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Martinmas Time

[ Roud 2173 ; G/D 1:161 ; Ballad Index DTmartin ; trad.]

Anne Briggs sang Martinmas Time in 1966 on the Topic theme album of traditional erotic songs, The Bird in the Bush. As all of her tracks from this album it was reissued on her two compilations Classic Anne Briggs and A Collection. It was also included in the folk anthology And We'll All Have Tea. A.L. Lloyd commented in the original album's sleeve notes:

The folk have always loved songs of seduction, but, fair's fair, they've delighted too in recitals about girls who nimbly extricate themselves from a ticklish position where their heart isn't in it. So the girl on the Broomfield Hill, and Lovely Joan, and the Maid on the Shore, who all escaped from unwelcome embraces by the exercise of their wit, are admired folk heroines. To their gay company belongs the young woman in this song, seldom heard now, though Gavin Greig, who printed a text (fuller than this one), in his Folk-Song of the North-East, reported it as “popular beyond most of its class” earlier in this century.

Andy Irvine sang Bonny Woodhall in 1976 on his and Paul Brady's eponymous album Andy Irvine Paul Brady. Frank Harte noted on the album's sleeve:

There are many songs of this type; if the soldier is not trying to get into the girls bedroom without her parents knowledge, she is trying to get a suit of mens clothing to follow him to war, or else she has espied him on parade and tells her parents she will wed no other but he. In this song, the soldiers extract a solemn promise that the maid will come to their quarters and she, being true to her word, does so. By adopting a masterly disguise (cutting her hair and wearing trousers) she succeeds in cheating them of their implied lustful desires while keeping her part of the bargain. She leaves a sign to show that she has been there and gallops home a maiden.

The Gaugers sang Martinmas Time on their 1990 cassette The Fighting Scot.

Malinky recorded Martinmas Time in December 1998 as a demo. It was included in 2019 on the bonus CD of their 20^th anniversary album Handsel. They noted:

A song from our very first demo that didn’t quite make it on to the first album Last Leaves. Spot the influences!

Emily Smith sang It Fell About the Martinmas in 2005 on her CD A Different Life. She noted:

The lyrics to this song come from Ord's Bothy Songs and Ballads. It's about a girl who fools a troop of Scottish soldiers by dressing up as one herself. She beats them at their own game and triuphantly escapes capture.

Maddy Prior sang Martinmas Time in 2008 on her CD Seven for Old England. She noted:

Gavin Greig was famous for the massive collection he made with Rev. J.B. Duncan of songs from North East Scotland. He says of Martinmas Time that it was was popular beyond most of its class. Bert Lloyd honed the song and adapted a tune from several versions and gave it to Anne Briggs, where I first heard it. But it was later sung by Andy Irvine and Paul Brady and I think our performance owes more to them.

Sinsheen (Barbara Dymock and Christine Kydd) sang Martinmas Time on their 2009 CD Lift. They noted:

A version of this song was first published in Greig-Duncan in 1911: cunning maid outwits troop of soldiers.

WWI came to an end by an armistice arranged to occur at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. The date and time, represented a compliment to St Martin, patron saint of soldiers, and thus a tribute to the fighting men of both sides. The feast day of St Martin, the Martinmas, had been for centuries a major landmark in the European calendar, a date on which leases expired, rents came due; and represented, in Northern Europe, a seasonal turning point after which cold weather and snow might be normally expected.

James Yorkston sang Martinmas Time in 2009 on his CD and DVD Folk Songs.

Pilgrims' Way sang Martinmas Time in 2011 on their CD Wayside Courtesies. They noted:

Described by Gavin Greig as “popular beyond most of its class” in the early part of the 20^th century, we first heard this song from the wonderful singing of Anne Briggs. Here the heroine easily outwits a whole garrison of stupid men in the first of our cross-dressing ballads. Tom [Kitching] says he relates well to the character of the “solemn oaf”.

Me too.

Bryony Griffith got Martinmas Time from the singing of Anne Briggs and recorded a slightly shortened version in 2011 with her husband Will Hampson for their duo CD Lady Diamond. This video shows them at Shepley Spring Festival 2011:

The choir Freshly Ground sang Martinmas Time in 2013 on their WildGoose CD The Good Red Earth. Issy Emeney noted:

Martinmas falls on 11 November and is a Church Festival for St. Martin, a Roman Soldier of the fourth century who, legend has it, cut his cloak in half to share with a needy beggar one freezing winter’s day. That night, Jesus appeared to him wearing the piece of cloak he’d given away, and Martin converted to Christianity and eventually became a monk. If nothing else, it’s handy to bear in mind that “if ducks do slide at Martinmas, at Christmas they will swim”.

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