From the Batt Brothers
Collected by Francis Collinson, Bethersden, 25th June 1942
Francis Collinson Manuscript Collection COL/1/14
Come Come My Pretty Maid
From Tom Batt
Collected by Francis Collinson, Bethersden, 1941
Francis Collinson Manuscript Collection (COL/4/5)
An identical version, but with six verses, was collected from Tom Batt’s relatives the Batt Brothers in 1942: Come Come My Pretty Maid (The Thrush)
Come Come My Pretty Maid (The Thrush)
From the Batt Brothers
Collected by Francis Collinson, Bethersden, 25 Jun 1942
Francis Collinson Manuscript Collection (COL/1/11)
An identical version, but with only two verses, was collected from the Batt Brothers’ relative Tom Batt in 1941: Come Come My Pretty Maid
We are all Jolly Fellows that Follow the Plough
From Charley Appleton
Sent to ‘Felix’ and printed in the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 5th November 1932
Young Spencer the Rover
Collected by Ella Bull, 5th March 1910, “from a Kentish man and woman”, Cottenham, Cambridgeshire
Lucy Broadwood MSS Collection LEB/5/88, LEB/5/89
Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor
Sent by Lucy Grahame to Lucy Broadwood, April 1904
Lucy Broadwood MSS Collection LEB/5/182/1, LEB/5/182/2
Roud 4, Child 73
“The name of this Ballad is not known”.
“Learnt orally from the daughters of a Kentish Squire; the last of whom died in 1865 at a very advanced age”.
Lucy Grahame seemed to have some doubts as to whether the melody as transcribed was a correct rendering of “the tune which I heard in my childhood”.
When sending this song to Lucy Broadwood, she pondered on the relationship between ‘Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor’ and ‘Lord Thomas and Fair Annet (both are now in fact ascribed the same Roud number). She had a niece copy out what is very clearly a Scottish set of words for the ballad ‘Lord Thomas and Fair Annet’, as printed in Old English ballads, Nelson & Sons, 1887 (LEB/5/179). That collection had originally been published by Ward and Lock in 1864, and can be found on the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3gAnoD1n58QC/page/n103/mode/2up
The Iron Peel
Sent by Lucy Grahame to Lucy Broadwood, April 1904
Lucy Broadwood MSS Collection LEB/5/181/1, LEB/5/181/2, Journal of the Folk-Song Society 2 (1905) pp.136-137
“Learnt from the drs of a Kentish Squire the last of whom died 1865 at an advanced age”.
A baker’s peel is an instrument used for putting bread in the oven.
Barbara Allen
Sent by Lucy Grahame to Lucy Broadwood, April 1904
Lucy Broadwood MSS Collection LEB/5/180/1, LEB/5/180/2, Journal of the Folk-Song Society 1 (1904) p.265
Roud 54, Child 84
“Learnt from Kentish squire’s daughters (last died vy old in 1865)”
The Yarmouth Ditty
Sent by Lucy Grahame to Lucy Broadwood, April 1904
Lucy Broadwood MSS Collection LEB/5/178/1, LEB/5/178/2, Journal of the Folk-Song Society 2 (1905) pp.113-114
“Learnt from Kentish squire’s daughters, the last of whom died at great age in 1865”.
Mrs Grahame wrote:
This is all of the “Yarmouth Ditty” which I have ever heard. There is, I believe, a good deal more of it, but I have no idea what kind of tragic ending there may be!
The Shop walker
Reportedly sung by George Mount, Cheriton.
‘The Shop Walker’ was a comic song composed by George Le Brunn with lyrics by Walter de Frece, published by Charles Sheard & Co in 1891 or 1892. In 1903 the song entered the repertoire of the well known music hall performer Dan Leno, and was described on the cover of subsequent sheet music printings as “Sung with greatest possible success by Dan Leno”, and his “celebrated pantomime patter song” – see https://www.vandaimages.com/2009CR8416-Song-sheet-cover-featuring-Dan-Leno-in-Walter-de.html.
According to Wikipedia
“The Shopwalker” was full of comic one-liners and was heavily influenced by pantomime. Leno played the part of a shop assistant, again of manic demeanour, enticing imaginary clientele into the shop before launching into a frantic selling technique sung in verse.[1]
Leno recorded the song on a disc issued by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. In July 1903, and it was subsequently taken up by other performers including Harry Bluff and Sandy Powell- and, no doubt, by many amateur performers around the country.1