> Peter Bellamy > Songs > The Prentice Boy
> Ashley Hutchings and The Albion Band > Songs > The Albion Country Band: Hanged I Shall Be
> Martin Carthy > Songs > The Albion Country Band: Hanged I Shall Be
> John Kirkpatrick > Songs > Ickfield Town

The Prentice Boy / Ekefield Town / Ickfield Town / Hanged I Shall Be

[ Roud 263 ; Laws P35 ; Ballad Index LP35 ; trad.]

This grim murder ballad was collected by E.J. Moeran from a Norfolk man in 1921 and published in Roy Palmer, Everyman's Book of English Country Songs.

Norfolk singer Harry Cox sang it with the title Ekefield Town in a recording by Mervyn Plunkett on June 12, 1960. This was included on his 2 CD Topic Records anthology, The Bonny Labouring Boy. Steve Roud commented in the liner notes:

Quite widely collected in Britain by Cecil Sharp and his contemporaries, and in the repertoire of several well known post-war singers such as Cecilia Costello, Jeannie Robertson, and Phoebe Smith, this song was even more well-known in North America, where dozens of versions (under such titles as The Wexford Girl or The Lexington Miller) have been noted and published. As pointed out by Laws (American Balladry from British Broadsides, 1957), in a chapter on “ballad recomposition”, the original text appeared in the mid-18th century as The Berkshire Tragedy or The Wittam Miller, and has since undergone not simply the vagaries of oral tradition, but deliberate re-composition, apparently on more than one occasion. Comparing Harry's with the Original, his is severely truncated and avoids the wordiness of 18th century texts, but it includes many of the most telling details, such as the stake from the hedge, and the dragging by the hair. Nevertheless, the omission of the original motif of pregnancy leaves the murder motiveless in Harry's version, which heightens either the song's stark horror, or the sordidness, according to the listener's own viewpoint.

Peter Bellamy sang this ballad in 1969 with the title The Prentice Boy on his second LP, Fair England's Shore. He commented in the album's sleeve notes:

The Prentice Boy is just one form of what must be one of the most widely-spread song plots in the world. This version comes from Norfolk, and has been collected under this title serveral times in that coutry; but listen to any version of The Oxford Tragedy or The Butcher Boy—or any of the American Omie Wise / Pretty Polly songs, and you find the same story. Perhaps it was always happening!

Martin Carthy sang this song with the title Hanged I Shall Be on the Albion Country Band's album Battle of the Field. This album which was recorded in 1973 but wasn't published before 1976. A May 1973 live recording for the BBC appeared on The Albion Band: The BBC Sessions, released in 1998 after only a 25 year wait!

John Kirkpatrick re-introduced the girl's pregnancy to the story, renamed the song to Ickfield Town, and sang it in 2005 on Song Links 2: A Celebration of English Traditional Songs and Their American Variants. Sheila Kay Adams sang the corresponding American variant, Knoxville Town. The sleeve notes commented:

This song, most commonly known as The Oxford Girl or The Cruel or Bloody Miller, tells in the first person the story of a young man who murders his sweetheart. In some versions, the girl is pregnant, and the story is often tenderly told—“I gently knocked her down” and “I took her down to the rivers's edge and gently throwed her in”. And generally the man shows remorse, or is it just a ploy to save himself from the gallows?

John Kirkpatrick calls his version Ickfield Town, and it's based on a version (Ekefield Town) from Harry Cox (born 1885) of Catfield, Norfolk. One of the greatest of the English traditional singers, farm worker Harry had a large and fien repertoire of songs, which he sang in his natural Norfolk dialekt with a great deal of grace and beauty. John has added further words from two remarkable gypsy women, Phoebe Smith and Cecilia Costello.

Jon Boden sang The Prentice Boy as the September 1, 2010 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Lyrics

Harry Cox sings Ekefield Town

As I was fast bound 'prentice boy, I was bound unto a mill,
And I served my master truly for seven years and more,
Till I took up a-courting with the girl with the rolling eye,
And I promised that girl I'd marry her if she would be my bride.

So I went up to her parents' house about the hour of eight,
But little did her parents think that it should be her fate.
I asked her if she'd take a walk through the fields and meadows gay,
And there we told the tales of love and fixed the wedding day.

As we were walking and talking of the different things around,
I drew a large stick from the hedge and knocked that fair maid down.
Down on her bending knees she fell and so loud for mercy cried,
“Oh, come spare the life of a innocent girl, for I am not fit to die.”

Then I took her by the curly locks and I dragged her on the ground
Until I came to the riverside that flowed through Ekefield town.
It ran both long and narrow; it ran both deep and wide,
And there I plunged this pretty fair maid that should have been my bride.

So when I went home to my parents' house about ten o'clock that night.
My mother she jumped out of bed all for to light the light.
She asked me and she questioned me, “Oh, what stains your hands and clothes?”
And the answer I gave back to her, “I've been bleeding at the nose.”

So no rest, no rest, all that long night; no rest, no rest, could I find.
The fire and the brimstone around my head did shine,
And it was about two days after this fair young maid was found,
A-floating by the riverside that flowed through Ekefield town.

Now the judges and the jurymen on me they did agree,
For murdering of this pretty fair maid so hanged I shall be.
Oh hanged, oh hanged, oh hanged I shall be,
For murdering of this pretty fair maid, so hanged I shall be.

Peter Bellamy sings The Prentice Boy

As I was fast bound 'prentice boy, I was bound unto a mill,
And I served my master truly for seven years or more,
Till I took up a-courting with that girl with the rolling eye,
And I promised I would marry her if she would be my bride.

So I went round to her parents' house, it being the hour of eight,
And little did her parents think that it would be her fate.
And I asked her for to walk with me through the fields and meadows gay,
And there we told our tales of love and fixed the wedding day.

As we were a-walking and a-talking of these different things around,
I pulled a large stick from the hedge and I knocked this fair maid down.
Down on her bended knees she fell and loud for mercy cried,
“Oh, have pity on an innocent girl, I am not fit to die.”

But I grabbed her by the curly locks and I dragged her on the ground
And I dragged her to the river Brigg that run through Ekefield town.
It ran both deep and narrow; it ran both swift and wide,
And there I plunged the pretty fair maid that should have been my bride.

So I went back to my parents' house about ten o'clock that night.
And my mother she jumped out of bed all for to light the light.
She asked me and she questioned me, “What stains your hands and clothes?”
And the answer I gave back to her, “I've been bleeding at my nose.”

But no rest, no rest, all that long night; no rest, no rest, could I find.
For the fire and the brimstone around my head did shine,
And it was about two days afterwards this pretty fair maid was found,
A-floating by the riverbank that flowed through Ekefield town.

So the judges and the jurymen on me they did agree,
For a-murdering of this pretty fair maid a-hanged I will be.
Oh hanged, oh hanged, oh hanged I will be,
For a-murdering of this pretty fair maid a-hanged I will be

The Albion Country Band's Hanged I Shall Be

Now as I was bound apprentice, I was 'prentice to the mill,
And I served my master truly for more than seven year.
Until I took up to courting with a lass with that rolling eye
And I promised that I'd marry her in the month of sweet July.
And as we went out a-walking through the fields and the meadows gay,
Oh it's there we told our tales of love and we fixed our wedding day.

And as we were walking and talking of the things that grew around
Oh I took a stick all out of the hedge and I knocked that pretty maid down
Down on her bended knees she fell and loud for mercy cry,
“Oh spare the life of an innocent girl for I'm not prepared to die.”
But I took her by her curly locks and I dragged her on the ground
And I throwed her into the riverhead that flows to Ekefield town,
That flows so far to the distance, that flows so deep and wide,
Oh it's there I threw this pretty fair maid that should have been my bride.

Now I went home to my parents' house, it being late at night.
Mother she got out of bed all for to light the light.
Oh she asked me and she questioned me, “What stains your hands and clothes?”
And the answer I gave back to her, “I've been bleeding at my nose.”
No rest, no rest all that long night, no rest there could I find
For there's sparks of fire and brimstone around my head did shine.

And it was about three days after that this pretty fair maid was found,
Floating by the riverhead that flows to Ekefield town.
That flows so far to the distance, that flows so deep and wide.
Oh it's there they found this pretty fair maid that should have been my bride.
Oh the judges and the jurymen all on me they did agree
For a-murdering of this pretty fair maid oh hanged I shall be.

John Kirkpatrick sings Ickfield Town

O as I was fast bound 'prentice boy, I was 'prentice to a mill,
And I served my master truly and never thought no ill,
Till I took up a-courting with a girl with a rolling eye,
Oh her beauty bright was my delight, she being so young and shy.

Well I promised I wouldd marry her, and her I did beguile.
Oh I kissed her and I courted her until she proved with child;
Then I asked her if she'd take a walk through the fields and meadows gay,
So that I might tell her tales of love, and fix our wedding day.

And as we were walking and talking all the different things around,
Oh I drew a stick from out the hedge and knocked this fair maid down.
Down on her bended knees she fell, so loud for mercy cried,
“Oh, come spare the life of a innocent girl, for I am not fit to die.”

I took her by the curly locks and I dragged her on the ground
I dragged her to the riverside that flows through Ickfield town.
Oh it runs both long and narrow; it runs both deep and wide,
And there I plunged this pretty fair maid that should have been my bride.

And then I went home to my parents' house, it being so late at night.
Oh my mother she jumped out of bed all for to light the light.
She asked me and she questioned me, “Oh, what stains your hands and clothes?”
And the answer I gave back to her, “I've been bleeding at the nose.”

No rest, no rest that live long night; no rest, no rest could I find.
The fire and the brimstone around my head did shine.
Look how she goes, look how she flows, a-floating on the tide;
Instead of having a watery grave she should have been my bride.

But it was about two days after, this fair young maid was found,
A-floating by the riverside that flows through Ickfield town.
Oh the judges and the jurymen on me they did agree,
For murdering of this pretty fair maid so hanged I shall be.
Oh hanged, oh hanged, oh hanged I shall be,
For murdering of this pretty fair maid, so hanged I shall be.

Acknowledgements

The Albion Country Band lyrics were copied from the Ashley Hutchings songbook, A Little Music.