Hello One and All!
England prior to the 19th century was still very much a rural country, where many people's fates rested on the results of the harvest. A bad harvest could mean destitution for countless folk. The pivotal time of the year featured prominently in the lives, and the songs, of the people tilling the soil. In an era where the majority were illiterate, folk songs and stories were one way to impart lessons.
English Songs of Harvest
Many harvest songs have pagan origins and like most folk songs, are functional as well as being a form of entertainment. For instance, the song "Harvest Home" allowed labourers to keep their mind busy with song while they brought the grain in from the fields.
England prior to the 19th century was still very much a rural country, where many people's fates rested on the results of the harvest. A bad harvest could mean destitution for countless folk. The pivotal time of the year featured prominently in the lives, and the songs, of the people tilling the soil. In an era where the majority were illiterate, folk songs and stories were one way to impart lessons.
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| 'The Harvest Home' illustration by Thomas Rowlandson. |
English Songs of Harvest
Many harvest songs have pagan origins and like most folk songs, are functional as well as being a form of entertainment. For instance, the song "Harvest Home" allowed labourers to keep their mind busy with song while they brought the grain in from the fields.
Harvest Home (Purcell 1691 version)
Your hay it is mow’d and your corn it is reap’d.
Your barns will be full and your hovels heap’d
Come, boys, come,
Come, boys, come.
And merrily roar out our harvest home.
And merrily roar out our harvest home.
Chorus (all):
Harvest home, harvest home!
And merrily roar out our harvest home.
And merrily roar out our harvest home.
We’ve cheated the parson, we’ll cheat him again,
For why should a blockhead have one in ten?
One in ten, one in ten,
For why should a blockhead have one in ten?
For why should a blockhead have one in ten?
Chorus (all sing last three lines of last verse)
For prating so long, like a book-learn’d sot,
Till pudding and dumpling are burnt to the pot:
Burnt to pot, burnt to pot
Till pudding and dumpling are burnt to pot.
Till pudding and dumpling are burnt to pot.
Chorus (all sing last three lines of last verse)
We’ll toss off our ale till we cannot stand;
And heigh for the honour of old England;
Old England, old England
And heigh for the honour of old England.
And heigh for the honour of old England.
Chorus (all sing last three lines of last verse)
Final chorus (all):
Harvest home, harvest home!
And heigh for the honour of old England.
There is a variation to the chorus, which keeps everyone engaged in the song. The ditty is thought to date to the Middle Ages but it never fell out of favour with the rural population, perhaps because of the way it encourages participation. It also embodies a spirit of rebellion against the clergy who wanted to force farmers to pay one tenth of their income.
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| Illustration by Robert Anning Bell . |
The song "Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow" is a traditional folk song which first appeared in print in 1790, in the The Fifer's Companion. The tune introduces to the listener some possible crop rotations that could keep the soil full of nutrients. It also covers another aspect of farming life - the search for a marriage partner.
Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow (Daisy Wesley 1909 version)
Oats and beans and barley grow
As you and I and anyone know
As you and I and anyone know
Oats and beans and barley grow
Waiting for a partner
Waiting for a partner
Open the way and take one in
Waiting for a partner
Thus the farmer sows his seed
Thus he stands and takes his ease
Stamps his foot and claps his hands
And turns him round to view the land
Now you’re married you must obey
You must be true to all you say
You must be very kind and good
And help each other to chop the wood
Because pre-industrial farming was so labour intensive, it was important for many farmers to find a hard-working partner, as alluded to at the end of the song. As well as being a folk song, Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow would also become a popular children's song.
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| “Dr Syntax - rural sports” by Thomas Rowlandson. |
Folk songs could also link with local customs or be influenced by them. One such example is Crying the Neck custom of Devon and Cornwall. During festivities, farms vied to complete their harvest first and when the last corn was cut, the labaourer held it up in their hands and screamed the verses in a harmonious tone, with the audience replying in turn.
Crying the Neck
We-ha-neck! we-ha-neck!
Well aplowed! Well asowed!
We’ve reaped! And we’ve a-mowed
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
Well-a-cut – well abound!
Well-a-zot upon the ground!
We-ha-neck! We-ha-neck!
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
The handful of grain, the neck, was kept in the home until next year's harvest, when it would be burnt and replaced with the new neck. Sometimes the neck was changed to resemble a female doll; perhaps a link with pre-Christian customs of the area which continued to exist. It is believed that the neck nay have represented the spirit of the grain and that the sacrifice ensured a fruitful future harvest. Other folk songs and harvest songs were also sung during and after the ceremony of the neck.
The three examples embody how folk songs permeated harvest time among rural communities in England. Their continued existence over centuries show that they also had the practical effect of making work more pleasant and bearable.
The three examples embody how folk songs permeated harvest time among rural communities in England. Their continued existence over centuries show that they also had the practical effect of making work more pleasant and bearable.
Thank you for reading!
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