Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
John of the Hazelgreen / Johnny o Hazelgreen / Jock o' Hazeldean / John of Hazelgreen (Child No. 293) - Sung by Mrs. Victoria Shifflett Morris (s.p Shiflett) (1895–1964) of Mount Fair, Albemarle County, Virginia, USA. Recorded by Arthur Kyle Davis Jr. on March 19, 1933.
00:00:00 John over the Hazelgreen - Victoria Shifflett Morris
00:03:02 John of the Hazelgreen - Lloyd Fitzgerald
00:05:16 John of Hazelgreen - Robert Shiflett
An excellent article by Mike Yates on Cecil Sharp's and Maud Karpeles' Appalachia trip in the 1910s can be read here: mustrad.org.uk/articles/sharp.htm
A selection of 1930s phonograph recordings made by folklorist Arthur Kyle Davis Jr. (1897–1972) of Virginia ballad singers has been digitised and made available for listening online: https://avalon.lib.virginia.edu/collections/7m01bk901
We get a chance to listen to some of the very same people Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles met and noted songs from in the 1910s.
The audio quality of these recordings is relatively poor, being made with portable equipment at that time, but the songs are interesting and worthy of attention. I had the idea of creating small compilations of related versions of each song for these videos. This is because I noticed that I often had more than one recording of each song available from singers who were related or lived in the same area.
Arthur K. Davis Jr. published the hundreds of Virginia ballads he collected in two books, "Folk-Songs of Virginia" (1949), and "More Traditional Ballads of Virginia" (1960) with the editorial assistance of Paul Clayton Worthington.
Note by Kevin W.:
A traditional Virginia version of John of Hazelgreen (Child 293), the ballad upon which the Scottish poet Sir Walter Scott based his 1816 poem Jock of Hazeldean. Recordings of the traditional ballad are scarce. It had some currency in Albemarle County, Virginia and was noted from members of the Shiflett family and other singers in the area. Scott's poem which shares only the first stanza with the original song has mostly replaced it and is much better known nowadays.
George Foss' account of the Brown's Cove, Albemarle County singers is well worth a read: klein-shiflett.com/shifletfamily/HHI/GeorgeFoss/whall.html
This article is also helpful: bluegrassmessengers.com/john-of-the-hazelgreen--morris-va-1933-davis-aa.aspx
Song transcription:
As I were walking one fair May morning,
All down by the greenwood side,
And there I spied a pretty fair miss,
And all alone she cried.
"You're welcome home, my pretty fair miss,
You're welcome home with me,
And you may have my oldest son,
A husband for to be."
"Oh, I don't want your oldest son,
For he's neither lord nor king,
I never intend to be the bride of none,
John over the Hazelgreen."
As I were riding an ink black road,
The road run near to the town,
All up stepped John my Hazelgreen,
And helped his lady down.
His hair were long, his shoulder were broad,
He was the flower of all his kin,
His hair hang down like links of gold,
John over the Hazelgreen.
'Tis forty times he kissed her cheeks,
And forty times her chin,
And forty times her red and rosy lips,
And led his lady in.
"If ever I a vow break on you my love,
Oh, heaven will forsake on me,
And send me down to the torment place,
Where never returntity." [*]
[*] Davis suggests "Where I never return to thee" but the line isn't clear. Robert Shiflett's version has it as "Forever and eternity." The last stanza is a floater from "The Blackest Crow / Dearest Dear / The Time Draws Near" (Roud 422)
John of the Hazelgreen / Johnny o Hazelgreen / Jock o' Hazeldean / John of Hazelgreen (Child No. 293) - Sung by Mrs. Victoria Shifflett Morris (s.p Shiflett) (1895–1964) of Mount Fair, Albemarle County, Virginia, USA. Recorded by Arthur Kyle Davis Jr. on March 19, 1933.
00:00:00 John over the Hazelgreen - Victoria Shifflett Morris
00:03:02 John of the Hazelgreen - Lloyd Fitzgerald
00:05:16 John of Hazelgreen - Robert Shiflett
An excellent article by Mike Yates on Cecil Sharp's and Maud Karpeles' Appalachia trip in the 1910s can be read here: mustrad.org.uk/articles/sharp.htm
A selection of 1930s phonograph recordings made by folklorist Arthur Kyle Davis Jr. (1897–1972) of Virginia ballad singers has been digitised and made available for listening online: https://avalon.lib.virginia.edu/collections/7m01bk901
We get a chance to listen to some of the very same people Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles met and noted songs from in the 1910s.
The audio quality of these recordings is relatively poor, being made with portable equipment at that time, but the songs are interesting and worthy of attention. I had the idea of creating small compilations of related versions of each song for these videos. This is because I noticed that I often had more than one recording of each song available from singers who were related or lived in the same area.
Arthur K. Davis Jr. published the hundreds of Virginia ballads he collected in two books, "Folk-Songs of Virginia" (1949), and "More Traditional Ballads of Virginia" (1960) with the editorial assistance of Paul Clayton Worthington.
Note by Kevin W.:
A traditional Virginia version of John of Hazelgreen (Child 293), the ballad upon which the Scottish poet Sir Walter Scott based his 1816 poem Jock of Hazeldean. Recordings of the traditional ballad are scarce. It had some currency in Albemarle County, Virginia and was noted from members of the Shiflett family and other singers in the area. Scott's poem which shares only the first stanza with the original song has mostly replaced it and is much better known nowadays.
George Foss' account of the Brown's Cove, Albemarle County singers is well worth a read: klein-shiflett.com/shifletfamily/HHI/GeorgeFoss/whall.html
This article is also helpful: bluegrassmessengers.com/john-of-the-hazelgreen--morris-va-1933-davis-aa.aspx
Song transcription:
As I were walking one fair May morning,
All down by the greenwood side,
And there I spied a pretty fair miss,
And all alone she cried.
"You're welcome home, my pretty fair miss,
You're welcome home with me,
And you may have my oldest son,
A husband for to be."
"Oh, I don't want your oldest son,
For he's neither lord nor king,
I never intend to be the bride of none,
John over the Hazelgreen."
As I were riding an ink black road,
The road run near to the town,
All up stepped John my Hazelgreen,
And helped his lady down.
His hair were long, his shoulder were broad,
He was the flower of all his kin,
His hair hang down like links of gold,
John over the Hazelgreen.
'Tis forty times he kissed her cheeks,
And forty times her chin,
And forty times her red and rosy lips,
And led his lady in.
"If ever I a vow break on you my love,
Oh, heaven will forsake on me,
And send me down to the torment place,
Where never returntity." [*]
[*] Davis suggests "Where I never return to thee" but the line isn't clear. Robert Shiflett's version has it as "Forever and eternity." The last stanza is a floater from "The Blackest Crow / Dearest Dear / The Time Draws Near" (Roud 422)
