"Matty Groves" is an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 folk ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

 that describes an adulterous tryst between a man and a woman that is ended when the woman's husband discovers and kills them. It dates to at least the 17th century, and is one of the Child Ballads

Child Ballads

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...

 collected by 19th-century American scholar Francis James Child

Francis James Child

Francis James Child was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of folk songs known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard University, where he produced influential editions of English poetry...

. It has several variant names, including "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard."

Synopsis

The wife of a nobleman, Lord Arlen (other names include Lord Daniel, Arnold, Donald, and Barnard), entices Matty Groves (or Little Musgrave), a servant or retainer of her husband, into an adulterous affair. Lord Arlen receives word of the betrayal; in some versions a foot-page hears them planning and warns Lord Arlen; the lord promises reward if he is telling the truth -- to make him his heir, or marry him to his eldest daughter -- and execution if he is lying. The nobleman returns home, where he surprises the lovers in bed. The death may be put off by Matty arguing for a weapon. Lord Arlen kills Matty Groves in a duel. When his wife spurns him and expresses a preference for her lover, even in death, over her husband, he stabs her through the heart. The ballad may end there, or with the lord's death, by suicide or execution. Yet another version has him cutting off his wife' head and kicking it against the wall in anger.

Some versions of the ballad include elements of an aubade

Aubade

An aubade is a morning love song , or a song or poem about lovers separating at dawn. It has also been defined as "a song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak"....

, a poetic form in which lovers part after spending a night together.

Textual variants

Google Books Information

Variant	Lord/Lady's surname	Lover	Notes
The Old ballad of Little Musgrave and the Lady Barnard	Barnard	Little Musgrave	This version has the foot-page
Mattie Groves	Arlen	Little Mattie Groves
Matty Groves	Darnell	Matty Groves

Some of the versions of the song subsequently recorded differ from Child's catalogued version.

The earliest published version appeared in 1658 (but see Literature section below).

A copy was also printed on a broadside by Henry Gosson, who is said to have printed between 1607 and 1641.

Some variation occurs in where Matty is first seen; sometimes at church, sometimes playing ball.

Other names:

• Based on the lover
  • Matthy Groves
  • Young Musgrave
  • Wee Messgrove
  • Little Musgrave
  • Little Sir Grove
  • Little Miushiegrove
  • Little Massgrove

• Based on the lord
  • Lord Barnard
  • Lord Barnaby
  • Lord Barlibas
  • Lord Barnabas
  • Lord Bengwill
  • Lord Barnett
  • Lord Arlen
  • Lord Arnold
  • Lord Aaron
  • Lord Donald
  • Lord Darlen
  • Lord Darnell
• Based on a combination of names
  • Lord Barnett and Little Munsgrove
  • Little Musgrave and Lady Barnet

Literature

There is an allusion to the ballad in Beaumont and Fletcher's play The Knight of the Burning Pestle

The Knight of the Burning Pestle

The Knight of the Burning Pestle is a play by Francis Beaumont, first performed in 1607 and first published in a quarto in 1613. It is notable as the first whole parody play in English...

(1613); this is the earliest known reference.

A book by Deborah Grabien

Deborah Grabien

Deborah Grabien is an American novelist and essayist. Her works cross several genres, including murder mysteries, supernatural thrillers, utopian fantasies, etc....

 (3rd in the Haunted Ballad series) puts a different spin on the ballad.

Recordings

Album/Single	Performer	Year	Variant	Notes
John Jacob Niles Sings American Folk Songs	John Jacob Niles John Jacob Niles John Jacob Niles was an American composer, singer, and collector of traditional ballads. Called the "Dean of American Balladeers", Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, with Joan Baez, Burl Ives, and Peter, Paul and Mary, among others,...	1956	Little Mattie Groves
British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains, Volume 2	Jean Ritchie Jean Ritchie Jean Ritchie is an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player.- Out of Kentucky :Abigail and Balis Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky had 14 children, and Jean was the youngest...	1960	Little Musgrave
Joan Baez in Concert Joan Baez in Concert Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1 is a live album taken from Joan Baez's 1962 concert tours. It peaked at #10 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.-History:...	Joan Baez Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....	1962	Matty Groves
Home Again	Doc Watson Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...	1966
Liege & Lief Liege & Lief Liege & Lief is the fourth album by the English rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third and final album the group released in the UK in 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist...	Fairport Convention Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...	1969	Matty Groves	Several live versions released since
Prince Heathen	Martin Carthy Martin Carthy Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...	1969	Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Ballads and Songs	Nic Jones Nic Jones Nicolas Paul "Nic" Jones is an English folk singer, fingerstyle guitarist and fiddle player whose professional career spanned the years 1964-1982. He recorded five solo albums, and was a frequent guest performer.-Biography:...	1970	Little Musgrave
Just Gimme Somethin' I'm Used To	Norman Blake Norman Blake (American musician) Norman Blake is an instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter. In a career spanning more than 50 years Blake has played in a number of folk and Country groups...  and his wife, Nancy Blake	1992	Little Matty Groves
Folque	Folque Folque Folque is a Norwegian folk rock band founded in 1973 by Morten Bing, Jørn Jensen, Eilif Amundsen, Lisa Helljesen, Espen Løvstad, Trond Øverland, and Trond Villa...	1974	Skjøn Jomfru	(in Norwegian)
Christy Moore	Christy Moore Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is a popular Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is well known as one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts...	1976	Little Musgrave
The Woman I Loved So Well	Planxty Planxty Planxty is an Irish folk music band formed in the 1970s, consisting initially of Christy Moore , Dónal Lunny , Andy Irvine , and Liam O'Flynn...	1980	Little Musgrave	Christy Moore, who also recorded the song, was a member of Planxty
Out Standing in a Field	The Makem Brother and Brian Sullivan The Makem Brothers The Makem Brothers — Shane Makem, Conor Makem and Rory Makem — are Irish musicians who live in the United States and perform together with two other brothers. They are the three sons of "The Godfather of Irish Music" Tommy Makem, and grandsons of Irish source singer Sarah Makem.-Biography:The...	1992	Matty Groves
You Could Be the Meadow	Eden Burning Eden Burning Eden Burning were a popular Christian band from Cheltenham led by Paul Northup. They originally met as members of Charlton Kings Baptist church, and were active within the Christian music community between 1989 and 1996. Their style — a mixture of "folk and the odd grungy guitar flying around", as...	1994
	Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....		Matty Groves	performed live; never released http://www.jh3.com/robyn/base/song.asp?squid=736
Live at the Mineshaft Tavern	ThaMuseMeant ThaMuseMeant ThaMuseMeant is an American folk-rock quartet. The band has had three permanent members since the beginning: Aimee Curl , Nathan Moore , and David Tiller . Prior to 2001 the band contained Jeff Sussman on percussion instead of Enion Pelta-Tiller on violin, who joined in 2003...	1995
Hepsankeikka	Tarujen Saari Tarujen Saari Tarujen Saari is a Finnish folk-rock group. They are known for playing songs from a variety of European folk traditions , as well as original compositions. Tarujen Saari employs a wide variety of instruments, many of which are traditional or Renaissance-era...	2000	Kaunis neito	(in Finnish)
On and On	Fiddler's Green Fiddler's Green (band) Fiddler’s Green is a German band from Erlangen that plays independent Irish speedfolk, formed in 1990. Their first concert under the name of Fiddler’s Green was at the Newcomer-Festival in Erlangen in November 1990, where the band came second...	1997	Matty Groves
Never Set the Cat on Fire	Frank Hayes	1977	Like a Lamb to the Slaughter	Done as a parody talking blues Talking blues Talking blues is a form of country music. It is characterized by rhythmic speech or near-speech where the melody is free, but the rhythm is strict....  version
Ralph Stanley	Ralph Stanley Ralph Stanley Ralph Stanley , also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley, is an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing.-Biography:...	2002	Little Mathie Grove
sings Sandy Denny	Linde Nijland Linde Nijland For 15 years Linde Nijland was part of harmony singing folk duo Ygdrassil. 2007 marked the preliminary end of the group and Linde continued her career as a solo singer/songwriter. She has toured The Netherlands, UK, Austria, Belgium and Germany...	2003	Matty Groves
De Andere Kust	Kadril	2005	Matty Groves
Season of the Witch	The Strangelings The Strangelings The Strangelings resulted from the union of The Kennedys and Chris & Meredith Thompson. They perform a mixture of Kennedys and Thompsons songs along with traditional music and covers. All the songs of each set are performed as a suite with no breaks. In contrast to the naturalistic style of the...	2007	Matty Groves
Prodigal Son	Martin Simpson Martin Simpson Martin Simpson is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in the British Isles, America and beyond.-Biography:...	2007	Little Musgrave
The Peacemaker's Chauffeur	Jason Wilson Band	2008	Matty Groves	Reggae arrangement featuring Dave Swarbrick, based largely on the Fairport version.
Foxhat Compilation	The Fox Hat!	2009	Matty Groves
Folk Songs	James Yorkston James Yorkston -Music career:A native of Fife, James Yorkston was an integral early member of the Fence Collective whose reach across contemporary music continues to lengthen: King Creosote, The Aliens, KT Tunstall, The Beta Band...  and the Big Eyes Family Players	2009	Little Musgrave
Alela & Alina	Alela Diane Alela Diane Alela Diane Menig is an American singer and songwriter living in Portland, Oregon.-Life and career:Alela Diane Menig, she grew up singing with her musician parents and performing in the school choir...  featuring Alina Hardin	2009	Matty Groves, Lord Arland
Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards	Tom Waits Tom Waits Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...	2009	Mathie Grove
Sweet Joan	Sherwood	2010	Matty Groves	In Russian language
Little Musgrave	The Musgraves	2011	Little Musgrave	Recorded as a YouTube Video to help explain bands name origins
In Silence	Marc Carroll	2011	Matty Groves

Musical variants

In 1943, the English composer Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...

 used this folk song as the basis of a choral piece entitled "The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard".

Other songs with the same tune

In the United States the song was transformed into the less graphic "Shady Grove

Shady Grove (song)

"Shady Grove" is an 18th-century folk song popular in the United States. It is a standard in the repertoires of folk, Celtic and bluegrass musicians. In most traditional versions, the melody is in a minor key...

", which has itself become a traditional.

Dave van Ronk

Dave Van Ronk

Dave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....

's version of "House of the Rising Sun" uses the tune of a version of "Matty Groves".

See also

The previous and next Child Ballads:

• "The Bonny Birdy
  The Bonny Birdy
  -Synopsis:A knight is riding when a bird asks him why he is about so late and tells him his wife is with her lover. It had been a wild bird until the lover caught it and gave it to his love. She did not feed it well, so it is telling her story. It flew with the knight to her bower, and sang of...
  
  "
• "Old Robin of Portingale
  Old Robin of Portingale
  -Synopsis:It opens with a warning against old men marrying young women.Old Robin of Portingale marries the daughter of the mayor of Linn. She soon goes to Sir Gyles and asks his help in murdering her husband. They make plans to attack him with twenty-four knights. His foot page overhears and weeps...
  
  "

External links

• Lyrics (F.J.Child)
• Lyrics (Fairport Convention)
• Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
• Mattie Groves a variant