Matty Groves

For the English footballer, see Matt Groves.

"Matty Groves"
Written by	Traditional
Performed by	Many; see main text

"Matty Groves" is an English folk ballad that describes an adulterous tryst between a man and a woman that is ended when the woman's husband discovers and kills them. It dates to at least the 17th century, and is one of the Child Ballads collected by 19th-century American scholar Francis James Child. It has several variant names, including "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard."

Synopsis

Lady Arlen (other names include Daniel, Arnold, Donald, and Barnard), entices Matty Groves (or Little Musgrave), a servant or retainer of her husband, into an adulterous affair. Lord Arlen receives word of the betrayal; in some versions a foot-page hears them planning and warns Lord Arlen; the lord promises reward if he is telling the truth -- to make him his heir, or marry him to his eldest daughter -- and execution if he is lying. The nobleman returns home, where he surprises the lovers in bed. The death may be put off by Matty arguing for a weapon. Lord Arlen kills Matty Groves in a duel. When his wife spurns him and expresses a preference for her lover, even in death, over her husband, he stabs her through the heart. The ballad may end there, or with the lord's death, by suicide or execution. Yet another version has him cutting off his wife's head and kicking it against the wall in anger.

Some versions of the ballad include elements of an aubade, a poetic form in which lovers part after spending a night together.

Commentary

Believed to have originated no later than the early 17th century.

Standard references

• Child ballad 81

Textual variants

Google Books Information

Variant	Lord/Lady's surname	Lover	Notes
The Old ballad of Little Musgrave and the Lady Barnard	Barnard	Little Musgrave	This version has the foot-page
Mattie Groves	Arlen	Little Mattie Groves
Matty Groves	Darnell	Matty Groves

Some of the versions of the song subsequently recorded differ from Child's catalogued version.

The earliest published version appeared in 1658 (but see Literature section below).

A copy was also printed on a broadside by Henry Gosson, who is said to have printed between 1607 and 1641.

Some variation occurs in where Matty is first seen; sometimes at church, sometimes playing ball.

Other names for the ballad:

• Based on the lover
  • Matthy Groves
  • Young Musgrave
  • Wee Messgrove
  • Little Musgrave
  • Little Sir Grove
  • Little Miushiegrove
  • Little Massgrove

• Based on the lord
  • Lord Barnard
  • Lord Barnaby
  • Lord Barlibas
  • Lord Barnabas
  • Lord Bengwill
  • Lord Barnett
  • Lord Arlen
  • Lord Arnold
  • Lord Aaron
  • Lord Donald
  • Lord Darlen
  • Lord Darnell
• Based on a combination of names
  • Lord Barnett and Little Munsgrove
  • Little Musgrave and Lady Barnet

Literature

There is an allusion to the ballad in Beaumont and Fletcher's play The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1613); this is the earliest known reference.

A book by Deborah Grabien (3rd in the Haunted Ballad series) puts a different spin on the ballad.

Recordings

Album/Single	Performer	Year	Variant	Notes
John Jacob Niles Sings American Folk Songs	John Jacob Niles	1956	Little Mattie Groves
British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains, Volume 2	Jean Ritchie	1960	Little Musgrave
Joan Baez in Concert	Joan Baez	1962	Matty Groves
Home Again	Doc Watson	1966
Liege & Lief	Fairport Convention	1969	Matty Groves	Several live versions released since
Prince Heathen	Martin Carthy	1969	Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Ballads and Songs	Nic Jones	1970	Little Musgrave
Just Gimme Somethin' I'm Used To	Norman Blake and his wife, Nancy Blake	1992	Little Matty Groves
Folque	Folque	1974	Skjøn Jomfru	(in Norwegian)
Christy Moore	Christy Moore	1976	Little Musgrave
The Woman I Loved So Well	Planxty	1980	Little Musgrave	Christy Moore, who also recorded the song, was a member of Planxty
Out Standing in a Field	The Makem Brother and Brian Sullivan	1992	Matty Groves
In Good King Arthur's Day	Graham Dodsworth	1993	Little Musgrave
You Could Be the Meadow	Eden Burning	1994
	Robyn Hitchcock		Matty Groves	performed live; never released [1]
Live at the Mineshaft Tavern	ThaMuseMeant	1995
Trad. Arr. Jones	John Wesley Harding	1999	Little Musgrave
Hepsankeikka	Tarujen Saari	2000	Kaunis neito	(in Finnish)
On and On	Fiddler's Green	1997	Matty Groves
Never Set the Cat on Fire	Frank Hayes	1977	Like a Lamb to the Slaughter	Done as a parody talking blues version
Listen, Listen	Continental Drifters	2001	Matty Groves	Trad. Arr. Fairport Convention
Ralph Stanley	Ralph Stanley	2002	Little Mathie Grove
sings Sandy Denny	Linde Nijland	2003	Matty Groves
De Andere Kust	Kadril	2005	Matty Groves
Season of the Witch	The Strangelings	2007	Matty Groves
Prodigal Son	Martin Simpson	2007	Little Musgrave
The Peacemaker's Chauffeur	Jason Wilson Band	2008	Matty Groves	Reggae arrangement featuring Dave Swarbrick, based largely on the Fairport version.
Foxhat Compilation	The Fox Hat!	2009	Matty Groves
Folk Songs	James Yorkston and the Big Eyes Family Players	2009	Little Musgrave
Alela & Alina	Alela Diane featuring Alina Hardin	2009	Matty Groves, Lord Arland
Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards	Tom Waits	2009	Mathie Grove
Sweet Joan	Sherwood	2010	Matty Groves	In Russian language
Little Musgrave	The Musgraves	2011	Little Musgrave	Recorded as a YouTube Video to help explain bands name origins
In Silence	Marc Carroll	2011	Matty Groves
Retrospective	The Kennedys	2012	Matty Groves
Aloha	Contranym	2012	Matty Groves	Dub Folk Version
Matty Groves	Ebony Buckle, Bobby Eccles, John Steele, Phillip Granell, Cormac Byrne, Nick Hendrix	2013	Matty Groves

Musical variants

In 1943, the English composer Benjamin Britten used this folk song as the basis of a choral piece entitled "The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard".

Other songs with the same tune

In the United States the song was transformed into the less graphic "Shady Grove", which has itself become a traditional.

Dave van Ronk's version of "House of the Rising Sun" uses the tune of a version of "Matty Groves".

See also

The previous and next Child Ballads:

• "The Bonny Birdy"
• "Old Robin of Portingale"

External links

• Lyrics (F.J.Child)
• Lyrics (Fairport Convention)
• Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
• Mattie Groves a variant