John Barleycorn

Song: John Barleycorn
Artist: Damh The Bard
Album: The Hills They Are Hollow

There were three men
Came out of the West
Their fortunes
For to try

And these three men
Made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn
Must die

They ploughed
They sowed
They harrowed
Him in

Threw clods
Upon his head
And these three men
Made a solemn vow

John barleycorn
Was dead

They let him slie
For a very long time
Till the rain from heaven
Did fall

Then little Sir John
Threw up his head
And so amazed
Them all

They let him stand
Till the Midsummer Day
Till he grew
Both pale and warn

Then little Sir John's
Grew a great, long beard
And so become
A man

They hired men
With scythes so sharp
To cut him off
At the knee

They bound him and tied him
Around the waist
Serving him
Most barbarously

They hired men
With their sharp pitch forks
To prick him to
The heart

But the drover served
Him worse than that
For he bound
Him to a cart

They rolled him around
And around the field
Till they came
Upon a barn

And these three men
Made a solemn mow
Of poor
John Barleycorn

They hired men
With crab tree sticks
To strip him
Skin from bone

But the miller
He served him worse than that
For he's ground him
Between two stones

Here's Little sir John
In the nut-brown bowl
And his brandy
In the glass

But Little Sir John
In the nut-brown bowl
Proved the stronger
Man at last

For the hunts man
He can't hunt the fox
Nor loudly
Blow his horn

And the tinker he can't
Mend kettle or pot
Without a little
Barleycorn

Category:

Music

Tags:

• KeepMusicPagan
• wicca
• wiccan
• pagan
• druid
• witch
• magic
• john
• barleycorn
• damh
• the
• bard
• hills
• they
• are
• hollow
• goddess
• element
• maiden
• mother
• crone
• love
• earth
• moon
• wisdom
• isis
• astarte
• diana
• hecate
• demeter
• kali
• inanna
• lady
• lord
• queen
• night
• pan
• horned
• one
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• man
• barbariously
• tinker
• heart
• served
• bound
• tree
• cart
• horn
• last
• field
• fox
• pentacle
• religion
• chant
• song
• music
• stronger
• spirit
• circle
• stones
• dance

[Vampiro413]

This is like the coolest song ever. It's about a guy who becomes beer.

[macaghobhain]

This is one of my favorite versions of this song.

[AResidentoftheCosmos]

I enjoy my Soylent Green with a nice glass of John Barleycorn!

[Thegamefroob]

My History teacher started to play this to us, and ever since I've loved it :P

[ARP7777777]

One thing I wonder about, are “the men from the West” real, and if so where are they from, and if not, what sort of metaphor are they suposed to represent?

[stareyedwitch]

@pvince51 I know that now. That confusion kinda got cleared up four months ago.

[pvince51]

@stareyedwitch It's not just about planting and harvesting. It's also about milling the grain and making barley beer/ale/malt liquor/brandy without which the huntsman can't hunt or the tinker can't work. So sit back with a "barley pop" and enjoy it again.

[Anakhet]

@stareyedwitch Don't worry my husband had the same thought process when he learned that fact too. I'm sure I did but I learned it when I was a little girl.

[stareyedwitch]

@macaghobhain wait, so this about planting grain? listening to it in that context it makes much more sense.

[TheIndigoGecko]

It's a harvest song. John Barleycorn is the Barley...