"Lord Randall", or "Lord Randal", (Roud10, Child12) is an Anglo-Scottishborder ballad[1] consisting of dialogue between a young Lord and his mother.[2] Similar ballads can be found across Europe in many languages, including Danish, German, Magyar, Irish, Swedish, and Wendish.[3][4]Italian variants are usually titled "L'avvelenato [it]" ("The Poisoned Man") or "Il testamento dell'avvelenato" ("The Poisoned Man's Will"), the earliest known version being a 1629 setting by Camillo il Bianchino, in Verona.[5] Under the title "Croodlin Doo" Robert Chambers published a version in his "Scottish Ballads" (1829) page 324.[6][7]
Summary
Lord Randall returns home to his mother after visiting his lover. Randall explains that his lover gave him a dinner of eels boiled in broo and that his hunting dogs died after eating the scraps of the meal, leading his mother to realize that he has been poisoned.[8][9] In some variants, Randall dictates his last will and testament in readiness for his impending death, dividing his possessions among family members and wishing damnation on his lover. Her motive for poisoning him is never discussed.[9]
The Irish traditional singer Elizabeth Cronin was recorded several times singing a version called Lord Rendal.[27][28][29] The Irish sean nós singer Joe Heaney sang an Irish language version titled Amhrán na hEascainne (Song of the Eel).[30]
Several Appalachian musicians recorded the ballad; Jean Ritchie sang the Ritchie family version on the album Jean Ritchie: Ballads from her Appalachian Family Tradition,[31] whilst Frank Proffitt was recorded singing another traditional version in 1961.[32] The ballad was also collected extensively throughout the rest of America.[33]
Cultural uses
Dorothy L. Sayers' novel Strong Poison uses part of the ballad for a title, and has it as epigraph. In 1962, Bob Dylan modeled his song "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" on "Lord Randall", introducing each verse with variants of the introductory lines to each verse of "Lord Randall". Dylan's ballad is often interpreted as a reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Dylan himself disclaimed this as an oversimplification, and in reality, Dylan first publicly performed the song a month before the crisis.[34][35]
