Traditional & Folk Songs with lyrics & midi music www.traditionalmusic.co.uk 
Bruton Town 
Bruton Town 
In Bruton Town there lived a noble man He had two sons and a daughter fair By night and day they were contriving For to fill their sister's heart with care 
One night one night our restless young girl One brother rose up from his bed He heard the servant court their sister Oh he heard they had a mind to wed 
Oh when he rose the very next morning Went searching for the servantman And when he found him this young man he murdered Oh left him lying in the briars around 
Oh she went to bed a-crying and lamenting And thinking of her own true love And as she slept she dreamt that she saw him a-lying in the countryside all covered with gore and blood 
"Oh brothers, brothers why do you whisper And what's become of this servantman ?" -"Oh we lost him when we were a-contending We lost him were he won't ever be found" 
Oh she early rose the very next morning And searched the countryside around And there she saw her own dear jewel A-lying in the briars where he'd been found 
Three days and nights he'd lie by him She thought her heart it would break with woe When a cruel hunger came upon her And in despair to her home she did go 
Oh sister, sister why do you whisper And won't you tell us where you've been Stand off, stand off you bloody butchers My love and I you have all slain 
recorded by Sandy Denny live in 1972 for the BBC (in the Denny Box Set) and in a slightly different version by Tim Hart & Maddy Prior on "Folk Songs Of Olde England Vol.1" (1968) 
This is similar to "Clerk Saunders" ( Child 69 ), but then again, songs of similar content abound in the English tradition. 
tune from Sharp, English Folk Songs DT #309 Laws M32 MJ