The Famous Flower of Serving-Men
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The Famous Flower of Serving-Men or The Lady turned Serving-Man (
Child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...
106, Roud 199) is a traditional English language folk song and
murder ballad Murder ballads are a subgenre of the traditional ballad form dealing with a crime or a gruesome death. Their lyrics form a narrative describing the events of a murder, often including the lead-up and/or aftermath. The term refers to the content ...
. Child considered it as closely related to the ballad "The Lament of the Border Widow" or "The Border Widow's Lament".
"Unusually, it is possible to give a precise date and authorship to this ballad. It was written by the prolific balladeer, Laurence Price, and published in July 1656, under the title of ''The famous Flower of Serving-Men. Or, The Lady turn'd Serving-Man''. It lasted in the mouths of ordinary people for three hundred years: what a tribute to the work of any writer, leave alone the obscure Laurence Price. Oral tradition, however, has made changes. The original has twenty-eight verses and a fairy-tale ending: “And then for fear of further strife, / he took Sweet William to be his Wife: / The like before was never seen, / A Serving-man to be a Queen”. - Roy Palmer, ''A Book of British Ballads''


Lyrics

Below are the first few verses of Laurence Price's 1656 lyrics with Martin Carthy's adapted lyrics in brackets:
My mother showd me a deadly spight; (My mother did me deadly spite) She sent three thieves at darksome night; (For she sent thieves in the dark of night) They put my servants all to flight, (Put my servants all to flight) They robd my bower, and they slew my knight. (They robbed my bower they slew my knight) They could not do me much more harm, (They couldn't do to me no harm) But they slew my baby on my arm; (So they slew my baby in my arm) They left me nothing to wrap it in (Left me naught to wrap him in) But the bloody, bloody sheet that it lay in. (But the bloody sheet that he lay in) They left me nothing to make a grave (They left me naught to dig his grave) But the bloody sword that slew my babe; (But the bloody sword that slew my babe) All alone the grave I made, (All alone the grave I made) And all alone salt tears I shed. (And all alone the tears I shed) All alone the bell I rung, (And all alone the bell I rang) And all alone sweet psalms I sung; (And all alone the psalm I sang) I leant my head against a block, (I leaned my head all against a block) And there I cut my lovely locks. (And there I cut my lovely locks) I cut my locks, and chang'd my name (I cut my locks and I changed my name) From Fair Eleanore to Sweet William. (From Fair Eleanor to Sweet William)


Synopsis

A woman's husband and child are killed by agents of her mother (or, sometimes, stepmother). The woman buries them, cuts her hair, changes her name from "Fair Elise" or "Fair Elinor" to "Sweet William", and goes to the king's court to become his servant. She serves him well enough to become his
chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...
. The song variants split, sharply, at this point. The common variant has the king going to hunt and being led into the forest by a white
hind A hind is a female deer, especially a red deer. Places * Hind (Sasanian province, 262-484) * Hind and al-Hind, a Persian and Arabic name for the Indian subcontinent * Hind (crater), a lunar impact crater * 1897 Hind, an asteroid Military ...
. The king reaches a clearing and the hind vanishes. A bird, the personification of the woman's dead husband, then appears and laments what has happened to his love. The king asks, and the bird tells the story. The king returns and kisses his chamberlain, still dressed as a man, to the shock of the assembled court. In many versions the woman's mother/stepmother is then executed, possibly by burning, and usually the king marries the woman. In some versions the king goes hunting, and the woman laments her fate, but is overheard; when the king is told it, he marries her. In ''The Border Widow's Lament'', the woman laments, in very similar verses, the murder of her husband by the king; she buries him and declares she will never love another.


Field Recordings

* Martha Reid, of Blairgowrie,
Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...
, Scotland, was recorded by Maurice Fleming in 1955. * Caroline Hughes of
Blandford Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and i ...
,
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
sang the song to Peter Kennedy in 1968. * Mary Delaney sang a variant entitled ''My Brother Built for Me a Bancy Bower'' to
Jim Carroll James Dennis Carroll (August 1, 1949 – September 11, 2009) was an American author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work '' The Basketball Diaries'', which inspired a 1995 film of ...
and Pat Mackenzie in
Co. Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named afte ...
somewhere between 1973 and 1985.


Martin Carthy

Martin Carthy Martin Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and later artists such as ...
's version is the most notable. For his 1972 album ''
Shearwater Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prions, and the shearwa ...
'',
Carthy Carthy is a surname, and may refer to: * Brian Carthy, Gaelic games correspondent and commentator * Deborah Carthy-Deu (born 1966), Puerto Rican actress * Eliza Carthy (born 1975), English folk musician * John Carthy (1972–2000), Irish citizen ...
took the fragments and reworked the ballad, drawing on lines from other ballads. He set the piece to a tune used by
Hedy West Hedwig Grace "Hedy" West (April 6, 1938 – July 3, 2005) was an American folksinger and songwriter. She belonged to the same generation of folk revivalists as Joan Baez and Judy Collins. Her most famous song "500 Miles" is one of America's ...
for the "Maid of Colchester." The song was featured twice on the
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
show - first on 14 August 1973 and again on 28 April 1975. In 2005 Carthy won the award for Best Traditional Track for "Famous Flower of Serving Men" at the
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...
.


Other versions and cultural references

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
arranged a version of the song in the 1790s, entitled "The Border Widow's Lament". Bob Davenport sang ''The Border Widow's Lament'' in 1964 on the album ''Northumbrian Minstrelsy''. The Ian Campbell Folk Group sang ''Highland Widow's Lament'' in 1966 on their Transatlantic EP ''Four Highland Songs''.
The Clutha The Clutha were a traditional Scottish band hailing from Glasgow, that released a small number of albums in the 1970s. The line-up on the Clutha's first album, ''Scotia'' (1971), was John Eaglesham (vocal, concertina), Erlend Voy (fiddle, conc ...
sang ''The Border Widow's Lament'' in 1971 on their Argo album ''Scotia!''. The High Level Ranters sang ''The Border Widow's Lament'' in 1973 on their Trailer album ''A Mile to Ride''. Linda Adams sang ''The Lament of the Border Widow'' in 1975 on her and Paul Adams' album ''Far Over the Fell''.
Ellen Kushner Ellen Kushner (born October 6, 1955) is an American writer of fantasy novels. From 1996 until 2010, she was the host of the radio program '' Sound & Spirit'', produced by WGBH in Boston and distributed by Public Radio International. Backgroun ...
's novel ''
Thomas the Rhymer Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders. Thomas ...
'' (1990) includes elements of the song.


References


External links


''The Famous Flower of Serving Men''





Steeleye Span version
* Fictional servants Child Ballads Songs about cross-dressing Murder ballads Year of song unknown {{folk-song-stub