Matty Groves
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| "Matty Groves" | |
| Written by | Traditional |
|---|---|
| Performed by | Many; see main text |
Matty Groves is an English language folk ballad which describes an adulterous tryst between a man and a woman that is ended when the woman's husband discovers and kills them. It dates to at least the 17th century, and is one of the Child Ballads collected by the 19th-century American scholar Francis James Child. It has several variant names, including Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The wife of a nobleman, Lord Arlen (other names include Lord Daniel, Arnold, Donald, and Barnard) entices Matty Groves (or Little Musgrave), a servant or retainer of her husband, into an adulterous affair. Lord Arlen receives word of the betrayal (in some versions a foot-page hears them planning and warns Lord Arlen; the lord promises reward if he is telling the truth -- to make him his heir, or marry him to his eldest daughter -- and execution if he is lying) and returns home, where he surprises the lovers in bed. The death may be put off by Matty arguing for a weapon. Lord Arlen kills Matty Groves in a duel. When his wife spurns him and expresses a preference for her lover, even in death, over her husband, he stabs her through the heart. The ballad may end there, or with the lord's death, by suicide or execution.
Some versions of the ballad include elements of an aubade, a poetic form in which lovers part after spending a night together.
[edit] Commentary
Believed to have originated no later than the early 17th century.
[edit] Historical Background
[edit] Cultural Relationships
[edit] Standard References
- Child ballad 81
[edit] Broadsides
[edit] Textual Variants
| Variant | Lord/Lady's surname | Lover | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Old ballad of Little Musgrave and the Lady Barnard | Barnard | Little Musgrave | This version has the foot-page |
| Mattie Groves | Arlen | Little Mattie Groves | [1] |
| Matty Groves | Darnell | Matty Groves | [2] |
Some of the versions of the song subsequently recorded differ from Child's catalogued version.
The earliest published version appeared in 1658 (but see Literature section below).
A copy was also printed on a broadside by Henry Gosson, who is said to have printed between 1607 and 1641. [3]
Some variation occurs in where Matty is first seen; sometimes at church, sometimes playing ball.
Other names:
- Based on the lover
- Matthy Groves
- Young Musgrave
- Wee Messgrove
- Little Musgrave
- Little Sir Grove
- Little Miushiegrove
- Little Massgrove
- Based on the lord
- Lord Barnard
- Lord Barnaby
- Lord Barlibas
- Lord Barnabas
- Lord Bengwill
- Lord Barnett
- Lord Arlen
- Lord Arnold
- Lord Aaron
- Lord Donald
- Lord Darlen
- Lord Darnell
- Based on a combination of names
- Lord Barnett and Little Munsgrove
- Little Musgrave and Lady Barnet
[edit] Migration
In the United States the song was transformed into the less graphic Shady Grove, which has itself become a tradition.
[edit] Songs that refer to Matty Groves
John Wesley Harding's "Little Musgrave" was recorded on his Trad Arr Jones album.
[edit] Motifs
[edit] Literature
There is an allusion to the ballad in Beaumont and Fletcher's play The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1613); this is the earliest known reference.
Also a book by Deborah Grabien (3rd in the Haunted Ballad series); the book puts a different spin on the ballad[4].
[edit] Art
[edit] Television and Movie References
[edit] Music
The song has been recorded several times, with best known versions by Fairport Convention and Joan Baez.
[edit] Recordings
| Album/Single | Performer | Year | Variant | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Jacob Niles Sings American Folk Songs | John Jacob Niles | 1956 | Little Mattie Groves | |
| Joan Baez in Concert | Joan Baez | 1962 | Matty Groves | Lyrics differ from Fairport Convention's one |
| Home Again | Doc Watson | 1966 | ||
| Liege & Lief | Fairport Convention | 1969 | Matty Groves | |
| Prince Heathen | Martin Carthy | 1969 | Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard | |
| Ballads and Songs | Nic Jones | 1970 | Little Musgrave | |
| Norman Blake and his wife, Nancy Blake | ||||
| Christy Moore | Christy Moore | 1976 | Little Musgrave | |
| The Woman I Loved So Well | Planxty | 1992 | Little Musgrave | Christy Moore, who also recorded the song, was a member of Planxty |
| "You Could Be the Meadow" | Eden Burning | 1994 | ||
| Robyn Hitchcock | ||||
| "Live At The Mineshaft Tavern" | ThaMuseMeant | 1995 | ||
| "Make Them Come Alive - Live at Stony Point Barn" | Uncle Dirtytoes | 1997 | ||
| "Lost Lady Found" | Vikki Clayton | 1999 | ||
| "Blind Man's Bluff" | Minstrels of Mayhem | 2004 | Mattie Groves, Lord Donal | |
| Fiddler's Green | ||||
| Frank Hayes | Done as a parody talking-blues version | |||
| "Ralph Stanley" | Ralph Stanley | 2002 | Little Mathie Grove | |
| "De Andere Kust" | Kadril | 2005 | ||
| "Season of the Witch" | The Strangelings | 2007 | Matty Groves | |
| "Prodigal Son" | Martin Simpson | 2007 | Little Musgrave |
[edit] Musical variants
In 1943, the English composer Benjamin Britten used this folk song as the basis of a choral piece entitled "The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard".[5]
[edit] Other songs with the same tune
[edit] See also
The previous and next Child Ballads:
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- ^ Mattie Groves, http://www.contemplator.com/child/mattie.html
- ^ Matty Groves, http://celtic-lyrics.com/forum/index.php?autocom=tclc&code=lyrics&id=559
- ^ Mattie Groves, http://www.contemplator.com/child/mattie.html
- ^ Mattie Groves, http://www.deborahgrabien.com/matty.htm
- ^ Reviews at Musical Quarterly 51 (4), 722; Music & Letters 34 (2), 172.
[edit] Further reading
[edit] External links
- Lyrics (F.J.Child)
- Lyrics (Fairport Convention)
- Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
- Mattie Groves a variant
