Reynardine [Laws P15]

DESCRIPTION: A lady meets Reynardine (the singer for most of the song). He courts her while bidding her not to reveal his name. He says he has a castle in the forest and that she can reach him by calling him. He then vanishes (?); she warns women against such rakes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (Journal from the Sharon)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction supernatural warning betrayal
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(England(South)) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (16 citations):
Laws P15, "Rinordine"
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "MOUNTAINS HIGH, THE"
Flanders/Ballard/Brown/Barry-NewGreenMountainSongster, pp. 64-66, "Renaldine, or The Mountains of Pomeroy" (1 text, 1 tune, plus a rewrite by Dr. George Sigerson)
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 286-288, "Rinordine" (2 texts plus excerpts from 1 more)
Randolph 99, "Rinordine" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
Chappell-FolkSongsOfRoanokeAndTheAlbermarle 47, "Rinordine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy-BalladsAndSongsFromOhio 76, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan15 , Rinordine"" (1 confused text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus-FolkSongsOfTheSouthernUnitedStates 113, pp. 143-144, "Ryner Dyne" (1 text)
Thomas-DevilsDitties, pp. 108-109, "Rinordine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-SongsTheWhalemenSang, pp. 222-223, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Creighton-MaritimeFolkSongs, pp. 112-113, "Rinordine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie-BalladsAndSeaSongsFromNovaScotia 32, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Forget-Me-Not-Songster, pp. 199-200, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Darling-NewAmericanSongster, pp. 138-139, "Reynardine" (1 text)
DT 341, REYNDINE* REYNDN2*
ST LP15 (Full)
Roud #397
RECORDINGS:
Anne Briggs "Reynardine" (on ESFB2, Briggs2, Briggs3, Briggs4)
A. L. Lloyd, "Reynardine" (on Lloyd2, Lloyd3)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.8(310), "Reynardine," unknown, n.d.; also 2806 c.8(253), "Reynardine"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shannon Side" (plot, lyrics)
cf. "The Mountains of Pomeroy" (subject)
NOTES [196 words]: Although the name "Rinordine" is pretty definitely the older and more traditional, I've used the title "Reynardine" because that seems more common today.
Some have tried to connect this song in some way to the tale of the crafty Reynard the Fox. None of the links strike me as successful, though of course Bold Reynard may have influenced the shift from "Rinordine" to "Reynardine."
Marge Steiner sends me the following note, which perhaps offers a better explanation of the origin of the name:
[Phillips] Barry says that the ballad is based on a sixteenth-century Sicilian outlaw-hero, Rinaldo Rinaldini, and he cites an Italian romance, Storia di Rinaldino. There was a novel by Vulpius, which was translated into English and which is referred to in Moby Dick. Barry also quotes from a romance that would seem to parallel the ballad. When the tale of Rinaldini Rinaldini came to Ireland, it assumed various permutations, including Roynel Doine. George Sigerson re-wrote the old ballad as the poem, "The Mountains of Pomoroy." I hadn't heard anything of the Italian outlaw/hero/fugitive before. But this does make more sense than do connections with Reynard the Fox. - [RBW]
Last updated in version 6.8
File: LP15

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