John Barleycorn - Folk from the Boat - Episode 48

John Barleycorn, a folksong for tonight's harvest moon. It seems like a murder ballad but as John Barleycorn is personifying barley it really tells us of the making of ale. Meanwhile Anna takes the boat from Spellbrook to Twyford on the River Stort.
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There were three men come out of the West
Their fortunes for to try,
And they did make a solemn vow
John Barleycorn must die.
They ploughed him in the earth so deep,
With clots upon his head,
Then these three men they did conclude
John Barleycorn was dead.

There he lay sleeping in the ground
Till rain from the sky did fall
Then Barleycorn sprung a green blade,
And proved liars of them all.
There he remained till Midsummer,
And looked both pale and wan,
Then Barleycorn grew a long, long beard,
Much like unto a man.

So they’ve hired men with scythes so sharp
To cut him off at the knee;
See how they served poor Barleycorn!
They served him bitterly.
They hired men with forks and rakes
To pierce him through the heart;
And the carter served him worse than that,
For he bound him to a cart.

They hired men with crabtree sticks
To beat him flesh from bone,
But the miller served him worse than that,
For he ground him betwixt two stones.
They flung him in a barrel deep,
All drowned in water clear;
The brewer served him worse than that
For she brewed him into beer.

John Barleycorn was a hero bold,
Of noble enterprise;
For if you do but taste his blood
‘Twill make your courage rise.
But he’ll turn a boy into a man,
And a man into an ass,
He will change your gold into silver,
And your silver into brass.