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Lord Bateman was a noble lord; a noble lord of a high degree. He put his foot on board a ship, boys1 and he said strange countries he would go and see. And he sailored2 east and he sailored west until he came to proud Turkey But this Turkish king had him put in prison until his life, to him, seemed quite weary. For, in that prison, there stood a tree that grew so very very stout and strong And he was chained there around the middle until he hoped his life might not be long. But this Turkish king had one only daughter; the fairest jewel any eye did ever see3 She stole the keys to her father's prison and she said, “Lord Bateman, I will set you free.” Then she took him down to her father's hall4 And she gave him bread and water and a bottle of the very best of wine; 5 And he embraced her and he told her, “Oh, my dear jewel, I wish you could be mine.” “For I have got houses and I have got land, for half of Northumberland belongs to me. I'll give it all to you, my jewel, for out of prison you have set me free.” Then she took him down to her father's harbour and he has mounted on his ship again.6 And he embraced her and he told her, “Oh, my dear jewel, I know we'll meet again.”7 “For seven long years you must wait, my jewel; then you must come to Northumberland. And I'll not wed any other woman and you'll not wed with any other man.” “And my new-made bride; her I will give over. She's none the better or the worst of me.8 She came to me riding on a pony. Now she will leave with a coach and three. She came to me riding on a pony. Now she will leave with a coach and three.”

Contributed by Chris Bartram (yorkiebartram @ telco4u.net) - 28.6.04

Notes:

1. My mother sang 'onto a ship-board', but my friend, Rees Wesson, thought that sounded too much like 'chipboard'!
2. Could be written as 'sail-ed' but it tends to come out more like 'sailored'.
3. Somewhere, I found '… my eye did ever see'.  I changed it to 'any eye' to give greater poignancy.
4. Sometimes I sing '… her father's kitchen' - it depends on the phases of the moon.
5. I love singing that lengthened line.  Longer or shorter lines and verses seem to be a current fad amongst singers - just as syncopated harmonies were favoured in the '70s.  (Yes, I know you can find examples of these traits in early recordings - but they are still fads.)
6. I've no idea where this came from but it seems to chime with most ballads where, at some point, the hero mounts his horse and rides away.
7. Sometimes 'Oh, I know that someday we will meet again'.  The phases of he moon once more.
8. I thought 'worse' would make more sense but Mum insisted it was 'worst'.  Not everything makes perfect sense all the time.  (Nevertheless, I sometimes sing 'worse'!)

One snippet was, 'Lord Bartram was a noble lord; a noble lord of a high degree'.  Oh, how we would laugh - even as a toddler I knew there was no such person as Lord Bartram.  (Don't get me started on Changeling fantasies).  Very occasionally, she would sing a bit more of it but there was always something slightly secretive - as if she felt she should not be singing it - and she never sang it in front of my father (perhaps because she was making fun of his family name, but there may have been other reasons to do with its provenance).  Whatever the reason, this secrecy made the song special to me - it was a private, slightly guilty, joke that excluded Dad and, most of the time, my two brothers.  All very Oedipal, I know, but life in the 1950s was generally much more Freudian than it is today!

Years passed; I started to grow up, but went to Art College instead.  It was not until the late 1970s that I really listened to English songs again - and there was this old recording of Joseph Taylor from Lincolnshire singing Lord Bateman.  (Thank you, Leader Records).  Somehow it still didn't feel right to share my mother's 'secret' (and, anyway, it was only a joke!) but I did learn several of Joseph Taylor's other songs.  As more traditional singers were brought to my attention, I began to reassess my childhood memories.  Unfortunately, it was almost too late.  By the time I wanted to learn the old songs, my mother couldn't remember them!  Not that I worried too much about this particular song as I was not thinking of actually singing it, but I jotted it down as a matter of record.  Then, some years ago, I heard Wiggy Smith at the English Country Music Weekend in Postlip and thought, 'I recognise that! What a great song.'  I had to sing it and, if I'd had a recording of Wiggy, I would probably have learned his version.  (This was a few years before MTCD307 was published).  Instead, I decided to reconstruct my mother's version.

Here are a few fragments that my mother remembered (in 1991-2?) which I wrote between the lines of a transcript of the two versions on Unto Brigg Fair (see below).  Many of them were prompted by me quoting these other versions, but I was reasonably sure that these bits were what she had learned as a child in Askham Richard, near York.  But I didn't even think to ask from whom she had learned it!  Her father, originally from Caputh in Perthshire, was Head Gardener at Askham Grange.  She may have learned it from him but, fairly recently, someone suggested it could have come from Travellers employed seasonally in the fruit and vegetable gardens.

Lord Bartram was a noble lord; a noble lord of a high degree. He put his foot onto a ship-board And he said strange countries he would go and see?… or something something that he would go to sea? He sail-ed east and he sail-ed west until he came to? … proud Turkey? … put in prison … something about a tree … This Turkish king had one lovely?/only? daughter, … only had one daughter … … She said, “Lord Bartram, I will set you free.” He fell in love with her … Oh, my dear jewel, I wish you could be mine. For I have got houses and I have got lands; half of Northumberland belongs to me… I'll give it all to you … for out of prison you have set me free. Something about her father's harbour … he embraced her … For seven long years … you must wait, my jewel? …then you must come to Northumberland … And I'll not wed any other woman, and you'll not wed with any other man. And my new-made bride I will give over or give her back to her mother? She's none the better or the worst of me. She came to me riding?/mounted? on a pony.  Now she will leave with a coach and three.

Lord Bateman was a noble lord; A noble lord of some high degree. He shipped himself on board a ship; Some foreign countries he would go see. He sail'ed east, and he sail'ed west Until he came to proud Turkey Where he was taken and put in prison Until his life it grew quite weary. And in this prison there grew a tree; It grew so large and it grew so strong; Where he was chain-ed around the middle Until his life it was almost gone. His jailer had but one only daughter - The fairest creature my two eyes did see. She stole the keys of her father's prison And said Lord Bateman she would set free. “Now have you houses have you got land And does Northumberland belong to thee? And what would you give to the fair young lady That out of prison would set you free?” “Yes I've got houses and I've got land And half Northumberland belongs to me. I would give it all to that fair young lady That out of prison would set me free.” ... And it's seven long years I'll make a vow And seven long years I will keep it strong. If you will wed with no other woman Then I'll not wed with no other man. She took him to her father's harbour. She gave to him a ship of fame. ”Farewell and adieu to you, Lord Bateman, I fear I'll never see you again.”

A year or so later I found Young Beichan in Professor F J Child's collection and, based on my conversations with Mum, picked out bits that 'sounded right' from the several versions in this collection.  I could have double-checked with her then but, as I said before, I had no real intention of singing the song at that time.  The following version (#53 L) seems to contain many of the elements that I picked out.

Lord Bateman was a noble lord, A noble lord of high degree; He shipped himself all aboard of a ship, Some foreign country for to see. He sailed east, he sailed west, Until he came to famed Turkey, Where he was taken and put to prison, Until his life was quite weary. All in this prison there grew a tree, O there it grew so stout and strong! Where he was chained all by the middle, Until his life was almost gone. This Turk he had one only daughter, The fairest my two eyes e'er see; She stole the keys of her father's prison, And swore Lord Bateman she would let go free. O she took him to her father's cellar, And gave to him the best of wine; And every health she drank unto him Was, "I wish, Lord Bateman, as you was mine." "O have you got houses, have you got land, And does Northumberland belong to thee? And what would you give to the fair young lady As out of prison would let you go free?" "O I've got houses and I've got land, And half Northumberland belongs to me; And I will give it all to the fair young lady As out of prison would let me go free." "O in seven long years, I'll make a vow For seven long years, and keep it strong, That if you'll wed no other woman, O I will wed no other man." O she took him to her father's harbour, And gave to him a ship of fame, Saying, "Farewell, farewell to you, Lord Bateman, I fear I never shall see you again." Now seven long years is gone and past, And fourteen days, well known to me; She packed up all her gay clothing, And swore Lord Bateman she would go see. O when she arrived at Lord Bateman's castle, How boldly then she rang the bell! "Who's there? who's there?" cries the proud young porter, "O come unto me pray quickly tell."

"O is this here Lord Bateman's castle, And is his lordship here within?" "O yes, O yes," cries the proud young porter, "He's just now taking his young bride in." "O bid him to send me a slice of bread, And a bottle of the very best wine, And not forgetting the fair young lady As did release him when close confine." O away and away went this proud young porter, O away and away and away went he, Until he come to Lord Bateman's chamber, When he went down on his bended knee. "What news, what news, my proud young porter? What news, what news? Come tell to me:" "O there is the fairest young lady As ever my two eyes did see." "She has got rings on every finger, And on one finger she has got three; With as much gay gold about her middle As would buy half Northumberlee." "O she bids you to send her a slice of bread, And a bottle of the very best wine, And not forgetting the fair young lady As did release you when close confine." Lord Bateman then in passion flew, And broke his sword in splinters three, Saying, "I will give half of my father's land, If so be as Sophia has crossed the sea." Then up and spoke this young bride's mother, Who never was heard to speak so free; Saying, "You'll not forget my only daughter, If so be as Sophia has crossed the sea." "O it's true I made a bride of your daughter, But she's neither the better nor the worse for me; She came to me with a horse and saddle, But she may go home in a coach and three." Lord Bateman then prepared another marriage, With both their hearts so full of glee, Saying, "I will roam no more to foreign countries, Now that Sophia has crossed the sea."

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