Journal of the Folk-Song Society, vol V (issue 19), 1915, 129:
Miss Sebbage worked as a servant. She had learned the song from her mother ("now Mrs. Stemp") at Trotton. Lucy Broadwood noted that the tune was of the Mermaid type, and thought that both versions (the other was from Mrs Emily Joiner of Chiswell Green, Hertfordshire) "seem to derive from the same corrupt source, probably a broadside put together from oral tradition. The ballad as it stands" she added, "is delightfully mysterious."
The Brake o' Briars- Sung by Miss Edith Sebbage, Trotton, Sussex, 1911. Noted by Miss D. J. Marshall
Then the match was made to go a-hunting,
Down in those woods where briars grew;
And there they did the young man murder;
In the Brake of Briars there him they threw.
Then they rode home the same night after,
They rode home most speedily;
“You're welcome home, my own two brothers,
But pray tell me where's your servant man?"
We lost him as we rode a-hunting,
Down in the woods where briars grow;
Where we lost him we could not find him,
And what became of him we do not know.
Then she went to bed the same night after;
She went to bed immediately,
She dreamt to see her own true loved one;
He was covered all over in great drops of blood.
She rose early the next morning,
To search the woods where briars grow;
And as she dreamed so there she found him;
In the Brake of Briars he was killed and thrown.
Then she pulled a handkerchief from her bosom,
And wiped his eyes as he lay as blind;
She oft time weeped in sorrow, saying,
"There lies a dear bosom friend of mine."
Then she rode home the same night after,
She rode home most speedily;
She poisoned herself and her own two brothers:
All four of them in one grave do lie!
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THE BRISK YOUNG COUNTRY LADY
or, THE ACCOMPLISHED YOUNG LADY
(Sung by Miss Edith Sebbage, Trotton, Sussex, 1911. Noted by Miss D. J. Marshall)
It's of a brisk young country lady,
Up to London she did go;
She fell in love with a jolly sailòr,
His canvas trousers as white as snow.
His cheeks were like two blooming roses,
In summer they did fade and blow,
Saying "I do love my jolly sailor,
And dare not let my parents know.
Drive on, drive on, my handsome coachman,
They are my horses, you need not fear,
It's now twenty minutes past eleven,
At the hour of twelve we must be there!"
See how they whipped and spurred their horses
Through every town as they rode through,
With a golden band hanging round her middle,
And a foot-boy after her like lightning flew.
They drove her up in twenty minutes,
Which caused those horses to sweat and die,
And the people being so much alarmèd
All for the lady they did cry.
The King, he having so well regarded,
Saying, "She shall wed her sailor bold,
She shall wed her jolly sailor,
For no two such lovers were ever known!"
She took her garment from her middle,
And gently folded it all on her arm,
Saying "The first shall touch is my jolly sailor,
And his life shall be at my command."