Constant Farmer's Son, The [Laws M33]

DESCRIPTION: Her parents consent to let their daughter marry a farmer, but her brothers will not agree. The brothers take the farmer out and murder him, claiming he has fled with another girl. The daughter finds the body, has her brothers executed, and dies of grief
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3995))
KEYWORDS: homicide family
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,South),Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MA,MW) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (18 citations):
Laws M33, "The Constant Farmer's Son"
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "CONSTANT FARMER'S SON, THE"
Greig/Duncan2 221, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (2 fragments, 2 tunes)
Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Mi 632, "Merchant's Daughter" (1 text)
Broadwood-EnglishTraditionalSongsAndCarols, pp. 28-29, "The Merchant's Daughter or The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
OShaughnessy-YellowbellyBalladsPart1 11, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud/Bishop-NewPenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs #115, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cazden/Haufrecht/Studer-FolkSongsOfTheCatskills 47, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H806, pp. 434-435, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton/Maguire-ComeDayGoDayGodSendSunday 17, pp. 40-41,108,163, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pound-AmericanBalladsAndSongs, 32, pp. 76-78, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text)
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol3, pp. 93-94, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 short text, 1 tune, probably this, although Bush lumps it with two other songs, pp. 89-90, "The Jealous Brothers"; pp. 90-91, "The Jealous Brothers II" which are clearly "The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town)" [Laws M32])
Creighton/Senior-TraditionalSongsOfNovaScotia, pp. 141-142, "Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-MaritimeFolkSongs, p. 118, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best-ComeAndIWillSingYou 25, "Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie-BalladsAndSeaSongsFromNovaScotia 26, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text)
DT 309, CONSTFRM (JEALBRO5 incorrectly listed as Laws M32)
ADDITIONAL: Harold Nestler, "Songs from the Hudson Valley" (article in _New York Folklore Quarterly_, Volume V, #2, Summer 1949), pp. 96-97 "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text)
Roud #675
RECORDINGS:
Josie Connors, "Constant Farmer's Son" (on IRTravellers01)
Tom Lenihan, "Constant Farmer's Son" (on IRClare01)
John Maguire, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (on IRJMaguire01)
James McDermott, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (on IRHardySons)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3995), "The Merchant's Daughter and Constant Farmer's Son," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Johnson Ballads 1223, Harding B 16(148a), Firth c.18(183), Johnson Ballads 1947, Harding B 11(2402), "The Merchant's Daughter and Constant Farmer's Son"; Johnson Ballads 2675, "Merchant's Daughter" or "Constant Farmer's Son" ("It's of a merchant's daughter in London town did dwell"); 2806 b.9(265), "The Constant Farmer's Son"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town)" [Laws M32]
NOTES [54 words]: At the end of Tom Lenihan's version on IRCLare01, the brothers' bodies are given to doctors "for to practice by" "but Mary's thoughts both night and day On her dead love did run; In the madhouse cell poor Mary dwells For her constant farmer's son." See the notes to "A Maid in Bedlam" for other women driven to the asylum. - BS
Last updated in version 6.8
File: LM33

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