He was born in Hatfield and grew up in Hampstead, London. After training as an actor he sang in coffee bars. He became a resident at the Troubador folk club in Earls Court in the late 1950s. He joined Redd Sullivan's Thameside Four in 1961. He is a renowned solo performer of traditional songs in a very distinctive style, accompanying himself on his trusty old Martin Guitar; his style is marked by the use of alternate tunings, and a strongly percussive picking style that emphasizes the melody. His debut album, Martin Carthy, was released in 1965, and also featured Dave Swarbrick playing fiddle on some tracks, although he was not mentioned in the album's sleeve notes.
He has also been involved with many musical collaborations. He has sung with The Watersons since 1972, was an early member of the UK folk rock group Steeleye Span, and was part of the innovative Brass Monkey ensemble, which mixed a range of brass instruments with Carthy's guitar and mandolin and John Kirkpatrick's accordion, melodeon and concertina.
For many years Carthy has enjoyed a creative partnership with fiddle player Dave Swarbrick. More recently, Waterson:Carthy has provided the forum for a successful partnership with partner Norma Waterson together with their daughter Eliza Carthy.
In June 1998 he was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. He was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002, and again in 2005 when he also won the award for Best Traditional Track for 'Famous Flower of Serving Men'.
Cruel Mother
Martin Carthy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And two bonnie babies she has born,
Down by the greenwood side-e-o
And she's pulled the ribbons from off her hair
And she's choked them though they cried for air.
Down by the greenwood side-e-o
And she's buried them where none might see.
Down by the greenwood side-e-o
O right wanly as she'd gone home
That none might meddle wi' her fair fame.
Down by the greenwood side-e-o
For weeks and months she was wan and pale
And what ailed her there was no man could tell,
But what ailed her there's no man could tell.
Now as she looked o'er yon castle wall
She spied two bonny babies playing at the ball.
Down by the greenwood side-e-o
"Oh bonny babies if you were mine
I would feed you on the white cow's milk and wine"
Down by the greenwood side-e-o
"Oh cruel mother when we were thine,
Oh, we got none of your white cow's milk and wine."
Down by the greenwood side-e-o
"But you pulled the ribbons from off your hair
And you choked us though we cried for air."
Down by the greenwood side-e-o
"And we now two in heaven do dwell
Whilst ye must drag out the fierce fires of hell."
Down by the greenwood side-e-o
Martin Carthy’s song “Cruel Mother” tells a chilling story of a mother who kills her two babies and buries them beneath a tree in the Greenwood. The lyrics lack embellishment and illustrate vividly the gruesome events. The first verse sets the stage with the mother laying down below a thorn with her two babies beside her. The second verse explains that she pulls ribbons from her hair and chokes the babies with them, burying them under the tree. The third verse details how she returns home wanly, so no one will interfere with her secrets. In the fourth stanza, no one can explain why the mother is wan and pale but everyone suspects it. The fifth verse describes her seeing the babies from the castle wall and wishing she could feed them on milk and wine. The sixth and final verse is the response of the babies who tell their mother of her heinous act and that they are in heaven, while she is to spend eternity in hell.
The imagery and starkness of the narrative make “Cruel Mother” an intriguing song. The themes of infidelity, secrecy, and murder are evident. Some analysts see the story as a warning to women who step outside their roles, while others see it as a reaction to the high child mortality rates of the time. What is apparent is that the song retains its potency, hundreds of years after it was written.
Line by Line Meaning
She's laid down all below a thorn
The mother has given birth to two babies under a thorn bush.
And two bonnie babies she has born,
The mother has given birth to two beautiful babies.
Down by the greenwood side-e-o
The babies were born near the greenwood.
And she's pulled the ribbons from off her hair
The mother has taken off her ribbons.
And she's choked them though they cried for air.
The mother has suffocated the babies even when they were struggling for their breath.
And she's dug a hole all beneath the tree
The mother has dug a hole under a tree.
And she's buried them where none might see.
The mother buried the babies where no one could find them.
O right wanly as she'd gone home
The mother went home looking pale and sad.
That none might meddle wi' her fair fame.
She did this to protect her reputation.
For weeks and months she was wan and pale
The mother was pale and unwell for several weeks and months.
And what ailed her there was no man could tell,
No one knew what was wrong with her.
Now as she looked o'er yon castle wall
She looked over the castle wall to see something.
She spied two bonny babies playing at the ball.
She saw two beautiful babies playing ball.
Oh bonny babies if you were mine
If the babies belonged to her, she would have taken care of them.
I would feed you on the white cow's milk and wine
The babies would have been cared for with the best food and drink.
Oh cruel mother when we were thine,
The babies called their mother cruel.
Oh, we got none of your white cow's milk and wine.
The babies did not receive any care or nourishment from their mother.
But you pulled the ribbons from off your hair
The mother had taken off her hair ribbons.
And you choked us though we cried for air.
She suffocated the babies even when they cried for air.
And we now two in heaven do dwell
The babies are now in Heaven.
Whilst ye must drag out the fierce fires of hell.
The mother will have to face the punishment for her cruel actions.
Contributed by Lincoln B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Daniel
on Lovely Joan
Hello ! The lyrics here art alle wrong. An' it's got tae be a frog-eater a-tellin' thee....