"The Daemon Lover", also known as
"James Harris",
"James Herries", or
"The House Carpenter" (
RoudThe Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud, a librarian in the London Borough of Croydon....
14, Child 243) is a popular
balladA ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative and 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 North America, Australia and North Africa. Many...
from
BritainThe Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801...
. It tells the story of a man (usually the
DevilThe Devil is believed in certain religions and folklore to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The Devil is commonly associated with heretics, infidels, and other unbelievers...
), who returns to a former lover after a very long absence, and finds her with a husband (usually a carpenter) and a baby.
Discussion
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"The Daemon Lover", also known as
"James Harris",
"James Herries", or
"The House Carpenter" (
RoudThe Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud, a librarian in the London Borough of Croydon....
14, Child 243) is a popular
balladA ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative and 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 North America, Australia and North Africa. Many...
from
BritainThe Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801...
. It tells the story of a man (usually the
DevilThe Devil is believed in certain religions and folklore to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The Devil is commonly associated with heretics, infidels, and other unbelievers...
), who returns to a former lover after a very long absence, and finds her with a husband (usually a carpenter) and a baby. He entices her to leave both behind and come with him, luring her with many ships laden with treasure. Together they board one of his ships, (which in many versions she is surprised to find does not have a crew) and put to sea.
- "But if I should leave my husband dear,
- Likewise my little son also,
- What have you to maintain me withal,
- If I along with you should go?"
- "I have seven ships upon the seas,
- And one of them brought me to land,
- And seventeen mariners to wait on thee,
- For to be love at your command."
She soon begins to lament leaving behind her child, but is heartened by spying a bright hill in the distance. Her lover informs her that the hill is heaven, where they are not bound. Instead he indicates a much darker coast, which he tells her is hell, their destination. He then breaks the ship in half with his bare hands and feet, drowning them both. In other versions, the ship is wrecked by a storm at sea.
- "O what a bright, bright hill is yon,
- That shines so clear to see?"
- "O it is the hill of heaven, " he said,
- "Where you shall never be."
- "O what a black, dark hill is yon,
- "That looks so dark to me?"
- "O it is the hill of hell," he said,
- "Where you and I shall be."
This ballad was one of 25 traditional works included in
Ballads Weird and Wonderful (1912) and illustrated by
Vernon HillVernon Hill is a sculptor, lithographer and Illustrator.Vernon Hill was born in Halifax and undertook formal training in print-making from an early age, being apprenticed as a lithographer in his early teen....
. The
New York Times review of Hill's illustrations accompanying this ballad was noted as a particular highlight of his illustrations thus:
... the design of Satan rushing down through the waves with the boat containing
the faithless wife, is tremendous. Satan himself has one of the most graceful and
beautiful human bodies over drawn; the rhythm of the whole is thrilling, and the
conventionalized waves are splendid.
A popular
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
version is called
"The House Carpenter".
http://bobdylan.com/songs/carpenter.html
Shirley JacksonShirley Jackson was an influential American author. A popular writer in her time, her work has received increasing attention from literary critics in recent years...
's collection
The Lottery and Other StoriesThe Lottery and Other Stories is a 1949 short story collection by American author Shirley Jackson. Published by Farrar, Straus, it includes "The Lottery" and 24 other stories. This was the only collection of her stories to appear during her lifetime...
was originally intended to be titled
The Adventures of James Harris; several of the stories include slightly sinister or mysterious men, not obviously the same man, with this name.
Recordings
Versions of the song, under its several titles, have been recorded by:
- Augie March
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- re-written as 'Men Who Follow Spring The Planet 'Round'
- Bob Dylan
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- Buffy Sainte-Marie
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- Clarence Ashley
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- Custer Larue
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- Daithi Sproule
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- Damien Jurado
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- Dave Van Ronk
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- David Grisman
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- Dervish
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(as "Sweet Viledee")
- Doc Watson
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- Ewan MacColl
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- Faun Fables
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- Handsome Family
- Hurt
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- Jean Ritchie
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- Jeff Lang
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- Joan Baez
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- Kelly Joe Phelps
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- Kim Larsen
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- Lisa Moscatiello
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- Martin Simpson
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- Mr Fox
- Natalie Merchant
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- Nic Jones
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- Nickel Creek
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- Oakley Hall
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- Pentangle
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- Pete Seeger
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- Steeleye Span
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- Superwolf
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- Sweeney's Men
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- The Baltimore Consort
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- The Carolina Tar Heels
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- The Ex
- The Mammals
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- Tim O'Brien
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- Tony Rice
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- Ariella Uliano
External links