Oil on linen, 8' x 6', 1991
As I walked out one evening,
all amongst the springing thyme,
I overheard a fair pretty maiden
converse with Reynardine.
Her hair was black, and her eyes were blue,
her lips, like the blood red wine,
and he smiled as he looked upon her,
did this sly bold Reynardine.
She said, "I pray you, young man, be civil,
my company forsake,
for unto my good opinion,
I fear you are a rake."
"Oh no, no rake am I!" cried he,
"brought up in Venus' train.
But I'm searching for concealment
from the Judge's pious men."
Her cherry cheeks and her ruby lips,
the lost their former dye,
and she fell on her knees before him,
upon that mountain high.
He had not touched her but once, or twice,
till she came to again,
and most modestly she's asked him,
"Pray sir, tell to me your name."
"Oh if by chance you look for me,
by chance you'll never me find,
for I'll be in my green castle...
inquire for Reynardine."
She's followed him both day and night,
so bright his teeth did shine,
as he lead her over the mountains,
did this sly bold Reynardine.
................................................................................
I first heard Reynardine on an LP by Native American singer, Buffy Sainte Marie,
who sang it accompanied by a mouth bow.
The next version that really appealed to me was one by the British "folk revival"
ballad singer and guitarist, Martin Carthy.
Reynardine is sometimes called a "Vampire" ballad. "Werewolf" would be closer to the mark...or "Werefox." I've seen the term "Theromorph" used on the internet for shape-shifiting...and concerning this ballad, I ran on a curious diatribe amongst some folksong experts about how the "supernatural" aspects of this ballad were pasted onto an otherwise perfectly good ballad describing some incredibly obscure "actual" historical event! This crime was allegedly committed by singers assigned to the above-mentioned "folk revival,"(60s/70s?) so maybe they meant Carthy. Ah the lure of being a SERIOUS musicologist.
The lure of shape-shifting foxes is much older than the debate over folk revivals of course, and as widespread as the foxes on our globe. I have a friend who was mistaken (?) for one in Japan, where they are known as Kitsune.
Animal metaphors for human aggression IS a very interesting subject. Gaston Bachelard's "Lautremont" is a fascinating introduction to what he calls "the sucker and the claw."