If you’re like me, you’re missing the heck out of HBO’s medieval epic series Game of Thrones at the moment. Season Two just ended and Season 3 isn’t due until March 31, 2012!! You’re missing hating on Joffrey Baratheon, pining over the trials and travails of Daenerys Targaryen, and cheering openly for The Imp (Tyrion Lannister) and Rob Stark. And if you’ve read the books, you’re also dreading the possible arrival of the Red Wedding in Season 3 with all your heart (don’t google it unless you like HUGE spoilers!). But either way, we’ve got a long wait ahead of us until the next season comes out on HBO.
Well fret not dear reader, the annals of American folk song have retained a goodly number of horrific, medieval ballads to tide you over until the sexy bloodbath that is Game of Thrones returns. While hunting some of the rarer ballads down, I made sure not to look across the pond for inspiration. The British and Celtic folk traditions have tons of old medieval ballads about courtly intrigue and bloody political gambles, but I wanted to find these here at home in North America. I love that the tales and legends of the Middle Ages still echo in our ears today, handed down carefully from generation to generation, each one hoping to find something in the old songs that could match with their own lives.
So here are a few examples of old ballads in the New World that sound like they could be ripped from the pages of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones.
Ralph Stanley: Little Mathie Groves
This is the all-time classic medieval murder ballad and it’s a perfect foil for Game of Thrones motifs in American folk songs. The wife of a nobleman, Lord Arnold (sometimes Lord Daniel), seduces a younger member of the court, Little Mathie Groves. When Lord Arnold discovers this (in other versions, there’s some element of courtly intrigue and gossip that lets him know about the tryst), he calls Mathie Grove out of his bed and challenges him to a duel. Little Mathie does well, but not well enough, and is struck down. And in this particularly horrific version from the great American songmaster Ralph Stanley, Lord Arnold kills his wife as well, slicing her head off and kicking it against the wall. It seems that so many murder ballads take place outside in nature, or in the village, but this one is nestled deep in a castle, with the unfortunate events unfolding before everyone’s eyes. It’s the tabloid-rag of murder ballads, and definitely in keeping with the murderous castle-bound intrigues of Game of Thrones.
On a high, on a high,
on a high holiday,
on the very best day of the year,
little Mathie Grove to the church did go,
The Holy Word to hear.
Some come in all dressed in white,
some in purple and blue,
and then come in Lord Arnold’s wife,
the flower among the few.
She looked at him, he looked at her,
the like had never been done,
’til she got up and took his hand,
and bade him come along.
Well they tossed and they turned in the bed all night
’til they lay fast asleep.
when they woke up in the new morn dawn,
Lord Arnold stood at their feet.
He said “Get up, little Mathie Grove,
and put your clothing on.
For it’ll never be known in old England
i slade a naked man.””
I shan’t get up, I won’t get dressed,
I fear so for my life!
For you have got two very short swords,
and me not nary a knife.”
“Well yes I’ve got two very short swords;
they cost me deep in the purse,
and you shall have the better of the two
and I shall take the worse.”
“And you may strike the very first blow,
and strike it like a man.
and I shall strike the very next one,
and kill you if I can.”
Well Mathie struck the very first blow,
it hurt Lord Arnold sore.
and Arnold struck the very next one,
left Mathie layin’ dead in his gore.
He turned his eyes to his wife in her bed,
the rage and the hate saw she.
“Who do you like best now?” he said,
Little Mathie Grove or me?”
Very well do I like your brow,” said she,
“very well do I like your chin,
but I like Mathie Grove in all of his gore,
better than you and all your kin.
Well, he took her by the hair of her head
he led her through the hall,
and with his sword cut off her head,
and kicked it against the wall.
Les Charbonniers de l’Enfer: Les Trois Gentilhommes
Sorry to switch to French, but this is one of the best of the bloody old complaintes (ballads) of French Canada. It’s still sung today and this version is from one of the best trad bands in Quebec, Les Charbonniers de l’Enfer. An all-male a cappella group, Les Charbonniers are a treasure trove of old songs and wildly inventive male vocal harmonies. The narrative of this ballad fits perfectly with the world of Game of Thrones, where the soldiers of the king (or kings) ride where they please, murdering peasants by the villagefull.
The song itself tells the story of three brothers traveling the countryside. Happening upon a beautiful peasant girl, they attack and rape her. She escapes and alerts the nearest town, where she lives. When the brothers arrive at the town, the local constabulary arrest them and try them for the rape. They sentence all three to hang, but little do they know that the brothers are actually royalty from Paris. Their other brother hears of the sentence and races South from the capitol, whipping his horse bloody. He arrives just in time to see them all hanging and races to cut them down. The two older brothers survive, but the littlest dies from the hanging. So the remaining brothers turn the King’s soldiers on the town, burning it to the ground and murdering everyone in sight so that the streets fill up with blood to the level of the horses’ flanks.
LES TROIS GENTILHOMMES (translated to English)
There were three gentleman brothers of King Louis’ court.
On the road they encountered three beautiful young maidens,
Who they took aside and had their way with.
The youngest brother who molested a girl: You should have repented.
If you pass by the nearby town you will be thrown in jail.
They passed by the town and this is exactly what happened to them.
The youngest one cried and sobbed, saying “I am afraid to die”.
His two brothers tried to encourage him, saying:
“Don’t cry my brother, we have another brother in King Louis’ court.
If he knew what was happening, he’d be here in a flash.
He’d kill the marquis of the town, and burn the countryside.
He would judge the countryside, and judge that all should die.”
The jailer was nearby and heard everything they said.
[The jailer to the judges of the town:]
“Listen judges, listen to what the brothers had to say.”
Meanwhile, their brother in King Louis’ court
Met a poor beggar on the pont de Paris [bridge in Paris].
[The brother:]
“Ah, tell me my poor friend, what is the news of the countryside?”
[Beggar:]
“The news, my gentleman friend? Your three brothers were arrested.”
[The Brother:]
“My poor friend, what is to happen to the prisoners?”
[Beggar:]
“I think, my gentleman friend, that they will hanged at seven o-clock”
[The Brother:]
“Tell me, my poor friend, can I make it there by seven o’clock?”
[Beggar:]
“No, no, no, my gentleman friend, you ride much too slow!”
The brother put his hand on the bridle, and rode faster than the wind.
When he got to the hills, his horse was sweating blood.
When he got to the town, he saw his three brothers hanging from the gallows.
He saved Pierre, he saved Jacques, but for little Jean it was too late.
From the mouth of the little Jean flew a white pigeon.
The older brother blew on his trumpet, and summoned his men.
He said to his soldiers “Dress yourselves all in white.
We are going to pass through the town killing everyone and burning everything.”
Women cried out from their windows to all-powerful God:
“For the love of a brother, why kill so many people, so many men, women and children?”
From the four corners of the town, the gutters flowed with blood
From the four corners of the streets, the horses walked in it up to their flanks.
They didn’t spare anybody: it is the town of innocents.
Castle By The Sea: Tim Eriksen
I’ll confess I picked this one mainly for the castle by the sea references, but really this is a great song that ties into the simmering hatred of the sexes in Game of Thrones. Marriage and love are used as weapons either to cripple an opponent or exploit their weaknesses, and men and women alike revel in a very real battle of the sexes. In traditional American music there are many songs of men murdering their wives and lovers; it’s kind of the basic premise of the murder ballad. But here the lover’s a little quicker than the man and does him in with bit of swift treachery. This is one of the more cinematic of the old ballads, with the six drowned maidens, the sylvan bower, the castle by the sea, and the generally action-packed narrative. It’s also strange that Boston town got slipped into this one. Last I checked there weren’t many castles around Boston. Unless there’s a Boston in the UK that I don’t know about…
Tim Eriksen: Castle by the Sea
(from the excellent album Northern Roots – Live in Namest)
The Castle by the Sea
Arise, O arise, my lady fair,
For you my bride shall be,
And we will dwell in a sylvan bower
In my castle by the sea.
And bring along your marriage fee,
Which you can claim today,
And also take your swiftest steeds,
The milk white and the grey.
The lady mounted her white steed,
He rode the turban grey.
They took the path by the wild sea shore,
Or so I’ve heard them say.
As she saw the walls of the castle high
That looked so black and cold,
She wished she’d remained in Boston town
With her ten thousand pounds in gold.
He halted by the wild sea shore,
“My bride you shall never be!
For six fair maidens I have drowned here,
The seventh you shall be.”
“Take off, take off, your scarlet robes,
And lay them down by me.
They are too rich and too costly
To rot in the briny sea.”
“Then turn your face to the water’s side,
And your back to yonder tree.
For it is a disgrace for any man
An unclothed woman to see.”
He turned his face to the water’s side,
And his back to the lofty tree.
The lady took him in her arms,
And flung him into the sea.
“Lie there, lie there, you false young man,
And drown in place of me.
If six fair maidens you drowned here,
Go keep them company.”
She then did mount her milk white steed,
And led the turban grey,
And rode until she came to Boston town
Two hours before it was day.
Lord Randall: Jimmie Driftwood
Boy, they sure love poisoning in Game of Thrones. From the opening of the book, the poisoning of Jon Arryn was the first blow in the game of thrones that leads to the total destabalization of the kingdom. And other characters get poisoned too, though I can’t say who without a big spoiler alert. Suffice it to say that poisoning is a particularly medieval form of assassination. This great version of the Child ballad “Lord Randall” comes from Ozark Mountain singer (and songwriter! He was famous for writing the “Tennessee Stud” and “The Battle of New Orleans!) Jimmie Driftwood. It’s a simple song, for sure, but there’s something deeply poignant and sad about the way it captures the last dying hours of Lord Randall as he returns home from courtship. I love how each version of this ballad unveils the guilty party in the last verse as Lord Randall wishes for her death.
“Where have you been a-ridin’,
Lord Randall, my son?
Where have you been a-ridin’,
My handsome young mon?”
“Been a-ridin’ and a-courtin’;
Oh, make my bed soon.”
Chorus: “I’m a-weary of a-courtin’,
And I fain would lie doon.
Heart weary of a-courtin’,
And I fain would lie doon.”
“What had you for your supper,
Lord Randall, my son?
What had you for your supper,
My handsome young mon?”
“Red lips that were pizen.
Oh, make my bed soon.”
(Chorus)
“What will you to your sister,
Lord Randall, my son?
What will you to your sister,
My handsome young mon?”
“My trunk full of diamonds.
Oh, make my bed soon.”
(Chorus)
What will you to your brother,
Lord Randall, my son?
What will you to your brother,
My handsome young mon?”
“My horse and my saddle.
Oh, make my bed soon.”
(Chorus)
“What will you to your lover,
Lord Randall, my son?
What will you to your lover,
My handsome young mon?”
“A strong rope to hang her.
Oh, make my bed soon.”
(Chorus)
Nelstone’s Hawaiians: Fatal Flower Garden
Kids have it especially hard in Game of Thrones. Much of the books are devoted to the endlessly depressing and bloody plights of the children in the story, especially the wanderings of Arya Stark as she tries to reunite with her family, and the forced escape of Bran Stark (whoops, spoiler alert!). Kids don’t have it much better in medeival ballads, and a harrowing example is this old song which has been nicknamed “Fatal Flower Garden”, though it also goes by “Sir Hugh” and “It Rained A Mist”. It’s horrifying from beginning to end and really sets the scene for the abduction and murder of an innocent child. It’s also interesting that the murderous woman is here portrayed as a gypsy. She’s also been portrayed as a Jew in early versions of the ballad.
It rained, it poured, it rained so hard,
It rained so hard all day,
That all the boys in our school
Came out to toss and play.
They tossed a ball again so high,
Then again, so low;
They tossed it into a flower garden
Where no-one was allowed to go.
Up stepped a gypsy lady,
All dressed in yellow and green;
“Come in, come in, my pretty little boy,
And get your ball again.”
“I can’t come in, I shan’t come in
Without my playmates all;
I’ll go to my father and tell him about it,
That’ll cause tears to fall.”
She first showed him an apple seed,
Then again gold rings,
Then she showed him a diamond,
That enticed him in.
She took him by his lily-white hand,
She led him through the hall;
She put him in an upper room,
Where no-one could hear him call.
“Oh, take these finger rings off my finger,
Smoke them with your breath;
If any of my friends should call for me,
Tell them that I’m at rest.”
“Bury the bible at my head,
A testament at my feet;
If my dear mother should call for me,
Tell her that I’m asleep.”
“Bury the bible at my feet,
A testament at my head;
If my dear father should call for me,
Tell him that I am dead.”
These are just a few examples of old, murderous, medieval songs in American traditional music. What are some other ones you can think of that mesh with the courtly-intrigue and medieval warfare of Game of Thrones?
BUY THE MUSIC PLAYED HERE
Les Charbonniers de l’Enfer’s self-titled debut album
Ralph Stanley: A Mother’s Prayer
Tim Eriksen: Northern Roots – Live in Namest
Anthology of American Folk Music
This post originally appeared on the Hearth Music Blog. Check out our website and roam through our blog and Online Listening Lounge to discover your next favorite artist! We’re dedicated to presenting today’s best Roots/Americana/World musicians.
