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The Broomfield Hill (Child 43)

from Blood & Roses Volume 4 by Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger

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about

This is an old favourite, one of the "biter-bit" stories with a subtler touch than usual. The theme was common in mediaeval European romance and in ballad form it has been found throughout Europe ever since. It is not vary common in the United States. Broom, of course, is a magicking plant and the story is very appealing to women, who made, sang and passed down to their daughters songs about the possibility of females using their wits to extricate themselves from difficult encounters with the male. This particular version is from the singing of Carey Woofter, Gilmer County, West Virginia.

lyrics

I'll lay you five-hundred pounds,
Five-hundred pounds and ten,
That a maid won't go to the green broom hill
And come back a maid again.

Up and spoke a sweet young girl,
Her age was just fifteen,
A maid I'll go to the green broom hill
And come back a maid again.

But when she went to the green broom hill
Her lover was asleep,
With a gay goshork and a good hound dog
And the green broom under his feet.

She pulled a bunch of the pretty green broom
And smelled of it so sweet,
Scattered a handful around his head
And another around his feet.

And then she kissed his pretty red lips
And cut off a lock of his hair,
For to let him know when he woke up
That his darlin' had been there.

And when she done what she wagered to do
She turned herself away,
Hid herself in the green broom hill
For to hear what he would say.

And when he wakened from his sleep
A fearsome man was he,
He looked to the east, looked to the west
His darlin' for to see.

Where were you, my gay goshork,
And the hound I trusted dear,
That you would not waken me from my sleep
When my darlin' was so near?

For if you'd a-wakened me from my sleep
Of her I'd a-had my will.
Or the hawks that fly out over the sky
Of her would a-had their will.

Come saddle me my milk-white steed
And come saddle me my brown,
Come saddle me the speediest mare
That ever ran through the town.

You need not saddle your milk-white steed
And you need not saddle your brown,
For the doe never ran so fast through the woods
As the little girl ran to town.

credits

from Blood & Roses Volume 4, released April 12, 1986
Peggy Seeger - vocals, banjo

Produced by Calum MacColl
Engineered by Nigel Cazaly

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all rights reserved

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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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