Willie O Winsbury is
Child Ballad
The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as '' ...
100 (
Roud
The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...
64). The song, of which there are many variants, is a traditional Scottish ballad that dates from at least 1775, and is known under several other names, including "Johnnie Barbour" and "Lord Thomas of Winesberry".
Synopsis
A king is away for some time. His daughter becomes pregnant by the hero, William or Thomas. The king threatens to hang him, but is struck by his beauty and offers him his daughter's hand, gold, and land. The hero agrees to marry the king's daughter but declares the gold and the land to be hers, not his own.
Historical Basis
![Winsbury](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Winsbury.jpg)
This ballad closely parallels Child ballad 99, "
Johnie Scot
Johnie Scot is Child ballad number 99.
Synopsis
Johnie Scot served the king of England and got his daughter pregnant. The king threw her in prison to starve. One day, back in Scotland, he sent a shirt to his love, and she sent back a letter wit ...
".
In one variant, the lands are specifically described: he will be king when he returns to Scotland.
It may, in fact, be based on
James V
James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and duri ...
's courtship of and marriage to
Madeleine de Valois of France; James came to see the woman he was betrothed to in disguise, and went on to meet the princess, who fell in love with him.
[Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v 2, p 398-9, Dover Publications, New York 1965]
Thomas and his brother or possibly son William, both of Winsbury in Shropshire, were given protection for being in Scotland in November 1336
ee 'Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland'; Vol.5, no.3538, p.505(Supplementary; Public Records Office, Ed. Grant Simpson & James Galbraith; available online Winsbury is a small township of 1 square mile just to the west of Chirbury. It was the base of the Winsbury family in the 13th and 14th centuries.
ee R W Eyton 'Antiquities of Shropshire'; Vol. XI. pp. 167-172. Available online.Thomas was a mid-level official in the service of Shropshire and the English central authorities.
or an example see Calendar of Fine Rolls 1331 p.290 & 1333, p.374 There seem to be only one place named Winsbury. Thomas and William of Winsbury were in Scotland when these popular ballads were being composed. If there is a connection the exiled king would have been
David II who was in France from 1333 to 1341, however he had no children at all.
The song is often sung to the tune of "
Fause Foodrage
Fause Foodrage ( Child ballad 89, Roud 57) is a Scottish murder ballad of the 17th or 18th century.
It was first printed by Walter Scott in '' Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'' (1802).
Scott cited Elizabeth, Lady Wardlaw as the ballad's probable ...
."
Recordings
Andy Irvine sang "Willy O'Winsbury" on
Sweeney's Men
Sweeney's Men was an Irish traditional band. They emerged from the mid-1960s Irish roots revival, along with groups such as The Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers. The founding line-up in May 1966 was Johnny Moynihan, Andy Irvine and "Galway ...
's eponymous debut album in 1968, accompanying himself on guitar. The recording featured the tune of "
Fause Foodrage
Fause Foodrage ( Child ballad 89, Roud 57) is a Scottish murder ballad of the 17th or 18th century.
It was first printed by Walter Scott in '' Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'' (1802).
Scott cited Elizabeth, Lady Wardlaw as the ballad's probable ...
" (Child 89), which is now commonly used for "Willie O' Winsbury". On the album's sleeve notes, band member Johnny Moynihan wrote, "A ballad for which Andy is renowned. He got the text from Child's 'English and Scottish Ballads'; looking up the tune he got his numbers confused and emerged with the wrong air. By chance it suited the song very well".
[Sleeve notes from ''Sweeney's Men'' LP, Transatlantic Records Ltd, TRA SAM 37, 1968.] In 2010, Irvine re-recorded the song with a fuller arrangement of the same tune for his album ''
Abocurragh'', adding: "This is Child 100. I collected the words from different versions and as the story goes, on looking up the tune, I lighted on the tune to number 101. I'm not sure if this is true but it's a good story".
[Sleeve notes from ''Andy Irvine - Abocurragh'', Andy Irvine AK-3, 2010.]
The song "Farewell, Farewell", recorded by
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...
on their album ''
Liege and Lief
''Liege & Lief'' is the fourth album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third album the group released in the UK during 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist (Denny did not appear o ...
'' in 1969, is an adaptation featuring new lyrics by
Richard Thompson. A recording of "Willie O' Winsbury" played and sung by Thompson was included in the 2006 boxset ''
RT - The Life and Music of Richard Thompson''.
Following is a list of notable recordings of the ballad including, for each entry, the year of release, artist, song title, and album title:
See also
*
List of the Child Ballads
The Child Ballads is the colloquial name given to a collection of 305 ballads collected in the 19th century by Francis James Child
Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, ...
*
Johnie Scot
Johnie Scot is Child ballad number 99.
Synopsis
Johnie Scot served the king of England and got his daughter pregnant. The king threw her in prison to starve. One day, back in Scotland, he sent a shirt to his love, and she sent back a letter wit ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willie O Winsbury
Scottish folk songs
Child Ballads
Traditional ballads
1770s songs
18th-century ballads