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Horkstow Grange
Horkstow Grange
[Trad.]
This is the song from which Steeleye Span got their name. It was sung by George Gouldthorpe on Unto Brigg Fair, from a cylinder recorded in 1908 by Percy Grainger. The LP sleeve notes said:
In his manuscripts, Grainger notes that John Bowling was a foreman on a farm at Horkstow and John 'Steeleye' Span a waggoner under his control. Thus “him and his man” in line three should be understood as “... his foreman”. In the first line, “miser” might be just a derogatory epithet though not necessarily so.
No other versions of this song are known and it does not appear to have been issued on broadsides in the district or even in adjacent areas where printers were more active.
And John Ball writes:
As an ardent fan of Grainger and a former North Lincolnshire resident (Keelby, near Brigg), ... I once worked near Horkstow and Saxby all Saints, where Joseph Taylor is buried, and did some research. My grandfather's family were from the Horkstow area and neither he nor anyone else knew of either of the characters mentioned in Horkstow Grange nor is there, apparently, any local knowledge of them.
... when I went to Saxby all Saints about 12 years ago, I met a man from the village who told me that a lady who lived near him was a descendent of Joseph Taylor (grand-daughter, I think) and that she lived near the church.
... I've done an electoral register search of North Lincolnshire and there are no records for Bowlin, Bowling or Span. I have looked again at my copy of Unto Brigg Fair, and this confirms that there was no local knowledge of the Horkstow Grange characters.
Shirley Collins sang Horkstow Grange on her 1974 album, Adieu to Old England. She and A.L. Lloyd commented in the sleeve notes:
Collected by Percy Grainger from George Gouldthorpe of Barrow-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, in 1906. The words are jumbled, probably by old Mr Gouldthorpe, so the event isn't clearly described. A miserly farmer of Horkstow Grange had a tyrannical foreman, John Bowling. The waggoner at Horkstow was J.S. Span, called “Old Steeleye”. Span resented Bowling's harsh treatment, and the two came to violent blows. Burning with resentment, Span made a song about the circumstance, and set his words to the tune of the lugubrious ballad of naval mistreatment, Andrew Rose, the British Sailor.
Horkstow Grange was also sung by Home Service as part of Percy Grainger's A Lincolnshire Posy on the album Alright Jack, by John Roberts & Tony Barrand on Heartoutbursts: English Folksongs collected by Percy Grainger, and by Coope Boyes & Simpson on Triple Echo: Songs collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Butterworth and Percy Grainger.
Last but not least Horkstow Grange was the title track of Steeleye Span's 1998 album, Horkstow Grange, with Gay Woods, Tim Harries, Bob Johnson and Peter Knight singing and Tim Harries playing keaboard.
Lyrics
| George Gouldthorpe sings | Shirley Collins sings |
|---|---|
|
In Horkstow Grange there lived an old miser, |
In Horkstow Grange there lived an old miser, |
|
|
|
With a blackthorn stick old Steeleye struck him, |
With a blackthorn stick old Steeleye struck him, |
|
John Bowlin' struck him qui-et sharply; (quite) |
Old Steeleye Span he was filled with John Bowlin, |
| Steeleye Span sing | |
|
In Horkstow Grange there lived an old miser With a blackthorn stick old Steeleye struck him Old Steeleye Span he was filled with John Bowlin Pity them who see him suffer | |
Acknowledgements
Transcribed by Garry Gillard.