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The Daemon Lover

March 03, 2023

"The Daemon Lover" (Roud 14, Child 243) – also known as "James Harris", "A Warning for Married Women", "The Distressed Ship Carpenter", "James Herries", "The Carpenter’s Wife", "The Banks of Italy", or "The House-Carpenter" – is a popular ballad dating from the mid-seventeenth century,[1] when the earliest known broadside version of the ballad was entered in the Stationers' Register on 21 February 1657.[2][3]

History and different versions

There are a number of different versions of the ballad. In addition to the eight collected by Francis James Child in volume IV of his anthology The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (versions A to H), others can be found in Britain and in the United States, where it remained especially widespread,[4] with hundreds of versions being collected throughout the years,[5] around 250 of them in print.[6] In comparison, only four new variants were recorded in the UK in the time between Child's death in 1896 and the second half of the 1960s, all of them before 1910.[7]

"A Warning for Married Women" (Child A)

The oldest version of the ballad – labeled 243 A in Child’s anthology and originally signed with the initials L.P. – is generally attributed to Laurence Price,[8][9][10] a prominent ballad writer of that time.[11] The original, full title of the broadside was "A Warning for Married Women, by the example of Mrs. Jane Renalds, a West-Country woman born neer unto Plymouth, who having plighted her troth to a seaman, was afterwards married to a carpenter, and at last carried away by a spirit, the manner how shall be presently recited".[12] The broadside does not seem to be a recasting of a pre-existing folk ballad in circulation, although it bears some similarities to other ballads, most notably a similarly named "A Warning for Maidens", also known by the title "Bateman's Tragedy" (Roud 22132).[13][14][15]

"A Warning for Married Women"[16] tells the story of Jane Reynolds and her lover James Harris, with whom she exchanged a promise of marriage. He is pressed as a sailor before the wedding takes place and Jane faithfully awaits his return for three years, but when she learns of his death at sea, she agrees to marry a local carpenter. Jane gives birth to three children and for four years the couple lives a happy life.[17] One night, when the carpenter is away, the spirit of James Harris appears. He tries to convince Jane to keep her oath and run away with him. At first she is reluctant to do so, because of her husband and their children, but ultimately she succumbs to the ghost's pleas, letting herself be persuaded by his tales of rejecting the royal daughter's hand and assurance that he has the means to support her – namely, a fleet of seven ships. The pair then leaves England, never to be seen again, and the carpenter commits suicide upon learning that his wife is gone. The broadside ends with a mention that although the children were orphaned, the heavenly powers will provide for them.[18]

"The Distressed Ship Carpenter" (Child B)

Another known version of the ballad, labeled 243 B in Child's anthology and titled ‘The Distressed Ship Carpenter’, comes from the mid-eighteenth century and appears in A Collection of Diverting Songs, Epigrams, & c. and in a chapbook titled The Rambler’s Garland.[19] It is notable for its opening, ‘Well met, well met, my own true love’, which is characteristic of many versions of the ballad, in particular those recorded in America. This variation differs from "A Warning for Married Women". The opening part of the ballad is lost, and so are the names of Jane and James; the text does not mention their former vows either. The former lover appears to be a mortal man, rather than a revenant.[20][21] "The Distressed Ship Carpenter" ends with the eponymous craftsman lamenting and cursing seamen for ruining his life. With the disappearance of the supernatural elements, the story of the ballad became rationalized.[22] These changes may have originated in an oral tradition or, as suggested by John Burrison, there was an intermediary broadside version of the ballad that served as a bridge between "A Warning’" and "The Distressed Ship Carpenter";[23][24] David Atkinson considers a possibility that the changes were made either to avoid any legal troubles with the intellectual property owners of "A Warning"[25] or as a result of a change in broadside format to smaller sheets.[26]

"The Distressed Ship Carpenter" is characterized by a number of common folk touches, possibly indicating that there was an intermediary folk version developed as a result of an oral tradition between this version of the ballad and the original broadside.[27] The story begins in the third act, contains recurring words and phrases and is leaping and lingering, i.e. alternating between rapid and slow unfoldment of the events, at two crucial points: when relating the return of the former lover and the lovers’ confrontation after they board the ship.[28] In doing so, the ballad preserves and focuses on its "emotional core".[29][30]

Scottish and American traditions

"A Warning for Married Women" and "The Distressed Ship Carpenter" seem to have inspired the Scottish and American traditions of the ballad, respectively.[31][32][33] The Scottish versions collected by Child (designated as versions C-G) share a number of elements with Child 243 A not present in Child 243 B – among them a direct reference to former vows and the name of the sailor – but what distinguishes them most is the character of a lover, who regains his supernatural nature. What is especially characteristic of these versions is the introduction of a daemonic presence; in "The Daemon Lover" (Child 243 E, F, G) James Harris is no longer a ghost or a mortal man, but instead is revealed to be a cloven-footed devil.[34][35]

It is generally agreed that copies collected in America (usually titled "The House Carpenter") were derived from "The Distressed Ship Carpenter".[36] There are a number of similarities between these versions – such as the absence of former vows and supernatural elements characteristic of "A Warning" and Scottish versions – and the story presented in them remains essentially the same.[37][38] Some elements taken from the Scottish tradition are present in American variants, for example "hills of heaven, hills of hell" line from Child 243 E, but the influence of "The Distressed Ship Carpenter" is prevalent.[39] The most notable differences when compared to the English and Scottish traditions are their setting (i.e. "the banks of Italy" become "the banks of old Tennessee") and more emphasis being put on the relationship between the mother and the child and their subsequent parting.[40] The American history of the ballad in printed form dates back to the 1850s.[41] Two verses that were printed in Philadelphia (1858; Child included them in his anthology), along with a broadside printed by Andrews of New York (ca. 1857; reissued by De Marsan in 1860) are the earliest known examples of the ballad in the United States, although the oral tradition had already existed there before they were published and it played a predominant role in the spread of the ballad in America.[42][43]

Tune and metre

Referring to broadsides that were already in circulation for the tune was a common habit and so the original broadsides of "A Warning for Married Women" name the tune to which the ballad was to be sung as "The Fair Maid of Bristol", "Bateman", or "John True".[44][45] These three tunes are also identified as "The Lady’s Fall", which was notably the tune for "Bateman’s Tragedy" (Roud 22132) and numerous other early seventeenth-century broadsides, most of which contained themes of "crimes, monstrous births, or warnings of God’s judgement."[46] Later, eighteenth-century copies of "The Distressed Ship Carpenter" carried no tune designation whatsoever.[47] "A Warning for Married Women" and "The Distressed Ship Carpenter" were printed respectively in 32 four-line stanzas (in ballad metre) and 13 to 14 four-line stanzas (in long measure, described by Atkinson as “slightly awkward” at times).[48]

Themes

"A Warning for Married Women" addresses the themes of marriage, unfaithfulness and bigamy.[49] David Atkinson writes that it can be seen as "a reinforcement of prevailing patriarchal family relationships."[50] Barbara Fass Leavy describes Jane Reynolds as a "cautionary example" of what happens "when women abandon their responsibilities in order to pursue their own pleasures."[51] The theme of materialism is prevalent throughout the different versions,[52][53] as the wife usually remains concerned whether her lover will be able to maintain her.[54] Likewise, he uses promises of prosperity as a way to seduce her.[55] Leavy also suggests a different reading of the ballad, in which it is her marriage with a carpenter, rather than her decision to flee with the former lover, that can be considered an act of infidelity.[56] Atkinson describes the original broadside as "the preservation of outmoded ways of thinking within the canon of popular literature."[57] In accordance with the ecclesiastical law of early seventeenth-century England, a mutual promise of marriage was enough to make the couple husband and wife and was considered binding in the eyes of God. As a result, breaking such a promise would make any subsequent marriage invalid and invite divine punishment.[58] The ballad therefore employs "popular theology to reinforce [its] emphasis on fidelity in marriage."[59] The broadside may be read as encouraging faithfulness to the person with whom the original pre-marriage vows were exchanged and warning against divine punishment for breaking the oath.[60]

The changes resulting from the recasting of "A Warning for Married Women" as "The Distressed Ship Carpenter" can be seen as the reflection of "a genuine, if quite gradual, change in social and judicial attitudes in early modern England." The revenant becomes a former lover and crime and punishment take the place of sin and retribution.[61] The theme of sin becomes notable once again in the Scottish "Demon Lover" tradition (notably Child D-G), which establishes that the former lover is the devil who "came to carry off the unfaithful girl to the hills of hell."[62] The imagery of the "hills of heaven and hell" is present in some of the variants collected in America.[63] Alan Lomax describes the ballad as a reinforcement of the Calvinist sexual morality.[64]

The ballad also touches on the issues of class relations. According to Dave Harker, "A Warning for Married Women" questions the responsibilities of young women "of worthy birth and fame".[65] In her reading of the ballad, Leavy mentions the binary opposition between the husband and the lover and two modes of existence they represent; the mundane life and domestic ties of the artisan and the life of adventure and freedom of the seaman.[66]

Many supernatural ballads mention fictional or remote places as locations.[67] In multiple variants of the ballad, James Harris promises to take his lover to "the banks of Italie",[68] which is a real, but sufficiently far-off place to serve as the final destination for an unfaithful wife and her supernatural lover.[69] In other versions, the banks of Italy turn into, for example, the banks of Tennessee (in this version the destination becomes a familiar place to return to),[70] various generalizations ("deep blue sea", "salt water sea") or abstractions ("isle of sweet liberty", "banks of sweet relief").[71]

Traditional recordings

The ballad was collected and recorded many times in the Appalachian Mountains; Clarence Ashley recorded a version with a banjo accompaniment in 1930,[72] Texas Gladden had two versions recorded in 1932 and 1946,[73][74] whilst Sarah Ogan Gunning sang a version in 1974.[75] Jean Ritchie sang her family's version of the ballad twice, one of those times recorded by Alan Lomax,[76][77] now available online courtesy of the Alan Lomax archive.[78] The song was also popular elsewhere in the United States; Ozark singer Almeda Riddle sang another traditional version in 1964,[79] and folklorist Max Hunter recorded several Ozark versions which are available on the online Max Hunter Folk Collection.[80][81][82][83]

Canadian folklorists Edith Fowke, Kenneth Peacock and Helen Creighton each recorded a different "House Carpenter" variant in Canada in the 1950s and 60s.[84][85][86]

The song appears to have been largely forgotten in Britain and Ireland, but a fragmentary version, sung by Andrew Stewart of Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland, and learned from his mother, was recorded by Hamish Henderson in 1955,[87] and can be heard on the Tobar an Dualchais website.[88] A variant performed by Frank Browne in Bellanagare, Co. Roscommon, Ireland, was also recorded in 1975 by Hugh Shields.

Popular recordings

Versions of the song, under its several titles, have been recorded by:

In literature

Elizabeth Bowen's 1945 short story "The Demon Lover" uses the ballad's central conceit for a narrative of ghostly return in wartime London.

Shirley Jackson's collection The Lottery and Other Stories includes "The Daemon Lover", a story about a woman searching for her mysterious fiancé named James Harris.

Grady Hendrix’s 2020 novel “The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires”, the main antagonist is a vampire named James Harris as a way to pay ode to the ballad.[citation needed]

In classical music

Hamish MacCunn's 1887 concert overture The Ship o' the Fiend is based on the ballad.[92]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 206.
  2. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 592.
  3. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 206.
  4. ^ Leavy 1994, p. 65.
  5. ^ Gardner-Medwin 1971, p. 415.
  6. ^ Burrison 1967, p. 273.
  7. ^ Burrison 1967, pp. 274-75.
  8. ^ Harker 1992, p. 300.
  9. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 592.
  10. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 206.
  11. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 592.
  12. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 592.
  13. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 207.
  14. ^ Atkinson 1989, pp. 598-602.
  15. ^ Burrison 1967, p. 272.
  16. ^ Child 1904, pp. 543-46.
  17. ^ Child 1904, pp. 543-44, stanzas 1-14.
  18. ^ Child 1904, pp. 543-44, stanzas 15-32.
  19. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 207.
  20. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 208.
  21. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 605.
  22. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 208.
  23. ^ Burrison 1967, pp. 272-73.
  24. ^ Leavy 1994, p. 65.
  25. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 209.
  26. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, pp. 208-9.
  27. ^ Burrison 1967, pp. 272-73.
  28. ^ Burrison 1967, p. 273.
  29. ^ Burrison 1967, p. 273.
  30. ^ Coffin 1963, p. 300.
  31. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, pp. 209-10.
  32. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 596.
  33. ^ Atkinson 2004, p. 483, fn. 92.
  34. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, pp. 209-10.
  35. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 596.
  36. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, pp. 210-11.
  37. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, pp. 209-10.
  38. ^ Hyman 1957, p. 236.
  39. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 211.
  40. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, pp. 210-11.
  41. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 210.
  42. ^ Burrison 1967, pp. 273-74.
  43. ^ Gardner-Medwin 1971, p. 415.
  44. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 209.
  45. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 606.
  46. ^ Simpson 1966, p. 369.
  47. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 209.
  48. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, pp. 207-8.
  49. ^ Harker 1992, p. 332.
  50. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 599.
  51. ^ Leavy 1994, p. 66.
  52. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 599.
  53. ^ Leavy 1994, p. 69.
  54. ^ Leavy 1994, p. 69.
  55. ^ Leavy 1994, p. 69.
  56. ^ Leavy 1994, p. 66.
  57. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 207.
  58. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 602.
  59. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 6024.
  60. ^ Atkinson 1989, p. 600.
  61. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 208.
  62. ^ Burrison 1967, p. 273.
  63. ^ Atkinson and Roud 2014, p. 2011.
  64. ^ Leavy 1994, p. 65.
  65. ^ Harker 1992, p. 333.
  66. ^ Leavy 1994, p. 67.
  67. ^ Richmond 1946, p. 263.
  68. ^ Richmond 1946, p. 263.
  69. ^ Atkinson 2009, p. 256.
  70. ^ Leavy 1994, p. 71.
  71. ^ Richmond 1946, p. 267.
  72. ^ "The House Carpenter (Roud Folksong Index S400766)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  73. ^ "The House Carpenter (Roud Folksong Index S445415)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  74. ^ "The House Carpenter (Roud Folksong Index S238200)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  75. ^ "The House Carpenter (Roud Folksong Index S148217)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  76. ^ "The House Carpenter (Roud Folksong Index S208656)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  77. ^ "My Little Carpenter (Roud Folksong Index S341765)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  78. ^ "Alan Lomax Archive". research.culturalequity.org. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  79. ^ "The House Carpenter (Roud Folksong Index S301879)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  80. ^ "Song Information". maxhunter.missouristate.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  81. ^ "Song Information". maxhunter.missouristate.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  82. ^ "Song Information". maxhunter.missouristate.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  83. ^ "Song Information". maxhunter.missouristate.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  84. ^ "The House Carpenter (Roud Folksong Index S148209)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  85. ^ "The House Carpenter (Roud Folksong Index S272948)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  86. ^ "The Young Ship's Carpenter (Roud Folksong Index S383645)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  87. ^ "The Demon Lover (Roud Folksong Index S430491)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  88. ^ "Tobar an Dualchais Kist O Riches". www.tobarandualchais.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  89. ^ Solo album: Abocurragh, Andy Irvine AK-3, 2010.
  90. ^ "House Carpenter".
  91. ^ Combined from several sources including: Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, 1996 by Barnes & Noble Books, and Concise Oxford Dictionary - 10th Edition by Oxford University Press.
  92. ^ Purser, John (1995). "The Ship o' the Fiend". Hyperion Records. Retrieved 2021-02-23.

References

  • Atkinson, David (2004). "Folk Songs in Print: Text and Tradition". Folk Music Journal. 8 (4): 456–483. JSTOR 4522719.
  • Atkinson, David; Roud, Steve (2014). Street Ballads in Nineteenth-Century Britain, Ireland, and North America: The Interface between Print and Oral Traditions. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781138269477.
  • Burrison, John (1967). ""James Harris" in Britain Since Child". The Journal of American Folklore. 80 (317): 271–284. doi:10.2307/537874. JSTOR 537874.
  • Child, Francis James (1904). Sargent, Helen Child; Kittredge, George Lyman (eds.). English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  • Coffin, Tristram P. (1963). The British Traditional Ballad in North America. Austin and London: American Folklore Society.
  • Gardner-Medwin, Alisoun (1971). "The Ancestry of "The House-Carpenter": A Study of the Family History of the American Forms of Child 243". The Journal of American Folklore. 84 (334): 414–427. doi:10.2307/539635. JSTOR 539635.
  • Harker, Dave (1992). "A Warning". Folk Music Journal. 6 (3): 299–338. JSTOR 4522410.
  • Hyman, Stanley Edgar (1957). "The Child Ballad in America: Some Aesthetic Criteria". The Journal of American Folklore. 70 (277): 235–239. doi:10.2307/538322. JSTOR 538322.
  • Leavy, Barbara Fass (1994). In Search of the Swan Maiden. New York and London: NYU Press. ISBN 9780814750681.
  • Simpson, Claude M. (1966). The British Broadside Ballad and its Music. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

March 03, 2023
daemon, lover, roud, child, also, known, james, harris, warning, married, women, distressed, ship, carpenter, james, herries, carpenter, wife, banks, italy, house, carpenter, popular, ballad, dating, from, seventeenth, century, when, earliest, known, broadside. The Daemon Lover Roud 14 Child 243 also known as James Harris A Warning for Married Women The Distressed Ship Carpenter James Herries The Carpenter s Wife The Banks of Italy or The House Carpenter is a popular ballad dating from the mid seventeenth century 1 when the earliest known broadside version of the ballad was entered in the Stationers Register on 21 February 1657 2 3 Contents 1 History and different versions 1 1 A Warning for Married Women Child A 1 2 The Distressed Ship Carpenter Child B 1 3 Scottish and American traditions 2 Tune and metre 3 Themes 4 Traditional recordings 5 Popular recordings 6 In literature 7 In classical music 8 Footnotes 9 ReferencesHistory and different versions EditThere are a number of different versions of the ballad In addition to the eight collected by Francis James Child in volume IV of his anthology The English and Scottish Popular Ballads versions A to H others can be found in Britain and in the United States where it remained especially widespread 4 with hundreds of versions being collected throughout the years 5 around 250 of them in print 6 In comparison only four new variants were recorded in the UK in the time between Child s death in 1896 and the second half of the 1960s all of them before 1910 7 A Warning for Married Women Child A Edit The oldest version of the ballad labeled 243 A in Child s anthology and originally signed with the initials L P is generally attributed to Laurence Price 8 9 10 a prominent ballad writer of that time 11 The original full title of the broadside was A Warning for Married Women by the example of Mrs Jane Renalds a West Country woman born neer unto Plymouth who having plighted her troth to a seaman was afterwards married to a carpenter and at last carried away by a spirit the manner how shall be presently recited 12 The broadside does not seem to be a recasting of a pre existing folk ballad in circulation although it bears some similarities to other ballads most notably a similarly named A Warning for Maidens also known by the title Bateman s Tragedy Roud 22132 13 14 15 A Warning for Married Women 16 tells the story of Jane Reynolds and her lover James Harris with whom she exchanged a promise of marriage He is pressed as a sailor before the wedding takes place and Jane faithfully awaits his return for three years but when she learns of his death at sea she agrees to marry a local carpenter Jane gives birth to three children and for four years the couple lives a happy life 17 One night when the carpenter is away the spirit of James Harris appears He tries to convince Jane to keep her oath and run away with him At first she is reluctant to do so because of her husband and their children but ultimately she succumbs to the ghost s pleas letting herself be persuaded by his tales of rejecting the royal daughter s hand and assurance that he has the means to support her namely a fleet of seven ships The pair then leaves England never to be seen again and the carpenter commits suicide upon learning that his wife is gone The broadside ends with a mention that although the children were orphaned the heavenly powers will provide for them 18 The Distressed Ship Carpenter Child B Edit Another known version of the ballad labeled 243 B in Child s anthology and titled The Distressed Ship Carpenter comes from the mid eighteenth century and appears in A Collection of Diverting Songs Epigrams amp c and in a chapbook titled The Rambler s Garland 19 It is notable for its opening Well met well met my own true love which is characteristic of many versions of the ballad in particular those recorded in America This variation differs from A Warning for Married Women The opening part of the ballad is lost and so are the names of Jane and James the text does not mention their former vows either The former lover appears to be a mortal man rather than a revenant 20 21 The Distressed Ship Carpenter ends with the eponymous craftsman lamenting and cursing seamen for ruining his life With the disappearance of the supernatural elements the story of the ballad became rationalized 22 These changes may have originated in an oral tradition or as suggested by John Burrison there was an intermediary broadside version of the ballad that served as a bridge between A Warning and The Distressed Ship Carpenter 23 24 David Atkinson considers a possibility that the changes were made either to avoid any legal troubles with the intellectual property owners of A Warning 25 or as a result of a change in broadside format to smaller sheets 26 The Distressed Ship Carpenter is characterized by a number of common folk touches possibly indicating that there was an intermediary folk version developed as a result of an oral tradition between this version of the ballad and the original broadside 27 The story begins in the third act contains recurring words and phrases and is leaping and lingering i e alternating between rapid and slow unfoldment of the events at two crucial points when relating the return of the former lover and the lovers confrontation after they board the ship 28 In doing so the ballad preserves and focuses on its emotional core 29 30 Scottish and American traditions Edit A Warning for Married Women and The Distressed Ship Carpenter seem to have inspired the Scottish and American traditions of the ballad respectively 31 32 33 The Scottish versions collected by Child designated as versions C G share a number of elements with Child 243 A not present in Child 243 B among them a direct reference to former vows and the name of the sailor but what distinguishes them most is the character of a lover who regains his supernatural nature What is especially characteristic of these versions is the introduction of a daemonic presence in The Daemon Lover Child 243 E F G James Harris is no longer a ghost or a mortal man but instead is revealed to be a cloven footed devil 34 35 It is generally agreed that copies collected in America usually titled The House Carpenter were derived from The Distressed Ship Carpenter 36 There are a number of similarities between these versions such as the absence of former vows and supernatural elements characteristic of A Warning and Scottish versions and the story presented in them remains essentially the same 37 38 Some elements taken from the Scottish tradition are present in American variants for example hills of heaven hills of hell line from Child 243 E but the influence of The Distressed Ship Carpenter is prevalent 39 The most notable differences when compared to the English and Scottish traditions are their setting i e the banks of Italy become the banks of old Tennessee and more emphasis being put on the relationship between the mother and the child and their subsequent parting 40 The American history of the ballad in printed form dates back to the 1850s 41 Two verses that were printed in Philadelphia 1858 Child included them in his anthology along with a broadside printed by Andrews of New York ca 1857 reissued by De Marsan in 1860 are the earliest known examples of the ballad in the United States although the oral tradition had already existed there before they were published and it played a predominant role in the spread of the ballad in America 42 43 Tune and metre EditReferring to broadsides that were already in circulation for the tune was a common habit and so the original broadsides of A Warning for Married Women name the tune to which the ballad was to be sung as The Fair Maid of Bristol Bateman or John True 44 45 These three tunes are also identified as The Lady s Fall which was notably the tune for Bateman s Tragedy Roud 22132 and numerous other early seventeenth century broadsides most of which contained themes of crimes monstrous births or warnings of God s judgement 46 Later eighteenth century copies of The Distressed Ship Carpenter carried no tune designation whatsoever 47 A Warning for Married Women and The Distressed Ship Carpenter were printed respectively in 32 four line stanzas in ballad metre and 13 to 14 four line stanzas in long measure described by Atkinson as slightly awkward at times 48 Themes Edit A Warning for Married Women addresses the themes of marriage unfaithfulness and bigamy 49 David Atkinson writes that it can be seen as a reinforcement of prevailing patriarchal family relationships 50 Barbara Fass Leavy describes Jane Reynolds as a cautionary example of what happens when women abandon their responsibilities in order to pursue their own pleasures 51 The theme of materialism is prevalent throughout the different versions 52 53 as the wife usually remains concerned whether her lover will be able to maintain her 54 Likewise he uses promises of prosperity as a way to seduce her 55 Leavy also suggests a different reading of the ballad in which it is her marriage with a carpenter rather than her decision to flee with the former lover that can be considered an act of infidelity 56 Atkinson describes the original broadside as the preservation of outmoded ways of thinking within the canon of popular literature 57 In accordance with the ecclesiastical law of early seventeenth century England a mutual promise of marriage was enough to make the couple husband and wife and was considered binding in the eyes of God As a result breaking such a promise would make any subsequent marriage invalid and invite divine punishment 58 The ballad therefore employs popular theology to reinforce its emphasis on fidelity in marriage 59 The broadside may be read as encouraging faithfulness to the person with whom the original pre marriage vows were exchanged and warning against divine punishment for breaking the oath 60 The changes resulting from the recasting of A Warning for Married Women as The Distressed Ship Carpenter can be seen as the reflection of a genuine if quite gradual change in social and judicial attitudes in early modern England The revenant becomes a former lover and crime and punishment take the place of sin and retribution 61 The theme of sin becomes notable once again in the Scottish Demon Lover tradition notably Child D G which establishes that the former lover is the devil who came to carry off the unfaithful girl to the hills of hell 62 The imagery of the hills of heaven and hell is present in some of the variants collected in America 63 Alan Lomax describes the ballad as a reinforcement of the Calvinist sexual morality 64 The ballad also touches on the issues of class relations According to Dave Harker A Warning for Married Women questions the responsibilities of young women of worthy birth and fame 65 In her reading of the ballad Leavy mentions the binary opposition between the husband and the lover and two modes of existence they represent the mundane life and domestic ties of the artisan and the life of adventure and freedom of the seaman 66 Many supernatural ballads mention fictional or remote places as locations 67 In multiple variants of the ballad James Harris promises to take his lover to the banks of Italie 68 which is a real but sufficiently far off place to serve as the final destination for an unfaithful wife and her supernatural lover 69 In other versions the banks of Italy turn into for example the banks of Tennessee in this version the destination becomes a familiar place to return to 70 various generalizations deep blue sea salt water sea or abstractions isle of sweet liberty banks of sweet relief 71 Traditional recordings EditThe ballad was collected and recorded many times in the Appalachian Mountains Clarence Ashley recorded a version with a banjo accompaniment in 1930 72 Texas Gladden had two versions recorded in 1932 and 1946 73 74 whilst Sarah Ogan Gunning sang a version in 1974 75 Jean Ritchie sang her family s version of the ballad twice one of those times recorded by Alan Lomax 76 77 now available online courtesy of the Alan Lomax archive 78 The song was also popular elsewhere in the United States Ozark singer Almeda Riddle sang another traditional version in 1964 79 and folklorist Max Hunter recorded several Ozark versions which are available on the online Max Hunter Folk Collection 80 81 82 83 Canadian folklorists Edith Fowke Kenneth Peacock and Helen Creighton each recorded a different House Carpenter variant in Canada in the 1950s and 60s 84 85 86 The song appears to have been largely forgotten in Britain and Ireland but a fragmentary version sung by Andrew Stewart of Blairgowrie Perthshire Scotland and learned from his mother was recorded by Hamish Henderson in 1955 87 and can be heard on the Tobar an Dualchais website 88 A variant performed by Frank Browne in Bellanagare Co Roscommon Ireland was also recorded in 1975 by Hugh Shields Popular recordings EditVersions of the song under its several titles have been recorded by Alasdair Roberts Andy Irvine 89 Augie March re written as Men Who Follow Spring The Planet Round Battlefield Band The Devil s Courtship Bob Dylan recorded the version House Carpenter in 1961 90 Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman a name that means carpenter 91 Buffy Sainte Marie Clarence Ashley Custer Larue Daithi Sproule Damien Jurado Dave Van Ronk David Grisman Dervish as Sweet Viledee Doc Watson Ewan MacColl Eleanor Tomlinson Faun Fables The Handsome Family Hurt Jean Ritchie Jeff Lang Joan Baez Kelly Joe Phelps Kim Larsen re written as Byens Hotel in 1973 Kornog Lisa Moscatiello Martin Simpson Mr Fox Myrkur Natalie Merchant Nephew band Nic Jones Nickel Creek House Carpenter Oakley Hall Paul Simon Pentangle Peter Bellamy Peggy Seeger Pete Seeger Steeleye Span Superwolf Sweeney s Men Texas Gladden The Baltimore Consort The Carolina Tar Heels The Ex The Mammals Tim O Brien Tony Rice Cornelis Vreeswijk Punch Brothers House Carpenter In literature EditElizabeth Bowen s 1945 short story The Demon Lover uses the ballad s central conceit for a narrative of ghostly return in wartime London Shirley Jackson s collection The Lottery and Other Stories includes The Daemon Lover a story about a woman searching for her mysterious fiance named James Harris Grady Hendrix s 2020 novel The Southern Book Club s Guide to Slaying Vampires the main antagonist is a vampire named James Harris as a way to pay ode to the ballad citation needed In classical music EditHamish MacCunn s 1887 concert overture The Ship o the Fiend is based on the ballad 92 Footnotes Edit Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 206 Atkinson 1989 p 592 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 206 Leavy 1994 p 65 Gardner Medwin 1971 p 415 Burrison 1967 p 273 Burrison 1967 pp 274 75 Harker 1992 p 300 Atkinson 1989 p 592 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 206 Atkinson 1989 p 592 Atkinson 1989 p 592 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 207 Atkinson 1989 pp 598 602 Burrison 1967 p 272 Child 1904 pp 543 46 Child 1904 pp 543 44 stanzas 1 14 Child 1904 pp 543 44 stanzas 15 32 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 207 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 208 Atkinson 1989 p 605 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 208 Burrison 1967 pp 272 73 Leavy 1994 p 65 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 209 Atkinson and Roud 2014 pp 208 9 Burrison 1967 pp 272 73 Burrison 1967 p 273 Burrison 1967 p 273 Coffin 1963 p 300 Atkinson and Roud 2014 pp 209 10 Atkinson 1989 p 596 Atkinson 2004 p 483 fn 92 Atkinson and Roud 2014 pp 209 10 Atkinson 1989 p 596 Atkinson and Roud 2014 pp 210 11 Atkinson and Roud 2014 pp 209 10 Hyman 1957 p 236 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 211 Atkinson and Roud 2014 pp 210 11 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 210 Burrison 1967 pp 273 74 Gardner Medwin 1971 p 415 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 209 Atkinson 1989 p 606 Simpson 1966 p 369 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 209 Atkinson and Roud 2014 pp 207 8 Harker 1992 p 332 Atkinson 1989 p 599 Leavy 1994 p 66 Atkinson 1989 p 599 Leavy 1994 p 69 Leavy 1994 p 69 Leavy 1994 p 69 Leavy 1994 p 66 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 207 Atkinson 1989 p 602 Atkinson 1989 p 6024 Atkinson 1989 p 600 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 208 Burrison 1967 p 273 Atkinson and Roud 2014 p 2011 Leavy 1994 p 65 Harker 1992 p 333 Leavy 1994 p 67 Richmond 1946 p 263 Richmond 1946 p 263 Atkinson 2009 p 256 Leavy 1994 p 71 Richmond 1946 p 267 The House Carpenter Roud Folksong Index S400766 The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Retrieved 2021 01 18 The House Carpenter Roud Folksong Index S445415 The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Retrieved 2020 11 09 The House Carpenter Roud Folksong Index S238200 The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Retrieved 2020 11 09 The House Carpenter Roud Folksong Index S148217 The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Retrieved 2020 11 10 The House Carpenter Roud Folksong Index S208656 The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Retrieved 2020 11 09 My Little Carpenter Roud Folksong Index S341765 The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Retrieved 2020 11 09 Alan Lomax Archive research culturalequity org Retrieved 2020 11 09 The House Carpenter Roud Folksong Index S301879 The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Retrieved 2020 11 09 Song Information maxhunter missouristate edu Retrieved 2020 11 10 Song Information maxhunter missouristate edu Retrieved 2020 11 10 Song Information maxhunter missouristate edu Retrieved 2020 11 10 Song Information maxhunter missouristate edu Retrieved 2020 11 10 The House Carpenter Roud Folksong Index S148209 The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Retrieved 2020 11 10 The House Carpenter Roud Folksong Index S272948 The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Retrieved 2020 11 10 The Young Ship s Carpenter Roud Folksong Index S383645 The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Retrieved 2020 11 10 The Demon Lover Roud Folksong Index S430491 The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Retrieved 2020 11 10 Tobar an Dualchais Kist O Riches www tobarandualchais co uk Retrieved 2020 11 10 Solo album Abocurragh Andy Irvine AK 3 2010 House Carpenter Combined from several sources including Webster s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary 1996 by Barnes amp Noble Books and Concise Oxford Dictionary 10th Edition by Oxford University Press Purser John 1995 The Ship o the Fiend Hyperion Records Retrieved 2021 02 23 References EditAtkinson David 1989 Marriage and Retribution in James Harris The Daemon Lover Folk Music Journal 5 5 592 607 JSTOR 4522306 Atkinson David 2004 Folk Songs in Print Text and Tradition Folk Music Journal 8 4 456 483 JSTOR 4522719 Atkinson David Roud Steve 2014 Street Ballads in Nineteenth Century Britain Ireland and North America The Interface between Print and Oral Traditions London Routledge ISBN 9781138269477 Burrison John 1967 James Harris in Britain Since Child The Journal of American Folklore 80 317 271 284 doi 10 2307 537874 JSTOR 537874 Child Francis James 1904 Sargent Helen Child Kittredge George Lyman eds English and Scottish Popular Ballads Boston Houghton Mifflin Co Retrieved 2 June 2021 Coffin Tristram P 1963 The British Traditional Ballad in North America Austin and London American Folklore Society Gardner Medwin Alisoun 1971 The Ancestry of The House Carpenter A Study of the Family History of the American Forms of Child 243 The Journal of American Folklore 84 334 414 427 doi 10 2307 539635 JSTOR 539635 Harker Dave 1992 A Warning Folk Music Journal 6 3 299 338 JSTOR 4522410 Hyman Stanley Edgar 1957 The Child Ballad in America Some Aesthetic Criteria The Journal of American Folklore 70 277 235 239 doi 10 2307 538322 JSTOR 538322 Leavy Barbara Fass 1994 In Search of the Swan Maiden New York and London NYU Press ISBN 9780814750681 Simpson Claude M 1966 The British Broadside Ballad and its Music New Brunswick Rutgers University Press Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Daemon Lover amp oldid 1124654446, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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