- Matty Groves
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For the English footballer, see Matt Groves.
"Matty Groves" Written by Traditional Performed by Many; see main text "Matty Groves" is an English folk ballad that 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 19th-century American scholar Francis James Child. It has several variant names, including "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard."
Contents
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. The nobleman 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. Yet another version has him cutting off his wife' head and kicking it against the wall in anger.
Some versions of the ballad include elements of an aubade, a poetic form in which lovers part after spending a night together.
Commentary
Believed to have originated no later than the early 17th century.
Standard references
- Child ballad 81
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
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.
A book by Deborah Grabien (3rd in the Haunted Ballad series) puts a different spin on the ballad.[4]
Recordings
Album/Single Performer Year Variant Notes John Jacob Niles Sings American Folk Songs John Jacob Niles 1956 Little Mattie Groves British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains, Volume 2 Jean Ritchie 1960 Little Musgrave Joan Baez in Concert Joan Baez 1962 Matty Groves Home Again Doc Watson 1966 Liege & Lief Fairport Convention 1969 Matty Groves Several live versions released since Prince Heathen Martin Carthy 1969 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard Ballads and Songs Nic Jones 1970 Little Musgrave Just Gimme Somethin' I'm Used To Norman Blake and his wife, Nancy Blake 1992 Little Matty Groves Folque Folque 1974 Skjøn Jomfru (in Norwegian) Christy Moore Christy Moore 1976 Little Musgrave The Woman I Loved So Well Planxty 1980 Little Musgrave Christy Moore, who also recorded the song, was a member of Planxty Out Standing in a Field The Makem Brother and Brian Sullivan 1992 Matty Groves You Could Be the Meadow Eden Burning 1994 Robyn Hitchcock Matty Groves performed live; never released [1] Live at the Mineshaft Tavern ThaMuseMeant 1995 Hepsankeikka Tarujen Saari 2000 Kaunis neito (in Finnish) On and On Fiddler's Green 1997 Matty Groves Never Set the Cat on Fire Frank Hayes 1977 Like a Lamb to the Slaughter Done as a parody talking blues version Ralph Stanley Ralph Stanley 2002 Little Mathie Grove sings Sandy Denny Linde Nijland 2003 Matty Groves De Andere Kust Kadril 2005 Matty Groves Season of the Witch The Strangelings 2007 Matty Groves Prodigal Son Martin Simpson 2007 Little Musgrave The Peacemaker's Chauffeur Jason Wilson Band 2008 Matty Groves Reggae arrangement featuring Dave Swarbrick, based largely on the Fairport version. Foxhat Compilation The Fox Hat! 2009 Matty Groves Folk Songs James Yorkston and the Big Eyes Family Players 2009 Little Musgrave Alela & Alina Alela Diane featuring Alina Hardin 2009 Matty Groves, Lord Arland Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards Tom Waits 2009 Mathie Grove Sweet Joan Sherwood 2010 Matty Groves In Russian language Little Musgrave The Musgraves 2011 Little Musgrave Recorded as a YouTube Video to help explain bands name origins In Silence Marc Carroll 2011 Matty Groves 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]
Other songs with the same tune
In the United States the song was transformed into the less graphic "Shady Grove", which has itself become a traditional.
Dave van Ronk's version of "House of the Rising Sun" uses the tune of a version of "Matty Groves".
See also
The previous and next Child Ballads:
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.
External links
- Lyrics (F.J.Child)
- Lyrics (Fairport Convention)
- Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
- Mattie Groves a variant
Categories:- English folk songs
- 17th-century songs
- Ballads
- Fairport Convention songs
- Joan Baez songs
- Child Ballads
- Northumbrian folklore
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