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Bold Sir Rylas / Sir Lionel

[ Roud 29 ; Child 18 ; Ballad Index C018 ; trad.]

Bold Sir Rylas is one of the many variants of Sir Lionel collected by F.J. Child. A.L. Lloyd sang it in 1956 on Volume IV of his and Ewan MacColl's anthology of Child ballads, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. The album notes commented somewhat disdainfully:

Modern variants of this ballad show the degree to which a ballad can degenerate with the passage of time. The original ballad of Sir Lionel was, in all probability, based on the courtly romance of Sir Eglamour of Artois, though the ballad story has been so garbled that it is barely recognizable today. Its degeneration, perhaps through stage influence, has resulted in its current status as a comic burlesque, in which form it has survived more vigorously in the United States than in England. The changed mood is best illustrated by its various nonsense refrains. Gone are the lady in distress and the cruel giant; all that remains of this tale of medieval pageantry is a fight between a knight and a boar and an involvement with a wild woman.

The text sung by A.L. Lloyd was collected by Alfred Williams from Daniel Morgan of Wiltshire and appears in Williams' Folk-Songs of the Upper Thames, 1923. Williams notes that the “I an dan dilly dan” refrain is meant to interpret the sound of the bugle horn. This version is sung to a Sir Lionel tune of unknown provenance collected by Frank Kidson.

See Child (18), Volume I, p. 208 ff; Coffin, pp. 48-49; Dean-Smith, p. 105.

John Spiers and Jon Boden sang Bold Sir Rylas on their album Songs and again in 2010/11 on their CD The Works. Jon Boden also sang it as the August 14, 2010 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. They commented in their former CD's liner notes:

From Folk-Songs of the Upper Thames by Alfred Williams. A nicely compressed version of Sir Lionel (Child 18). No tune survives but it seems to fit quite nicely (with a little gentle encouragement) to Enrico, a country dance tune from Dorset. Williams collected the text from Daniel Morgan who lived “amid the woods of Bradon.” Williams remarked that he had “spent pleasant hours in [his] cottage, during dark winter evenings, listening to the old man's songs, which he sang sitting on a low stool cutting out clothes-pegs from green withy, while his wife sat opposite making potato nets.”

Compare this song to Martin Carthy and the Waterdaughters singing Rackabello on Waterson:Carthy's second album Common Tongue.

Lyrics

A.L. Lloyd sings Bold Sir Rylas	Spiers & Boden sing Bold Sir Rylas
Bold Sir Rylas a-hunting went, I an dan dilly dan. Bold Sir Rylas a-hunting went, Killy killy ko ko an. Bold Sir Rylas a-hunting went, To kill some game was his intent, With an I an dan and a dilly dan, Killy killy ko ko an.	Now bold Sir Rylas a-hunting went, All along and down alee. And bold Sir Rylas a-hunting went, Down by the riverside. Bold Sir Rylas a-hunting went, To catch some game was his intent, Down in the grove where the wild flowers grow And the green leaves fall all around.
He saw a wild woman sat in a tree, “Good lord, what brings you here?” said she. “There is a wild boar in this wood; He'll eat your flesh and drink your blood.” “What must I do this boar to see?” “Why, blow your horn, he'll come to thee.”	Well, he spied a wild woman sitting in a tree, All along and down alee. “Good lord, what brings you here?” said she, Down by the riverside. “Oh, there is a wild boar in this wood; He'll eat your flesh and drink your blood.” Down in the grove where the wild flowers grow And the green leaves fall all around.
He put his horn unto his mouth, He blew it east, north, west and south. The wild boar heard him in his den, And out he came with his young 'uns ten.	Well, he put his horn unto his mouth, And he blew it east, north, west and south. And the wild boar came out of his den, Bringing his children nine or ten.
He fought him half that long summer day, Till the wild boar fain would have run away.	Then bold Sir Rylas the wild boar fell on, And bold Sir Rylas the wild boar fell on. Then he fought him three hours all the day Until the boar would have run away.
“Now since you've killed my pig,” said she, “There are three things I'll have of thee, Thy horse, thy hounds and thy fair lady.”	“Oh, now you have killed my spotted pig, Oh, now you have killed my spotted pig, Oh, there are three things I'd have of thee, Your horse and your hound and your fair lady.”
“Well, now I've killed your pig,” said he, “There's nothing more you'll have of me, Nor my horse nor hounds nor fair lady.”	“Oh, now I've killed your spotted pig, Oh, now I've killed your spotted pig, Oh, there's not one thing you'll have of me, Nor my horse nor my hound nor my fair lady.”
Then bold Sir Rylas on her fell, He split her head down to the chin, You ought to see her kick and grin.	Then bold Sir Rylas the wild woman fell on, And bold Sir Rylas the wild woman fell on, And he split her head down to her chin, You should have seen her kick and grin.

Acknowledgements and Links

See also the Mudcat Café thread Wild Boar: History, Lyrics & Discussion.