"Lamkin", "Lambkin", "Long Lankin", or "Bolakins" () is an English-language

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

. It gives an account of the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

of a woman and her infant son by a man, in some versions, a disgruntled

mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...

, in others, a

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

bogeyman The bogeyman (; also spelled or known as bogyman, bogy, bogey, and, in US English, also boogeyman) is a mythical creature typically used to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearances, and conceptions vary drast ...

or a motiveless

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

. Versions of the ballad are found in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and the US. According to

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

and Bishop (2012):

"Lambkin" is not one of the major league Child ballads in terms of popularity, but it was widely known in England and Scotland, and even more so in North America. ... The central character's name varies considerably, including, in just the English versions 'Lambkin', 'Lamkin', 'Lincoln', and 'Limkin', and he is various referred to as 'Long', 'Bold', 'Cruel' and 'False'.

They cite the analysis of Anne Gilchrist, who identified two threads: one

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

, which retained the mason narrative; one Northumbrian, which lost the mason in early versions, thus encouraging singers to supply a different back-story. Versions collected in England stem from the Northumbrian thread.

A bogeyman

Other versions follow the same basic story, but the antagonist has many different names, among them "Long Lonkin", "Balankin", "Lambert Linkin", "Rankin", "Long Lankyn", and "Lammikin". Later versions lose the opening of the story, which explains that Lamkin is a mason who has not been paid; in these, Lamkin becomes a sort of a

who dwells in the wild places; the lord, before leaving, warns against him: :Says milord to milady as he mounted his horse, :"Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

." :Says milord to milady as he went on his way, :"Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

." These versions add peculiar incidents that add to the grisliness of the crime. Lamkin and the nursemaid collect the baby's blood in a basin which, along with the idea that the name Lamkin or Lammikin indicates the murderer was pale skinned and, therefore, perhaps a

leper Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve da ...

who sought to cure himself by bathing in the blood of an innocent collected in a silver bowl, a medieval cure.

Performances

*A version titled "Bolakins" was recorded as sung by Mrs. Lena Bare Turbyfill in 1939, Library of Congress * The song has been recorded as "Long Lankin" on ''But Two Came By'' (1968) by

Martin Carthy Martin Dominic Forbes Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in English folk music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, as well as later ar ...

. *The song "Bo Lamkin" was recorded by Appalachian folk musician

Frank Proffitt Frank Noah Proffitt (June 1, 1913 – November 24, 1965) was an Appalachian old time banjoist who preserved the song " Tom Dooley" in the form we know it today and was a key figure in inspiring musicians of the 1960s and 1970s to play the trad ...

. * In 1973 Northumbrian folk group The High Level Ranters recorded it as "Long Lonkin" on their album ''A Mile To Ride''. *

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, ...

recorded it as "Long Lankin" on ''

Commoners Crown ''Commoners Crown'' is the seventh studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span, released in 1975 by Chrysalis Records. It was their second album with the band's most commercially successful line-up. The album reached number 21 in the UK ...

'' (1975). *

Dave Burland Dave Burland (born 12 July 1941, Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England) is an English folk singer and guitarist. A former policeman, he has been performing in English folk clubs since 1968 and has been described by ''The Guardian'' as havin ...

recorded "Lamkin" on his album ''You Can't Fool The Fat Man'' (1979) with

Nic Jones Nic Jones (born Nicolas Paul Jones; 9 January 1947) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Regarded as a prominent figure of the British folk revival, he has recorded five solo albums and collaborated with various musicians. Biography ...

. * The Neofolk band

Fire + Ice ''Fire Ice'' is the third book in the NUMA Files series of books co-written by best-selling author Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos, and was published in 2002. The main character of this series is Kurt Austin. Plot In this novel, a Russian ...

recorded "Long Lankin" on their album ''Gilded By The Sun'' (1992). * Tinkerscuss perform and recorded a version as Long Lankin on their album ''Stonedancing'' *

Jim Moray Jim Moray (born ''Douglas Oates''; 20 August 1981) is an English folk music, English folk singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Recording artist While studying classical composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Moray release ...

recorded a version as "Long Lankin" on his album ''In Modern History'' (2010). * A version was recorded by English traditional singer Ben Butcher as "Cruel Lincoln" in 1955 and issued on ''

The Voice of the People ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' Vol, 3 in 1988. * The song "Lambkin" is included on the studio album ''Smoke of Home'', the second album by the band Megson, released in 2007. * The Wainwright Sisters also included a recording of Long Lankin on their 2015 album '' Songs in the Dark''. *

Blackbeard's Tea Party Blackbeard's Tea Party are a contemporary folk rock band based in York, England. The five-piece band plays a mix of traditional folk music, folk songs as well as covers of more recent songs from the folk genre. They are also known for their ins ...

's 2013 album ''Whip Jamboree'' features a version of the ballad. * For her 2016 album ''

Lodestar Lodestar is an archaic word for a star that guides, especially the northern pole star. Lodestar may also refer to: Art and entertainment * Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, an award given annually at the World Science Fiction Conventi ...

'', English folk singer

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the British Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

recorded a version of "Cruel Lincoln," which draws from the Ben Butcher version. *Classical composer and librettist Fleur de Bray set the story of Long Lankin as an opera, which was premiered in August 2013 at the acclaimed London Tête à Tête Opera Festival. * The 2018

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

series ''

The Shivering Truth ''The Shivering Truth'' is an American adult stop-motion animated anthology horror comedy television series created by Vernon Chatman and directed by Chatman and Cat Solen. The show is produced by Solen with PFFR and ShadowMachine, and featur ...

'' features variations of the ballad (titled "Long Lankin" in this case) sung by different artists over the end credits of every episode. * Martin Simpson released a version of this ballad entitled "Beaulampkin" on compilation of Fernie Court Management Ltd. * Seventeen field-recordings of the ballad, spanning 1934–2021, were curated by

Derek Piotr Derek Piotr is a folklorist, vocalist, and composer. Career Piotr released the album ''Agora'' in 2011. In 2012 his work was nominated for Prix Ars Electronica. In 2016, Piotr released the glitch album ''Drono''. ''Forest People Pop'' was rele ...

and released by Death is Not the End, in 2022.

In literature

The ballad, as ''Long Lonkin'', was taken from a friend by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. Landon's writings are emblematic of the transition from Romanticism to Victorian literature. Her first major b ...

and published in her ''Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835.'' The song was referenced in the title of the

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

collection, ''Long Lankin'', by

John Banville William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, Literary adaptation, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Marcel Proust, Proust, via Vladimir Nabokov, Nabokov", ...

. The American poet

Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects ...

also referenced the song in the title of his

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning collection of poetry '' Lord Weary's Castle'' (1946). The song inspired the young-adult novel ''Long Lankin'' (2011) by Lindsey Barraclough. A sadistic character named Lankin appears as a member of the Fairy Queen's court in

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist, and Satire, satirist, best known for the ''Discworld'' series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the Apocalyp ...

's '' Lords and Ladies''. Long Lankin appears in Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder's book ''Except The Queen''.

References

External links

"Long Lankin" score and lyrics
Child Ballad #93A, with variant texts

by Reinhard Zierke, with remarks about the song from Martin Carthy and Dave Tomlinson.
"False Lamkin"
with history * by Alasdair Roberts {{Francis James Child Child Ballads Murder ballads