Matty Groves
The Child ballad of an adulterous night and its bloody end, played by Fairport at over eight minutes.
Fairport Convention, from Liege & Lief (1969)
- Written by
- Traditional
- Released
- 1969
- Album
- Liege & Lief
"Matty Groves", also known as "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard", is Child ballad number 81 and Roud 52. It probably comes from northern England and tells of a young man and a noblewoman whose night together ends when her husband finds them and kills them both. It dates back to at least 1613, when it was mentioned in a Beaumont and Fletcher play. Cecil Sharp collected a version from Agnes Collins in London in 1908, the only known version collected in England.
Fairport's version on Liege & Lief runs 8:08. Patrick Humphries wrote in 1996 that it relished the interplay between Swarbrick and Thompson. The original line-up, with Chris While in Denny's place, played it at the 2006 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, where Liege & Lief was honoured, and played the whole album at Cropredy in August 2007.
On stage
- 2007-08-10, Cropredy The whole of Liege & Lief performed by the reunion line-up, with Chris While singing Denny's parts.
More songs by Fairport Convention
Who Knows Where the Time Goes?, A Sailor's Life, Si Tu Dois Partir, Meet on the Ledge, Tam Lin
Sources
- Matty Groves, Wikipedia
- Liege & Lief, Wikipedia
- Fairport Convention, Wikipedia