Song of Old John Ash(corn)

SONG OF OLD JOHN ASH There was three men came out of the south, Their fortunes for to try, And these three men made a solemn vow, John Ash should die. They bashed, they beat, they harried him back, Throwed stones upon his head, And these three man made a solemn vow, John Ash was dead.

Then they let him lie for a very long time Till the seasons did turn to fall, Then little John Ash sprung up his head, And soon amazed them all. They had let him stand till midsummer Till he looked both pale and wan, And little John he growed a most discontent And so became tall once again.

They sent men with the scythes so sharp To cut him off at Ash'rily, They rolled him back and tied him at the waist, And fought him most barbarously. They hired men with the sharp pitchforks Who pricked him to the heart, And the cartman he served him worse than that, For he bound him to the cart.

They wheeled him round and round the land Till they came unto a farm, And there they made a solemn mow of poor John Ash. They hired men with the crab-tree sticks To cut his skin with the lash, But the miller served him worse than that, For he ground John Ash between two stones.

So now as you sit and eat your bread think of poor old John Ash who would sought to make you dead but now he has been thrashed and from standing all alone your bread now has his bone.

The song is a mocking comparison of John Ash- as in, the ASI- with the process of making corn, and compares the Ashlanders cycle of violent uprisings to the process of making bread from barleycorn.