The Merry Maidens - An old English folk tale

You shall not dance on the Sabbath my beauties
Put away your ribbons and bows.
No making merry on the Sabbath my beauties
For to church you must go.

Sunday dawned and church bells rang
Across the valley green.
No making merry on the Sabbath day
In church you must be seen.

Besides the bells, another sound
As yet from far away,
A lonely piper played his tune
Forbidden on this day.

The piper he was handsome
And played a haunting song.
Each maiden fell in love with him
And began to dance along.

No more church for us, they cried
We will dance and sing
And as the piper passed through town
Each one followed him.

They danced o’er hill and meadow
So beautifully did he play,
Not once did any maiden
Remember the Sabbath day.

Finally they came to rest
Atop a far off hill.
The piper stopped his playing
And all was calm and still.

As the girls drew breath,
Each heard a whisper say
"You shall not dance on the Sabbath my beauties
There is a price to pay."

"You shall not dance again my beauties,
I'll chill you to the bone.
Forever you will stand here
I'll turn you all to stone."

The merry maidens dance no more
No more the pipes do play
You shall not dance again sweet girls
For you danced on the Sabbath day.

About This Poem

Last Few Words: A total departure from my usual thing, but this tale has enchanted me for years. It's a Cornish folk tale from Lamorna, near Newlyn. At the top of the hill, above Lamorna is a large open field and in it, a large circle of standing stones. These are supposed to be the girls, who defied the old ways and danced on the Sabbath. In the field next door is an extremely large (and somewhat phallic) stone, this is supposed to be the piper.......! Maidens is the old Cornish term for young girls and any good looking chap is 'andsome. In fact in Cornwall, anything at all that is nice is referred to as handsome. The funniest I ever heard was a garden shed being called handsome. The site is a really magical place and quite a lot of pagans go there to put offerings down. Pagan or not, it has a peculiar draw and if you listen carefully, you can just about hear those pipes in the winds.

Editing Stage: Editing - rough draft

About the Author

Region, Country: Yorkshire England, GBR

Comments

I love the way you have captured the classic form

and sincerely regret that you haven't informed it with a more enlightened morality.

Hahaha

Hahaha
Far be it from me to criticise the 'old ways' I'm not too keen on ending up as a standing stone :-)
I will put a caveat on though.......... that the moral does not reflect my personal views at all :-)
It's difficult to change the ending of an old folk tale, if you want to tell the original tale. I like the story, doesn't mean I approve of the moral.
Thanks for reading Weirdelf. Jxx

Jane

This is well crafted and conveys the original intent perfectly. The style is old world and thereby suits the moral play so well. I especially like the rhythm you have chosen to complement the content. What more can one ask from the retelling of an ancient tale?

Thanks Keith

I enjoyed writing it and playing around with style and format.
If you ever get down to Cornwall, the place is well worth looking up, there's a neolithic burial chamber just down the road, actually at the road side and you can just wander in.
Also every two years I think, Lamorna (which is full of artists and poets) have an arts festival, which includes open poetry reading. I may well read this there at some point.
Thank you for reading and commenting. Jx

i wouldn't mind being the piper

The piper he was handsome
And played a haunting song.
Each maiden fell in love with him
And began to dance along.

I wouldn't mind being the piper
if gal after gal came to me
like a storm
and as we warmed
they merged within
all the gals would give me pleasure
and the Sabath's gift
will be a life long treasure

I would be the fatter one only
as gals continue to dance around me slowly
never would feel lonely
A HAPPY SABBATH DAY for me
with all the girlies

WE LOVE AND LIVE LIFE ONCE ONLY
Sabaths come and go oftenly

So let me be that pied piper lady
and gals would dance with me
with glee
very very happily !!!!

Ummm, I'm not too sure the

Ummm, I'm not too sure the modern equivalent would be playing a pipe......
Thanks for reading. Jx