Hello one and all!
John Barleycorn is an interesting figure from British folklore, because it could conceivably be a later development of the Anglo-Saxon mythical figure Beowa. The personification of barley, and the alcoholic drinks made from the crop, was revived and tailored to fit a folklore aesthetic centuries later in the 16th century CE.
John Barleycorn
There are various version of John Barleycorn's tales, but he is usually represented as someone who suffers a lot of indignities and attacks, which all corresponds to the stages of the barley harvest. The cycles that the story moves through is reminiscent of pagan stories, with the cycles of harvests nature embedded in it.
Because John Barleycorn is resurrected as whisky, bread and beer it could also have been influenced by Christianity. This figure is as a result an illustration of the mixture of Anglo-Saxon beliefs and Christianity in medieval England.
Some texts describe it as an ancient West-country ballad, which was reportedly sung English country feasts and merry-making. John Barleycorn may even have originally referred to a god of the harvest and fields.
The ballad is still somewhat of a puzzle though. Estimates have put the number of versions between 140-200. As such, it was widespread and popular in the English and Scottish countryside, at least since the 16th century CE. The following version is from "Early Ballads Illustrative of History, Traditions, and Customs: Also, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England, Taken Down from Oral Recitation and Transcribed from Private Manuscripts, Rare Broadsides, and Scarce Publications" from 1885:
There came three men out of the West,
Their victory to try;
And they have taken a solemn oath,
Poor Barleycorn should die.
They took a plough and ploughed him in,
And harrowed clods on his head;
And then they took a solemn oath,
Poor Barleycorn was dead.
There he lay sleeping in the ground,
Till rain from the sky did fall :
Then Barleycorn sprung up his head,
And so amazed them all.
There he remained till Midsummer,
And looked both pale and wan;
Then Barleycorn he got a beard,
And so became a man.
Then they sent men with scythes so sharp,
To cut him off at knee ;
And then poor little Barleycorn,
They served him barbarously.
Then they sent men with pitchforks strong
To pierce him through the heart;
And like a dreadful tragedy,
They bound him to a cart.
And then they brought him to a barn,
A prisoner to endure;
And so they fetched him out again,
And laid him on the floor.
Then they set men with holly clubs,
To beat the flesh from his bones ;
But the miller he served him worse than that,
For he ground him betwixt two stones.
O ! Barleycorn is the choicest grain
That ever was sown on land ;
It will do more than any grain,
By the turning of your hand.
It will make a boy into a man,
And a man into an ass;
It will change your gold into silver,
And your silver into brass.
It will make the huntsman hunt the fox,
That never wound his horn;
It will bring the tinker to the stocks,
That people may him scorn.
It will put sack into a glass,
And claret in the can;
And it will cause a man to drink
Till he neither can go nor stand.
The breaking down of a person and building them up to a new being may also have Anglo-Saxon pagan links. The four elements are also present in the ballad: air (scythes), fire (sticks and staves), miller stone (earth) and glass (water). The custom in certain regions was to create a scarecrow effigy, which represented John Barleycorn, and take it out into the field and burn it, to release his spirit so that he could be reborn the next season.
Thank you for reading!
John Barleycorn is an interesting figure from British folklore, because it could conceivably be a later development of the Anglo-Saxon mythical figure Beowa. The personification of barley, and the alcoholic drinks made from the crop, was revived and tailored to fit a folklore aesthetic centuries later in the 16th century CE.
John Barleycorn
There are various version of John Barleycorn's tales, but he is usually represented as someone who suffers a lot of indignities and attacks, which all corresponds to the stages of the barley harvest. The cycles that the story moves through is reminiscent of pagan stories, with the cycles of harvests nature embedded in it.
Because John Barleycorn is resurrected as whisky, bread and beer it could also have been influenced by Christianity. This figure is as a result an illustration of the mixture of Anglo-Saxon beliefs and Christianity in medieval England.
Some texts describe it as an ancient West-country ballad, which was reportedly sung English country feasts and merry-making. John Barleycorn may even have originally referred to a god of the harvest and fields.
 |
| Porcelain toy of John Barleycorn, c. 1761. |
The ballad is still somewhat of a puzzle though. Estimates have put the number of versions between 140-200. As such, it was widespread and popular in the English and Scottish countryside, at least since the 16th century CE. The following version is from "Early Ballads Illustrative of History, Traditions, and Customs: Also, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England, Taken Down from Oral Recitation and Transcribed from Private Manuscripts, Rare Broadsides, and Scarce Publications" from 1885:
There came three men out of the West,
Their victory to try;
And they have taken a solemn oath,
Poor Barleycorn should die.
They took a plough and ploughed him in,
And harrowed clods on his head;
And then they took a solemn oath,
Poor Barleycorn was dead.
There he lay sleeping in the ground,
Till rain from the sky did fall :
Then Barleycorn sprung up his head,
And so amazed them all.
There he remained till Midsummer,
And looked both pale and wan;
Then Barleycorn he got a beard,
And so became a man.
Then they sent men with scythes so sharp,
To cut him off at knee ;
And then poor little Barleycorn,
They served him barbarously.
Then they sent men with pitchforks strong
To pierce him through the heart;
And like a dreadful tragedy,
They bound him to a cart.
And then they brought him to a barn,
A prisoner to endure;
And so they fetched him out again,
And laid him on the floor.
Then they set men with holly clubs,
To beat the flesh from his bones ;
But the miller he served him worse than that,
For he ground him betwixt two stones.
O ! Barleycorn is the choicest grain
That ever was sown on land ;
It will do more than any grain,
By the turning of your hand.
It will make a boy into a man,
And a man into an ass;
It will change your gold into silver,
And your silver into brass.
It will make the huntsman hunt the fox,
That never wound his horn;
It will bring the tinker to the stocks,
That people may him scorn.
It will put sack into a glass,
And claret in the can;
And it will cause a man to drink
Till he neither can go nor stand.
The breaking down of a person and building them up to a new being may also have Anglo-Saxon pagan links. The four elements are also present in the ballad: air (scythes), fire (sticks and staves), miller stone (earth) and glass (water). The custom in certain regions was to create a scarecrow effigy, which represented John Barleycorn, and take it out into the field and burn it, to release his spirit so that he could be reborn the next season.
Thank you for reading!
Comments
Post a Comment