The Fause Knight Upon the Road
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The False Knight Upon the Road is a British
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
, collected and published as
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 '' ...
3,
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 ...
20. It features a riddling exchange between a schoolboy and a "false knight," the devil in disguise. As to its provenance, it is presumed to not be much older than its first publication in 1824.


Synopsis

Across numerous versions differing significantly in lyric content, the consistent themes are:
  • The knight asks the boy where he is going, and what he is carrying (books).
  • He asks after the sheep, which belong to the boy and his mother, and how many belong to the knight—as many as have blue tails.
  • The knight may wish him in a tree, the boy to have a ladder, the knight to have it break, and so on.
  • Throughout any exchange, the boy is described as stood/standing fast/still. This appears to be the condition that will save him.


    Commentary

    The boy's ability to evade the devil may spring from the devil's inability to dumbfound him; gaining power over people by this means is a motif found in other folktales.Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v 1, p 20, Dover Publications, New York 1965 In some respect, the ability of the child to circumvent the fause knight can be seen as a rite of passage.
    This ballad's narrative is quite clearly structured as a rite of passage the child's status as a speaker changes. His character is developed, transformed in a story that shows the different ways in which a person moves from one category to the next. The ballad portrays the speech contexts in which the confrontation between the child and a threatening adult is being performed, foreshadowing the speech contexts in which children and adults might interact as equals or, if he learns well, a child travels to school and then out into the world, revealing speech appropriate to and necessary for these contexts. The ballad implies that children in school should answer questions but here an adult in the form of a threatening stranger may be rebutted in a forthright manner. In addition to these very serious and quite obvious rationales of learning to speak well, there may be associated seemingly playful but profound functions in cognitive, social development. See
    Minton, John. "The Fause Knight upon the Road: A Reappraisal." The Journal of American Folklore 98.390 (1985): 435-455.
    (see p. 443)
    A Swedish variant features the little boy, but an old woman, presumably a witch, in the place of the knight.


    Recordings and Settings

    Recordings * The Blue Velvet Band recorded this song as "The Knight Upon the Road" on '' Sweet Moments'' (1969). * Tim Hart and Maddy Prior recorded this song as "False Knight on the Road" on ''
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    '' (1971). *
    Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...
    recorded this song as "False Knight on the Road" on ''
    Please to See the King ''Please to See the King'' is the second album by Steeleye Span, released in 1971. A major personnel change following their previous effort, '' Hark! The Village Wait'', brought about a substantial change in their overall sound, including a lac ...
    '' (1971) and '' Live at Last'' (1978). * The School of Scottish Studies issued three fragments sung by Bella Higgins, Duncan McPhee and Nellie MacGregor on ''The Muckle Sangs: Claasic Scots Ballads'' (1975). *
    Oysterband Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) is a British folk rock and folk punk band formed in Canterbury around 1976. History Early history The band formed in parallel to Fiddler's Dram, and under the name "Oyster Ceilidh Band" played purely as ...
    recorded this song on the CD ''The Oxford Girl & Other Stories'' (2008) and on the CD Single "This Is The Voice" (1999). *
    Jane Siberry Jane Siberry ( ; ; born 12 October 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, known for such hits as " Mimi on the Beach", "I Muse Aloud", "One More Colour" and "Calling All Angels". She performed the theme song to the television series ''Maniac Ma ...
    recorded her own variant of the song on her 2000 album ''
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    ''. The song was retitled "False False Fly" and the boy protagonist recast as a girl. *
    Stephan Said Stephan Othman Said ( ar, ستيفن سعيد) (born May 30, 1968), aka Stephan Smith, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, writer, and global activist. He hosts ''borderless'', a docuseries about people at the front lines of change, pro ...
    recorded "The False Knight on the Road" and a version re-written as an anti-war anthem on the 2002 EP '' The Bell'' which included
    Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
    and
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    . *
    Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes is an American indie folk band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. The band consists of Robin Pecknold (vocals, guitar), Skyler Skjelset (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Casey Wescott (keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals), Ch ...
    recorded this song as the b-side to the 7" release of "Mykonos" in 2009. This version features different lyrics to the original. * Richard Thompson has performed a version of this song on recent tours. * Matt Ender issued an album ''Miles of Skye'' with this song titled "The False Fly". * Barry Gleeson issued an album ''Path across the ocean'' with this song titled "The false, false fly". * Gilmore & Roberts recorded an arrangement of this song on their 2012 album '' The Innocent Left''. It was entitled "False Knight" and again recast the protagonist as a girl. *
    John Langstaff John Meredith "Jack" Langstaff (December 24, 1920 – December 13, 2005), a concert baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from th ...
    recorded a version of this song on ''Nottamun Town'' (EMI 1964, remaster 2003). Settings *
    Runa Runa may refer to: People American * Runa Lucienne (born 1988), model and actress Bengali * Runa Islam (born 1970), artist * Runa Laila (born 1952), singer * Runa Basu, cricketer Canadian * Runa Reta (born 1980), squash player Japanese ...
    recorded this song as "The False Knight on the Road" on ''Current Affairs'' in 2014. *Set by
    Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
    in his ''Eight Folk Song Arrangements'' (for high voice and harp). There is a recording of this by
    Philip Langridge Philip Gordon Langridge (16 December 1939 – 5 March 2010)Millington (7 March 2010) was an English tenor, considered to be among the foremost exponents of English opera and oratorio. Early life Langridge was born in Hawkhurst, Kent, educ ...
    and
    Osian Ellis Osian or Osiyan may refer to: * Osian art fund, an arts fund started in Mumbai (2010). *Osian, Jodhpur, a city in Rajasthan, India * Osiyan, Unnao, a village in Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, India * Osian (name), a name common in Wales, derived f ...
    on #13 of the ''Naxos English Song Series'' (8.557222 - Originally released by Collins Classics)


    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, ...
    *
    Riddles Wisely Expounded "Riddles Wisely Expounded" is a traditional English song, dating at least to 1450. It is Child Ballad 1 and Roud 161, and exists in several variants. The first known tune was attached to it in 1719. The title "Riddles Wisely Expounded" was giv ...
    *
    The Elfin Knight "The Elfin Knight" () is a traditional Scottish folk ballad of which there are many versions, all dealing with supernatural occurrences, and the commission to perform impossible tasks. The ballad has been collected in different parts of England, ...


    References


    External links

    *"Scottish Ballads Online
    Child Ballad #3: 'The Fause Knight
    Three variants from Francis J Child's collection and link to versions from the living tradition.

    {{DEFAULTSORT:Fause Knight Upon The Road Child Ballads Fiction about the Devil Year of song unknown