> June Tabor > Songs > Johnny o’ Bredislee

Johnie Cock / Johnny the Brine / Johnny o’ Bredislee

[ Roud 69 / Song Subject MAS1069 ; Child 114 ; G/D 2:250 ; Ballad Index C114 ; Johnnie o Braidesley at Muckle Sangs ; DT BRAIDSLY ; Mudcat 6867 , 62844 ; trad.]

Norman Buchan: 101 Scottish Songs Katherine Campbell: Traditional Scottish Songs & Music Alexander Keith: Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs James Kinsley: The Oxford Book of Ballads Emily Lyle: The Song Repertoire of Amelia and Jane Harris John Jacob Niles: The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles John Ord: Bothy Songs and Ballads Roy Palmer: Everyman’s Book of British Ballads Sir Walter Scott: Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border Peggy Seeger, Ewan MacColl: The Singing Island Peter Shepheard: Jock Duncan: The Man and His Songs Mike Yates: Traveller’s Joy

John Strachan sang Johnny o’ Braideslee in a recording made by Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson in Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, on 16 July 1951. It was included in 1961 on the Tradition album Heather and Glen, and with the title Johnie Cock on the anthology The Child Ballads 2 (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 5; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1968), in 2002 of Strachan’s Rounder anthology Songs From Aberdeenshire, and in 2011 on the anthology of Lomax’s Scottish recordings Whaur the Pig Gaed on the Spree. A recording from the People’s Festival Ceilidh in Edinburgh on 31 August 1951 was released in 2005 on the Rounder anthology 1951 Edinburgh People’s Festival Ceilidh. Hamish Henderson and Ewan McVicar noted:

A mighty tale of a Robin Hood-style poacher defending himself. Johnnie goes out to hunt the royal deer and is chased and wounded by the King’s Foresters. In some versions they kill him, in others he escapes. Here he is buried at Monymusk in Aberdeenshire. Sir Walter Scott locates the burial in Durrisdeer in Dumfriesshire and comments that Johnnie was “probably one of the broken men (outlaw men owning no allegiance to either Scots or English authority) residing upon the Border”.

Ewan MacColl sang Johnnie o’ Breadisley in 1956 on A.L. Lloyd and his Riverside anthology The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Volume II. This track was also included in 2009 on the Topic reissue of his ballads from this series, Ballads: Murder·Intrigue·Love·Discord. He recorded this ballad again in 1960 accompanied by Peggy Seeger on guitar on their Topic album Chorus From the Gallows. This track was also included in 1993 on his Topic anthology The Real MacColl. And he sang Johnnie o’ Breadisley (Johnie Cock) in 1961 on his Folkways album The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol. 1 Kenneth S. Goldstein notes on the first album:

This fine ballad, which Child referred to as a “precious specimen of the unspoiled traditional ballad”, had not been reported before the end of the 18^th century; an examination of early texts with their interesting examples of primitive beliefs suggests a greater antiquity.

Various attempts have been made to identify the specific localities in which the action took place. Tradition and local pride, however, have served to confuse the issue. That it is a ‘Border Ballad’, there is no doubt; here we have a prime example of the lawlessness and heroics which made the Scottish-English ‘no man’s land’ fertile ground for the creation of some of the greatest popular ballads.

MacColl’s version, learned from John Strachan of Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, ends on a note of defiance, very much like the Child “D” text in which anti-climatic details concerning the sending of a message to Johnnie’s mother have been deleted.

The ballad has been reported only once in America (in Virginia).

Jeannie Robertson sang this ballad as Johnny the Brine in 1960 on her Prestige album Scottish Ballads and Folk Songs. Another recording made by Peter Kennedy in London in 1953 was included with the title Johnnie Cock (Johnnie o’ Breadislee) on the 2012 Topic anthology Good People, Take Warning (The Voice of the People Series Volume 23).

The Union Folk sang Johnny o’ Breadislee in 1971 on their Traditional Sound album Waiting for a Train.

Jean Redpath sang Johnnie o’ Braidesley in 1973 on her Folk-Legacy album Frae My Ain Countrie. She noted:

The hero of this seems to have been an outlaw and deer-stealer and is supposed to have possessed the Castle of Morton, Dumfriesshire—a tradition which is favoured by mention of Durrisdeer (a parish in the neighbourhood).

The basic text here is the one sung by John Strachan of Fyvie, though it is one of the many songs I associate with Hamish Henderson.

Andy Irvine sang Johnny of Brady’s Lea in 1980 on Planxty’s Tara album The Woman I Loved So Well. He noted:

This is a famous traditional ballad from Scotland that I’ve known for years. Johnny is evidently an outlaw or at least a man who pays little regard to the game-laws. Despite his mother’s warning, he sets out one day to ‘bring the dun deer down’. His dogs & himself feast on the deer to such an extent that they all fall asleep. The foresters are tipped off by an interfering old codger and wound Johnny mortally as he sleeps. Johnny wakes in a rage and kills six of them. The seventh one suffers multiple injuries and is put on his horse to ride out of the forest and tell the news. Johnny Moynihan sings a version called Johnny O’Cocklesmuir where the hero kills six, wounds one and rides off unscathed.

This is a Planxty Festival Folk performance from 1983:

Scotch Measure sang Johnnie o’ Braidieslea in gigs at the end of the 1980s. A recording of this song was released in 2020 on their download album Live 1987-88.

Brian Miller sang Johnnie o’ Braidisleys on the 1995 Greentrax album of songs from the Greig-Duncan Collection as performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, Folk Songs of North-East Scotland. Peter Hall noted:

Greig and Duncan found no less than 18 versions of this very fine ballad. Professor Child, in whose anthology it is number 114, calls it “a precious specimen of the unspoiled traditional ballad”. Although not appearing in the 1765 Reliques of Bishop Percy it is among his papers, as from a Miss Fisher of Carlisle (1780) and most early versions are attributable to the Borders or the south of Scotland from where Greig acknowledges it probably came. In the south the hero is usually Johnnie Cock or Cocklesmuir, but our northern examples have Braidisleys, or something similar, and local place names like Monymusk are introduced. All the tunes from the North-East are basically the same and the ballad in this form continues to be sung as witness sets collected by the School of Scottish Studies.

Norman Kennedy sang Johnny o Brime, “learned from Jeannie Robertson”, at a concert in Aberdeen in 1996. The concerts’ recordings made by Tom Spiers were released in 2002 on his Tradition Bearers album Live in Scotland.

Old Blind Dogs sang Johnny o’ Braidislee in 1997 on their Lochshore album Five.

June Tabor sang Johnny o’ Bredislee in 1997 on her Topic album Aleyn. A live recording from Germanstown Academy, Philadelphia, on 30 March 1996 was included in 2005 on her Topic anthology Always.

Jock Duncan sang Johnnie o’ Cocklesmeer on his 2001 Sleepytown album Tae the Green Woods Gaen. A recording from the Fife Traditional Singing Festival in May 2008 was included in 2024 on his Springthyme album Aikey Brae to Ythanside which contains recordings to more than half of the songs in Peter Shepheard’s book Jock Duncan: The Man and His Songs.

Stanley Robertson sang Johnnie o the Brine in a recording made by Mike Yates in Aberdeen on 23 March 2002. It was included in the same year on the Kyloe anthology of songs, stories and ballads from Scottish Travellers, Travellers’ Tales Volume 2. It was printed in Mike Yates’ 2006 book Traveller’s Joy.

Katherine Campbell sang Johnnie Brod in 2004 on her Springthyme album The Songs of Amelia and Jane Harris of Scots songs and ballads from Perthshire tradition, which was released as a companion to Emily Lyle’s book The Song Repertoire of Amelia and Jane Harris. Peter Shepheard noted:

This superb ballad (Johnie Cock: Child 114, G/D 250) has remained strong in the living tradition in Scotland down to the present day. Under various titles and with various place names it is claimed both by the borders and the northeast. It was first published in Walter Scott’s Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. (1802). The Harris version was learned around 1790 and provides the earliest copy of a tune.

Siobhan Miller and Jeana Leslie sang Johnnie o’ Braidisleys in 2010 on their Greentrax CD Shadows Tall. They noted:

One of the most cinematic or our narrative ballads—almost a complete screenplay. Collated from various versions, originally from the Greig-Duncan collection.

Siobhan Miller also sang Johnnie o’ Braidisleys on the 2019 album Scott’s Sangs that revisited the ballads of Walter Scott’s Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. Emily Lyle noted:

Described by Scott as “an ancient Nithisdale ballad”, this tale of a wily poacher has been one of the most widely sung found in the Scottish tradition and as such the story can vary in some details, especially the names and places. Among Scott’s papers is, in his own youthful hand, a copy that has the name Johnie of Cockielaw but as he states in his introduction, he had “several different copies”: “the stanzas of greatest merit have been selected from each copy. It is now printed for the first time.” While Scott portrayed Johnie in his published version as a Border character, there are as many if not more settings in the north-east of Scotland.

We have used Scott’s text as a basis but edited verses to reduce the length and help the ‘singability’, and to include elements from Siobhan Miller’s own version of the ballad which she learned from her father Brian Miller. Brian took his version from the Greig-Duncan Folk-Song Collection. The added verse about the hawthorn bush comes from a version by singer and song collector Peter Shepheard.

Peter Shepheard sang Johnnie o’ Graidie at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival, Collessie, Fife in May 2010. This recording was included a year later on the festival anthology Hurrah Boys Hurrah! (Old Songs & Bothy Ballads Volume 7). The liner notes commented:

The hero of this fine old ballad is known by various names—Johnny Cock in the borders, Johnnie o’ Braidislee, Johnie o’ Cocklesmuir and in Jeannie Robertson’s Aberdeenshire version as Johnnie the Brine. Francis James Child was particularly keen on the ballad for which he includes 13 texts and two tunes in his English and Scottish Popular Ballads and he refers to it as this precious specimen of the unspoiled traditional ballad. Bronson includes 15 versions. Almost all the known versions have been collected in Scotland (all of Bronson’s 15 versions) and it is still part of the living tradition with traditional singers from Fife to Aberdeenshire and to the Borders continuing to provide fresh variants. The version sung here is more or less as collected by Pete in 1968 near Cupar, Fife from Willie Stewart, a traveller aged around 25 at the time, who learned the song from his father Dights (David) Stewart.

Danny Spooner sang Johnnie o’ Braideslie in 2011 on his CD The Fox, The Hare and the Poacher’s Fate.

This is a 2013 video of Steve Byrne singing Johnnie o’ Braidiesley from The University of Edinburgh’s Celtic & Scottish Studies:

Sam Lee sang Jonny o’ the Brine, “learnt from Stanley Robertson who learnt it from Jeannie Robertson”, on his 2015 album The Fade in Time.

Andrew Calhoun sang Johnny o Cockley’s Well on his 2016 album of ballads of the Anglo-Scottish border, Rhymer’s Tower. He noted:

Also called Johnie o’ Breadisley, a highly poetic hunting ballad outlining the conflict between tradition and law.

Top Floor Taivers sang Johnny o’ Braidieslee on their 2017 CD A Delicate Game. They noted:

Versions of the traditional ballad exist all over Scotland, but there is a speculation that it originally came from South West Scotland. ‘Johnny’ is said to have been an outlaw and deer stealer who owned Morton Castle near Durisdeer.

Alasdair Roberts sang Johnny o’ the Brine on his, Amble Skuse and David McGuinness’ 2018 CD What News. They noted:

Johnny o’ the Brine is one of the titles by which the Scottish travellers knew/know the ballad often known as Johnnie o’ Braidesley, Johnie o’ Cocklesmuir or Johnie Cock. The original source for our version was Jock Duncan, formerly of New Deer, Aberdeenshire and now of Pitlochry, Perthshire, but it has also been influenced by versions from John Strachan and Willie Matheson of Aberdeenshire and the late traveller storyteller Duncan Williamson. According to Child, the first notice in print of this ballad is in Scotish Song, 1794.

Iona Fyfe sang Johnnie o’ Braidiesley at a concert at St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow, during Celtic Connections 2018 celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the TMSA; this recording was released in the same year on the TMSA DVD 101 Scottish Songs: The Wee Red Book 3. She also sang Johnnie o’ Breadislie in 2020 on her download album Ballads Vol. I.

Lyrics

John Strachan sings Johnny o’ Braideslee

Johnnie rose on a May mornin,
Called fir water to wash his hands.
And he called for his twa grey hands
To be bound in iron chains, chains,
To be bound in iron chains.

Johnnie shot, the dun deer lap,
She wis wounded in the side,
And between the waters and the woods.
The grey hounds laid her pride, pride,
And the grey hounds laid her pride.

Now Johnnie ate o the venison,
And the dogs drank o the bleed,
And they aa lay doon an fell asleep,
Asleep as tho they’d been deid, deid,
Asleep as tho they’d been deid.

An by there cam a silly auld man,
An a silly auld man wis he,
An he’s awa tae the king’s foresters
For to tell on young Johnnie, ee,
For to tell on young Johnnie.

Johnnie shot six o them,
And the seventh he wounded sore,
And he swung his hock owre his horseback,
And he swore that he would hunt more, more,
And he swore that he would hunt more.

Noo Johnnie’s gweed bent bow is broke,
And his twa grey dogs are slain,
His body lies in Monymusk
And his huntin days are deen, deen,
An his huntin days are deen.

Jeannie Robertson sings Johnny the Brine

Johnny he raised one May morning,
Called watter tae wash his hands,
Roaring, “Bring tae me my twa greyhounds
That are bound in iron bands, bands,
That are bound in iron bands.”

His auld wife she rung her hands,
“Tae the greenwoods dinnae gang
For the sake o the venison.
Tae the greenwoods dinnae gang, gang,
Tae the greenwoods dinnae gang.”

But Johnny went up through Monymusk
And doon and through some scroggs,
And it was there he spied a dun deer leap,
She was lying in a field o sprogs, sprogs,
She was lying in a field o sprogs.

The first arrow he fired at her,
He wounded her on the side.
And between the water and the wids
For his groundhounds laid her pride, pride,
For his groundhounds laid her pride.

Johnny and his twa greyhounds
Drank sae muckle o her blood
That Johnny an his twa greyhounds
Fell a-sleeping in the wids, wids,
Fell a-sleeping in the wids.

By came a silly auld man
And an ill death may he dee,
He went up and telt the first forester
And he telt what he did see, see,
And he telt what he did see.

“If that be the young Johnny the Brine
Ye’d better let him a-be.
If that is young Johnny the Brine
Ye’d better let him a-be, a-be,
Ye’d better let him a-be.”

He went up and telt the seventh forester,
He was Johnny’ sister’s son,
“If that be young Johnny the Brine
Tae the green wids we will gang, gang,
Tae the green wids we will gang.”

The first arrow they fired at him,
They wounded him on the feet,
And the second arrow they fired at him
For his hert’s blude blint his ee, ee,
For his hert’s blude blint his ee.

But Johnny rose up wi a angry growl
For a angry man was he.
“I will kill a’ you six foresters
And brak the seventh one’s back in three, three,
And brak the seventh one’s back in three.”

He placed his fit upon a stone
And his back against a tree,
An he kilt a’ the six foresters
And broke the seventh one’s back in three, three,
And broke the seventh one’s back in three.

Johnny broke his back in three
And he broke his collar-bone.
An he tied him on his grey mare’s back
For to carry the tidings home, home,
For to carry the tidings home.

Jean Redpath sings Johnnie o’ Braidesley

Johnnie rose on a May mornin’,
Ca’d for water tae wash his hands.
Says, “Gae lowse tae me my guid grey dogs That lie bound in iron bands.

“Ye’ll busk, ye’ll busk, my noble dogs,
Ye’ll busk and mak’ them boun’,
For I’m gaun tae the Broadspear hill
Tae ding the dun deer doon.”

When Johnnie’s mother she heard o’ this,
Her hands wi’ dule she wrung.
Says, “Johnnie, for my benison,
Tae the greenwoods dinna gang.

“Enough ye hae o’ the guid white breid,
Enough o’ the blude red wine;
So, Johnnie, for yer venison,
Tae the greenwoods dinna gang.”

But Johnnie has buskit up his guid bent-bow,
His arrows ane by ane,
And he’s awa’ tae Durrisdeer
Tae ding the dun deer doon.

Johnnie shot, the dun deer lap,
And he wounded her on the side,
But atween the water and the wood
His hounds they laid her pride.

Johnnie ate o’ the venison,
His dogs drank o’ the blude,
Till they a’ lay doon and fell asleep,
Asleep as they’d been deid.

Then by there cam’ a silly auld carle,
A silly auld man was he,
And he’s awa’ tae the King’s Foresters
Tae tell what he did see.

Then up and spak’ the King’s Forester,
An angry man was he,
“If this be Johnnie o’ Braidiesley,
We soon will gar him dee.”

“Stand stout, stand stout, my noble dogs,
Stand stout and dinna flee;
Stand fast, stand fast, my guid grey hounds,
And we will mak’ them dee.

Johnnie he shot six o’ them,
He’s wounded the seventh sair.
Syne he swung his hough ower his horse’s back
And he swore he would hunt mair.

Now Johnnie’s guid bent-bow is brak’, His guid grey dogs are slain,
And his body lies in Durrisdeer;
His huntin’ days are done.

Planxty sing Johnny of Brady’ Lea

Oh, Johnny rose on a May morning,
Called for water to wash his hands,
Says, “Bring to me my two grey dogs,
That lay bound in iron bands.”

When Johnny’s mother she heard of this
She wrung her hands full sore,
Says, “Johnny, for your venison
To the green woods do not go.

“For there are seven foresters in Esselmont,
And this you know full well,
For one small drop of your heart’s blood
They would ride to the gates of Hell.”

“Oh, there’s many men are my friends, Mother,
Though many more are my foe.
And betide me well or betide me ill,
A-hunting I will go.”

So Johnny has taken his good bent bow,
His arrows one by one,
And he’s away to Monymusk
For to bring the dun deer down.

Oh, Johnny shot and the dun deer lept,
He’s wounded her in the side.
And between the water and the woods,
The two dogs laid her pride.

And they ate so much of the venison,
They drank so much of the blood,
That Johnny and his two grey dogs
Fell asleep as if they had been dead.

And by there came a sly old man,
A sly old man was he,
And he’s away to Esselmont
For to tell on young Johnny.

“As I came in by Monymusk,
And down among yon scroggs,
It was there I spied the bonniest dude
Lying sleeping between two dogs.

“And the buttons that were on his coat
Were of the gold so good,
And the two grey dogs that he lay between,
Their mouths they were died with blood.”

And up and spoke the first forester,
He was headsman over them all,
“Can this be Johnny of Brady’s Lea?
unto him we will crawl.”

And the very first shot that the foresters fired,
It wounded him in the thigh,
And the very next shot that the foresters fired,
His heart’s blood blinded his eye.

Then up woke Johnny from out of his sleep,
An angry man was he.
He says, “The wildest wolf in all this wood
Would not have done so by me.”

And he’s leaned his back against an oak,
His foot against a stone,
And he has fired on the seven foresters,
He’s killed them all but one.

And he’s broken seven of this man’s ribs,
His arm and his collarbone,
And he has set him on to his horse,
To bring the tidings home.

Johnny’s good bent bow is broke,
And his two grey dogs are slain,
And his body lies in Monymusk,
And his hunting days are done.

Brian Miller sings Johnnie o’ Braidisleys

Johnnie arose on a May mornin,
Cad water tae wash his hands,
Says, “Gae lowse tae me my twa greyhounds
That lie bound in iron bands,
That lie bound in iron bands.”

When Johnnie’s mother she heard o this
Her hands wi dool she wrang,
Says, “Johnnie, for your venison
Tae the green wood dinna gang.”

Johnnie shouldered his guid bent bow,
And his arrows yin by yin,
And he’s gane doon tae the guid green wood
For tae ding the dun deer doon.

The dun deer lap and Johnnie fired
And wounded her on the side;
And between the waters and the wood,
The greyhounds laid her pride.

Johnnie skinned his guid dun deer,
Took oot her liver and her lungs,
And he fed his dogs on the venison
As gae they were earl’s sons.

They ate sae much o the venison,
And they drank sae much o the bleed,
That they’ all lay upon the plain
As gin that they were deid.

Then by there cam a silly old man,
And an ill death may he die,
Fir he’s gaen doon tae Islington,
Whaur the seven foresters do lie.

Says, “As I came doon by bonnie Monymusk,
And doon among the scrogs,
The fairest youth that ever
I saw lay sleepin among his dogs.”

And then oot spak the first forester,
For he was forester ower them a,
“Gin this be Johnnie o Braidisleys,
It’s untae him we’ll draw.”

And then oot spak the second forester,
A sister’s son was he,
“Gin this be Johnnie o Braidisleys
We’d better let him be.”

The first shot that the foresters fired,
It wounded him on the knee,
And the second shot that the foresters fired
His hairt’s blood blinded his ee.

Noo Johnnie awoke him oot o his sleep,
And an angry man was he;
Says, “Ye micht hae waked me oot o my sleep
Ere my hairt’s blood blinded my ee.

“But gin my bent bow proves true tae me,
And seldom it proves wrang,
I’ll mak ye a tae rue the day
That I dinged the dun deer doon.”

He’s leaned his back against an oak,
His fit against a stane,
And fired at the seven foresters,
And shot them a but yin.

And he’s broken three o this yin’s ribs,
Likewise his collar-bane,
And laid him twafaul ower a stead;
Had him carry the tidins home.

Johnnie’s guid bent bow is broke,
And his twa grey dogs is slain,
And his body lies in Monymusk,
And his huntin days are deen.

Old Blind Dogs sing Johnny o’ Braidislee

Johnny arose on a May mornin’,
Gone for water tae wash his hands,
He hae loused tae me his twa grey dogs,
That lie bound in iron bands.

When Johnny’s mother she heard o’ this,
Her hands for dule she wrang,
Cryin’, “Johnny for yer venison,
Tae the green woods dinna ye gang.”

Johnny hae taen his good benbow,
His arrows one by one,
And he’s awa tae greenwood gaen
Tae dae the dun deer doon.

Johnny he shot and the dun deer lapp’t,
And he wounded her in the side,
Between the water and the wood,
The grey dogs laid their pride.

Well by there cam’ a silly auld man,
Wi’ an ill that John might dee,
And he’s awa doon tae Esslemont,
The King’s seven foresters tae see.

It’s up and spake the first forester,
The heid ane amang them a’,
“Can this be Johnny O’ Braidislee,
Until him we will draw.”

The first shot that the foresters they fired
They wounded John in the knee,
The second shot the foresters they fired
His hairt’s blood blint his e’e.

So he’s leaned his back against an oak,
His foot against a stane,
And he hae fired on the seven foresters,
He’s killed them a’ but ane.

And he hae broke fower o’ this man’s ribs,
His airm and his collar bain,
And he hae sent him on a horse,
Tae carry the tidings hame.

Now Johnny’s good benbow lies broke,
His twa grey dogs lie deid,
And his body lies doon in Monymusk,
And his huntin days are daen.

June Tabor sings Johnny o’ Bredislee

Johnny arose on a May morning,
Called for water to wash his hands,
“Come lose to me my twa greyhounds
Lie bound in iron bands, bands,
That lie bound in iron bands.”

When Johnny’s mother she heard of this
Her hands in dule she wrang,
“Johnny for your venison
Ta the greenwood dinnae gang, gang,
Ta the greenwood dinnae gang.

“For we have plenty of the white bread
And of the good red wine.
Johnny for your venison
Ta the greenwood dinnae gang, gang,
Ta the greenwood dinnae gang.”

But Johnny has breskit his good benbow,
His arrows one by one,
He is on to the gay greenwood
For to bring the dun deer down, down,
For to bring the dun deer down.

As they gaed down by Merriemoss
Down among yon scroggs,
There they spied the dun deer lie
At the back of a bush of broom, broom
At the back of a bush of broom.

Now Johnny shot and the dun deer lap
And he wounded her in the side.
Between the water and the woods
The greyhounds laid her pride, pride,
The greyhounds laid her pride.

Now they ate so much of the good venison
And they drank so much of the blood,
Johnny and his twa greyhounds
Lay asleep as they’d been dead, dead,
Lay asleep as they’d been dead.

And by and came a silly old man
And an ill death may he die.
For he’s on to the seven forester
For to tell what he did see, see,
For to tell what he did see.

“O as I came down by Merriemoss,
Down among yon scroggs,
The bonniest lad that e’er I saw
Lay asleep atween twa dogs, dogs,
Lay asleep atween twa dogs.

“And the coat he wore upon his back
Was of the Lincoln twine,
And the stock he wore about his neck
It was pearl and precious stone, stone,
It was pearl and precious stone.

“And the buttons he wore upon his coat
Were of the gold so good,
And the twa greyhounds he lay between
Their mouths all red with blood, blood,
Aye, their mouths all red with blood.”

Then up spoke the first forester,
An angry man was he,
“If this be Johnny o’ Bredislee
My faith we’ll gar him die, die,
My faith we’ll gar him die.”

Then up spoke the second forester,
His sister’s son was he,
“If this be Johnny o’ Bredislee
We’d better let him be, be,
Oh, we’d better let him be.”

Then up spoke the seventh forester,
Lord among them all,
“If this be Johnny o’ Bredislee
We’ll gang and gar him fall, fall,
Aye, we’ll gang and gar him fall.”

And the first shot that the foresters fired
They wounded him in the knee,
And the second shot that the foresters fired
Oh, the red blood blinded his ee, ee,
Oh, the red blood blinded his ee.

When Johnny awoke from out of his sleep,
An angry man was he,
“You could have roused me from my dream
Ere the red blood blinded my ee, ee,
Ere the red blood blinded my ee.

“But if my bow prove true as it used to do
And my courage do not fail,
I’ll mak you dearly rue the day
That you cam to the Dinspeer Hill, Hill,
That you cam to the Dinspeer Hill.”

Then he’s set his back against an oak,
His foot against a thorn,
And he’s shot the seven foresters,
Shot them all and one, one,
Aye, he’s killed them all and one.

Johnny’s good benbow is broke,
His twa greyhounds lie slain,
Johnny sleeps in Merriemoss
And his hunting days are done, done,
Aye, his hunting days are done.

Andrew Calhoun sings Johnny o Cockley’s Well

Johnie rose on a may morning,
Sought water to wash his hands,
And he’s called for his hunting hounds
That were bound in iron bands, bands
That were bound in iron bands.

Johnie has readied his good bent bow,
Likewise his arrows keen,
He stripped himself o the scarlet red
Put on the Lincoln green.

Johnie’s mother got word o that
And a woeful woman was she;
“My son, go not to yon greenwood
I pray be ruled by me.

“It’s we have plenty of good brown bread
And plenty of good blood red wine;
Johnie go not to yon greenwood
For to hunt your venison.

“There are seven o the King’s foresters
At Pickeram Side do dwell,
And for a drop of thy heart’s blood
They would ride the fords of hell.”

But Johnie has made a solemn vow
Between the sun and the moon,
And he’s away to the good greenwood
To hunt the dun deer down.

He look to the east and he looked to the west
And in below the sun,
And there he spied the king’s dun deer
Was cropping a bush o broom.

Johnie shot, the dun deer leapt
And she leapt wondrous wide,
Until they came to the wan water
Where his hounds they stemmed her pride.

Johnie’s handled the deer so well,
That he’s had out the liver and lungs,
With these he feasted his good blood hounds
As if they’d been earl’s sons.

They ate so much o the venison,
And drank so much o the blood,
That Johnie and his good blood-hounds
Fell asleep by yon green wood

Then by there came a grey-headed man
And a silly old man was he;
And he’s away to Pickeram Side
For to tell what he did see.

“As I came in by Brady’s Lee
Among the brambly scrogs,
The fairest youth I e’er did see
Lay sleeping between his dogs.

“The shirt that he wore on his back
Was of the holland fine
The doublet he wore over that
Was of the Lincoln twine.

“The buttons he wore on his sleeve
Were of the gold so good
The hunting hounds he lay between
Their mouths were dyed with blood.”

Out then spoke one, out then spoke two
Out then spoke two or three:
“If this be Johnny o Cockley’s Well,
This youth we’ll go and see.”

They rode out to Brady’s Lee,
And in among the scrogs,
They spied Johnie o Cockley’s Well
A-sleepin between his dogs.

The first arrows that they fired at him
They wounded him on the thigh;
The second arrows they fired at him
Heart’s blood did blind his eye.

When Johnie rose out from his sleep
An angry man was he;
Says, “Ye might have asked if I’d be taken
Before that ye fired on me.”

“The wildest wolf in all the wood
Would have sprinkled wan water over me.
If I would not have waked for that.
She’d have gone and let me be”

He planted his back against an oak
His foot against a stone,
And he’s fired at the king’s foresters
And killed them all but one.

Then he broke three ribs o that man’s side
Likewise his collar bone,
And he cast him sideways over a steed
To carry the tidings home.

“Is there not a bird in yon green wood
Can sing as I can say?
Could fly in to my mother’s bower,
Bid her kiss me and fetch me away.”