> Louis Killen > Songs > The Bramble Briar / Bruton Town
> Martin Carthy > Songs > Bruton Town
> Sandy Denny > Songs > Bruton Town
> Tony Rose > Songs > The Murdered Servantman

Bruton Town / The Bramble Briar / The Murdered Servantman

[ Roud 18 ; Master title: Bruton Town ; Laws M32 ; Ballad Index LM32 ; TwoCruelBros at Old Songs ; MusTrad DB21 ; VWML CJS2/10/263 ; Wiltshire 582 ; Mudcat 17083 , 159779 ; trad.]

Bruton Town is a version of the story Isabella and the Pot of Basil, made famous by Boccaccio in The Decameron, but the ballad obviously draws on popular tradition since then. It is also known as The Bramble Briar, The Jealous Brothers, The Merchant’s Daughter, and The Murdered Servantman, and can be found in 100 English Songs, edited by Cecil Sharp who collected it in 1904.

A.L. Lloyd sang The Bramble Briar in 1956 on his and Ewan MacColl’s Riverside anthology Great British Ballads Not Included in the Child Collection. His songs from this series were reissued in 2011 on his Fellside anthology Bramble Briars and Beams of the Sun.

Louis Killen sang The Bramble Briar in 1964 on his LP Ballads & Broadsides (also included in 1996 on the Topic anthology CD English and Scottish Folk Ballads) and he sang it as Bruton Town in 1989 on his cassette The Rose in June. Angela Carter commented in the original album’s sleeve notes:

Country singers have titled this passionate old ballad Bruton Town, The Brakes o’ Briar and, oddly, Strawberry Town. John Keats called the narrative poem he made out of the same story, Isabella and the Pot of Basil. But the story itself may not have been new when Boccaccio first set it down in writing in the fourteenth century. Hans Sachs also liked the story and put it into verse a couple of centuries after Boccaccio’s prose. So the theme has certainly not been without its share of literary admirers. But perhaps the stark language of balladry suits it best of all.

The ballad is not included in F.J. Child’s compendium. Some scholars think it was translated directly from the Italian of the Decameron into English broadside verse, perhaps in the seventeenth century. Versions have appeared in print this century from Somerset and Hampshire, usually with tunes of startling beauty. This tune comes from a Mrs. Joiner of Hertfordshire, who learned most of her songs when, as a little girl, she went to a ‘plaiting school’ where she and her friends exchanged songs and stories as they plaited straw, later to be made into straw hats. (They learned to read in between times.) This tune and a partially collated text are printed in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.

Alex Campbell sang Bruton Town in 1965 on his Transatlantic album Yours Aye, Alex. This track was also included in 2005 on his Castle anthology Been on the Road So Long.

Martin Carthy sang Bruton Town in 1966 on his Second Album. He noted:

In The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, A. L. Lloyd writes “this is based on a story that was probably not new when Boccaccio made it famous in the 14^th century. Hans Sachs put it into verse some two hundred years later and Keats rewrote it as the Ballad of Isabella and the Pot of Basil.” It would appear that Keats’s version owes more to Boccaccio while the English traditional variants of the song have a lot in common with Sachs’s version. The tune is from Mrs Overd of Langport, Somerset [VWML CJS2/10/263] , with a composite text.

Ewan MacColl sang The Bramble Briar (Strawberry Town) in 1966 on his Topic album The Manchester Angel, and the Critics Group sang Strawberry Town on their 1970 album Living Folk. MacColl commented in the former album’s notes:

This powerful story of social misalliance is perhaps the most notable ballad omission from the Child canon. Many writers and collectors have traced the plot to Philomena’s story in the fourth day of The Decameron, later versified by Hans Sachs in The Murdered Lorentz and by Keats in Isabella and the Pot of Basil. The tune used here is the one taken down from George Whitcombe at Westhay, Meare, Somerset, in 1906-7. The text is largely that given by Mrs Joiner of Chiswell Green in Hertfordshire, to Lucy Broadwood, in 1914. Both text and tune have undergone substantial changes in the course of being sung over the years.

Queen Caroline Hughes sang The Brake of Briars in a recording made by Peter Kennedy in her caravan near Blandford, Dorset, on 19 April 1968. It was published in 2012 on the Topic anthology of songs by Southern English gypsy traditional singers, I’m a Romany Rai (The Voice of the People Series Volume 22).

Davy Graham Bruton Town in 1968 on his Decca album Large As Life and Twice As Natural.

Pentangle sang Bruton Town in 1968 on their eponymous first Transatlantic album The Pentangle. They also sang in live at the Royal Festival Hall, London, 29 June 1968 which was released in the same year on their second album, Sweet Child, and at the Cambridge Folk Festival 2011.

Maddy Prior sang Bruton Town in 1968 on Tim Hart’s and her duo album Folk Songs of Old England Vol. 1. The record’s sleeve notes commented:

The village of Bruton in Somerset claims to be the locale of this ballad there being a lengthy version on the wall of a local public house. The story of the girl who severs the head of her dead lover whom her brothers have murdered, hides it in a pot of herbs and dies lamenting, has been used by many writers including Boccaccio (1313-1373) in his story of Isabella and Lorenzo, Hans Sachs (1494-1571) and more recently Keats in his Isabella and the Pot of Basil, although in his version she merely finds the body. The tune, which is in the Dorian mode, and the first verse come from Mrs. Overd of Langport in Somerset, whilst the remainder is from the singing of Mrs. Joiner of Chiswell Green in Hertfordshire.

Sandy Denny recorded Bruton Town live at the Paris Theatre, London, on 16 March 1972 for BBC “Radio 1 in Concert”, broadcast on 25 March 1972. This recording was published for the first time in 1986 on her anthology Who Knows Where the Time Goes? and later in 2004 on A Boxful of Treasures and in 2007 on the 3CD+DVD set Live at the BBC. A Fotheringay band rehearsal of Bruton Town and a 2015 version were included in 2015 on Fotheringay’s Universal anthology Nothing More.

Tony Rose recorded this song as The Murdered Servantman in 1976 for his third LP On Banks of Green Willow. A live recording of Bruton Town with quite different verses from Cheltenham Folk Club in 1969 was included in 2008 on his CD Exe. Tony Rose noted on the 1976 album:

Another ballad with a distinguished literary pedigree is The Murdered Servantman, whose plot is traceable through Keats (Isabel and the Pot of Basil) and Hans Sachs to Boccaccio, which means the story is probably pre-14^th century. Not so Frank Purslow, in whose The Wanton Seed the song can be found!

Graham and Eileen Pratt sang The Murdered Servantman on their 1977 album Clear Air of the Day. They noted:

A much condensed version of a familiar theme—true love versus the class system.

Martin Simpson recorded The Bramble Briar in 2001 as the title track of his Topic album The Bramble Briar. He noted:

The Bramble Briar is more commonly known as Bruton Town. This version, again published in the The Penguin Book was beautifully sung by Louis Killen (Topic TSCD480 English and Scottish Folk Ballads). Much like Betsy the Serving Maid, it is a far from flattering depiction of class attitudes.

Nancy Kerr and James Fagan sang Strawberry Town on their 2002 Fellside CD Between the Dark and Light.

Ed Rennie sang In Bruton Town in 2004 on his Fellside CD Narrative.

CrossCurrent sang Bruton Town in 2005 on their CD Momentum.

Bellowhead learned Bruton Town from Folk Songs of Old England and recorded it in 2008 for their album Matachin. Jon Boden sang Bruton Town again as the 12 November 2010 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Sara Grey sang The Jealous Brothers in 2009 on their Fellside CD Sandy Boys.

George Gardiner collected A Famous Farmer in 1907 from Elizabeth Randall, aged 50, in Axford, Hampshire. Sarah Morgan sang this version in 2009 on the WildGoose CD The Axford Five.

Brian Peters sang The Brake of Briars in 2010 on his CD Gritstone Serenade.

Bryony Griffith sang The Murdered Servant Man in 2011 on her and Will Hampson’s CD Lady Diamond. They learned it “from the book The Wanton Seed edited by Frank Purslow” and their verses are quite similar to Tony Rose’s.

Arthur Knevett sang Bramble Briar on his 2016 CD Simply Traditional. He commented in his liner notes:

This ballad is based on the first part of a story included in Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14^th century of collections (The Decameron; fifth story on the fourth day). The German poet and playwright Hans Sachs put the story into verse some 200 years later and English translations of the story were printed around the same time. In the 19^th century Keats rewrote it as Isabella: or The Pot of Basil. Clearly the story has had wide currency over a long period of time and it is not surprising that it has been turned into a ballad. Most English versions give the location as Bruton Town, though Cecil Sharp collected a Somerset version called Strawberry Town and Lucy Broadwood noted a Hertfordshire version called Lord Burling’s Daughter. The version I sing here is from the singing of Bert Lloyd and it is interesting that he gives the location as Burling Gap.

Kelly Oliver sang The Bramble Briar on her 2018 CD Botany Bay. She noted:

Sung by Mrs Joiner in Chiswell Green, Hertfordshire, 1914.

A murder ballad of two evil brothers, one unassuming victim, and one revengeful sister.

Burd Ellen sang Bramble Briar on their 2019 CD Silver Came. Debbie Armour noted:

The tumbling melody and heartbreaking words are from Lou Killen’s singing, but the story is an old one. The tale appears in Boccaccio’s Decameron and has inspired the likes of Keats.

Jim Moray sang The Bramble Briar on his 2019 CD The Outlander. He noted:

Learned from Ewan MacColl’s album The Manchester Angel. I think the tune started out as the standard version collected from Mrs Overd by Cecil Sharp [VWML CJS2/10/263] , but is all the more interesting for Ewan’s alterations.

Rosie Hodgson sang A Bruton Farmer in 2020 on The Wilderness Yet’s eponymous album The Wilderness Yet. This video shows them at Wickfolk on 17 March 2019:

Patterson Dipper sang The Murdered Servantman on their 2021 album Unearthing. They noted:

5/4 time is rare in the original collections of English folk song but The Murdered Servantman, a song which has relationships with many others telling the same or similar stories, for example The Bramble Briar and Bruton Town, is one. James [Patterson]has long known this from its arrangement by Tony Rose and it is included in The Wanton Seed, one of Frank Purslow’s published selections of songs from the Hammond and Gardiner collection.

Lyrics

Martin Carthy sings Bruton Town

In Bruton Town there lived a noble,
He had two sons and a daughter fair.
By night and day they were contriving
To fill their sister’s heart with care.

One night, one night of restless slumber,
One brother rose up from his bed.
He heard the servant court their sister,
He heard they had a mind to wed.

He early rose the very next morning,
A-hunting through the woods to go.
And there he did this young man a-murder
In the bramble briar his body threw.

“Oh, brothers, brothers, why do you whisper,
And what’s become of the serving man?”
“We lost him where we been a-hunting,
We lost him where he’ll ne’er be found.”

She went to bed a-crying and lamenting
And weeping for her own true love.
And as she slept she dreamed that she saw him
All covered all over with gore and blood.

She early rose the very next morning,
She searched the woods and the country round,
And there she found her own dear jewel,
In the bramble briar where his body they’d thrown.

Three days and nights she did stay by him,
She kissed his eyes that could not see.
And to keep him from the heat of the sunshine,
She covered him with green leaves from off the tree.

Three days and nights she did stay by him,
She thought her heart would break with woe,
Till a cruel hunger came upon her
And in despair to her home she did go.

“Oh, sister, sister, why do you whisper,
And won’t you tell us where you’ve been.”
“Stand off, stand off, you bloody butchers,
My love and I you have both slain.”

Maddy Prior sings Bruton Town

In Bruton town there lived a farmer,
Who had two sons and one daughter dear.
By day and night they were conspiring
To fill their parents’ heart with fear.

He told his secrets to no other,
But to her brother this he said:
“I think our servant courts our sister.
I think they have a mind to wed.
I’ll put an end to all their courtship.
I’ll send him silent to his grave.”

They asked him then to go a-hunting,
Without any fear or strife,
But these two bold and wicked villains,
They took away this young man’s life.

And in the ditch there was no water,
Where only bush and briars grew.
They could not hide the blood of slaughter,
So in the ditch his body they threw.

When they returned home from hunting,
She asked them for her servantman.
“I ask because I see you whisper,
So brothers tell me if you can.”

“Sister, sister, you do offend me,
Because you so examine me.
We’ve lost him when we’ve been a-hunting.
No more of him we could not see.”

As she lay dreaming on her pillow,
She thought she saw her heart’s delight;
By her bed side as she lay weeping,
He was dressed all in his bloody coat.

“Don’t weep for me, my dearest jewel,
Don’t weep for me nor care nor pine,
For your two brothers killed me cruel
In such a place you may me find.”

So she rose early the next morning,
With heavy sigh and bitter groan,
The only love that she admired,
She found in the ditch where he was thrown.

Three days and nights she did sit by him,
Till her poor heart was filled with woe,
Then cruel hunger came upon her,
And to her home she had to go.

When she returned to her brothers:
“Sister, what makes you look so thin?”
“Brother, don’t you ask the reason of me,
Oh, for his sake you shall be hung!”

Tony Rose sings Bruton Town

In Bruton town there lived a farmer,
Who had two sons and a daughter dear.
By day and night they were contriving
To fill their parents’ heart with fear.

Then said one brother to no other,
But unto his brother this he said:
“I think our servant courts our sister,
I think they have a mind to wed.

If he our servant courts our sister,
That’s made from such a shame I’ll say.
I’ll put an end to all their courtship
And I’ll send him silent to his grave.”

A day of hunting was prepared
In Thornywoods where the briars grow,
And there they did that young man murder
And in a brook his body they threw.

“Oh welcome home, my dear young brother,
Our serving man is he behind?”
”We left him where we’ve been a-hunting
We left him where no man can find.”

She went to bed crying and lamenting,
Lamenting for her heart’s delight.
She slept, she dreamed she saw him by her
All bloody red in gory plight.

His lovely curls were wet with water,
His body all agape with blows.
Oh love for thee I’m served(?) for murder
And I’m lying now where no man knows.

So she rose early the very next morning,
Unto by yonder wood she spared.
And there she found her own dear jewel
In the gory plight so bloody red.

She took her kerchief from her pocket,
She took his head upon her knee.
And then she wiped those dear eyes softly
She wiped those eyes that could not see.

“And since my brothers have been so cruel
To take your tender sweet life away,
One grave shall hold us both together
And along with you in death I’ll stay.”

Sandy Denny sings Bruton Town

In Bruton Town there lived a noble man,
He had two sons and a daughter fair.
By night and day they were contriving
For to fill their sister’s heart with care.

One night, one night, our restless young girl,
One brother rose up from his bed.
He heard the servant court their sister,
Oh, he heard they had a mind to wed.

Oh, when he rose the very next morning
Went searching for the servantman,
And when he found him, this young man he murdered,
Oh, left him lying in the briars around.

Oh, she went to bed a-crying and lamenting
And thinking of her own true love,
And as she slept, she dreamt that she saw him
A-lying in the countryside all covered with gore and blood.

“Oh, brothers, brothers, why do you whisper,
And what’s become of this servant man?”
“Oh, we lost him when we were a-contending,
We lost him were he won’t ever be found.”

Oh, she early rose the very next morning
And searched the countryside around,
And there she saw her own dear jewel
A-lying in the briars where he’d been found.

Three days and nights she’d lie by him,
She thought her heart it would break with woe.
When a cruel hunger came upon her
And in despair to her home she did go.

“Oh, sister, sister, why do you whisper,
And won’t you tell us where you’ve been?”
“Stand off, stand off you bloody butchers,
My love and I you have all slain.”

Tony Rose sings The Murdered Servantman

Now a famous farmer, as you shall hear,
He had two sons and one daughter dear.
Her servantman she much admired,
None in the world she loved so dear.

Said one brother to the other:
“See how our sister means to wed.
Let all such a courtship soon be ended:
We’ll hoist him unto some silent grave.”

They called for him to go a-hunting.
He went out without any fear or strife.
And these two jewels they proved so cruel:
They took away that young man’s life.

It was near the creek where there was no water,
Nothing but bushes and briars grew.
All for to hide their cruel slaughter
Into the bushes his body threw.

When they returned from the field of hunting,
She began to enquire for her servantman:
“Come, brothers, tell me, because you whisper:
Come, brothers, tell me if you can.”

“Sister, we are so much amazed,
To see you look so much at we.
We met him where we’d been a-hunting
No more of him then did we see.”

And she lay musing all on her pillow.
She dreamed she saw her true love stand.
By her bedside he stood lamenting,
All covered with some bloody wounds.

“Nancy, dear, don’t you weep for me,
Pray Nancy, dear, don’t weep nor pine
In that creek where there is no water
Go and there you shall my body find.”

So she rose early the very next morning
With many a sigh and bitter groan.
In that place where her true love told her
It’s there she found his body thrown.

The blood all on his lips was drying,
His tears were salter than any brine.
And she’s kissed him, loudly crying:
“Here lies a bosom friend of mine.”

Three nights and days she stayed lamenting
Till her poor heart was filled with woe.
Until sharp hunger came creeping on her:
Homeward she was forced to go.

“Sister, we are so much amazed
To see you look so pale and wan.”
“Brothers, I know you know the reason,
And for the same you shall be hung!”

These two brothers both were taken,
And bound all down in some prison strong.
They both were tried, found out as guilty,
And for the same they both were hung.

Graham and Eileen Pratt sing The Murdered Servantman

A famous farmer as you shall hear
Well he had two sons and a daughter dear.
Her serving man she did very much admire.
None in the world did she love so dear.
One of her brothers said to the other:
“See how our sister intends to wed.
We will put an end to their ill-begotten courtship,
We’ll cast him into some silent grave.”

As she lay sleeping all on her pillow,
She dreamt she saw her own true love stand;
By her bedside he was lamenting,
All covered over with bloody wounds.
“Pray Nancy, dear, don’t you weep for me,
Pray Nancy, dear, don’t you weep nor pine.
In the ditch down yonder where flows no water,
Go there you may my poor body find.”

So she rose early the very next morning,
With many a sigh and a bitter groan;
In the ditch where her two false brothers had betrayed him,
There she did find his poor body thrown.
Three days and nights she stayed lamenting,
Till her poor heart was filled with woe,
Then cruel hunger came creeping upon her
And homeward she was obliged to go.

“Oh sister we are so much amazed
For to see you looking so pale and wan.”
“Oh brothers you know full well the reason,
And for the same you shall both be hung.”
Then these two brothers soon were discovered
And bound all down in some prison strong.
They were taken, tried, condemned as guilty
And from the gallows they both were hung.

Acknowledgements

Martin Carthy’s Bruton Town and Tony Rose’s The Murdered Servantman were transcribed by Garry Gillard.