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Bruton Town / The Bramble Briar / The Murdered Servantman

[ Roud 18 ; Master title: Bruton Town ; Laws M32 ; Ballad Index LM32 ; VWML CJS2/10/263 , LEB/2/48/1 ; Wiltshire 582 ; TwoCruelBros at Old Songs ; MusTrad DB21 ; DT JEALBRO3 , JEALBRO4 ; Mudcat 17083 , 159779 ; trad.]

Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger: Travellers’ Songs From England and Scotland. John Morrish: The Folk Handbook Roy Palmer: Everyman’s Book of English Country Songs Frank Purslow: The Wanton Seed James Reeves: The Everlasting Circle Sam Richards, Tish Stubbs: The English Folksinger Cecil J. Sharp: One Hundred English Folksongs Ralph Vaughan Williams, A.L. Lloyd: The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs

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.

Eliza Pace of Hyden, Leslie County, Kentucky, sang The Cruel Brothers to Cecil Sharp on 3 October 1917 and to Alan Lomax in 1937. The latter’s recording was included in 2017 on the Musical Traditions anthology of historic recordings of Appalachian singers and musicians 1927-1955, When Cecil Left the Mountains. Mike Yates noted:

Cecil Sharp transcribed this [word in verse 1, line 3] as ‘arabian’ when Mrs Pace sang the song to him. It is obviously a corruption, though I am unable to suggest an alternative. The terms ‘princess’ and ‘factory’ in verse 2 were also sung to Cecil Sharp, as was the word ‘orn’ in the final verse. In fact, Mrs Paces’ two texts (to Cecil Sharp and to Alan Lomax) are very similar indeed.

Once Mrs Pace settled into the song, after the first two verses, she sang a story which was known to Boccaccio in the 14^th century (Decameron IV 5). Two hundred years later Hans Sachs wrote it up as Der ermordete Lorenz, while Keats later rewrote the tale as Isabella and the Pot of Basil. We don’t know why Professor Child failed to include this in his monumental English and Scottish Popular Ballads, but singers and listeners have certainly enjoyed the tale. For some reason or other it has proven especially popular in America.

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 where Vic Gammon noted:

Family disapproval of the marriage choice of a daughter or sister is one of the great themes of English folk song. The story is an old one even, if the song is not. Boccaccio included the story in the Decameron (IV 5)—but the old Italian tale has graphic detail not included in the English ballad versions: the woman plants the head of the dead lover in a pot of basil which then grows vigorously. In the ballad version, two brothers entice their sister’s servant/lover on to a hunting expedition; they murder him. The sister enquires for him when they return. He comes to her in a dream and informs her where his body is left. She goes to where his body has been thrown. Hunger forces her to return, in this version as a ghost. The brothers go overseas to escape censure but are drowned at sea. In some versions the sister returns (not as a ghost) and the brothers are hung.

In a comparison of ten versions of this song, Belden concludes that they all “point back to a common original” and that “they had come down thru a considerable number of mouths, if not thru a considerable period of time”. [H.M. Belden, Boccaccio, Hans Sachs, and the Bramble Briar, PMLA, Vol. 33, No. 3 (1918), pp. 327-395] In spite of the antiquity of this conclusion (his article was published in 1918), based on limited evidence, I think Belden was substantially correct; I have never seen a broadside version of this song and I have looked extensively through collections—if one should turn up it would not be a commonplace finding. Before the discovery and publications of texts from mid-nineteenth-century US manuscripts, the earliest copies we had of this ballad were those in the Sharp collection made in the early twentieth century. Steve Gardham has sought “to present evidence to demonstrate that the ballad is much more likely to be an eighteenth century stall ballad”. He does this by attempting a reconstruction, which is interesting and well argued but he is not able to produce an eighteenth century text—perhaps one will come to light in the future. A similar story is told in the song The Constant Farmer’s Son. Belden speculates that this song was made from The Bramble Briar but, in contrast, The Constant Farmers Son does crop up quite a lot on broadsides.

In the original recording notes, Goldstein states, “the version sung by Lloyd, part of his family tradition, appears to be one of the finest versions yet reported”. I know of no evidence for or against the first part of this statement and agree with his estimation of the quality of the version. The tune, however, is very close to that given by Mrs Emma Overd to Cecil Sharp at Langport in Somerset in 1904 [VWML CJS2/10/263] . The text, whilst not being the same as Overd’s, has many lines in common with it, although it has a different narrative outcome (the woman says she will also die when she finds the corpse).

Interestingly, Lloyd and Vaughan Williams published a different version of this song in the Penguin collection attributed to Mrs Joiner of Chiswell Green, Herts and collected by Lucy Broadwood in 1914 [VWML LEB/2/48/1] . They took the first two stanzas from Mrs Overd’s version, as “Mrs Joiner was unable to remember clearly the beginning of the ballad” and they reordered her verses that they did print. Joiner opens her incompletely remembered song with the line “Lord Burlington told his eldest brother”, which perhaps links the ‘Burling Gap’ of which Lloyd sings.

Whatever the origins of this version, it is a superb ballad. It has an excellent Dorian mode tune and a coherent text that Lloyd sings in a measured, freely phrased and stoical way making use of a little decoration and variation. Lloyd uses mainly the low and middle ranges of his voice.

Hattie Presnell of Beech Mountain, North Carolina, sang The Jealous Brothers to Sandy Paton in c.1961. This recording was included in 1964 on the Folk-Legacy album The Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, North Carolina, Vol. I. Sandy Paton noted:

Brown [The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore,, Durham, NC, 1952-1962] prints two North Carolina versions of this quite well known broadside ballad, Sharp prints four versions, all from North Carolina, and one other North Carolina version later appeared in the JAP. It is surprising that Hattie is the only singer we found on the Beech who recalls the ballad, since its currency in her state seems well established. On the other hand, it shouldn’t be surprising, for Hattie seems to remember more old ballads than any of her Beech Mountain contemporaries.

Lisha Shelton of Sodom, North Cariolina, sang In Zepo Town to John Cohen in August 1963. This recording was included in 2005 on the Smithsonian Folkways CD of old love songs and ballads, Dark Holler. John Cohen noted:

This song is Child 214 (Dens of Yarrow), Sharp 48 (In Seaport Town), and Laws M32 (The Bramble Briar). It was noted by Sharp in his English collection as Bruton Town. Sharp collected four versions in North Carolina, from Jane Gentry, Rosie Hensley, and others.

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 noted on the original album:

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 (also included in 1993 on his Topic anthology The Real MacColl), and the Critics Group sang Strawberry Town on their 1970 album Living Folk. MacColl noted on the first album:

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 [VWML LEB/2/48/1] . 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). Shirley Collins noted:

Known also as Bruton Town or The Murdered Servant Man, some claims are often made that this ancient ballad is the same story as Boccaccio’s Isabella and the Pot of Basil. It’s certainly about the taboo of marrying beneath your class, and of blood relatives willing to commit murder, almost with relish, to prevent it from happening. It smacks of Jacobean drama to me. In some versions the victim appears as a ghost to his sweetheart and tells her where his body lies. Often, the guilty brothers are hanged.

Peter [Kennedy] also recorded Carolyne’s husband John singing The Brake of Briars. He had [three] verses which Carolyne didn’t include in her recording, but which make the story clearer.

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. They noted:

[…] while love doomed from the start is the subject of Strawberry Town, a close relative of Bruton Town and Isabella and the Pot of Basil from Boccaccio’s Decameron.

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

Not a happy tale this one. The story is old, possibly older than when Boccaccio made it famous in the 14^th century. 200 years later Hans Sachs put it into verse and Keats later re-wrote it as Isabella and the Pot of Basil. English variants of this ballad are closer to the Sachs version rather than Keats. If you read the Keats version you will know why. Wordy or what? Anyway, these particular words are substantially the version sung by Mrs Joiner, Chiswell Green, Herts, to Lucy Broadwood in 1914. I have added minor supplements (literally a word or two hither and yon) from other variants, mainly that of Mrs Overd of Langport, Somerset, whose version was collected by Cecil Sharp. This was in the interest of making sense. I am unsure of the origin of this particular tune, which is carelessness.

CrossCurrent sang Bruton Town in 2005 on their CD Momentum. They noted:

Bruton Town was originally introduced to Rachael [McShane] through the singing of Sandra Kerr. It was then lost in a drawer and re-emerged with a new tune. We brought together this song of murder and heartache with an original composition written by Dave [David Wood] called End Game.

Bellowhead sang Bruton Town in 2008 on their album Matachin. They noted:

Also known as The Bramble Briar or by alternative place-names, this was learnt by Jon [Boden] from the record Folk Songs of Old England, by Maddy Prior and Tim Hart. The story is of great antiquity and features in Boccaccio’s Decameron as well as […] in the publications of a number of 20^th century song collectors such as Cecil Sharp, Vaughan Williams and George Gardiner.

Jon Boden also 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. She noted:

This is similar to Clerk Saunders (Child Ballad no 69) collected by Cecil Sharp in 1904. Howie Mitchell from Virginia learned this ballad from Dr. Asher Treat, who collected it in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1939 and from whom I learned the song. Other versions have been published under a number of titles: Sharp has it as In Seaport Town, for example, and Brown published it under the title of The Bramble Briar (The date upon which it was obtained by Brown from Frank Proffitt is in error, however. Frank gave it to Brown in 1936, rather than in 1924). It is also know as Bruton Town in England.

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. She noted:

The story of the unfortunate young man, murdered for the ‘crime’ of being in love with a woman of a higher rank, has overtones of an ‘honour killing’. Who says folk song does not deal with contemporary issues? The story goes back to the 14^th century and maybe even earlier. It is found in Boccaccio’s Decameron, and was even put into a poem by Keats (Isabella and the Pot of Basil).

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

When academics compile lists of ballads that Child may have been mistaken in choosing to ignore, this one often features. The story is certainly old, having appeared in Boccaccio’s Decameron in the 14^th century as Isabella and the Pot of Basil, although our ballad omits the colourful detail of the young woman lopping off her murdered lover’s head as a souvenir and keeping it in (you guessed it) a pot of basil. How it got from a medieval tale collection to a song popular amongst the rural working class in the nineteenth century isn’t certain, although printed broadsides were certainly involved. Most people on the folk scene choose the verses and fine melody collected by Cecil Sharp, but I found a nice version from the Kentish traveller Nelson Ridley, with a more interestingly wayward tune, in MacColl and Seeger’s Travellers’ Songs From England and Scotland. Mr. Ridley didn’t know many verses, so I remembered some more for him.

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.

Joshua Burnell sang Bruton Town in 2019 on the bonus CD of his album The Road to Horn Fair.

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. They noted:

A beautifully formed murder balled in 5/4 that we first heard from James Patterson and couldn’t stop singing— take warning all cruel brothers—hell hath no fury!

This video shows The Wilderness Yet at Twickfolk 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.

Anne Briggs recorded Bruton Town in 1971, very probably in the sessions for her Topic album Anne Briggs. This recording was finally released on Record Store Day 2024 on the 7" bonus single The Lost Tape accompanying that album’s reissue. She noted:

A song of sibling rivalry and jealousies—one daughter and two sons and the daughter has fallen in love with their servant. One of the sons overhears them courting and making marriage plans. The following day the sons take the servant hunting and come back without him, and that night the daughter dreams he is dead. She goes searching and finds his body and buries him, then returns home and confronts her brothers. They make a run for it in their boat and they are never seen again.

There are very dark undercurrents in this song; it suggests a possible incestuous relationship.

Steve Knightley sang Bruton Town on his 2025 album of Bob Dylan and Martin Carthy songs, Positively Folk Street.

Frankie Archer sang In Brunton Town on the 2025 anthology Sing Yonder 2.

Lyrics

Eliza Pace sings The Cruel Brothers

Near Bridgewater a rich man lived,
He had two sons and a daughter dear,
Whose life by death (?) arabian
And filled his children’s hearts with fear.

These young men to the sea did venture
To bring whatever was the gain,
He was a princess [sic] bound and strong indented,
They sent him factory [sic] over the main.

This youth was neat, he was neat and comely,
Neat and complete in every limb.
Their sister placed her whole affections
On this young man, unbeknownst to them.

One day it chanced her youngest brother
For to see them sport and play,
He told the secret to the other,
This to him then he did say:

“O now he thinks he’ll gain our sister,
Perhaps he thinks her for to have.
But their courtship will soon be ended,
We’ll force him headlong to his grave”

Now for to end this cruel matter
And fill their sister’s heart with woe,
This poor young man they did flatter
With them a-hunting for to go.

In the backwoods where no one used
The briars they were overgrown,
O there they made a bloody slaughter,
There they had him killed and thrown.

They returned home to their sister,
She asked where was the servant man?
“I ask because you seem to whisper,
Tell me, brothers, if you can.”

“We lost him at our game we hunted,
We never no more could him see.
I’ll tell you plainly, I’m affronted,
What makes you examine me?”

The next night as she lies sleeping,
He comes to her bedside and stood,
All covered o’er in tears a-weeping,
All wallowed o’er in gores of blood..

The next morning she got up
With many a sigh and bitter groan,
To the place then she found him
Where they had him killed and thrown.

She said, “My love, I will stay with you
Until my heart doth burst with woe.”
She felt sharp hunger creeping on her,
Homewards she was obliged to go.

She returned home to her brothers,
They asked her what made her look so orn [sic].
“O by the loss you’ve acted treason
In killing your poor servant man.”

A.L. Lloyd sings The Bramble Briar

In Burling Gap lived a rich merchant
Who had two sons and one daughter dear.
By day and night they were contriving
To fill their sister’s heart with fear.

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

He told his secret unto no other,
But to his brother this did say:
“I’ll put an end to all this courting,
I’ll send him silent to his grave.”

They early rose the very next morning,
A-hunting through the woods to go,
And there they did this young man a-murder,
And in the bramble briar his body they throw.

“Dear brothers, brothers, why do you whisper?
And what’s become of that serving man?”
“We’ve lost him where we’ve been a-hunting.
We’ve lost him where he’ll never be found.”

She went to bed a-crying and lamenting,
And grieving for her own true love.
She slept, she dreamed he lay beside her
Covered all over in a gore of blood.

“Don’t weep for me, my own dear jewel,
And don’t you mourn and don’t you cry.
Go over the hills and the lofty mountains,
And in the bramble briar my body you’ll find.”

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

She took a handkerchief from her pocket
To wipe his eyes that could not see.
And to keep him from the heat of midday,
She pulled the green leaves off the tree.

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

“Dear sister, sister, why do you whisper?
And won’t you tell us where you’ve been?”
“Stand off, stand off, you are deceitful,
My love and me you both have slain.”

Now to avoid all shame and anger,
These brothers sailed across the wave.
The wind did blow and the storm did thunder,
And the raging sea did prove their grave.

Hattie Presnell sings The Jealous Brothers

Late one evening, a couple sat talking;
Two brothers were listening what were said,
Saying, “This courtship, it’s got to be ended,
Or lay this young man in his grave,
Or lay this young man in his grave.”

Late that evening, it’s talking of a-hunting,
They insisting upon him to go,
They kept on insisting upon him
Till, at last, he’d agree to go,
Till, at last, he’d agree to go.

They rode over hills and mountains,
Many of a path that were unknown;
They rode till they came to some dark hollow
And there they left him dead alone,
And there they left him dead alone.

Late that eveneing, as they returned,
The sister inquiring of her own true love.
Saying, “He got lost in a game of hunting
And there were no more seen of him,
And there were no more seen of him.”

She rose up early next morning,
Dressed in her silk so fine,
She rode all over hills and mountains
And a-many of a path were unknown,
And a-many of a path were unknown.

She rode till she came to some dark hollow
And there she found him dead alone.
She turned him over and over,
Crying, “Darling Boose, you’re a friend of mine.”
Crying, “Darling Boose, you’re a friend of mine.”*

* This is apparently a corruption of “bosom friend of mine” which appears in the other North Carolina texts.

Martin Carthy sings Bruton Town

In Bruton Town there lived a noble,
He had two sons and a daughter fair.
By day and night 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.”

Caroline and John Hughes sing The Brake of Briars

[Caroline Hughes:]
O, there were a farmer living near Bridgwater,
Well, he had two sons and one daughter, too.
He feeled it fitting to plough the ocean,
O to plough the ocean that raged so clear.

Our servant man straight to wed my sister;
My sister she have got mind to wed.
They were put ’board ship and the bloodiest onslaught
Will send him to his deep silent grave.

While a hunting day, o, it was a party,
While a-hunting, hunting he went with they.
Down through the briars as they was a-riding.
He heard a mournful, dismal cry.
“Surely, surely that’s my own dear truelove
In the brake of briars is throwed and killed.”

[John Hughes:]
Three days, three nights we lately mention
She dreamed, she dreamed of her own truelove.
By her bedside there was tears like fountains,
Coming over and over with gores of blood.

Down through those woods as she was riding,
She heard a dismal mournful groan.
“Surely, surely, that’s my own truelove
In a brake of briars he’s killed and thrown.”

“You’re welcome home now”, said the sister,
“Oh, where is our dear servant-man?”
“I’ll tell it you plain that you are affronted.”
“Dear brothers, tell me all if you can.”

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.”

The Critics Group sing Strawberry Town

In Strawberry Town, there lived a farmer,
He had two sons and a daughter dear.
And day and night they was contriving
To fill their poor parents’ hearts with fear.

The one he said unto the other,
“See how our sister does sport and play
With that young serving man, her lover,
We’ll send him silent to the grave.”

A match of hunting it was prepared,
Through woods and valleys where the briars do grow.
And there they did this young man murder
And in the thorny brake his body throw.

Now, when these two did come home from hunting,
Their sister asked for her serving man,
“I ask because I seen you whisper.
Pray tell me, brothers, if you can.”

“O sister, sister, you do offend us –
And why do you so examine me?
We left him in the fields of hunting
And no more of him did we see.”

Anne Briggs sings Bruton Town

In Burlington there lived a farmer,
He had two sons and one daughter dear.
By day and night they were contriving
To fill their sister’s heart with fear.

One night, one night of restless slumber,
A brother rose up from his bed.
And he’s heard the servant courting the sister,
He hears they have a mind to wed.

So he’s told his secret to none other
but to his brother he told it too.
“I’ll put an end to all that courting
And I’ll send him silent to his tomb.”

They early rose the very next morning
And a-hunting through the woods did go.
There they did this young man murder;
In the brambles his body they threw.

“Now welcome home, my dear young brothers,
What’s become of that young serving man?”
“Well, we’ve lost him where we’ve been a-hunting;
We’ve lost him where he’ll never be found.”

She went to bed crying and lamenting,
She thought her heart would break with woe.
She slept, she dreamed she had him by her,
All covered over in a gore of blood.

“Don’t weep for me, my own dear jewel,
Oh don’t you weep, don’t you mourn.
Search over them hills and over mountains;
It’s in the brambles my body they’ve thrown.”

She early rose the very next morning;
She searched the hills and the mountains round.
In the brambles where they’d thrown him
This young man’s body she sadly found.

She took her handkerchief from out of her pocket,
She wiped his eyes though he could not see.
Toe keep the heat of the cruel sun from him
She covered him over with green leaves from the tree.

And three days and nights she did stay by him,
She thought her heart would break with woe.
And cruel hunger came upon her;
From his body she was forced to go.

“Now welcome home, our dear young sister,
And won’t you tell us where you’ve been?”
“Stand up, stand up, you bloody butchers!
I found my sweet love where he was slain.”

The brothers they both darkened their faces,
They slowly walked down by the seashore.
The angry waves rushed in from the ocean;
The boat they sailed in was seen no more.

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.

Bellowhead sing Bruton Town

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

He told his secret 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 to go out a-hunting,
Without any fear or strife,
And 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 briar 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 for her servant-man.
“I ask because I see you whisper,
So brothers tell me if you can.”

“Sister, sister, you do offend me,
That 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 all dressed 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.”

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

The blood upon his lips was drying,
Her tears were salt as any brine.
And sometimes kissed him, sometimes crying:
“Here lies the dearest friend of mine.”

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

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

The Wilderness Yet sing A Bruton Farmer