Pentangle - Willy O Winsbury

The king had been a prisoner

at a prison long in Spain

And Willie of the Winsbury

has lain long with his daughter at home.

"What ails you, what ails you, my daughter Janet

why you look so pale and wan

Have you had any sore sickness

or yet been sleeping with a man?"

"I have not had any sore sickness

nor yet been sleeping with a man

It is for you, my father dear,

for biding so long in Spain"

"Cast off, cast off your berry-brown gown

you stand naked upon the stone

That I may know you by your shape

if you be a maiden or none".

And she's cast off her berry-brown gown

she stood naked upon the stone

Her apron was low and her haunches were round

her face was pale and wan.

"Was it with a lord or a duke or a knight

or a man of birth and fame

Or was it with one of my serving men

that's lately come out of Spain?"

"No, it wasn't with a lord nor a duke or a knight

nor a man of birth and fame

But it was with Willie of Winsbury

I could bide no longer alone"

The king has called on his merry men all

by thirty and by three

Saying "Fetch me this Willie of Winsbury

for hanged he shall be"

But when he came the king before

he was clad all in the red silk

His hair was like the strands of gold

his skin was as white as the milk.

"And it is no wonder, " said the king

"That my daughter's love you did win

For if I was a woman, as I am a man

my bedfellow you would have been"

"Now will you marry my daughter Janet

by the truth of your right hand?

Oh will you marry my daughter Janet

I'll make you lord of my land"

"Well yes, I'll marry your daughter Janet

by the truth of my right hand

Well yes I'll marry your daughter Janet

but I'll not be the lord of your land"

He's mounted her on a milk-white steed

himself on a dapple grey

He has made her the lady of as much land

as she shall ride in a long summer's day.

      It is a hauntingly beautiful folk ballad that reimagines the traditional Scottish song "Tom the Rhymer" (Child Ballad 100). Sung with Jacqui McShee’s clear, ethereal voice, it tells the story of a king returning home to find his daughter pregnant by a mysterious lover, Willy O’ Winsbury. Instead of punishment, the king is moved by Willy’s beauty and grants him his daughter’s hand. Pentangle’s version blends medieval melody, intricate acoustic guitar by Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, and gentle bass and percussion, creating a timeless, dreamlike atmosphere that captures love’s power to transcend authority and convention.