Sovay

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sovay is a traditional English folk song (Roud # 7) about a young woman who dresses as a highwayman in order to test her lover. The name 'Sovay' is probably a corruption of 'Sophie' or 'Sylvie' - both of which appear instead in some versions of the song. Similarly pronounced names are the French Sauvee and Scandinavian Solveig.

Versions of the song have been recorded by:

• Bert Jansch
• Anne Briggs
• Martin Carthy
• Pentangle
• Ruth Barrett and Cyntia Smith

Andrew Bird wrote a song called Sovay [1], featured on the album The Mysterious Production of Eggs, which is said to borrow loosely from the original English song. [2]

[edit] Adaptations in other media

In 1993 Charles Vess and Charles de Lint created a short comic book adaptation of the song, originally published in Dark Horse Presents #75. [3] It was reprinted in The Book of Ballads and Sagas #2 in 1995, which in turn was collected in Ballads in 1997.

[edit] External links

• Sovay - lyrics and music (Folkinfo.org)