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> Steeleye Span > Songs > Down in Yon Forest

Down in Yon Forest / Castleton Carol

[ Roud 1523 ; Ballad Index L691 ; trad.]

This carol was sung by A.L. Lloyd unaccompanied in the 1950s on his 78 rpm record Down in Yon Forest / The Bitter Withy and on his and Ewan MacColl's 1956 Riverside LP Great British Ballads Not Included in the Child Collection. Shirley Collins sang it on her 1976 LP The Sweet Primeroses. This recording was also included in her anthologies Fountain of Snow and Within Sound. She commented in the original album's sleeve notes:

Many traditional British carols (The Cherry Tree Carol and The Bitter Withy are two examples) attempt to portray a Christ living a normal family life among the trees and fields of Britain. Like Blake, the writers wanted “The Countenance Drive” to look upon and bless the downs, pastures and forests of their native land. This carol evokes an unfamiliar setting: a dark forest, a gilded hall, the sound of bells; signs of blossom, blood and birth. Dolly has tried, through her arrangement, to match the medieval spirit of the symbols. Peter Kennedy collected this song from Mrs Hall in Castleton, Derbyshire.

The carol was also sung by Maddy Prior on Steeleye Span's CD Winter. She commented in the album's sleeve notes:

This strange song was collected by Vaughan Williams from Mr Hill of Castleton, Derbyshire. It is long thought to have reference to the Grail Legend, sometimes incorporating a “stone with Corpus Christi written thereon,” the Grail in some ancient instances being a stone rather than a cup.

In 2008, Kerfuffle recorded the this song as Castleton Carol for their fourth CD, To the Ground. Their lyrics differ from Maddy Prior's in a few words only.

Lyrics

A.L. Lloyd sings Down in Yon Forest

Down in yon forest there stands a hall
      The bells of paradise I heard them ring
Is covered all over with purple and pall
      And I love my Lord Jesus above anything

And in that hall there stands a bed
It's covered all over with scarlet so red

And in that bed there lies a knight
Whose wounds they do bleed by day and by night

And by that bedside there kneels a maid
And there she do weep by night and by day

And by that bedside there flows a flood
The one half runs water, the other half blood

And at that bedfoot there lies a hound
A-licking the blood as it daily runs down

And at that bed's head there grows a thorn
Whichever blows blossom since he was born

Shirley Collins sings Down in Yon Forest

Down in yon forest there stands a hall
      The bells of paradise I heard them ring
It's gilded all over with purple and pall
      And I love my Lord Jesus above anything

Down in that hall there is a bed
All scarlet the cover lets over it spread

Down under that bed there runs a flood
A-half runs water, a-half it runs blood

Down at the bed-feet there springs a thorn
It blooms its white blossoms the day he was born

And over that place the moon shines bright
To show that our Saviour was born this night

Maddy Prior sings Down in Yon Forest

Down in yon forest there stands a hall
      The bells of paradise I heard them ring
Covered all over with purple and pall
      And I love my Lord Jesus above anything

And in that hall there stands a bed
Covered all over with scarlet so red

At the bed-side there stands a stone
Where the sweet Virgin Mary has knelt upon

Under that bed there runs a flood
The one half runs water, the other runs blood

At the bed's foot there grows a thorn
Which ever blows blossom since Adam was born

Over the bed the moon shines bright
To show our Saviour was born this night