Join us each month in song!
Since 2016—our designated Year of Song—CDSS has featured a traditional song each month. Lorraine Hammond spearheaded this effort, and it was such a popular feature that Judy Cook volunteered to continue the tradition in 2017 and beyond.
Note: Many of these old songs should be looked at as “fairy tales for adults” in that they often address very strong, and sometimes scary, subject matter. They allow us to deal with difficult situations and emotions with the distance afforded by putting it in a song. They are cautionary tales, and had their use as such.
This month’s song:
July 2024: Matty Groves
Submitted by Harry Tuft
I learned this song from a Riverside album by Bob Gibson, “I Come for to Sing.” According to some internet research, Joan Baez must have learned it that way, as well, mostly. She may have conflated both his and the older one, below. Again, from the internet, I have learned that it is likely a version of “Little Musgrave and Lady Barnet,” purported to go back as far as the fifteenth century.
Perhaps the first version, from which others have learned the song, was by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger on a Folkways recording in 1961. Fairport Convention did it and Doc Watson, too. I have only heard the Gibson version, and I believe I have stayed close to his rendition.
Listen to Harry singing “Matty Groves:”
Download the sheet music for “Matty Groves.” Lyrics
Hi ho, hi ho holiday, the best day of the year.
Little Matty Groves to church did go, some holy words to hear,
Some holy words to hear.He spied three ladies dressed in black, as they came into view.
Lord Arlyn’s wife among them walked, a flower among the few,
A flower among the few.She trip-ed up to Matty Groves, her eyes so low cast down,
Oh pray, oh pray, come with me stay, as you pass through the town,
As you pass through the town.I cannot go, and I dare not go. I fear ‘twould cost my life.
For I can tell by the little ring you wear that you are Lord Arlyn’s wife,
You’re the great Lord Arlyn’s wife.This may be false, it may be true, I can’t deny it all.
But Arlyn’s gone to consecrate King Henry at Whitehall,
King Henry at Whitehall.Oh pray, oh pray, come with me stay, I’ll hide you out of sight.
And I’ll serve you there beyond compare, and sleep with you the night,
And sleep with you the night.Her little page did listen well to all that they did say.
And ere that they were out of sight, He quickly sped away,
He quickly sped away.He did run the Kings Highway, he swam across the tide.
And he ne’er did stop until he came to the great Lord Arlyn’s side,
To the great Lord Arlyn’s side.What news, what news, me bowly boy, what news bring you to me?
My castle burned, my tenants wronged, or my lady with baby,
My lady with baby.No harm has come your house and land, the little page did say,
But Matty Groves is bedded up, with your fair lady gay,
With your fair Lady gay.Lord Arlyn called his men and he bade them with him go.
And he bade them ne’er a word to speak, and ne’er a horn to blow,
And ne’er a horn to blow.Among Lord Arlyn’s merry men ’twas one who wished no ill,
And ere the castle was in sight, blew his horn so loud so shrill,
Blew a blast so loud so shrill.What’s this, what’s this, cried Matty Groves, what’s this that I do hear?
It must be Lord Arlyn’s merry men, the ones that I do fear,
The ones that I do fear.Lie down lie down, cried Arlyn’s wife, come keep my back from cold.
It’s only my uncle’s shepherd men, a-calling their sheep to fold,
A-calling their sheep to fold.Little Matty Groves he did lie down, and he took a nap asleep.
And when he woke, Lord Arlyn was a-standing at his feet,
A-standin’ at his bed feet.Well, it’s how do you like your pillow said he, and it’s how do you like your sheets
And how do you like that fair lady gay, what lies in your arms asleep?
What lies in your arms asleep.Very well do I like my pillow said he, and it’s better do I like my sheets,
But it’s best, do I like, that fair lady gay, what lies, but ain’t asleep,
Who lies but ain’t asleep.Rise up, rise up, little Matty Groves, defend you if you can.
In England, it shall never be said, I slewed a sleeping man,
I slewed a sleeping man.I cannot rise and I dare not rise, I fear ‘twould cost my life.
For you have got two bitter swords and I ain’t got a knife,
I ain’t got a knife.Oh yes, I have two bitter swords, they cost me deep in the purse,
But you shall have the better one and I shall have the worst,
I shall have the worse.Firstest stroke little Matty struck, he hurt Lord Arlyn sore.
And the nextest stroke Lord Arlyn struck, little Matty struck no more,
Little Matty struck no more.Rise up, rise up, my gay young wife. Draw on your wedding clothes.
And tell me do you like me best, or like you Matty Groves
Or the now dead Matty Groves.She lifted Matty’s dying head, and kissed from cheek to chin.
It’s Matty Groves I’d rather have, than Arlyn and all his kin,
Than Arlyn, and all his kin.He took his lady by the hand, and he dragged her through the hall.
And with his sword, he cut off her head, and he stove it again’ the wall
He stove it again’ the wall.Oh, woe is me, oh woe is me, why stayed you not my hand?
For I have killed the fairest folk in all of England,
In all of England.Harry Tuft says: I grew up in Philadelphia in a family that enjoyed music. I owe my first interest in folk music to the recordings of Pete Seeger and Big Bill Broonzy, and also to Roger Abrahams and Bob Coltman, early influencers. I credit the Gilded Cage coffee house also as a great incubator in the late fifties in Philadelphia. I started a folk music store in Denver in 1962, the Denver Folklore Center, which I ran until I sold it to friends in 2016. This has allowed me to concentrate on making music, a primary goal when I came to Colorado in 1960. (It’s only taken me sixty years to pursue my real love, making music for folks). I have also been a member of the group Grubstake, which has had a run for over forty years. It was dormant for a few years, but has once again surfaced for occasional performances.
Past Songs
June 2024: Tree of Life
May 2024: Seth Davy
April 2024: Cobweb of Dreams
March 2024: The Badger Drive
February 2024: I Wonder When I Shall Be Married
January 2024: The Hills of Tandragee
December 2023: Christmas in the Trenches
November 2023: The Handsome Cabin Boy
October 2023: Seal Lullaby
September 2023: Cock Robin
August 2023: Dives and Lazarus
July 2023: How to Make Love
June 2023: The Lazy Farmer
May 2023: We’re All Jolly Fellows that Follow the Plough
April 2023: Reynardine
March 2023: Free and Easy to Ramble Along
February 2023: The Rose in June
January 2023: Bed Is Too Small
December 2022: Jack Ashton
November 2022: Wild Mountain Thyme
October 2022: I’ve Lived in Service
September 2022: London Town
August 2022: Yuba Dam
July 2022: Bibble A La Do
June 2022: The Golden Willow Tree
May 2022: Ford o’ Kabul River
April 2022: Bold Riley
March 2022: The Foggy Dew
February 2022: Scarborough Settler’s Lament
January 2022: Tom o’Bedlam’s Song
December 2021: We Shepherds Be the Best of Men
November 2021: Catch Me If You Can
October 2021: Somebody’s Waiting for Me / Country Garden
September 2021: The Water Is Wide
August 2021: Springfield Mountain
July 2021: Shove the Grog Around (Shanty Song)
June 2021: The Cruel Mother
May 2021: Katie Catch
April 2021: A Pilgrim’s Way
March 2021: Glenlogie
February 2021: Sprig of Thyme
January 2021: Lord Bateman
December 2020: Brave Boys
November 2020: Abroad as I Was Walking
October 2020: The Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow
September 2020: The Setting of the Sun
August 2020: Annachie Gordon
July 2020: Stand Steady
June 2020: Braw Lads of Galla-water
May 2020: The Lincolnshire Poacher
April 2020: The Hills of Mexico
March 2020: I Saw Three Ships
February 2020: The Trooper and the Tailor
January 2020: Lost on the Lady Elgin
December 2019: Bright Phoebe
November 2019: Tickle Cove Pond
October 2019: I’m Going Back to North Carolina
September 2019: For the Company Underground
August 2019: The Maid of Sweet Gurteen
July 2019: Starving to Death on a Government Claim
June 2019: Annan Water
May 2019: The Shearin’s No’ For You
April 2019: Shady Grove
March 2019: Bedlam
February 2019: The Bonny Bunch of Roses
January 2019: Ambletown
December 2018: Throw Open Your Shutters
November 2018: The Wild Rover
October 2018: She’s Like the Swallow
September 2018: The Night Guard
August 2018: Here’s Adieu to All Judges and Juries
July 2018: Sailing
June 2018: Earl o’Bran
May 2018: Georgie
April 2018: A Sailor’s Life
March 2018: The Banks of Red Roses
February 2018: The Boy That Wore The Blue
January 2018: The Bay Of Biscay
December 2017: Song, Composed in August
November 2017: The Devil Buck
October 2017: Double Sledder Lad
September 2017: Sweet William’s Ghost
August 2017: Welcome Home My Sailor
July 2017: Drive Dull Care Away
June 2017: When I Went for to Take My Leave
May 2017: Bonnie Annie
April 2017: The Death of Bill Brown
March 2017: Money Is King
February 2017: Tha Sneachd’Air Druim Uachdair
January 2017: The January Man
December 2016: Lamb and Lion
November 2016: Farther On
October 2016: Skin and Bones
September 2016: Canaan’s Land
August 2016: Farmer’s Daughter
July 2016: Ladies Rejoice
June 2016: The Press Gang
May 2016: Dancing at Whitsun
April 2016: Spring
March 2016: The Bonnie Blue-Eyed Lassie
February 2016: Paper of Pins
January 2016: May It Fill Your Soul