ROUD 66: Tom Potts
AKA: Thomas of Potte, The Lovers Quarrel, Cupid's Triumph, The Two Constant Lovers in Scotland, The History of Tommy Potts
Like the previous entry, this is another extremely unloved ballad. That might be to do with it being a relatively unremarkable love story with a happy ending, or perhaps the fact that it sometimes runs to over a hundred often highly repetitive verses might have something to do with it.
Music
As with the previous entry, there were no official recordings of this ballad, and even in Bertrand Bronson’s huge collection of tunes for the Child ballads it does not warrant a mention. So once again, I asked Helen Lindley to tackle the extensive abridgement required, and write something suitable for the Sing Yonder audience. Helen wrote about her experience researching and writing the song below.
Historically, Tom Potts, poses questions about which Earls and Lords are involved. The Earls of Arundel have existed since 1138 and they’re still based in Sussex at Arundel Castle. There was a strong-willed Anne, Countess of Arundel, in the late 1500s/early 1600s, the stepdaughter of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke Of Norfolk. She married Thomas Howard’s son, Philip (who later became Earl Of Arundel by inheriting the title from his mother’s grandfather). In the early-to-mid-1600s there was a Henry Howard (15th Earl) with a Scottish wife. Their eldest daughter was Anne, although she died young. And a few more later Annes, although some are too late to appear in a Child Ballad! There was a Sir William Fenwick in the 1600s; the name is remarkably close to the Fenix/Phenix in the song. He had a son called John Fenwick (the last of the Fenwicks) who married Mary, the great, great, great, granddaughter of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (the same Duke above) and the Norfolks still hold the seat at Arundel Castle. So there are definite links between the families.
There are two locations mentioned, Guilford Green and Strawberry Castle. Given the location of Arundel Castle, it could be that modern day Strawberry Hill (Twickenham) and Guildford are the locations in the South of England being referred to. The Fenwicks were from Northumberland, but three generations of Fenwicks were MPs (and Sir William Fenwick was based at Greys Inn, one of the four London Inns of Court) so it’s possible the author of the original ballad was drawing inspiration from real characters and places, even if in name only.
Re-writing Tom Potts was challenging as Child’s versions have either 66, 96 or 105 verses containing old spelling and dialect. With no known tune, everything needed to be written. Karl allowed me a maximum of 16 verses for the rewrite; much condensing to fit the Sing Yonder page! I read all the versions to grasp the story’s essence: The Earl of Arundel's daughter, Anne, falls in love with serving man Tom Potts, and wants to marry him rather than the rich Lord Fenix her father wants. After an argument with her father, another between Lord William Fenix and Tom Potts, as well as some fighting with spears, Anne gets her man, and Tom Potts becomes Earl of Arundel. Anne tells women to marry for love not money!
It took weeks to cut the ballad to the 16 verse limit. The three versions in Child have different elements and deciding what to omit involved tough choices. There was no room for every event, no opportunity for a prolonged fight, and although I’d hoped to keep more with Tom Potts becoming the Earl of Arundel, there wasn’t space. But I decided early in the process to keep the end where Anne tells women to marry for love: that formed the basis for the entire interpretation. (Thanks to Jon Boden for the songwriting tip a couple of years ago, of taking the ending and working back. It really was the only way to reduce the ballad.) As Sing Yonder is about encouraging people to sing, I felt that taking elements where Anne was in control would have contemporary appeal. But I also wanted to keep some original language to link the new version firmly to the old.
Story sorted, I created a rhythm on which to pin the lyrics and melody. Almost every song I write starts ‘rhythm first’; everything develops around it. The tune was more complex originally but, in order to ensure the song was suitable for singers of all abilities, I simplified it and the finished song appeared!
Thanks again to Helen for another brilliant job.
Thomas Percy
The only “primary” source we have for this rare ballad came from a folio collection that Shropshire-born scholar Thomas Percy rescued from the fireplace of his friend Sir Humphrey Pitt of Shifnal who had been burning the pages to help warm his cockles. This turned out to be the now venerated Percy Folio, which contains 195 ballads originating from around the 12th-17th century, many of which are the earliest known examples ever found. This accidental discovery formed the basis of Percy’s 1765 “Reliques of Ancient English Poetry” - a collection of ballads (which came not just from the folio but from other sources) which not only captured the imagination of poets such as Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but also ignited a movement for ballad collection and preservation (although much of the preservation involved considerable “improvement” by many collectors, including the devoutly religious Percy), culminating in Francis Child’s famous collection.
Here are Percy’s thoughts on Roud 66 (from here):
Guillaume de Palerne
One precursor of this ballad that is mentioned by Percy above is the c.1200 French romance poem Guillaume de Palerne, translated and reworked into English in c.1350 as “William and the Werewolf”.
It tells the story of humble foundling Guillaume eloping into the woods with the emperor’s daughter. There they meet Alfonso, Guillaume’s cousin, whose evil stepmother had previously turned the then Spanish prince into a werewolf and banished him. Alfonso feeds and cares for them, and ultimately Guillaume helps him regain his royal status and remove his hairy curse.
Other than the mixed-status marriage, there is little in common with the story of Tom Potts, but I wanted to mention it, mainly because I feel there will be scant opportunity to discuss werewolves elsewhere in this meander through traditional song.
Other sources
Aside from Percy above, and the entry in Francis Child’s collection (readable online here as usual thanks to the Bluegrass Messengers site) there is scant info to be found on this ballad. It does pop up occasionally though. Following are some typical examples.
Francis Gummere, US scholar and student assistant of Francis Child wrote a treatise on the evolution of the ballad, in an attempt to force a system of classification on them. This was “The Popular Ballad” (1907). Tom Potts is mentioned in somewhat disparaging terms.
One of the most common uses for this ballad is for comparison with other stories of antiquity that refer to inter-class relationships and the struggles involved in achieving them. An example of such a story would be the anonymous medieval romance “The Squire of Low Degree” (often referred to in its archaic—or 3am drunken text message styled—form: “The squyr of lowe degre”) and scholar William Edward Mead mentions Tom Potts in his introduction to his 1904 edition, thus:
Finally, have a look at this helpfully digitised entry in John Ashton’s 1882 “Chapbooks of the eighteenth century”, including a couple of the questionably relevant woodcuts that accompanied its original publication. A complete scan can be found here, (you’ll need a Google account).
Draft pages and audio guide
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