Soldier Traveling from the North
Photograph copyright Rob Amberg, 2020. Photograph courtesy of the photographer.
aka…The Light Dragoon/The Bold Dragoon /The Trooper and the Maid
I am learning so much working on this project. Not only the songs and how to sing them but also about the sheer HISTORY (or HERstory as it were and either way) that is held within the lyrics. I always knew this ballad as “Soldier Traveling from the North.” One thing that I already knew peripherally but not practically was that every ballad had many versions that go by many different names. Mother has had to go through Sharp’s book and tell me which ballad title matched the title I was familiar with. I think I like “The Trooper and the Maid” best. I looked up Dragoon, and found out that there are two definitions…a Noun and a Verb. As a noun, a Dragoon is a member of any of several cavalry regiments in the British army. As a verb, to dragoon someone is to coerce them into doing something. A beautiful play on words I think!
As I researched this song, I learned many themes have been made obscure by the passage of time, especially when it comes to conk-shells and silver bells. In the version I learned, the line is “When silver bells and conk-shells stand, then you and I will marry.” I never stopped to wonder what exactly that meant. I’ve always just sort of took the language within ballads for granted and accepted them at face value. I imagined conk-shells were conch shells and silver bells were the kind that tinkled when you shook them. Not so…The line in Sharp’s book is: “O When shall we meet again/Or when shall we get married?/When conk-shells turn to silver bells,/O then, my love, we’ll marry.” Interestingly enough, a conk-shell is actually a COCKLE shell, which, in Scotland, is an edible burrowing bivalve mollusk with a strong ribbed shell…and (also in Scotland) a silver bell is a flower. Apparently, ‘when conk-shells turn to silver bells’ is a traditional put off, kind of like ‘when hell freezes over.’ Finally, I found out that this song has been much discussed and has caused much disgust. Why? Because the FEMALE is the aggressor. While that may seem tame by today’s standards, it was taboo and more than a little risque a couple hundred years ago! Many ballad singers (mostly the male ones) were so put off by this song that they made up and added verses where the Soldier/Trooper/Dragoon was the one to initiate the naughty bits. I’ve always loved the haunting tune of Soldier Traveling from the North, but now I love it for all of the secret little messages held within.