By the way, for anyone who's curious and/or doesn't know, the broom is a thick grass like cane & bamboo, but not so high & broad. It could provide cover(and does as a common motif in folksongs) to two lovers.
Such a sad and disturbing ballad, but I love it anyway. One thing I figured out about it a while ago: if you sing the fourth line of each verse in Scots, it rhymes with the second line (whereas it doesn't quite rhyme in standard English). In other words, in Scots, the line "We'll never go down to the broom anymore" becomes "We'll ne'er gae doon tae the broom ony mair." I wonder why I've never heard any singer do the last lines that way? Anyway, this is a terrific version of the song. I also wish I knew about how old it is...
It was collected in Fife in 1630, according to the records in the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library - however, how old it was then . . . You're right. it does seem to fit Scots better than English. Child recorded it as Child Ballad 16A, and noted it as being Scots. "IT is talked the warld all over, Refrain: The brume blooms bonnie and says it is fair That the king’s dochter gaes wi child to her brither. Refrain: And we’ll never gang doun to the brume onie mair" 16B has the fourth line as "And we daur na gae doun to the broom nae mair." One note I saw while looking for that was that the original song has NO disparaging implications about her "ganing wi child to her brither" - it's just mentioned as a fact, no blame, no shame. In two versions, Child 16D and 16E, it's two kings daughters ride out "like sister and brother". They don't say who the baby's father is. www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch016.htm
@@chriswhitham2140 Well, I think the point the song is making is not that incest is okay; but that this sort of thing happened rather often in royal families and the nobility in general. Royal children weren't allowed to associate with anyone outside their extended families back then; and when they hit puberty, there wasn't anyone outside family with whom they could express sexual impulses. This was practically the case as recently as Queen Victoria's time, in which she ended up marrying her first cousin... 😉
@@LairMistress 🙃 Yes. Have you ever seen the photo of King George and Tsar Nicholas in the early 1900s - you can hardly tell which is which. Almost all the royals of Europe were Victoria's grandkids one way or another! Still, a lovely song, beautifully performed!
This is so disfuntionally beautiful! I do so love Maddy Prior!
By the way, for anyone who's curious and/or doesn't know, the broom is a thick grass like cane & bamboo, but not so high & broad. It could provide cover(and does as a common motif in folksongs) to two lovers.
She is so brilliant
God bless you Maddy.what a voice.what a beautiful song.
Wonderful performance by Maddy and her Friends. A joy to hear, and watch. Thanks for posting.
Fantastic
Beautiful!
Simply wonderful. Jim N
Such a sad and disturbing ballad, but I love it anyway. One thing I figured out about it a while ago: if you sing the fourth line of each verse in Scots, it rhymes with the second line (whereas it doesn't quite rhyme in standard English). In other words, in Scots, the line "We'll never go down to the broom anymore" becomes "We'll ne'er gae doon tae the broom ony mair." I wonder why I've never heard any singer do the last lines that way? Anyway, this is a terrific version of the song. I also wish I knew about how old it is...
It was collected in Fife in 1630, according to the records in the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library - however, how old it was then . . .
You're right. it does seem to fit Scots better than English.
Child recorded it as Child Ballad 16A, and noted it as being Scots.
"IT is talked the warld all over,
Refrain: The brume blooms bonnie and says it is fair
That the king’s dochter gaes wi child to her brither.
Refrain: And we’ll never gang doun to the brume onie mair"
16B has the fourth line as "And we daur na gae doun to the broom nae mair."
One note I saw while looking for that was that the original song has NO disparaging implications about her "ganing wi child to her brither" - it's just mentioned as a fact, no blame, no shame.
In two versions, Child 16D and 16E, it's two kings daughters ride out "like sister and brother". They don't say who the baby's father is.
www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch016.htm
@@chriswhitham2140 Well, I think the point the song is making is not that incest is okay; but that this sort of thing happened rather often in royal families and the nobility in general. Royal children weren't allowed to associate with anyone outside their extended families back then; and when they hit puberty, there wasn't anyone outside family with whom they could express sexual impulses. This was practically the case as recently as Queen Victoria's time, in which she ended up marrying her first cousin... 😉
@@LairMistress 🙃 Yes. Have you ever seen the photo of King George and Tsar Nicholas in the early 1900s - you can hardly tell which is which. Almost all the royals of Europe were Victoria's grandkids one way or another!
Still, a lovely song, beautifully performed!
The kick inside Kate Bush flew me here