The Cruel Sister (OBDs)

[Heysie]

I just got the Old Blind Dogs' album Close To the Bone. I'm incredibly
enamored of the song, The Cruel Sister. (They're using some electric effects
there, so you traditional purists out there wouldn't approve, but I think
it's just beautiful.)

On the liner notes, Ian Benzie says he "thinks" the song is of Scottish
origin. Anyone know the history/origin of the song? The lyrics are somewhat
disturbing.

Also, the line they repeat in the song is "Lay the bairn tae the bonnie
broom." Sorry to be ignorant, but what does that mean?

And, for any of you who know the song I'm talking about--what happens at the
end (story-wise)? The minstrels make a harp out of the drowned sister's
breastbone and hair, and the cruel sister is struck with terror...Does that
mean the cruel sister has been found out for killing her sister, or just
that hearing the harp just makes her feel guilty?

Just wondering. Thanks,
Jessica

[Ptbrady]

Jessica,
"The Cruel Sister" is one of many titles of the ballad Professor Francis James
Child called "The Two Sisters," and included it as number 10 in his collection
published in the 1890s. He states that it may be of Scandanavian origin, but
who knows, since it is very old. In ancient times, Scotland and Scandanavia
had close ties, so it may have come to Scotland from the Norse countries.
It has many, many variants, and I have not heard the Old Blind Dogs' version.
Sometimes it is sung as a straight ballad, and sometimes like a play-party
dance (Ed McCurdy recorded a very nice dance version of this), and sometimes
like a responsorial chant. The story differs in different versions, but the one
I like best is when the harp sings out and exposes the murder that the older
sister committed.

> "Lay the bairn tae the bonnie broom."

This is one of many response lines to fill in the song. Bairn means "baby"
and "broom" is a yellow flower, often grown in gardens, so the literal meaning
might be "put the baby down in the flowers", but this is hardly poetry!
However, there may be a deeper meaning here I am not aware of. Other versions
have "Oh my bonnie, Annie, O", and some include a swan, and so on.
Pete Brady

[Nigel & Nancy Sellars]

Ptbrady wrote:
>

> > "Lay the bairn tae the bonnie broom."
> This is one of many response lines to fill in the song. Bairn means "baby"
> and "broom" is a yellow flower, often grown in gardens, so the literal meaning
> might be "put the baby down in the flowers", but this is hardly poetry!
> However, there may be a deeper meaning here I am not aware of. Other versions
> have "Oh my bonnie, Annie, O", and some include a swan, and so on.
> Pete Brady

This ballad has many versions and titles ("Binori," "Minori," "The Cruel
Sister," "The Two Sisters," etc) and choruses, much more than the
versions Child includes. I know of several English versions with a
number of differing choruses: Pyewacket's version has "By the bonny,
bonny bowers of London," while Pentangle's has "Lay the bent to the
bonny broom." (probably a corruption of the Scots version).s I also
have recordings of this song by Clannad, Martin Carthy, and Ewan MacColl
and Peggy Seeger. An American version I heard from the Red Clay
Ramblers substitutes a fiddle for a harp, lacks the accusatory verses
where the sister's guilt is revealed, and has the chorus "Oh, the wind
and the rain." So it's very old. I can't say how old or if it's
originally Scandanavian or perhaps just part of the Western European
collective unconscious, but most versions I've heard seem to come from
northern England (Viking connections) and the Scottish lowlands, where
cross-pollination of traditions was fairly common. The swan motif in
some versions suggests a "Celtic" influence, but on the other hand,
there are a number of Hebridean versions, too, further hinting at Viking
influence.

Nigel Sellars

[J.A. Brown]

You might like the Loreena McKennitt version of this song ("The Bonny
Swans" from "The Mask and Mirror" album). Actually, it might be
considered a different song altogether since the tune, the lyrics, and
the refrain ("a hey ho bonny o") are all different. But the theme and
storyline are so similar it's hard to resist the temptation to call it a
version of the same song.

-- JB Help the ,_, /\
Environment. (0v0) //\\
RECYCLE (>_<) ///\\\
NOW!! ~ ~ )(

[Oz Childs]

: >
: > Also, the line they repeat in the song is "Lay the bairn tae the bonnie

: > broom." Sorry to be ignorant, but what does that mean?

: >

Should be, "lay the bent to the bonnie broom". The "bent" being
the stiff, cordlike grass that is used to tie broomstraws together when
constructing an old fashioned "broom buzzem". Broom-making being a
constant rural occupation in countries where broom grows.

I'm speculating, but I'd say it's likely that broom-making, like
quilt-making, was often done by groups of women, which would provide the
occasion for singing ballads while they worked.