TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

In todays Daily Mail there is a question in the "Answers to correspondents" column.

Is there a true story behind the folk ballad Matty Groves, made  famous by Joan Baez & Fairport Convention?

The Daily Mail and 'true story' in the same sentence????? :o

According to the Daily Mail Matty Groves (formerly Matthias Grovinski) was a good for nothing asylum seeker, and Lady Donald was a coke sniffing aristo who had been rumoured to have had many lesbian affairs in her younger days. Lord Donald was in disgrace because of an expenses scandal at the House of Lords, where he had claimed groats that he was not entitled to. In the far cornfields they were growing genetically modified wheat.
The whole business of the "sword culture" was a sign of Broken Britain.
What's more, the bins hadn't been emptied for a fortnight.  :D

Hang the lot of them.

I remember reading about Nic Jones' take on the song and how the earliest known version dates back to 1650-ish (Child Ballad 81 (http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/child-ballads/ch081.htm))

I doubt if it would be possible to find the real characters, more likely it's a tale made up of several events.

None of the characters behave in a commendable fashion, that's true.  ;D

Methinks we have a serial murderer on our hands. Our Irish correspondent Christy Moore reports of a Little Musgrave meeting his end in an identical manner. Call for John Nettles, Morse and Patrick Glennister

Patrick Glennister ? His brother Philip surely  ::)

Cheers Nigel

thats one of the funniest things I have read for ages, I don't buy the daily wail anymore.

You mean you used to buy it?

maybe I will just take my camera out onto the streets of Westminster for this year's Matty Movie at Crops!

sadly Nick yes, when I was commuting to london, it always had print trade jobs in on a thursday.
i have been so much happier since I stopped commuting buying the mail

"Get your knickers on Polly, we've got another case to crack. This one's back in the 16th century, so no more chuffing New Romantics or Bowie soundtrack to put up with.
Apparently some lardy-da lord-type has got the hump when he found his missus engaged in rumpy-pumpy with one of the peasants and done 'em both in. He claims it was in self-defence, as this Grovesy geezer has struck the very first blow....."

Call the commissioning editor at the Beeb - I think I'm onto something.....

That would be Bolly, no?

Jules

But Polly much more in keeping with the folk genre

Ah, yes, fine.  Carry on!

Jules

Carry on?  Hmm...

"Carry On Up The FarCorn Fields"? (say it quickly...)

Jim Dale as Matty, Hatty Jacques as Lady Darnell, Sid James - his Lordship, Babs Windsor as the servant.  Kenneth Connor as the gospel preacher.

Soundtrack: Trad arr. Rambling Syd Rumpo

Ooh, I say!!   :-[

Jules

'Ere....stop messin' about!

s

'And in her hurry to carry the news, her bra fell off as she ran.
And when she came to the broad millstream,
She tripped and bruised the Bonnie Black Hare.'

I thought it was "and took of her blouse and swam!"

"Disgraceful scenes as au-pair swims topless in a public place. This scandal is another sign of the disintegration of society. See shocking pictures on page 2,3,4, & 5."

We need a thumbs up button. Err, if you'll forgive the expression.

'How do you like my feather bed ?
And how do you like my sheets ?
How do you like my new duck-house,
That I got on expenses last week ?'

On a small aside, the Duckhouse in question was made about 4 miles from where i sit and type, so tiss good for the local economy.

You have two fine purdey guns and I only a pocket knife, though it can get stones out of a horse hoof.

Very good!

Jules

"A holiday, a holiday, and the first one of the year"
Mail Leader Comment: a legacy of the previous Government that provides yet another excuse for shiftless shirkers to do nothing.
"Lord Darnell's wife went to the church, the gospel for to hear"
MLC: and, no doubt, to seek forgiveness for her posing in naught but a bed-sheet for the local press (see pic below).

etc etc

Methinks an anatomy lesson is required here. ;)

Perhaps it was a very heavy bra...

Tsk ! Editing my statement to suit your own ends.

Do you work for the Daily Mail ?  :P

Can we keep this on subject please   ::)

Rhythmically, the words bear a strong resemblance to a song called "The Bitter Withy," although that one is about a young Jesus. I have always wondered if there was some connection. But I also collect bits of colored string, so what do I know?

The fact that they have to ask some deadbeat on the Mail to answer their questions instead of spending 2 minutes on the Interweb says something about Mail readers. Not sure what.

Course there is the point that the Mail is so much more reliable and truthful  ::) ::) ::)

Controversial !!!!   You're gonna get deleted!!!    ;) ;D