> John Kirkpatrick > Songs > Bow Down to the Bonny Broom
> Cyril Tawney > Songs > The Three Sisters

Riddles Wisely Expounded / The Devil’s Nine Questions /
Juniper, Gentle and Rosemary / Bow Down to the Bonny Broom /
The Three Sisters

[ Roud 161 ; Master title: Riddles Wisely Expounded ; Child 1 ; Ballad Index C001 ; Bodleian Roud 161 ; trad.]

Lucy E. Broadwood, J.A. Fuller Maitland: English County Songs J. Collingwood Bruce, John Stokoe: Northumbrian Minstrelsy Inglis Gundry: Canow Kernow John Jacob Niles: The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles Roy Palmer: Everyman’s Book of British Ballads John Stokoe: Songs and Ballads of Northern England

Riddles Wisely Expounded is F.J. Child’s ballad #1. Variants of it are known with several titles.

Texas Gladden of Salem, Roanoke County, Virginia, sang The Devil’s Nine Questions in August 1941 to Alan and Elizabeth Lomax. This recording was included in 1978 on the Blue Ridge Institute album in their Virginia Traditions series, Ballads From British Tradition, and in 2001 on her Rounder anthology in the Alan Lomax Collection, Ballad Legacy. Th first album’s booklet noted:

Texas Smith Gladden, born in 1895, could trace her family back to an 18^th century fiddle-playing Irish immigrant, James Smith. Her brother, Hobart Smith, kept the family’s instrumental tradition alive while Texas maintained the old ballad tradition. She is an incredible singer of a large number of ballads, and has been recorded as much as any other ballad singer in Virginia. This includes recordings by various members of the Virginia Folklore Society (most notably and continually by Alfreda Peel and A.K. Davis) as well as by the Library of Congress and private collectors. Some of her songs, including this one and the one following [The Bad Girl], have appeared on either commercial recordings or on Library of Congress releases. Texas’ performance of this ballad demonstrates a phenomenon that often occurs, but which is seldom noted by scholars and folksong collectors—the question of how the collector himself affects the tradition he is studying. Alfreda Peel, the renowned collector, and Texas Gladden, the superb singer, were close neighbours and friends. According to Dr. Davis, Texas learned The Devil and Nine Questions from Miss Peel, who in turn collected and learned it from a Mrs. Rill Martin of Giles County in 1922. In fact, Miss Peel put the song on disc for Dr. Davis on 9 August 1932. In 1932 The Devil and Nine Questions was not in Texas’ repertoire, but by the time of the Lomax’s recording in 1941, it was. Davis goes on to say that “according to Miss Peel, Mrs. Gladden, a gifted singer, learned the song from her, Miss Peel, as seems corroborated by the texts and tunes, despite some interesting variation. The present editor [Davis] who recorded Mrs. Gladden’s songs during the 1930s, did not find this ballad in her repertory at that time” (Davis, p.4, More Traditional Ballads).

The Devil and Nine Questions is extremely rare in both America and Britain. Of collections from the upper South, it only appears in Davis’ works and all have the same sources—Mrs. Rill Martin. Texas’ version, like the earliest Martin text, begins immediately with the riddling and leaves out any part in which we are told for certain that the riddler is, in fact, the Devil. The observant listener will also notice that there are only eight riddles.

The Virginia version has details common to all of Child’s versions, but is not like anyone in particular. Child notes that riddles in stories and tales are traceable to “remote times” (Kittredge and Sargent, p.2) but that the first printed example comes from about 1450.

Isla Cameron sang Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom in 1961 on her and Louis Killen’s Prestige album of Northumbrian songs and ballads, The Waters of Tyne. They noted:

This version of Riddles Wisely Expounded (Child #1) is from a 17^th century broadside in the Rawlinson Collection of the Bodleian Library; the melody given here was first published in Durfey’s Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy (1699). Child published four versions of this ballad, all from broadside sources. The refrain “Lay the bent” has been interpreted by some authorities as having magical significance. Others suggest that it can be interpreted in the lingua franca of amatory folksong.

Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger sang The Devil’s Nine Questions in 1961 on their Folkways album of American, Scots and English folksongs, Two-Way Trip. They noted:

Riddles have played an important part in folk literature from remote times and they figure frequently in our traditional ballads. Child, in his notes to Riddles Wisely Expounded, divides the riddle ballads into three categories: (1) those in which one party has to guess another’s riddles under penalty of forfeiting life or some other heavy wager; (2) those in which a suitor wins a lady’s hand by giving the correct answer to a riddle; (3) those in which a girl wins a husband and sometimes a crown by guessing riddles. The version in this album belongs to the first category, although in this case it is not life which is at stake, but the soul, and in place of the knight (who is the questioner in all the Child versions) [… there seems to be something missing here …] into a ‘godly ballad’ was probably due to Puritan influence. This version is from the singing of Texas Gladden.

Ref: Alan Lomax, Folk Songs of North America (Cassell & Co., Ltd, London, 1960), p. 180

Cyril Tawney sang The Three Sisters in 1969 on his album of folks songs from Devon and Cornwall, The Outlandish Knight. He noted:

Both this ballad and The Three Knights on Side Two are taken from the 1823 edition of Davies Gilbert’s Some Ancient Christmas Carols where they appear as part of a secular “appendix”. Although Gilbert does not definitely state they are from Cornwall he gives them from his own recollection, and as he was a native of St. Erth we can assume they are Cornish versions of these two ancient ballads. The Three Sisters is here incomplete, Gilbert being unable to recall the third question and answer.

The Woods sang Lay the Bent in 1969 on their Traditional Sound album Early Morning Rain.

Martin Carther sang Jennifer, Gentle and Rosemary in 1971 on his Traditional Sound album Someone New. This track was also included in 2002 on the Fellside anthology of the calendar in traditional song, Seasons, Ceremonies & Rituals, where Paul Adams noted:

Jennifer Gentle is not associated with any particular season or ceremony, but it contains remnants of a ritualistic incantation: involving a herb, rosemary. Many herbs are supposed to have magical properties and can be associated with fertility, puberty, as well as warding off the ‘evil-eye’. The most famous type of this song is Scarborough Fair with its parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme reference. This version seems to be missing a couple of verses from the start. The man is trying to decide which of three sisters to marry so he asks a set of riddles. Riddle songs are quite common in the tradition. Rosemary is for all things positive whereas ‘dew’ is associated with virginity.

Jeff Wesley sang Ninety-Nine and Ninety to John Howson at Whittlebury, Northamptonshire, in 1988. This track was released in the late 1980s on his Veteran Tapes cassette Brisk and Bonny Lad (VT116) and in 2006 on the Veteran CD anthology of English traditional folk singers, It Was on a Market Day—Two. Mike Yates noted:

Professor Child called this Riddles Wisely Expounded and it is one of a number of ballads that involve riddling (or wit-combat to use the modern folklorist’s term). The earliest known version comes from a mid 15^th century manuscript, and tells of the Devil trying to outsmart a woman into becoming his lover, or leman. The woman answers the Devil’s riddles and so avoids his power. By the 17^th and 18^th centuries the ballad had appeared on several blackletter broadsides printed in London. In these versions the Devil is absent and the woman faces a more secular suitor (although the ballad’s refrain, Lay the bent to the bonny broom, does suggest that herbs are being mentioned as a protection against evil). Jeff’s version of the ballad was picked up from an American singer, probably Burl Ives, who may have sung a version collected from a Mrs Pill Martin of Virginia in 1922, although the version is also very similar to that collected from another Virginian singer, Texas Gladden (see her CD Ballad Legacy).

Pete Coe sang Juniper, Gentle and Rosemary in 1997 on his CD Long Company. He noted:

In some versions of this song the person asking the questions is The Devil, not a rich suitor. I detect some 19^th century moralistic leaning in her answers, though she was obviously bright and well-rehearsed.

Brian Peters sang Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom in 1997 on his CD Sharper Than the Thorn (which got its title from a phrase in this song).

Kate Burke and Ruth Hazleton sang Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom on their 2000 album A Thousand Miles or More.

Bill Jones sang Riddles From the North on her 2001 EP Bits & Pieces.

Magpie Lane sang Juniper, Gentle and Rosemary in 2002 on their CD Six for Gold; this track was also included on the Wild Goose anthology Songs of Witchcraft and Magic.

Elisabeth LaPrelle sang Devil’s Nine Questions on her 2004 album Rain and Snow. She noted:

Texas Gladden was from Saltville, VA, in Smyth County, which is my home county. She was Hobart Smith’s sister. We found this recording on the Rounder CD, Texas Gladden: Ballad Legacy (collected by Alan Lomax).

John Kirkpatrick sang the English song Bow Down to the Bonny Broom, and Bruce Molsky its American variant The Devil’s Nine Question in 2005 on the Fellside anthology Song Links 2—A Celebration of English Traditional Songs and Their American Variants. Paul Adams noted:

This ballad is about a test the Devil sets a clever woman: if she fails to answer his nine riddles correctly, she will be his. Some English variants have lost the devil, and made the knight simply what he claims to be, and the girl’s reward for answering all the questions correctly is to marry him.

Here are John Kirkpatrick’s own notes: “Based on the song that Francis James Child rather unwisely christened Riddles Wisely Expounded in his book The English and Scottish Popular Ballads published in the 1880s. This is a compilation of some of the Child versions, with additional phrases from verses found in Wiltshire by Alfred Williams a few years later. The tune started off as the 17^th century Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom—but it hasn’t ended up like that.”

The Demon Barbers sang A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded in 2005 on their CD Waxed. They got their tune from Roy Palmer’s Book of British Ballads.

Jon Loomes sang Riddles Wisely Expounded in 2005 his Fellside CD Fearful Symmetry. He noted:

Or the Devil and the smart-arse. This comes from Bronson’s Tunes for the Child Ballads and the lyric is a composite from a load of different versions. It used to be a 17^th century “ballatta” but I ditched the “falala” bit as, frankly, it was silly. Talking of Devils, take a good long look at a barcode next time you see one, then go and read the Book of Revelations. It’s all a bit scary.

Lori Watson sang Riddles Wisely Expounded on her 2006 CD Three. She noted:

A witty ballad, the words fell into this old tune.

The Askew Sisters sang A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded in 2007 on their CD All in a Garden Green. They noted:

Versions of this ancient ballad can be found dating back as far as 1444, where a young woman eludes the Devil by answering his riddles. This version comes from a street ballad issued in 1675 and has lost its supernatural qualities. The Devil has become a handsome knight, and the youngest sister gains the right to marry him by answering his riddles. We first heard this ballad from the singing of Bryony Griffith who sings the earlier version.

This video shows them at Sidmouth Folkweek 2007:

The Claque sang The Devil’s Questions in 2008 on their WildGoose album Sounding Now. They noted:

Sean [O’Shea] wrote the tune we use for The Devil’s Questions. It’s a typical shame-the-devil song where you can escape the clutches of evil by telling the truth. The boy in this case seems to have got away with murder when the devil forgets how many questions he’s asked and lets the boy off one-short.

Jon Boden learned Juniper, Gentle and Rosemary from Magpie Lane and sang it as the 30 March 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Dark Patrick sang Riddles on his 2012 album Rise of the Underworld. This track was also included in 2011 on the Leigh Folk Festival 2011 anthology Fire Feathers Felony & Fate.

Anaïs Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer sang Riddles Wisely Expounded on their 2013 album Child Ballads.

Hector Gilchrist sang Lay the Bent tae the Bonny Broom in 2014 on his WildGoose CD Days o’ Grace. He noted:

This is one of the many versions of an old ballad collected throughout the United Kingdom. The devil is disguised as a knight in this case, and poses his “questions three”, which intriguingly seem to become six! Well you never could trust The Deil.

Sophie Crawford sang 99 & 90 on her 2018 album Silver Pin. She noted:

I got this song from a singaround that I ran when it was taking place in Bacon Street in East London, a woman called Jess Collins came and sang it. I think it is an Appalachian version of Riddles Widely Expounded.

Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll sang Riddles Wisely Expounded on their 2019 album Cold Light. They noted:

A traditional song of questions and answers, rebuilt with instrumental textures beginning with a breath.

Jack Rutter sang Ninety Nine & Ninety on his 2023 album This Is Something Constant. He noted:

In the mid noughties I got the Veteran record label compilation Down in the Fields: An Anthology of Traditional Folk Music From Rural England out from Huddersfield library. Jeff Wesley—a retired farmer and singer from Northamptonshire—was one of the voices included on it and his was one of the first really traditional voices that grabbed my teenage punk ears and made them realise this whole folk thing was pretty brilliant. I got this one from him.

[Note: Jeff Wesley’s recording of Ninety-Nine and Ninety is on another Veteran album, though; see above.]

Lyrics

The Three Sisters in Davies Gilbert’s Some Ancient Christmas Carols

There were three Sisters fair and bright,
Jennifer gentle and Rosemaree,
And they three loved one valiant Knight,
As the dew flies over the Mulberry tree.

The eldest Sister let him in,
And barred the door with a silver pin.

The second Sister made his bed,
And placed soft pillows under his head.

The youngest Sister fair and bright
Was resolved for to wed with this valiant Knight.

[Here some verses seem to be wanting.]

And if you can answer questions three,
Oh! then, fair Maid, I will marry with thee.

What is louder than an horn?
And what is sharper than a thorn?

Thunder is louder than a horn,
And hunger is sharper than a thorn.

What is broader than the way?
And what is deeper than the sea?

Lover is broader than the way,
And hell is deeper than the sea.

[The third question is wanting, and also the first line of the concluding verse.]

…
Jennifer gentle and Rosemaree,
And now, fair Maid, I will marry with thee,
As the dew flies over the Mulberry tree.

Texas Gladden sings The Devil’s Nine Questions

Oh, you must answer my questions nine
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
Or you ’re not God’s, you’re one of mine
And you were the weaver’s bonny.

What is whiter than the milk?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
And what is softer than the silk?
And you were the weaver’s bonny.

Snow is whiter than the milk
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
And down is softer than the silk,
And I am the weaver’s bonny.

Oh, what is higher than a tree?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And what is deeper than the sea?
And you were the weaver’s bonny.

Heaven’s higher than a tree
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
And Hell is deeper than the sea
And I am the weaver’s bonny.

What is louder than a horn?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
And what is sharper than a thorn?
And you were the weaver’s bonny.

Thunder’s louder than a horn
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
And death is sharper than a thorn
And I am the weaver’s bonny.

What ’s more innocent than a lamb?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
And what is meaner than woman-kind?
And you were the weaver’s bonny.

A babe’s more innocent than a lamb
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
And the devil is meaner than woman-kind
And I am the weaver’s bonny.

Oh you have answered my questions nine
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
And you were God’s, you’re none of mine
And you were the weaver’s bonny.

Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger sing The Devil’s Nine Questions

Oh, you must answer my questions nine
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
To see if you’re God’s or one of mine
And you are the weaver’s bonny.

What is whiter than the milk?
And what is softer than the silk?

What is higher than a tree?
And what is deeper than the sea?

What is louder than a horn?
And what is sharper than a thorn?

What ’s more innocent than a lamb?
And what is meaner than womankind?

Snow is whiter than the milk
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
And down is softer than the silk,
And I am the weaver’s bonny.

Heaven is higher than a tree
And Hell is deeper than the sea.

Thunder’s louder than a horn,
Death is sharper than a thorn.

A babe is more innocent than a lamb
And the devil is meaner than womankind

You have answered my questions nine
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
And you are God’s and none of mine
And you are the weaver’s bonny.

Jeff Wesley sings Ninety-Nine and Ninety

You must answer my questions nine
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
Are you God’s own or one of mine?
Are you the weaver’s bonny?

What is whiter than the milk?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And what is softer than the silk?
Are you the weaver’s bonny?

Snow is whiter than the milk
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And skin is softer than the silk
And I am the weaver’s bonny.

What is higher than a tree?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And what is deeper than the sea?
Are you the weaver’s bonny?

Heaven is higher than a tree
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And hell is deeper than the sea.
And I am the weaver’s bonny.

What is louder than a horn?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And what is sharper than a thorn?
Are you the weaver’s bonny?

Thunder is louder than a horn
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And death is sharper than a thorn.
And I am the weaver’s bonny.

What is more innocent than a lamb?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And what is meaner than womankind?
Are you the weaver’s bonny?

A babe’s more innocent than a lamb
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And she-devil is meaner than womankind.
And I am the weaver’s bonny.

You’ve answered my questions nine.
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
You are God’s own not one of mine
And you are the weaver’s bonny.

Pete Coe sings Juniper, Gentle and Rosemary

There were three sisters fair and bright,
Juniper, gentle and rosemary,
And they three loved one valiant knight,
As the dew flies over the mulberry tree.

And the eldest sister let him in,
And she barred the door with a silver pin.

And the middle sister made the bed,
And laid soft pillows beneath his head.

But the youngest sister that same night
She resolved to wed with that valiant knight.

“Oh it’s you must answer my questions three,
And then, fair maid, we can married be.

“Oh, what is louder than the horn?
And what is sharper than any thorn?”

“Oh, rumour is louder than the horn,
And hunger is sharper than any thorn.”

“And what is greener than the grass?
And what is smoother than the glass?”

“Oh, envy is greener than the grass,
And flatter is smoother than the glass.”

“And what is keener than the axe?
And what is softer than melting wax?”

“Oh, revenge is keener than the axe,
And love is softer than melting wax.”

“Now you have answered my questions three,
And now, fair maid, we can married be.”

John Kirkpatrick sings Bow Down to the Bonny Broom

There was a knight riding from the West,
Bow down to the bonny broom,
What he loved most, what he loved the best,
Bonny lass, once and twice and three times round full soon.

O many a mile did he ride along
Till he came to a door that was wide and strong.

He sat him down all upon a stone
Till he saw three sisters coming home.

He knock-ed loud on the sisters’ gate,
He knock-ed long and he knock-ed late.

The youngest sister drew back the pin,
All in a passion he came riding in.

“O answer me these questions three
Or surely you shall lie with me.

“And answer me three more questions still
Or surely you shall give me my will.

“And answer me these questions nine
Or surely you shall be mine, all mine.

“And answer not my three times three
In a thousand pieces I will tear thee.

“O what is louder than a horn?
And what is sharper than a thorn?

“And what is whiter than the milk?
And what is softer than the silk?

“O what is colder than the clay?
And what is broader than the way?

“O what is higher than a tree?
And what is deeper than the sea?

“And what is worse than a woman’s tongue?
O answer me, as I’m my father’s son!”

“O thunder’s louder than the horn
And hunger’s sharper than a thorn.

“And snow is whiter than the milk
And down is softer than the silk.

“And death is colder than the clay
And love is broader than the way.

“And heaven is higher than a tree
And hell is deeper than the sea.

“And the devil is worse than a woman’s tongue
And you Sir Knight you are the devil’s father’s son.”

And when he heard her name his name,
O he rose up in a fire of flame.

He clapped his wings and aloud did cry,
In a flame of fire away did fly.

Sophie Crawford sings 99 & 90

Now you must answer my questions nine
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
For you aren’t God’s, you are one of mine?
And who is the weaver’s bonny?

What is whiter than the milk?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And what is softer than the silk?
And who is the weaver’s bonny?

Snow is whiter than the milk
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And down is softer than the silk
And I am the weaver’s bonny.

What is higher than a tree?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And what is deeper than the sea?
And who is the weaver’s bonny?

Heaven is higher than a tree
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And hell is deeper than the sea.
And I am the weaver’s bonny.

What is louder than a horn?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety
And what is sharper than a thorn?
And who is the weaver’s bonny?