“The Wanton Seed”
Description
Singer meets a pretty maid who wants "the chiefest grain"; she accepts his services, asking him to sow her meadow with "the wanton seed." After forty weeks she returns with a slender waist (presumably having borne a child), wanting more of the wanton seed
Notes
Again, I've refrained from calling this "bawdy," preferring "erotic." And I've keyworded it as "magic" because of the clear connection the song makes between the fertility of grain and sexuality, a common folk strain of sympathetic magic. - PJS
In at least some versions of his index, Round lumps this (accidentally, I'm sure) with "The Building of Solomon's Temple" [Laws Q39]. - RBW
Cross references
- cf. "Seeds of Love" (theme)
- cf. "The Next Market Day" (plot) and references there
- cf. "The Mower"
Recordings
- A. L. Lloyd, "The Wanton Seed" (on BirdBush1, BirdBush2)
References
- DT, WNTNSEED*
- Roud #1018
- BI, DTwntnse