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Log in Sign Up. John Barleycorn noun. Save Word. Definition of John Barleycorn. Did you know? Examples of John Barleycorn in a Sentence she blamed John Barleycorn for the breakdown of their marriage. First Known Use of John Barleycorn circa , in the meaning defined above. Learn More About John Barleycorn. Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox! Matt Thomas is a cicerone and certified beer server with Gays Hops-n-Schnapps.

Recommended for you. Submit Your News. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form. In English folklore, John Barleycorn is a character who represents the crop of barley harvested each autumn.

Equally as important, he symbolizes the wonderful drinks which can be made from barley—beer and whiskey—and their effects. In the traditional folksong, John Barleycorn , the character of John Barleycorn endures all kinds of indignities, most of which correspond to the cyclic nature of planting, growing, harvesting, and then death. Although written versions of the song date back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, there is evidence that it was sung for years before that.

There are a number of different versions, but the most well-known one is the Robert Burns version , in which John Barleycorn is portrayed as an almost Christ-like figure, suffering greatly before finally dying so that others may live. Believe it or not, there's even a John Barleycorn Society at Dartmouth, which says, "A version of the song is included in the Bannatyne Manuscript of , and English broadside versions from the 17th century are common.

Robert Burns published his own version in , and modern versions abound. The lyrics to the Robert Burns version of the song are as follows:.

In The Golden Bough , Sir James Frazer cites John Barleycorn as proof that there was once a Pagan cult in England that worshipped a god of vegetation, who was sacrificed in order to bring fertility to the fields. This ties into the related story of the Wicker Man , who is burned in effigy. Ultimately, the character of John Barleycorn is a metaphor for the spirit of grain, grown healthy and hale during the summer, chopped down and slaughtered in his prime, and then processed into beer and whiskey so he can live once more.

Martin Carthy noted on his original album:. Lloyd in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs points out that if John Barleycorn is a folklore survival of the ancient myth of the death and resurrection of the Corn God, it is remarkable if only for its coherence, but, he says, it could be the work of some more recent writer which was somehow absorbed into the tradition.

It is certainly powerful enough to be the former but also quaint enough not to use the word in its pejorative sense to be the latter. It might be interesting to speculate further of the three men coming from the West sunset—the place of death? Forget the academic stuff about death and rebirth, fertility symbols and corn gods!

The reason that this is one of the best known and most popular of all ballads—and one which has crossed a great many musical thresholds—is that it's actually about that other activity which most commonly accompanies the singing of traditional songs—drinking! Heather Wood noted on the original album:. From the Cecil Sharp collection. One of the many songs which we picked up by a process of osmosis. In fact, Steve Winwood learnt the song from the Watersons. They noted:. One of the songs traditionally sung at Haxey in connexion with the famous Hood Game, held every 6 th January.

This ancient and widespread ballad in celebration of barley juice is very suitable to that occasion. They also sang it in June at the festival Eurofolk '76 in Ingelheim, Germany. Schulz Steeleye Span's version on their album Below the Salt is again similar in the beginning to the previous versions but differs in the last verse.

Their singer Maddy Prior recorded John Barleycorn in for her solo album Lionhearts ; this track can also be found on her anthology Collections: A Very Best of to Their first recording's sleeve notes commented:.

Adam, Cain and Abel staggered manfully across the field carrying a plough, a harrow and a grain of wheat … John Barleycorn—mysterious intimations from above told them to dig three deep furrows and bury him—this done they returned home and started to draw up plans for the first ale house. It was published in on his Topic album Songs from Suffolk.

John Howson noted on the song:. This complete version of the classic country song tells the story of the life-cycle of the barley grain used in brewing beer. One of the earliest known versions was a black letter broadside printed by Henry Gosson which can be found in the Pepys Collection.

It became popular with eighteenth century printers and later on sequels such as Hey, John Barleycorn and Little John Barleycorn appeared. The song became popular all over rural England and not surprisingly was found throughout East Anglia.

Tom Smith of Thorpe Morieux b. Clare, in August He noted:. An Irish version of the John Barleycorn saga. I can't remember where I first learned it but probably in Canada. It has changed a lot over the years.

Fairport Convention sang John Barleycorn , with lyrics quite similar to Mike Waterson's, on their album Tipplers Tales where else? There are also several live recordings, e. Andy Turner and Chris Wood recorded another version on a demo tape in ca. I've loved this song since I first heard it in a pub in Leicester many moons ago. Turned me on to traditional folk and re-incarnation. This track was also included in on the anthology Old Wine New Skins. Although most of us no longer work on the land, the power of this extraordinary and ancient song remains undiminished.

The song was first printed as a blackletter ballad in the reign of James II, but may well be much older. The spirit of the grain personified. The same version o this song was recorded in by Traffic on an album called John Barleycorn Must Die , and was a considerable hit in the UK. Ian [Robb] confesses to some minor meddling with the tune; the originally transcribed version can be found in Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.

I also love the way the song describes the production of beer as the life and death of a man. This song was collected throughout Hampshire and Dorset by the Hammonds and Gardiner and is even common in North America.

My text is from Mr. Another song from the repertoire of William Miller of Wootton Fitzpaine, who the Hammond brothers visited in April , braving the hills of West Dorset on their bicycles.