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Lady Diamond (Child 269)

from Blood & Roses Volume 2 by Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger

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about

The English and Scots repertories of traditional songs and ballads contain innumerable stories of star-crossed lovers and the punishments awaiting those ill-fated innocents who find themselves caught in the web of a misalliance. In this ballad, the base-born lover is guilty of the crime of lese-majesty, and the traditional punishment for violating this particular tabu is by smothering. "The ballad is one of a large number of repetitions of Boccaccio's tale of "Guiscardo and Ghismonda," Decameron IV, 1. It was translated in Painter's Palace of Pleasure, 1566 and became the foundation of various English poems and plays." (Child)

lyrics

There was a king and a noble king,
A king o' muckle fame,
And he had an only dochter dear,
Lady Diamond was her name.

He had a servant, a kitchie boy,
A lad o' muckle scorn,
And she loved him lang and she loved him aye
Till the grass o'er-grew the corn.

When twenty weeks were gene and past,
Then she began to greet;
For her petticoat grew short before
And her stays they wadnae meet.

Then it fell oot on a winter's nicht,
The king could get no rest;
And he has gene by his dochter's bower
Just like a wandering ghaist.

He's led her by the milk-white hand
Tae the bed-chamber within;
What ails ye, lass, that ye look sae wan,
And your apron winna pin?

O father dear, upbraid me not,
Dinna tak' free me my joy;
For I hae forsaken your high-born lords
Tae marry your kitchie boy.

Gae ca' to me my merry men a',
By thirty and by three;
Gae fetch to me yon kitchie boy,
We'll kill him secretly.

There wasnae ae sound to be heard
No' another word was said,
Till they hae got him fast and sure
Between twa feather beds.

They've cut the hairt oot o' his white breast,
Put it in a gowden bowl;
And they've gi'en it to his lady dear
That she might her love behold.

O come to me, my honey, my hairt,
O come to me, my joy;
O come to my, my honey, my hairt,
My ain dear kitchie boy.

She's ta'en the heart o' her ain true love,
And she grat baith lang and sair;
Till the blood was washed by her ain saut tears
And at last she breathed nae mair.

O where were ye, my good men a'
That took baith meat and fee,
That ye didnae hold my cruel hand
And keep his blood free me?

For gane is a' my heart's delight,
And gane frae me my joy,
For my bonnie Diamond she is deid
For the love o' a kitchie boy.

credits

from Blood & Roses Volume 2, released April 12, 1982
Ewan MacColl - vocals

Produced by Neill MacColl
Engineered by Nick Godwin
Recorded at Pathway Studios

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Ewan MacColl London, UK

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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