Saturday, December 24, 2011

Occasional Folk Songs
I Sing of a Maiden
Fifteenth Century Carol

I had a copy of this in a poetry anthology I own together with about three other early anonymous poems (Sumer is icumen in, Adam lay ybounden and Westron winde). When my wife bought a poetry anthology recently it was also included in it with the heading "Carol" which made me think about adding a tune. When I suggested it her comment was "don't make it one of your usual dirgy ones". I think she was referring to the minor mode tunes often found in folk song. It gave me pause for thought and I realised that a jig I had written some years ago might work so I gave it a try. I found that the 15th century English did not quite fit the tune and also one verse only used half the the melody. As a result, I rewrote the poem in modern English, combining two verses into one so that it used a complete tune. By repeating the original first verse I was able to create a three verse song.



Here is the original poem

I sing of a maiden
That is makëless
King of alle kingës
To here sone she ches

He cam also stillë
There his moder was,
As the dew in Aprillë
That falleth on the grass

He cam also stillë
To his modres bowr,
As the dew in Aprillë
That falleth on the flowr

He cam also stillë
There his moder lay,
As the dew in Aprillë
That falleth on the spray

Moder and maiden
Was never non but she
Well may swich a lady
Godës moder be.

And my version (complete with the chords I used on the ukulele)

I [G] sing of a maiden that was matchless
King of all kings for her son she [D] chose
He [C] came so [G] softly where his mother [D] was
As the [C] dew in [G] April falls [D7] on the [G] grass

I sing of a maiden that was matchless
King of all kings for her son she chose
He came so softly to his mother's bower
As the dew in April falls on the flowers

He came so softly where his mother lay
As the dew in April falls on the Spray
Mother and maiden was ne'er one but she
Well may such a lady God's mother be.

Since doing this I found that the original had survived in the oral tradition and that it had been recorded by Shirley Collins but I have not heard her version.

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