> Martin Carthy > Songs > The Cottage in the Wood

The Cottage in the Wood

[ Roud 608 ; Ballad Index LLab048 ; trad.]

Martin Carthy sang The Cottage in the Wood on his 1974 album Sweet Wivelsfield. This recording was later included on his anthology The Collection. He commented in the original album's sleeve notes:

I have always thought of The Cottage in the Wood as being a fragment which, if taken one way was The Laird of the Windy Wa (Cold Haily Windy Night [which is on Carthy's Landfall]) but if looked at another way is a totally different kettle of fish. What I did was to take it and combine it with another fragment collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams from one Billy Waggs called The Lady Looked Out or The Proud Pedlar and with the song part of a cante-fable collected from Kate Thompson by Kidson called One Moonlight Night (which incidentally was versified by Kidson's wife and called he Robber Groom). I added a couple of verses, and this is the result.

Note: The title for Martin Carthy's 1968 LP But Two Came By is from the line “I looked for one but two came by” in verse 13 of this song.

Lyrics

Martin Carthy sings The Cottage in the Wood

It's of a cottage in a wood
All underneath a hill he stood,
Of a cottage in the wood
All underneath the hill he stood,
Which I never seen before,
Which I never seen before.

By there come a pedlar man,
Through and through the woods he ran.
By there come the pedlar man,
As through and through the woods he ran.
And he cried all at the door,
And he cried all at the door:

“Oh, it's forty miles I travelled today,
Spied a cottage by the way,
Forty miles I travelled today,
I spied a cottage by the way
Which I never seen before,
Which I never seen before.”

Lady looked out of her window so high,
She saw the pedlar standing by.
Lady looked out of her window so high,
She saw the pedlar standing by.
“Sing your song, you pedlar man,
Your song you lately have begun.”

“For me Mum and Dad are fast asleep,
Brothers have gone to mind the sheep.
Mum and Dad are fast asleep,
Brothers have gone to mind the sheep
And I dare not let you in,
And I dare not let you in.”

“Oh, but it rains, it flows, it hails and snows,
And I am wet all through my clothes.
Oh, it rains, it flows, it hails, it snows,
And I am wet all through my clothes
And I pray you let me in,
And I pray you let me in.”

“For me and my pack is worth twenty pound,
All in silver and gold to find.
For me and my pack is worth twenty pound,
All in silver and gold to find.
Freely I would give it to thee
All to lie one night with thee.”

And he has sworn by his hair of red
He would have her maidenhead.
He has sworn by his hair of red
That he would have her maidenhead.
And he cried all at the door,
And he cried all at the door.

“Oh, but it rains, it flows, it hails, it snows,
And I am wet all through my clothes.
Oh it rains, it flows, it hails, it snows,
And I am wet all through my clothes.
And I pray you let me in,
I pray you let me in.”

“No, kind sir, that never can be,
There's nobody in the house by me.
No, kind sir, that never can be,
There's nobody in the house by me.
And I dare not let you in,
I dare not let you in.”

“You must read my riddle and read it right
If you would lie with me this night.
You must read my riddle and read it right
If you would lie with me this night.
Riddle me reet and riddle me right,
Where was I on Saturday night?”

“If water was my prison to be
I would swim for liberty.
If water was my prison to be
I would swim for liberty.
So what was the boat you built for me
Down the woods and under a tree?”

“For one moonlit night as I sat high
I looked for one, but two came by.
For one moonlit night as I sat high
I looked for one, but two came by.
The boughs did bend, the leaves did shake
To see the hole that the fox did make.”

The pedlar cursed, the pedlar swore,
So loudly beat all at the door.
The pedlar cursed, the pedlar swore,
So loudly beat all at the door.
“Get you gone, you pedlar man,
For I know you and where you're from.”

And she has looked out of her window so high,
She's spied her brothers come riding by.
She looked out of her window so high,
She's spied her brothers come riding by.
“Get you gone, you pedlar man,
For I know you and where you're from.”

Seven brothers came to the door,
So loudly they the horn did blow.
Seven brothers came to the door,
So loudly they the horn did blow.
Down on his knees the pedlar fall
For mercy he did shout and bawl.

“Oh, it's all night long your grave I made,
All day long in wait I laid.
All night long your grave I made,
And all day long in wait I laid.”
The lady laughed, the lady sang,
As through the woods the pedlar ran.

Around his heels the hounds they ran,
As round his head the bullets rang.
Round his heels the hounds they ran,
As round his head the bullets rang.
The boughs did bend, the leaves did shake,
To hear the cries that the fox did make.

Acknowledgements

Transcribed by Garry Gillard.