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The Bonny Hawthorn

[ Roud 9268 ; Master title: The Bonny Hawthorn ; TYG 9 ; Mudcat 54726 ; trad.]

Steve Gardham: A Yorkshire Songster Mary and Nigel Hudleston: Songs of the Ridings

Billy Pennock and George Williamson sang The Bonny Hawthorn in 1962 to Colin Wharton. These recordings were included in 2019 on the Musical Traditions anthology of songs from the 1962 Colin Wharton Collection, Songs of the North Riding. Rod Stradling noted:

Bill Pennock provided Wharton with multiple songs—including the Bonny Hawthorn, which “must be 100 years old at least”, and “was well known in the North Riding as Lealholm’s National Anthem” (Lealholm being a small village ten miles to the north of Goathland). In the thesis, Wharton filled in the missing verses with those he collected from Mr Williamson, of Castleton, Whitby.

Oak sang The Bonny Hawthorn live at the Cheltenham Folk Club on 24 October 1971. This recording was included in 2003 on their Musical Traditions anthology Country Songs and Music. Rod Stradling noted:

The only instance in Roud of this song in the oral tradition is the 1953 BBC recording by Peter Kennedy of Billy Pennock, of Goathland, Yorkshire, but it was first collected early 1900s from butcher George Williamson of Lealholm, near Danby, Cleveland. It was sung in harmony and was known locally as Lealholm’s National Anthem. It came to us from Bob and Carole Pegg—Bob collected it in 1967, from Frank Wetherill of Lealholm. Frank, by then over 80, who was a cellist, and had been village musician before the 1914 war.

Johnny Collins sang Bonny Hawthorn in 1975 on his Traditional Sound album Johnny’s Private Army. This track was also included in 1998 on his Fellside anthology The Best of the Early Years and in 2002 on the Fellside anthology of the calendar in traditional song, Seasons, Ceremonies & Rituals. He noted on his album:

Jim Wilkinson, who with his wife Muriel runs Whitby Folk Club, gave me this song which is often used to open the proceedings at the Plough Inn. It comes from the singing of Jack Gallon and is associated with a wedding custom at Ugthorpe, near Whitby, known as ‘The Ribbons’. It was once the custom for the young men to run a sprint race for a prize consisting of a bunch of ribbons donated by the bridegroom. Having received the ribbons, the winner had to lead off the singing at the festivities. Alas, the sprint race has been reduced to a dominoes handicap but the singing still flourishes.

Pyewackett sang The Bonny Hawthorn in 1981 on their eponymous Dingle’s album Pyewackett. They noted:

Tailors, like milkmaids, always seem to get a raw deal in the English tradition. Harry the Tailor is no exception… The Bonny Hawthorn describes a rather more successful courtship, while The Weary Cutters tells of lovers separated by the Press Gang.

Derek and Dorothy Elliott sang The Lealholm Anthem on their 2002 album Ship to Shore.

Mike Wilson sang The Bonny Hawthorn on his 2019 album Taking Shape. He noted:

Learnt from the singing of my dear friend Jim Wilkinson.

Lyrics

Oak sing The Bonny Hawthorn

One midsummer’s morn, when all nature looked gay,
I met a lovely creature a-taking the air.
O I said, “My lovely dear, come tell me where you dwell?”
“Beside the bonny hawthorn that blooms in the vale,
That blooms in the vale, that blooms in the vale,
Beside the bonny hawthorn that blooms in the vale.”

Then hark, bonny Bess, to the birds in yon grove,
How delightful they sing when invited to rove.
I said, “My lovely dear, come tell me where you dwell?”
“Beside the bonny hawthorn that blooms in the vale.”

I kissed her and said that my love was sincere.
Not one on that green Was so charming and fair.
I said, “My lovely dear, come tell me where you dwell?”
“Beside the bonny hawthorn that blooms in the vale.”

“Then, come, me pretty fair maid, how can you refuse?”
How sweet were those words and how charming those views.
Then I listened with pleasure to her kind and tender tale,
Beside the bonny hawthorn that blooms in the vale.

Pyewackett sing The Bonny Hawthorn

𝄆 One midsummer’s morn, when all nature looked gay,
I met lovely Jimmy a-taking the air. 𝄇

I said, “My lovely creature, come tell me where you dwell?”
“Beside the bonny hawthorn that blooms in the vale,
That blooms in the vale, that blooms in the vale,
Beside the bonny hawthorn that blooms in the vale.”

𝄆 Now hark, bonny Bess, to the birds in yon grove,
How sweetly they sing when invited to rove. 𝄇

𝄆 She pressed me and said that my love was sincere.
Not one on the green was so charming and fair. 𝄇

So I listened with great pleasure to her kind and tender tale,
Beside the bonny hawthorn that blooms in the vale.
That blooms in the vale, that blooms in the vale,
Beside the bonny hawthorn that blooms in the vale.

Acknowledgements

Thank you very much to Graham Irvin for transcribing Pyewackett’s lyrics.