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The Two Magicians

[ Roud 1350 ; Child 44 ; Ballad Index C044 ; trad.]

A.L. Lloyd accompanied by Dave Swarbrick sang his own re-writing of the Child Ballad 44, The Two Magicians, in 1966 on the theme album The Bird in the Bush: Traditional Songs of Love and Lust. This recording was also included in 1994 on this compilation CD Classic A.L. Lloyd and in 2002 on the 4CD anthology The Acoustic Folk Box. A.L. Lloyd commented in the first album's sleeve notes:

Not just for centuries, but for thousands of years the fantasy of this song has haunted the sex-dreams of men and, doubtless, women too. In Hindu scripture, when the first man pursued the first woman, she thought to hide by changing into a cow, but he became a bull and so cattle were born. She turned into a mare and he into a stallion, she a jenny and he a jackass, ewe and ram, on and on till all the world was created, down to the ants. Somewhat later, when Peleus set out to rape Thetis, she transformed herself into fire, water, lion, serpent and ink-squirting cuttlefish before yielding to his determined embrace. In Latin countries, the metamorphosis fantasy became a pretty, rather insipid ballad, but in Britain it long remained tough and witty. Eventually the ballad dwindled away, but it seemed too good a song to remain unused, so I brushed it up and fitted a tune, and now it appears to have started a new life. Dr Vaughan Williams once said: “The practice of re-writing a folk song is abominable, and I wouldn't trust anyone to do it except myself.”

Martin Carthy sang The Two Magicians in 1965 on his first album Martin Carthy. A live recording with Dave Swarbrick at the Folkus Folk Club in 1966 is available on Both Ears and the Tail. Martin Carthy commented in the former album's sleeve notes:

In his notes to the ballad of The Two Magicians, Child describes it as a “base-born cousin of a pretty ballad known all over southern Europe, in especially graceful forms in France.” He goes on to say that there is little doubt that they were derived from stories either of a youth and a maid pursued by an ogre or sorcerer and eluding him by transforming themselves, or of a youth apprenticed to a sorcerer learning the black arts by surreptitious reading, being pursued, assuming various forms, and finally killing his master. There is a story in the Arabian Nights Entertainment of a battle of transformation and others from all over the world telling of supernatural battles of giants, so in fact this “base-born cousin” may be closer to the source. This tune was fitted to the (anglicised) words by A.L. Lloyd.

A Dave Swarbrick solo version from The Assembly Hall, Melbourne, was recorded in 1996 and included in 2003 on the Dave Swarbrick anthology Swarb!.

Steeleye Span recorded this ballad with fewer verses and a completely different chorus for their sixth album Now We Are Six (the first one with drummer Nigel Pegrum), and a second time for the CD Present to accompany the December 2002 Steeleye Span reunion tour.

Another version of The Two Magicians (which contains the words “box of gold” in Martin Carthy's version) by Bob Fox and Stu Luckley was on their 1982 LP Wish We Never Had Parted, on their 1997 Fellside CD Box of Gold, and on the 2007 Wild Goose anthology Songs of Witchcraft and Magic from the British Folk Tradition. Bob Fox's note on his CD insert acknowledges their debt to Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick.

John Roberts & Tony Barrand recorded The Two Magicians too for their 1977 Folk-Legacy album Dark Ships in the Forest: Ballads of the Supernatural.

Bellowhead recorded Two Magicians in 2010 at their Hedonism sessions but it was left out of the CD and was included only on the iTunes download of this album. Jon Boden sang it as the January 24, 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Lyrics

A.L. Lloyd sings The Two Magicians	Martin Carthy sings The Two Magicians
The lady stood at her own front door As straight as a willow wand, And along there come a husky smith With a hammer in his hand.	The lady sits in her own front door As straight as the willow wand, And by there come a lusty smith With a hammer in his hand.
And he said, “Bide lady, bide, There's nowhere you can hide. The husky smith will be your love And that'll pull down your pride.	And he said, “Bide lady, bide, There's nowhere you can hide. For the lusty smith will be your love And he will lay your pride.”
“Well may you dress, you lady fair, All in your robes of red. Before tomorrow at this same time I'll have your maidenhead.”	“Well may you stand, you lady fair, All in your robes of red, But come tomorrow at this same time I'll have you in me bed.”
Saying, “Bide lady, bide, …”	And he said, “Bide lady, bide, …”
“Away, away, you coal blacksmith, Would you do me this wrong? To think to have my maidenhead That I have kept so long.	“Away, away, you coal blacksmith, Would you do me this wrong? To think to have my maidenhead That I have kept so long.
“I'd rather I was dead and cold And my body laid in the grave Than a husky, dusty, coal blacksmith My maidenhead should have.”	“I'd rather I was dead and cold And my body laid in the grave Than a lusty, dusty, coal blacksmith My maidenhead should have.”
Then the lady she held up her hand And swore upon her soul, She never would be the blacksmith's love For all of a box of gold.	So the lady she held up her hand, She swore upon her soul That she'd not need the blacksmith's love For all of a box of gold.
And the blacksmith he held up his hand And he swore upon the mass, “I'll have you for my love, my girl, For the half of that or less.”	But the blacksmith he held up his hand And he swore upon the mass, Saying, “I'll have you in me bed young girl For the half of that or less.”
Saying, “Bide lady, bide, …”	Bide lady bide …”
Then she became a turtle dove And flew up in the air, And he became an old cock pigeon And they flew pair and pair.	So the lady she turned into a dove And she flew up in the air, But he became an old cock pigeon And they flew pair and pair.
And he cooed, “Bide lady, bide, …”	Crying, “Bide lady, bide, …”
And she became a little duck, A-floating in the pond, And he became a pink-necked drake And chased her round and round.
Quacking, “Bide lady, bide, …”
She turned herself into a hare And ran upon the plain, And he became a greyhound dog And fetched her back again.	So the lady she turned into a hare And she ran across the plain, But he became a greyhound dog And he ran her down again.
Barking, “Bide lady, bide, …”	Crying, “Bide lady, bide, …”
And she became a little ewe sheep And lay all on the common, And he became a shaggy old ram And swiftly fell upon her.
Saying, “Bide lady, bide, …”
She changed herself to a swift young mare As dark as the night was black, And he became a golden saddle And clung unto her back.	So she became a little mare As dark as the night was black, But he became a golden saddle And he clung onto her back.
Saying, “Bide lady, bide, …”	Crying, “Bide lady, bide, …”
And she became a little green fly, A-flew up in the air, And he became a hairy spider And fetched her in his lair.
Saying, “Bide lady, bide, …”
Then she became a hot griddle And he became a cake, And every change that poor girl made The blacksmith was her mate.	So she became a hot griddle And he became a cake, And every move that poor girl made The blacksmith was her mate.
Saying, “Bide lady, bide, …”	Crying, “Bide lady, bide, …”
She turned herself to a full-dressed ship A-sailing on the sea, And he became a captain bold And aboard of her went he.	So she became a full-dressed ship And she sailed on the sea, But he became a bold captain And aboard of her went he.
Saying, “Bide lady, bide, …”	Crying, “Bide lady, bide, …”
So the lady ran in her own bedroom And changed into a bed, And he became a green coverlet And gained her maidenhead.	So the lady she ran into the bedroom And she changed into a bed, But he became a green coverlet And he gained her maidenhead.
And was she woe, he held her so, And still he bad her bide, And the husky smith became her love And that pulled down her pride.	And was she woke, he held her so And still he bade her bide, And the lusty smith became her love For all her mighty pride.

Steeleye Span sing The Two Magicians

She looked out of the window as white as any milk
And he looked in at the window as black as any silk

Chorus (after each verse)

Hello, hello, hello, hello you coal blacksmith
You have done me no harm
You never shall have my maidenhead
That I have kept so long
I'd rather die a maid
Ah, but then she said and be buried all in my grave
Than to have such a nasty, husky, dusky, fusky, musky
Coal blacksmith
A maiden I will die

She became a duck, a duck all on the stream
And he became a water dog and fetched her back again

She became a star, a star all in the night
And he became a thundercloud and muffled her out of sight

She became a rose, a rose all in the wood
And he became a bumble bee and kissed her where she stood

She became a nun, a nun all dressed in white
And he became a canting priest and prayed for her by night

She became a trout, a trout all in the brook
And he became a feathered fly and catched her with his hook

She became a corpse, a corpse all in the ground
And he became the cold clay and smothered her all around

Links and Acknowledgements

A.L. Lloyd's verses are from Roberto's transcription in the Mudcat Café thread Lyr Req: A. L. Lloyd's Two Magicians. See also the Mudcat Café thread Help: Two Magicians?

Martin Carthy's version was transcribed by Garry Gillard.