The rhyme is an allusion to Oliver Cromwell’s body having been exhumed and hanged as a traitor by Royalists immediately after the restoration of the monarchy. “Oliver rose” i.e. was dug up and “the drop” is the slang term for hanging.

A folk song bearing Oliver Cromwell’s name was edited by Benjamin Britten in 1938. Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) is probably the most famous British composer of the 20th century, who was born and lived in Suffolk, writing many pieces for children, and supporting young musicians with the Aldeburgh Young Musicians programme. Undoubtedly, he knew the folk-song in Suffolk. Britten composed the song for use in four versions: high voice and piano, medium voice and piano, unison voices and piano, and high voice and orchestra. It is believed that the song’s first performance by Britten was at a concert at the Cosmopolitan Club in New York on 11 December 1940 with Peter Pears, an English tenor, and the personal and professional partner of Britten for nearly forty years. (See also Benjamin Britten on Suffolk, England page).

According to the published edition, this is a ‘Nursery Rhyme from Suffolk with a traditional text’. Copyright restrictions prevented the song being released as part of an album by other artists until the end of the century. Since then numerous folk-singers have added it to their repertoire, too many for us to list here. It is invariably listed as “Oliver Cromwell - Nursery Rhyme from Suffolk” and keying this on-line will produce more than enough performers of the song.

Benjamin Britten’s composition helped to promote the idea that this was “a folk-song/nursery rhyme from Suffolk” but, as we will show below, it was far more widespread than our county. The first notion that it was “from Suffolk” came originally from Lucy E. Broadwood and J.A. Fuller Maitland, English County Songs (1893). Miss Broadwood stated that she had learned the song “from a Suffolk boy” many years previously (Journal of the Folk-Song Society, 1916). Forms of it have turned up all over the place; mostly in England and the USA, but also in Scotland and Ireland.

The Irish version is known as “Poor Roger” and starts “Poor Roger lay buried and dead…..” and “Roger” replaces “Oliver”. Oliver Cromwell is still today a hated figure in the Republic of Ireland, so it is no surprise that the people there would avoid using a name so reviled and, thus, an innocuous substitute was provided.

In the USA three versions are known: “Old Crumpy” (or “Old Crummy”), “Old Humpy” and “Old Grumble” replace “Oliver”.

“Old Crump” was a real person associated with Oliver Cromwell. In the West Country of England, “crump” is the Old English nickname for a cripple or hunchback. John “Crump” Dutton (1594-1656/7) was a hunchback, engaging, hard living, colourful, with a passion for gambling and, more to the point, extremely wealthy. He inherited the Sherborne Estate, near the village of that name in Gloucestershire, as well as nine other manors in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. He was reputedly one of the richest men in England. During the English Civil War, “Crump” contrived to be on both sides. At one point he offered to lend Charles I £50,000 but, when he saw which way the wind was blowing, he established friendly relations with Oliver Cromwell and even attempted to arrange a marriage between his nephew and heir with Cromwell’s daughter. The West Country version would have been taken to America through the port of Bristol which was a departure point for many immigrants to the eastern seaboard.

The Suffolk Harmony, consisting of Psalm Tunes, Fuges and Anthems - William Billings

William Billings (October 7, 1746 - September 26, 1800) was born in Boston, Massachusetts and is widely regarded as the first American choral composer. He came fro m a poor family, had little formal education and was a tanner by trade. He was self-taught in music apart from some lessons from John Barry, choirmaster at New South Church in Boston. Apart from brief spells teaching music in Stoughton, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island, he remained in Boston, where he was involved in singing schools and training choirs in some of the most important churches, including the Brattle Street Church and the Old South Church.

He counted among his friends many prominent figures of the American Revolution, including Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. He wrote several songs for the patriot cause, one of which, Chester, was to become the hymn tune of the Revolution.

Although he became one of the best known composers in colonial America, Billings was never able to earn his living as a musician, and died in poverty, leaving behind a widow and six children. His grave memorial can be seen at the Central Burying Ground on Boston Common.

Altogether, he wrote more than three hundred compositions, nearly all of them settings of sacred texts, most of which are in four parts for a cappella singing. His many hymns and anthems were mainly published in six book-length collections, the first of which was a collection called The New England Psalm Singer, published in 1770. This was the first publication comprising American music exclusively, and was also the first by a single American composer.

The Suffolk Harmony was his fifth published collection. The full title is The Suffolk Harmony, consisting of Psalm Tunes, Fuges and Anthems. Published in 1786, it consists of 32 works, of which 29 are metrical psalm or hymn tunes, with three pieces described as anthems.

The title page of the original edition describes Billings as ‘AUTHOR OF THE SINGING MASTERS ASSISTAST’ (sic), and states that the book was ‘Engraved and Printed by J. NORMAN, for the AUTHOR, and Sold at his House near the LIBERTY-POLE’.

The Suffolk Harvest Home Song

The Suffolk Harvest Home Song is a traditional ballad from Suffolk, England, which celebrates the completion of the bringing in of the harvest & the ensuing “Harvest Home” festival. The song is known to date back to at least the middle of the nineteenth century. The song’s author is unknown.

Here's a health unto our master,

The founder of the feast!

I wish, with all my heart and soul,

In heaven he may find rest.

I hope all things may prosper,

That ever be takes in hand;

For we are all his servants,

And all at his command.

Drink, boys, drink, and see you do not spill,

For if you do, you must drink two, - it is your master's will.

Now our harvest is ended,

And supper is past;

Here's our mistress' good health,

In a full flowing glass!

She is a good woman,

She prepared us good cheer;

Come, all my brave boys,

And drink off your beer.

Drink, my boys, drink till you come unto me,

The longer we sit, my boys, the merrier shall we be!

In yon green wood there lies an old fox,

Close by his den you may catch him, or no;

Ten thousand to one you catch him, or no.

His beard and his brush are all of one colour,

I am sorry, kind sir, that your glass is no fuller.'

Tis down the red lane! 'tis down the red lane!

So merrily hunt the fox down the red lane!

Some versions of the song have an alternative final verse:

Down the red lane there lives an old fox,

There does he sit a-mumping his chops;

Catch him, boys, catch him, catch if you can;'

Tis twenty to one if you catch him or Nan.

The Suffolk Miracle - A Ballad

This is a Child Ballad. The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century. The collection was published as The English and Scottish Popular Ballads between 1882 and 1898.

However, first rendering of this ballad is to be found in the Bodleian Library, published by W. Thackeray in 1689 as “The Suffolk Miracle, or a relation of a young man who a month after his death appeared to his sweetheart.” It was sung to the tune of “My bleeding heart”.

The ballad recounts that a young maiden of noble birth comes to love a young commoner, so her father sends her away. Whilst in exile, the maid wakes one night to find her lover at her window mounted upon a fine horse. They go out riding together until the man complains he has a headache; the maid tends to him and ties her fine Holland handkerchief around his head. She kisses him and notes that his lips were as “cold as clay”. She returns to her father, who gives her the news that her young lover died of grief some nine months ago, whereupon she goes to his grave and digs up the bones, finding that her handkerchief is tied around the skull.

The moral is for parents not to stand in the way of true love, and let their children have their way, otherwise if true love is thwarted it will end in death.

It is presumed that the ballad originated in Suffolk. In later centuries it was more widely known in North America than Britain. There are two versions differing slightly, one found in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, the other in the Southern Appalachians. An alternative title is “The Holland Handkerchief” after the fine linen cloth that was first imported from Holland.

The first version below is from the Southern Appalachians:

Come all you people old and young

Pray don't do as I have done;

Pray let your children have their way

For fear that love breeds a decay.

When her old father came this to know

That she did love young Villian so,

He sent her off three hundred miles or more

And swore that back home she should come no more

This young man wept, this young man cried,

In about six months for love he died;

Although he had not been twelve months dead

Until he rode a white steed.

He rode up to his uncle's home

And for his true love he did call.

Here's your mother's coat and your father's steed

I've come for you in great speed.

And her old uncle, as he understood,

He hoped it might be for her good.

He jumped up, and her behind,

And they rode faster than the wind;

And when he got near her father's gate

He did complain that his head did ache.

A handkerchief she pulled out

And around his head she tied it about,

And kissed his lips and thus did say:

My dear, you're colder than the clay.

Get down, get down, get down, says he,

Till I go put this steed away.

While she was knocking at the door

The sight of him she saw no more.

Get up, get up, get up, says he,

You're welcome home, dear child, says he,

What trusty friend did come with thee?

Dear old father, do you know-,

The one that I once loved before.

The old man knowing he had been twelve months dead

It made the hair rise on his head.

He summoned clerks and clergies too,

The grave was to open and him to view.

Although he had been twelve months dead

The handkerchief was around his head.

Come all of ye, both young and old,

Who love your children better than gold,

And always let them have their way

For fear that love might prey decay.

And this version below is from Nova Scotia:

There was a squire lived in this town

He was well known by the people round;

He had a daughter of beauty bright

And she alone was his heart's delight.

There was a squire a-courting came

But none of them could her fancy gain

Until a lad of low degree

He fell in her arms and she fancied he.

It's when her father he came to hear

He separated her from her dear,

Four score miles or better he had her sent

To her uncle's house and her discontent.

This fair one unto her bed of down

She heard a deep and a deadly sound,

She heard a deep and a deadly sound

Saying, "Unloose those bandages that's lightly bound"

She looked out of her window clear

And saw her true love on her father's mare,

Saying, "Your mother's orders you must obey

And your father's anger to satisfy."

She jumped on to the mare's behind

And they rode off with contented mind,

They rode on till this sad mourn he made

Saying, "My dearest dear how my head do ache.

"She had a handkerchief of holland clear

And around her true love's head she bound,

She kissed his lips and this sad mourn she made

Saying, "My dearest dear you're as cold as clay."

They rode along to her father's cot,

Loud for her father she thus did call,

Saying, "Father dear did you send for me!"

And by such a young man she nam-ed he.

Her father knowing this young man was dead

Caused every hair to stand on his head,

He wrung his hands and he wept full sore

But this young man's darling wept ten times more.

She arose, to the churchyard goes,

She riz the corpse that was lying once dead,

She riz the corpse that was nine months dead

With a holland handkerchief tied round his head

So come all young men and maidens,

It's never be persuaded by your parents dear,

For when love and virtue it is all gone

There's no recalling it back again.

Recently the song has been revived in England by folk singers, notably by John Goodluck who is a native of Suffolk and still lives in the county. Not only did he record a version of the song in 1974, but he made it the title track to his debut album (see cover, left).

The Suffolk Miracle has also been sung by the prominent folk singer, Jim Moray from Macclesfield, England, on the album Sweet England, released in 2003.

Arkansas born folk ballad singer Connie Dover has recorded a version of the song under the title The Holland Handkerchief, which appears on her 2006 album If Ever I Return.Other recordings, with slightly different lyrics to either of the two versions above, can be heard on the 1957 album Ghost Ballads by Dean Gitter (1935-2018), and on the album Blood & Roses Vol I released in 1979 by husband and wife partnership Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl, where it goes under the alternative title Sweet William’s Ghost.

Ewan MacColl (1915-89) was the stage name of prominent folk singer-songwriter, political activist and actor, born James Henry Miller in England to Scottish parents. His best known songs are The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, popularised by Roberta Flack in 1969, and Dirty Old Town, covered by The Dubliners, amongst others. He is the father of singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl (1959–2000), best known for her duet with The Pogues on the Christmas song Fairytale of New York.

Peggy Seeger (born 1935) is an American folk-singer and also a left-winger who associated herself with the communist youth organisations in Moscow and China in the 1950s. Staying in London in 1956, she met Ewan MacColl and they later married in 1977. Because of their communist affiliation and somewhat unconventional lifestyles they were under surveillance from the security services of the UK and USA (MI5 and the CIA) for several years.

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The Politick Maid of Suffolk; or, the Lawyer Outwitted - A Ballad

The Politick Maid of Suffolk; or, the Lawyer Outwitted is a comic seduction ballad. These were popular in the 18th century and reflect the number of unwed mothers, and also the ruses that a betrayed maid would use to pressure her lover into marriage. This one was especially popular, particularly if appropriate sound effects could be displayed when the supposed Devil appeared. There is no known reason why it is associated with Suffolk. It was first printed and sold in Bow Church-yard, London, 1760.

Come all ye young men and maids,

Both of high and low degree;

Or you who love a merry jest

Give ear awhile to me.

I’d have you give attention

To what I have to tell,

Then hear it out, I do not doubt,

’Twill please you wondrous well.

’Tis of a wealthy Lawyer,

That did in Suffolk dwell,

He kept a handsome House-keeper,

Her name was called Nell.

He kiss’d her and press’d her o’er and o’er;

As I to you may tell,

’Till her apron grew too short before,

Alas! Poor Nell!

It happen’d on a certain day,

As talking they were led,

She wept, she wail’d, she wrung her hands,

And thus to him she said;

My virgin rose you stole away,

O wed me, Sir, said she,

Or I, like other girls, may say,

Ah! Woe is me!

He straight gave her a loving kiss,

And without more delay,

He took her by the lily white hand,

And thus to her did say;

I wish Old Nick may fetch me straight,

(A woeful tale to tell)

If ever I prove false to thee,

My dearest Nell.

Then thus with joys and loving toys,

They passed away the time,

’Till seven months were gone and past,

(But two left out of nine.)

When from her place he turn’d her quite,

As I to you may tell,All for the sake of a Lady bright,

Alas poor Nell!

But when she found she was deceiv’d,

She wept and tore her hair;

And cry’d there’s no belief in man,

It plainly doth appear.

Oh! how could he so cruel be,

Thus to trapan my heart;

But I will be reveng’d on him,

Before that we do part. ----

Now it happen’d to this Lady bright,

Who liv’d a mile from town;

That this young lawyer every night

Would walk to her from home.

Forgetting of his former vows,

As I to you may tell,

And longing for a richer spouse,

He left poor Nell.

As Nell was sitting all alone,

Lamenting sad one night,

A project came into her head,

Which made her laugh outright.

Thought she, I’ll make myself black

As any Devil in Hell,

And watch some night for his coming home,

Sing, O brave Nell!

She to a Chimney sweeper went,

And there a bargain made,

For to have his sooty-cloathes,

And furthermore she said;

If that my counsel you’ll but take,

A guinea I’ll give to thee;

Then let your little sweeper boy

But come along with me.

She having learned the lad his tale,

Thus unto him did say,

If you do act your part aright,

You half a crown I’ll pay.

She gave him squibs of gunpowder,

And all appear’d right well,

To frighten her master the Lawyer.

Sing, O brave Nell!

And coming to a lonesome wood,

In ambush they did lie,

The which adjoining to a road,

That the Lawyer must come by:

With a pair of ram’s horns on her head,

In a lonesome place stood she;

But as for black the sweeper’s boy,

She plac’d him on a tree.

It was just about the hour of one,

As for a truth we hear,

The Lawyer he came trudging home

From the courtship of his dear:

And stepping o’er to shun the dirt,

As I to you may tell,

She quickly caught him by the skirt,

Sing, O brave Nell!

Then with a doleful hollow voice,

She unto him did say,

According to your wish I come,

To fetch you hence away.

She said, you must along with me

Down to my gloomy cell,

Except tomorrow by break of day,

You wed poor Nell.

With that the Chimney-sweeper’s boy,

Set fire unto the train,

Which flew and crack’d about his head,

And made him roar amain.

Dear Mr Devil, spare me now,

And mind but what I tell,

And I tomorrow by break of day,

Will wed poor Nell.

Well look you do the Devil cry’d,

Or mind what I say to thee;

Do you see that little Devil,

That sits on yonder tree:

If ever you do break your vow,

As sure as hell is hell,

That little Devil shall fetch you,

If you slight poor Nell.

The Lawyer he went trembling home

In a most dreadful fright,

And early in the morning,

As soon as it was light,

With trembling joints and staring eyes,

With looks both wan and pale,

He came to her, with humble voice,

Good-morrow, dear Nell.

With kisses and embraces,

She granted her consent;

And having got a licence,

Unto the church they went;

Where he made her his lawful wife,

As for a truth I tell,

And now they live a happy life,

Sing, O brave Nell!

She never told to friend or foe,

The trick which she had play’d,

Until some months after,

When she was brought to-bed.

She told it at a gossiping,

Which pleased the wenches well,

He was glad, and laugh’d and said

’Twas well done, Nell.

East Suffolk Quadrilles - S. Ball

In 1819 this piece was published by Preston (London). It was composed and arranged for pianoforte by S. Ball who lived in Ipswich, Suffolk. He is known from about 1797 and in 1808 he was the organist of St Lawrence Church in Ipswich. He is reported as performing his songs at Ranelagh Gardens in Norwich. In 1840 he ran a music publishing company known as “Ball & Sons” in Ipswich. (See also Ipswich Volunteers Funeral March on the Ips Misc. page of www.planetipswich.com)

The quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe. The dance was introduced in France around 1760 and reached English high society in 1816 through Lady Jersey, after which the quadrille became a craze. It was performed by four couples in a rectangular formation, hence the name from Italian quadriglia, which means ‘a small square’. Each couple faced the centre and then the couples in each corner of the square took turns, in performing the dance, where one couple danced, and the other couples rested. Lewis Carroll lampooned the dance in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as “The Lobster Quadrille” (1865).

Sweet Suffolk Owl - A Poem

Sweet Suffolk owl, so trimly dight

With feathers, like a lady bright;

Thou sing’st alone, sitting by night,

‘Te whit! Te whoo!’

Thy note that forth so freely rolls

With shrill command the mouse controls;

And sings a dirge for dying souls.

‘Te whit! Te whoo!’

The above is an anonymous English poem dating from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, & as such it is impossible to tell why the name Suffolk was used, although it is tempting to suppose that the author may have been a native of the county.

It was first set to music in 1619 by madrigal composer Thomas Vautor. Very little is known about Vautor, with his year of birth being given as anywhere between 1570 & 1580, & his death between 1620 & 1630. What is known is that he first appears as a household musician in the family of Mary Beaumont of Glenfield in Leicestershire in the late 1590s, & seems to have remained in Mary’s service until at least 1619. In 1618, Mary’s son George Villiers was created Marquess of Buckingham, & in the following year Vautor dedicated a collection of madrigals to him entitled “The first set: being songs of divers ayres and natures, of five and six parts: apt for viols and voices”. This volume is Vautor’s only known work, & consists of twenty two pieces, the most famous of which is “Sweet Suffolke Owle”. A recording of Vautor’s arrangement can be found on the CD Chamber Music (Renaissance) by the Musica Fresca ensemble, released in 2000 on the Divox label (CDX-79804), whilst the song has more recently appeared on the 2010 album Traditional Glees and Madrigals by Pro Cantione Antiqua & Philip Ledger.

Others to have used Sweet Suffolk Owl in musical settings include American composer Herbert Elwell (1898-1974), English composer, pianist, & writer Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987), & English composer John Linton Gardner (1917- 2011). The most recent setting for Sweet Suffolk Owl dates from 1981 by the American composer & pianist Richard Hundley (1931-2018). The song appears on the CD Under the bluest sky....Songs of Richard Hundley (2007), performed by David Parks (tenor) & Read Gainsford (piano). Other recorded versions can be found by: Claire Jones with the NYCoS National Girls Choir, dwsChorale, Gesualdo Consort, Cambridge Singers, Lauren Wagner & Fred Weldy, Paul Sperry, Trinity Baroque & Julian Podger, William Sharp & Steven Blier, Vasari Singers & Jeremy Backhouse, Jason Vest, Sebastian Carrington and Kerry J Beaumont, Elin Manahan Thomas, Jeremy Filsell and Rachel Evangeline Barham, University of St Andrews Madrigal Group, & the vocal duo Tryst (Michelle O’Rourke & Nora Ryan).

An instrumental version, Sweet Suffolk Owl for Flute Quintet by David Warin Solomons, from Loughborough, England, is included on his 2016 album Instrumentals 1, whilst another more modern instrumental, loosely based on Sweet Suffolk Owl, is an ambient/electronic track entitled The Suffolk Owl by Heskin Radiophonic (one of the many pseudonyms of Gordon Chapman-Fox from Lancashire, England).

Several performances, of Sweet Suffolk Owl, both choral & solo, can be found on Youtube. These include renditions by Isobel Baillie, Rosa Hart, the Mackay Choral Society, Novem Altare, & the Sunshine Coast Oriana Choir.

The Suffolk Tragedy - A Verse and a Ballad

Two separate, particularly gruesome episodes that happened in the English county of Suffolk in the early 19th century were turned to verse and song with the same title. The first one has largely been forgotten today, but the second one has entered folklore in Britain, Australia and the further world.

The image right is taken from a broadside (a ‘broadside’ is a single sheet of paper printed on one side, the early equivalent of the ‘broadsheet newspapers’ of today). It tells the story of John Smith, aged 39, and his second wife (and thus stepmother of his children), Elizabeth, aged 27, systematically starving and assaulting their 8 year old daughter, Mary Ann. This crime occurred in Suffolk in 1812.

Not only was Mary Ann hung up without food on three successive days in a shed, but this was also ‘in the Depth of Winter’. She was ‘barbarously beat’ and in the end starved to death. So cruelty and barbarism are key messages in both image and the text. Accompanying the text was a verse about the incident, as was common at the time. The underlying feature, then as now, was “sensationalism”. This is what sold the broadsides, in exactly the same way as popular newspapers today. The horror of the image represents gross parental abuse. The prominent axe and spade in the bottom right hand corner indicate the intended secret burial of the corpse of the child. The couple admitted in court that their extreme poverty meant that they could not afford to keep their children and it was their intention to do away with some of the others as well.

The idea of hanging a child up in this way is shocking to a modern reader, yet there is evidence that hanging children up by ropes was often used as a form of corporal punishment in this period. The verse follows below. Despite the horror of the crime depicted, the verse concludes with a very brief expression of ‘hope that for their crimes, sincere they did repent’. It was essential that repentance by the criminal was required for closure of the moral tale of crime and punishment. However, times were changing and there was no call on the broadside audience to experience pity for the criminals. Their crime was just too horrendous.

Draw near awhile both old and young,

And listen to my tale,

To draw a tear from every eye, it slowly

Onward fall.

Barbarity of the blackest dye, to you now

Unfold,

Which when you hear, ’twill make your

Hearts’ blood run cold.

At Cookley in Suffolk, a guilty pair did

Dwell,

The husband being a labouring man, and

He respected well;

His wife, a cruel step-mother, hard-hearted

Sure was she.

As when this tale you’ve read, most plainly

You will see.

They took poor little Mary Anne, and tied

Her by the waist,

To a beam in a dreary shed, to comfort then

Bereft,

They also beat and starved her – oh, dreadful

To relate,

To think these cruel parents should this poor

Child so hate.

But justice soon o’ertook them, and stopt

Their dark career,

And before the judge and jury they soon did

Appear,

Tho the woman seem’d so heardened to all

That pass’d around,

Yet she approach’d her awful death, she

Fainted to the ground.

’Twas when their conscience prick’d them

Sore, ’twas then they felt their crime,

When sentenc’d, and in public, to suffer in

Their prime,

These monsters well deserv’d their fate –

What else could they expect?

But let us hope that for their crimes, sincere

They did regret.

The second episode is so famous it hardly needs retelling. It has given rise to numerous articles, plays, short stories, films and ballads. The usual title is The Murder in the Red Barn, but The Mysterie of Maria Marten or just plain Maria Marten is also sufficient to arouse interest. It is generally considered the most notorious murder case of the 19th century, and there is plenty of information about it on the Internet. This was the murder committed in Polstead, Suffolk, England in 1827. A young woman, Maria Marten, was murdered by her lover William Corder. The two had arranged to meet at the Red Barn, a local landmark, before eloping. Maria was never seen alive again and Corder had left the scene. Corder sent letters to Marten’s family claiming that they were together and that she was in good health. But her body was later discovered buried in the Red Barn. Corder was tracked down in London, where he had married and started a new life. He was brought back to Suffolk and found guilty of murder. He was hanged at Bury St Edmunds in 1828.

The reason why popular interest persisted much longer than any other crime, and indeed continues today, is mainly because of the bizarre, if not supernatural, element to the story. Although the family was getting suspicious of only getting letters from Corder because Maria could read and write, it was her stepmother who became agitated. Apparently, she did actually have the same dream several times. This was of Maria pointing to a spot in the Red Barn. The wife eventually persuaded her husband to go to the Red Barn and dig in the spot. He quickly uncovered the remains of his daughter buried in a sack. She was badly decomposed but still identifiable. Evidence was uncovered to implicate Corder in the crime: his green handkerchief was discovered around the body’s neck.

The incident and the trial prompted the publication of no fewer than nine different broadside ballads. Of these, two songs were pre-eminent: “The Murder of Maria Marten” was by far the most successful, but “The Suffolk Tragedy” followed in popularity. The interesting fact of the latter ballad is that it was the most popular of this genre in Australia. Although originally sung from words on a broadside, the ballad was passed on through oral transmission, subsequent folksingers relying on memory. When these later ballads were also written down near the end of the 19th century, there were basically six variants of “The Suffolk Tragedy” circulating: two collected in England (1906 and 1972), and four in New South Wales, the latter versions sung by the prominent Australian folksingers Sally Sloane (1957 and 1976) and Carrie Milliner (1995).

The ballads run into some 24 stanzas, and there are of course variations between them. The stories and films that have been produced also stray from the true facts a bit. Far from being the virginal maiden of popular myth, Maria had already given birth to three illegitimate children, one of them Corder’s. Nonetheless, there can be no way of getting away from the fact that this crime was only uncovered because of a dream. This is its fascination. The 19th century also had its souvenir hunters and curiosity seekers. The Red Barn was soon dismantled by those coming to the scene and taking away pieces of the building, and the gravestone of Maria Marten has been taken so many times that one is no longer displayed at the spot.

To Suffolk – A Poem by Cecil Lay

Cecil Howard Lay (1885–1956) was a poet, artist & architect who was born in Aldringham, near Leiston, Suffolk, England. He studied painting in Belgium & Holland from 1912, then served in the First World War, before returning to Suffolk where he lived until his death. He is buried in Aldringham churchyard.

Between 1927 & 1934 several volumes of his poetry were published, such as Sparrows and Other Poems (1927), Grotesques and Arabesques (1928) & April’s Foal (1932). The Collected Poems of Cecil Lay appeared in 1962, whilst another volume of selected poems, An Adder in June, came out in 1978. The poem To Suffolk originally appeared in 1927, in the collection Sparrows and Other Poems.

To Suffolk

When Mavises began to build,

And lilac-twigs again were filled;

When buds had thickened in the glen,

And ducks in couples sought the fen;

When sticklebacks were rosy-gilled,

And blackthorn blanchèd petals spilled;

When frogs were stirring in the mud,

And chestnuts sticky in the bud;

Said I, when night shall equal day,

From winter-quarters I’ll away.

When robins fed their spotted young,

And catkins from the hazels hung;

When warbler flaunting warbler sung,

And squirrels on the pine-trees hung;

When days were bright, and skies were blue,

And yokels ‘gan again to woo;

When thrush and blackbird early woke,

And leaves had bronzed upon the oak;

Said I, now cheerless days are done,

My pilgrimage shall be begun.

When swallows hawked in golden air,

And flowers were blooming everywhere;

When shores were gay with bathers bright,

And glowworms greenly shone at night;

When hay was mown, and cuckoos flown,

And Summer held her golden throne;

When cherries shone amidst their green,

And apples on the boughs were seen;

Said I, the time has come to start!

This home and I will shortly part.

When martlets left the cobwebbed eaves,

And russet corn was bound in sheaves;

When sunflowers bent their aureoled heads,

And spiders spun their migrant threads;

When skies were poems ready writ,

And morning mists were infinite;

When berries dazed the insect throng,

And leaves fell through the robin’s song;

Said I, the season passeth by,

My luck upon the road I’ll try.

When winds were wild, and roofs untiled,

And coloured leaves in corners piled;

When bat and dormouse went to sleep,

And bough and sky did frequent weep;

When nuts were plucked, and medlars sucked,

And pheasants shot, and furrows mucked;

When suns were dim and days were brief,

And winds re-howled their ancient grief;

Said I, the road now calleth me,

A pilgrim once again I’ll be.

When pool and stream were frozen hard,

And cattle stayed within the yard;

When elms were red, and ash-trees black,

And sparrows robbed the farmer’s stack;

When tilth and fallow changed to stone,

And hoodies fought around a bone;

When hands were numb and minds depressed,

When snow the naked trees had dressed;

Said I, I will away from here

In this hard season of the year.

Yet here I stay and years go by,

And Suffolk knows the reason why.

Suffolk A Rambling Rhyme – Robert Hughman (1813-1875)

This was first published in 1846. Robert Hughman was a Yoxford schoolmaster. Yoxford is in east Suffolk, England, 25 miles (40 km) north-east of Ipswich. He first recited it to the Yoxford Farmers’ Club in 1846 and it rambles on (over 22 pages) about the beauties of the Suffolk landscape and is an itinerary of Suffolk villages, towns and rivers in simple verse form. He had a few other poems published, and this one has been reprinted in recent years.

It is far too long to repeat here, but the first eight lines show where his sympathies lie:

Come, silly SUFFOLK, if the name that thou

So long hast borne, thou haply bearest now,

Though I for one respectfully disclaim

Thy sole assumption of the blockhead’s name,

Since many a county, did I care to tell,

Were fools to strive, from thee would bear the bell;

Come, silly SUFFOLK, let me sing of thee,

And to thy sons this night unfold thy history.

Suffolk Lanes - Scottish Country Dance

Suffolk Lanes is a Scottish country dance devised by Tim Eyres of the Oxfordshire Branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dancing Society & published in the “Silver Jubilee Oxford Book of Dances” in 1993.

So why has a Scottish dance been given the name “Suffolk Lanes”? Tim explains:

“I used to live in the village of Cockfield, near Bury St Edmunds. I have very fond memories of that time and the many twists and turns of the dance reminded me of being driven round the narrow lanes of Suffolk in my youth.”

Instructions for the dance can be found on: www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com

Suffolk Misc - Miscellaneous References to Suffolk from Around the World - Part 1

The Suffolk Harmony, consisting of Psalm Tunes, Fuges and Anthems - William Billings

The Suffolk Harvest Home Song

The Suffolk Miracle - A Ballad

The Politick Maid of Suffolk; or, the Lawyer Outwitted - A Ballad

East Suffolk Quadrilles - S. Ball

Sweet Suffolk Owl - A Poem

The Suffolk Tragedy - A Verse and a Ballad

To Suffolk – A Poem by Cecil Lay

Suffolk A Rambling Rhyme – Robert Hughman (1813-1875)

Suffolk Lanes - Scottish Country Dance

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