> Eliza Carthy > Songs > Blow the Winds

The Baffled Knight / The Shepherd Lad / Blow the Winds

[ Roud 11 ; Master title: The Baffled Knight ; Child 112 ; G/D 2:301 ; Ballad Index C112 ; The Baffled Knight at Fire Draw Near ; VWML RVW2/1/11 ; Bodleian Roud 11 ; GlosTrad Roud 11 ; Wiltshire 254 ; DT MORNDEW , MORNDEW2 ; Mudcat 64609 , 149112 ; trad.]

Gavin Greig collected The Shepherd Laddie from Mrs Gillespie of Buchan, Aberdeenshire, in 1905. In 1925 it was included in Alexander Keith’s book Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs.

Emily Bishop of Bromsborough Heath, Herefordshire, sang The Baffled Knight to Peter Kennedy on 13 October 1952 (BBC recording 18679). This recording was included on the anthology The Child Ballads 2 (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 5; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1968) and in 2012 on the Topic anthology Good People, Take Warning (The Voice of the People Series Volume 23). The first album’s booklet noted:

A shepherd sees a pretty girl bathing in a brook, asks to have his will of her, and she pretends to comply by inviting him to come home with her. When she reaches her gate, she slips in, locks it, and laughs at her would-be seducer. This story has greatly appealed to both English and Scots singers. The earliest known version was printed in Ravenscroft’s Deuteromelia in 1609, and at the end of the century the story became so popular that three broadside sequelae were published. In the first, the girl pretends her lover is near and when the knight turns round to look, she pushes him in the water. In the second, she again pretends willingness and pulls his boots halfway off, then runs away. He is thus unable to pursue her. In the third, she invites him into her castle and lets down the drawbridge, which she has sawn almost in two. It breaks when the knight is halfway across and he tumbles in the moat.

Cecil Sharp collected at least twelve versions, some with the refrain of “Blow away the morning dew” and with saucy texts. He rewrote the ballad and in its censored form it came into general use in schools. Thence it passed again into oral circulation, and the school-book versions may have influenced the present set. However, Emily Bishop, 73 at the time of recording, had a good stock of traditional songs which she learned from her father. He kept the village inn on Bromsberrow Heath and was the leader of the local team of Morris dancers.

Ewan MacColl sang The Shepherd Lad in 1956 on his and A.L. Lloyd’s Riverside anthology The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Volume I. He also sang Blow Away the Morning Dew in 1958 on his and Isla Cameron’s Riverside album English and Scottish Love Songs, and sang The Shepherd Lad in 1968 on his and Peggy Seeger’s Argo album The Wanton Muse. Kenneth S. Goldstein noted:

This delightful ballad has charmed listeners from at least as far back as the 17^th century, the earliest known printed version appearing in Thomas Ravenscroft’s Deuteromelia (1609). It may have been known in tradition or from broadsides at an earlier date, for analogous ballads and tales from many parts of Europe have been known since the 15^th century.

The ballad appears to be little known in America, though a secondary version entitled Katie Morey has circulated widely in the United States.

That the ballad lends itself easily to ribaldry is apparent, and several related, but nevertheless secondary, bawdy versions are known in a popular tradition in both Great Britain and America. Indeed, the text sung by MacColl, though definitely a primary version, makes excellent use of a device common in popular bawdy balladry: the obvious utilisation of a pipe or flute as a phallic symbol.

The tune and part of the text sung by MacColl were learned from his father; additional text is from Greig and Keith.

Sam Larner of Winterton, Norfolk, sang Blow Away the Morning Dew in a recording made by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger in 1958-60. It was released in 1961 on his Folkways anthology Now Is the Time for Fishing, and it was included with the title Clear Away the Morning Dew on his 2014 Musical Traditions anthology Cruising Round Yarmouth. The first album’s booklet noted:

The earliest printed version of this well-known ballad is in Thomas Ravenscroft’s Deuteromelia (1609)，where it appears under the title of Yonder Comes a Courteous Knight. It is widely distributed in Great Britain, but appears not to have emigrated to the United States, though a secondary version Katie Morie is sometimes encountered there.

Other versions: David Herd (1869), Vol. II, p. 156; Sharp; Creighton and Senior; Dixon.

Cilla Fisher sang The Shepherd Lad in 1978 on her and Artie Trezise’ Kettle (UK) and Folk-Legacy (USA) album For Foul Day and Fair.

Ian Robb and Hang the Piper sang Clear Away the Morning Dew in 1979 on their Folk-Legacy album Ian Robb and Hang the Piper. Ian noted:

One of the first traditional songs I ever learned, the bulk of the text and the tune coming from The Singing Island by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger.

I have always been attracted by smart remarks in songs, and the “maid within, fool without” line is one of my favourite ambiguities.

John Roberts and Tony Barrand sang The Baffled Knight at the Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, on 21 January 1978. The WFMT Radio broadcast of this concert was released in 2019 on their album Live at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

John Campbell sang There Was a Shepherd’s Boy to Tom Munnelly in Cunningham’s guest house, Forkhill, Co Armagh, on 7 October 1984 This recording was included in 1985 on the Folk Music Society of Ireland anthology Early Ballads in Ireland 1968-1985, reissued on CD in 2015 by An Goílín.

Roy Harris sang Clear Away the Morning Dew in 1985 on his Fellside album Utter Simplicity.

Cyril Barber of Felsham, Suffolk, sang Hail the Dewy Morning on one of Veterans Songs Sung in Suffolk cassettes published in 1987/89, and on the 2000 Veteran anthology CD, Songs Sung in Suffolk

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 also included in 2003 on Eliza’s anthology The Definitive Collection and in 2013 on her twenty-one professional years anthology Wayward Daughter.

Wendy Weatherby sang Fair Annie (“There was a shepherd’s son, kept sheep upon a hill”) on her 1999 album A Breath on the Cold Glass. She noted:

A cautionary tale for those inclined to take everything at face value, especially where flirtation, nudity, swimming and horse riding are concerned.

Karine Polwart sang this song as Shepherd Lad in 2001 on Battlefield Band’s CD Happy Daze. They noted:

This is the only song we know about skinny dipping in Scotland, a chilly and ill-advised pursuit in the best of weather! It features a twist on the common ballad tale of a nasty young man who takes advantage of a girl. In fact, the shepherd lad is far too modest for this lassie. Karine fitted the traditional words to a tune of John [McCusker]’s.

Mick Groves sang Bonnie Shepherd Lad on his 2004 album of songs of Ewan MacColl, Fellow Journeyman.

Lisa Knapp sang this song as Dew Is on the Grass in 2007 on her CD Wild & Undaunted. Her source is The Dew Is on the Grass as sung by Jake Willis of Hadleigh, Suffolk, to Ralph Vaughan Williams in September 1907 [VWML RVW2/1/11] ; which was printed in Roy Palmer’s 1983 book Folk Songs Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Rachael McShane sang Shepherd Lad in 2009 on her Navigator CD No Man’s Fool.

Heidi Talbot sang The Shepherd Lad in 2010 on her Navigator CD The Last Star.

Jim Mageean sang Blow Away the Morning Dew in 2012 on the anthology of songs collected from John Short by Cecil Sharp, Short Sharp Shanties Vol. 3: Sea Songs of a Watchet Sailor. The album’s notes commented:

[Richard Runciman] Terry [in The Shanty Book Part II (J. Curwen & Sons Ltd., London. 1924)] comments that although Short started his Blow Away the Morning Dew with a verse of The Baffled Knight, he then digresses into floating verses. In fact three of the verses recorded and published by Terry, not one derive from The Baffled Knight! Short sang only the “flock of geese” verse to Sharp. Sharp did not publish the shanty, but other authors also give Baffled Knight versions. The other predominant version in collections is the American whaling version but still using the tune associated with The Baffled Knight and the chorus remaining close to the usual words.

The text used here is virtually all Short via Terry — the addition being the “new-mown hay” verse which comes straight from The Baffled Knight.

Andy Turner sang this song as Stroll Away the Morning Dew as the 20 May 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.

Steve Roud included The Baffled Knight in 2012 in The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. Lucy Ward, James Findlay, Bella Hardy and Brian Peters sang it a year later on the accompanying Fellside CD The Liberty to Choose: A Selection of Songs From The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.

Faustus sang Blow the Windy Morning in 2013 on their CD Broken Down Gentlemen. They noted:

From the singing of Emily Bishop on The Voice of the People collection Good People, Take Warning. Recorded by Peter Kennedy at Bromsborough Heath, Herefordshire, 13 October 1952.

Rosaleen Gregory sang The Baffled Knight in 2013 on her second album of Child ballads, Serpent’s Knee. She noted:

Another resourceful female and not-so-bright would-be rapist.

In my grandmother’s book on The Language of Flowers marigolds are said to symbolise ‘vulgar thoughts’.

David Stacey sang Hail the Dewy Morning in 2015 on his Musical Traditions album Good Luck to the Journeyman. Rod Stradling noted:

This song, which David probably learned from Walter Jarvis of Saffron Walden, tells a perennially popular story, so we should not be surprised to find that Child cites 1608 as its first known publication, or that many of its broadside versions are titled The Baffled Knight. Nor that it sports 161 Roud entries—the most recent having been collected in 1976.

What is slightly surprising is that it seems to have fallen out of favour in the oral tradition in the mid-Seventies, despite huge popularity in the revival at precisely that time. So there are only 20 sound recordings listed, of which only those by: Sam Larner (MTCD369); Emily Bishop (TSCD673T); William Rew (Rounder CD 1778) and Alfred Edgell (EFDSS CD02) [the latter two are versions of Roud 2941, The New-Mown Hay] appear to be available on CD.

Claire Hastings sang Shepherd Lad on the TMSA Young Trad Tour 2016.

You Are Wolf sang The Baffled Knight / The Shepherd Lad on their 2018 album Keld. They noted:

A traditional song in which a man comes across a woman skinny-dipping in a brook. She foxes him into taking her home but doesn’t give him what he hopes for in return. My version borrows from both Eliza Carthy’s Blow the Winds and Lisa Knapp’s Dew Is on the Grass. At some point, the knight was replaced by a shepherd, but I rather liked the earlier title.

The brook was recorded at Gramarye Cottage, County Leitrim, Ireland.

Lyrics

Jake Willis sings The Dew Is on the Grass

As I walked out one midsummer morn
All in the month of May, sir,
O there I beheld a fair pretty maid
A-making of the hay, sir.

Chorus (after each verse):
Fol de lie de lay

I boldly stepped up to her
And asked her to lay down, sir.
The answer that she gave me:
“The dew is on the ground, sir.”

“Wait till you get to my father’s house
Where you may lay me down, sir;
Where you can have my maidenhead
All on a bed of down, sir.”

O when she got to her father’s hall,
That was walled in all round, sir.
She stepped in and shut the door,
And shut the young man out, sir.

“When you met with me at first
You did not meet a fool, sir;
You may take your Bible under your arm
And go a little more to school, sir.

“And when you meet a pretty maid
Little below the town, sir;
You must not mind her squalling
Nor the rumpling of her gown, sir.

“There is a cock in my father’s yard,
He will not tread the hen, sir;
And I do think in my very heart
That you are one of them, sir.

“There is a flower in my father’s garden,
it’s called a marigold, sir,
And if you will not when you may
You shall not when you will, sir.”

Emily Bishop sings The Baffled Knight

There was a shepherd and he kept sheep upon a hill,
And he would go each May morning all for to drink his fill.

Chorus (after each verse):
So it’s blow the windy morning, blow the winds-i-o,
Clear away the morning dew and sweet the winds shall blow.

He looked high and he looked low and he gave a downward look,
And there he spied a pretty maid a-washing at the brook.

And then they rode along the road till they came unto the (h)inn,
And ready was the waiting-maid to let the lady in.

She jumped off her milk-white steed and stepped within the (h)inn,
Crying, “You’re a beggar without and I’m a maid within.”

“You may pull off your shoes and hose and let your feet go bare.
And if you meet a pretty girl you touch her if you dare.”

“I won’t pull off my shoes or hose or let my feet go bare.
But If i meet with thee again, be hanged if I despair.”

Ewan MacColl sings The Shepherd Lad

There was a bonnie shepherd lad,
Kept sheep on yonder hill, O;
He’s lain aside his pipe and club
And gane to sleep his fill, O.

Chorus (after each verse):
Fal da riddle, fal da riddle,
Fal da riddle di do.

But when he’s wakened up again
His hairt it gied a turn.O;
For there he spied a weel-faur’d maid
A soomin’ in the burn, O.

He’s ta’en his pipe intil his hand,
Tae her he’s played a tune, O;
“Come ower the brae, my bonnie may,
Or I fear I’ll wet my shoon, O.”

“Keep aff vour hands,” the lassie said,
“Nor do me any wrong, O.
And I’ll gie you as much siller
As you can carry hame, o”

“It’s I’ll no’ tak’ your siller, lass,
Or riches manifauld, O,
But I’ll row ye in the fernie brae
To keep ye frae the cauld, O.”

“My father he’s a fairmer
And he lives below the hill.O.
And if he kent ye troubled me
Fell angry he would be, O.”

“But come to me by yon green wood,
And tirl at yon door, O;
And I will come and let ye in
And ye shall hae your will, O.”

“It’s I will come by yon green wood,
And I’ll tirl at your door, O;
And my pipe’ll play ye sic a tune
Ye’ll dance a reel and more, O.”

When he cam’ doon by yon green wood,
And tirled at the door, O,
She called oot frae her window high,
“Of me ye’ll get no more, O.

“Ye’re like a horse my faither had,
Was tethered on the loan, O,
He hung his heid above the hay
But never laid it on, O

“Ye’re like a cock my faither had,
That wore a double kaim, O,
He clapped his wings but never crawed,
And I think ye’re just the same, O.”

“My shepherd’s pipe is fu’ o’ tunes,
Ye’ll no’ hear it today, O,
But gin we ever meet again,
You’ll feel how it can play, O.”

Sam Larner sings Blow Away the Morning Dew

As I walked out one morning gay,
To see what I could shoot,
I there espied a pretty fair maid
Come trippling by the road.

Chorus (after each verse):
So all hail the dewy mornin
Blow on the winds high-O,
Clear away the morning dew,
How sweet the winds do blow.

We both jogged on together
‘Til we come to some locks of hay,
She said, “Young man, there is a place
Where you and I can lay.”

I put my arms around her waist
And I tried to throw her down;
She said, “Young man, the dewy grass
Will crumple my silk gown.”

She said, “You can come to my Mamma’s house;
There you can lay me down.
Take away my maidenhead,
Likewise a thousand pounds.”

I took her to her Mother’s house
And she quickly locked me out.
She said, “Young man, I’m a maid within;
And you’re a fool without!”

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 (repeated 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 a horse in my father’s stable,
He stands behind the thorn,
He shakes himself above the trough
But dares not pry the corn.

“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.”

Karine Polwart sings Shepherd Lad

Once there was a shepherd lad kept sheep upon the hill
An he’s laid his pipe and crook aside and there he’s slept his fill.
He woke up on a riverbank on a fine May mornin,
And there he spied a lady swimming in the clothes that she was born in.

So he raised his head from his green bed and he approached the maid.
“Put on yer claithes, my dear,” he says, “and do not be afraid.
It’s fitter for a lady fair to sew a silken seam
Than to rise on a fine May morning and swim against the stream.”

“Well, if you’ll not touch my mantle and you’ll leave my claithes alane,
Then I’ll give you all the money, sir, that you can carry hame.”
“I’ll not touch your mantle and I’ll leave yer claithes alane,
But I’ll tak you out of the clear water, my dear, to be my ane.”

So he’s taen her oot o the clear water and he’s rowed her in his arms.
“Put on yer claithes, my dear,” he says, “and hide your bounteous charms.”
He put her on a milk white steed and himself upon another,
And it’s all along the way they rode like sister and like brother.

They rode intae her faither’s gate and she’s tirled at the pin,
And ready stood a porter there to let the fair maid in.
When the gates were opened, it’s so nimbly she stepped in.
She said, “Kind sir, you are a fool without and I’m a maid within.

“So fare thee weel, my modest boy. I thank you for your care,
But if you had done as you desired, I’d never have left you there.
I will sew no silken seam on a fine May morning.
You can bide your time till your time runs out, so take this as fair warning.”

Lisa Knapp sings Dew Is on the Grass

As I walked out one midsummer’s morn
All in the month of May, sir,
O there I beheld a fair pretty maid
Making of the hay, sir.

Chorus (after each verse):
Fol de lie de lay

I boldly stepped up to her
Asked her to lay down, sir.
The answer that she gave to me
Was, “The dew is on the ground, sir.”

“O but if you come to my father’s house
You may lay in my bed, sir;
You can have my maidenhead
All on a bed of down, sir.”

But when we got to her father’s house,
It was walled in all around, sir.
And she ran in and shut the gate,
Shut the young man out, sir.

“O when you met with me at first
You did not meet a fool, sir;
Take your Bible under your arm,
Go a little more to school, sir.

“And if you meet a pretty girl
A little below the town, sir;
You must not mind her squalling
Or the rumpling of your gown, sir.

“There is a cock in my father’s garden
Will not tread the hen, sir;
And I do think in my very heart
That you are one of them, sir.

“There is a flower in my father’s garden
Called a marigold, sir,
And if you will not when you may
You shall not when you would, sir.”

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 on 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 the way 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!

“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.”

David Stacey sings Hail the Dewy Morning

Now as I went walking around yonder fields
Well, I met a girl in brown, Sir,
I put me arms around her waist
And tried to throw her down, Sir.

She said, “Kind sir what have you got,
What is it do possess you?
Pray do you wait ‘til we get home,
For the grass will stain my dress, Sir.”

Blow the misty morning, blow the wind hi ho
Blow away the morning dew,
How sweet the winds do blow.

“For if you come to my father’s house
Well it’s neatly built all round, Sir
You can have your heart’s desire
All on a bed of down, Sir.”

But when they came to her father’s house
Well it’s neatly fenced all round, Sir.
She went in and she slammed the door
Oh, and he was left hanging outside, Sir.

Hail the misty morning, blow the wind hi ho
Stepping through the morning dew,
How sweet the winds do blow.

Now there is a cock in me father’s yard
And he cannot tread the hens, Sir.
He struts about and he flaps his wings
Aye and that’s the same with you, Sir.

Hail the misty morning, blow the wind hi ho
Blow away the morning dew,
How sweet the winds do blow.

Acknowledgements

Transcribed from the singing of Eliza Carthy by Garry Gillard.