"The Black Velvet Band" (Roud number 2146) is a traditional folk song collected from singers in Ireland, Australia, England, Canada and the United States describing how a young man is tricked and then sentenced to transportation to Australia, a common punishment in the British Empire during the 19th century. Versions were also published on broadsides.[1]
The Dubliners released a popular version of the song in 1967 based on a version sung by the traditional English singer Harry Cox.
Synopsis
Old map of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)
The narrator is bound apprentice in a town (which varies in different versions). He becomes romantically involved with a young woman. She steals a watch and places it in his pocket or in his hand. The apprentice does not try to stop this from happening, which is speculated to be out of his love for the girl.[2] However the man does wish bad luck towards the woman, as seen in the line "Bad luck to the black velvet band".[3] The apprentice appears in court the next day, and is sentenced to seven years penal servitude in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania); as at this point in time Australia was being used as a prison colony.[4] In the broadside versions the young woman's motivation is more obvious - she has met a sailor and wants to get rid of her lover.
The Roud Index has 98 entries for this song, comprising broadside ballads, versions collected from traditional singers, and field recordings.[5]
It was published as a broadside ballad by Swindells of Manchester some time between 1796 and 1853, and by H. Such of London sometime between 1863 and 1885.[6]
While working for the BBC, Peter Kennedy recorded a version in Belfast in 1952. In 1959, a version was found in Australia. An earlier version by the publisher Swindells in Manchester is very wordy, and has no chorus. It places the events in Barking, Essex. Some of the earliest versions mention the Old Bailey and London Town.
The publication date of that version is probably between 1837 and 1853.
An American song called "The Girl In The Blue Velvet Band", credited to Cliff Carlisle and Mel Forre, was recorded by Bill Monroe, Doc Watson and Mac Wiseman among others. It has a similar plot and may be loosely based on "Black Velvet Band".[citation needed]
The Dubliners version, possibly the best known, is slightly adapted from a version recorded by Ewan MacColl from the Norfolk singer Harry Cox in 1955, and recorded by MacColl and Peggy Seeger on their 1964 LP Chorus from the Gallows.[10]
The Wiggles did an adapted version of the story on their Sing a Song of Wiggles DVD starring Sam as Prince Michael and Dorothy the Dinosaur's voice-over, Carolyn Ferrie. Captain Feathersword played by Paul Paddick also did the narrations of the story.
Marc Gunn recorded it on his albums Irish Drinking Songs and a bluesy version on The Bridge and again with Jamie Haeuser on their album How America Saved Irish Music (2014).