Child overlooked this splendid little companion piece to Queen Eleanor's Confession. It is one of the oldest of all known English ballads, dating from the 12th century when Henry II took Rosamund Clifford as his mistress. In the Roxburghe collection, it is called "The Unfortunate Concubine" or "Rosamund's Overthrow", occasioned by her brother's praising her beauty to two young knights in Salisbury as they ride along the road. The text is from Mrs. E.I. Kidder and Miss E. Irons of Assonet, Massachusetts.
lyrics
I have a sister, young Clifford he said,
A sister no man knows;
She hath a colour in her cheek
Like drops of blood in snow,
Like drops of blood in snow.
She hath a waist, a waist, a waist
Like to my silver cane;
And I would not for ten-thousand worlds
Have King Henry know her name,
Have King Henry know her name.
King Henry was in his bower
Hidden close and still;
And every word young Clifford spoke
He wrote down in a bill,
He wrote down in a bill.
Now, the first fair line she looked on
She did begin to smile,
And the next fair line she looked on
Down the tears did fall,
Down the tears did fall.
Cursèd be my brother Clifford,
O, cursèd may be be!
Why don't he dote on his hawks and hounds
But he must dote on me,
He must dote on me.
This site is maintained by the MacColl family, aiming to make Ewan's catalogue available to download.
Ewan MacColl is
known to most as a songwriter and singer, but he was also of significant influence in the worlds of theatre and radio broadcasting. His art reached huge numbers through the folk clubs, greater numbers through his recordings and untold millions through the radio....more
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