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Folk song

"John Barleycorn" is an English and Scottish folk song. The song's protagonist is John Barleycorn, a personification of barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it: beer and whisky. In the song, he suffers indignities, attacks, and death that correspond to the various stages of barley cultivation, such as reaping and malting. The song may have its origins in ancient English or Scottish folklore, with written evidence of the song dating it at least as far back as the Elizabethan era. It is listed as number 164 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The oldest versions are Scottish and include the Scots poem "Quhy Sowld Nocht Allane Honorit Be". In 1782, the Scottish poet Robert Burns published his own version of the song, which influenced subsequent versions. The song survived into the twentieth century in the oral folk tradition, primarily in England, and many popular folk revival artists have recorded versions of the song. In most traditional versions, including the sixteenth century Scottish version entitled Alan a Maut, the plant's ill treatment by humans and its re emergence as beer to take its revenge are key themes.

The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs (London, 1959), edited by the folk singer A. L. Lloyd and the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, ponders whether the ballad is "an unusually coherent folklore survival" or "the creation of an antiquarian revivalist, which has passed into popular currency and become 'folklorised. It has been theorised that the figure could have some relation to the semi mythical wicker man ritual, which involves burning a man in effigy.

The first song to personify Barley was called Allan a Maut ('Alan of the malt'), a Scottish song written prior to 1568; James Madison Carpenter recorded a fragment sung by a Harry Wiltshire of Wheald, Oxfordshire in the 1930s, which is available on the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website as well as another version probably performed by a Charles Phelps of Avening, Gloucestershire. The Shropshire singer Fred Jordan was recorded singing a traditional version in the 1960s. A version recorded in Doolin, Co. Clare, Ireland from a Michael Flanagan in the 1970s is available courtesy of the County Clare Library. The Scottish singer Duncan Williamson also had a traditional version which was recorded. Helen Hartness Flanders recorded a version sung by a man named Thomas Armstrong of Mooers Forks, New York, USA in 1935.

Ralph Vaughan Williams used a version of the song in his English Folk Song Suite (1923). Many versions of the song have been recorded, including popular versions by the rock groups Traffic (appearing on their 1970 album John Barleycorn Must Die) and Jethro Tull (appearing first on their 1992 album A Little Light Music and then on various other albums). The song has also been recorded by Fire + Ice, Gae Bolg, Bert Jansch, the John Renbourn Group, Pentangle, Finest Kind, Martin Carthy, Roy Bailey, Martyn Bates in collaboration with Max Eastley, the Watersons, Steeleye Span, Joe Walsh, Steve Winwood with his band Traffic, Fairport Convention, Donnybrook Fair, Oysterband, Frank Black, Quadriga Consort, Maddy Prior, Heather Alexander, Leslie Fish, Tim van Eyken, Barry Dransfield, Of Cabbages and Kings, Winterfylleth (band), John Langstaff, Ayreheart, and many other performers. The song is also a central part of Simon Emmerson's The Imagined Village project. Martin and Eliza Carthy perform the song alongside Paul Weller on the Imagined Village album. Billy Bragg sang in Weller's place on live performances. Rock guitarist Joe Walsh performed the song live in 2007 as a tribute to Jim Capaldi. English folk musician Sam Lee recorded a version on his album "Old Wow," accompanied by a video filmed at Stonehenge. Julian Cope's album Drunken Songs has the following written on its front cover: "John Barleycorn died for somebody's sins but not mine." This is both a reference to John Barleycorn, Patti Smith, and the Traffic album mentioned above. For his 2017 album, “Sillion”, Johnny Flynn wrote the song “Barleycorn” which heavily references the character John Barleycorn. In the 2014 album "One and All, Together, For Home", Winterfylleth interprets the Robert Burns version of the poem. In Green Lung's 2021 single, "Reaper's Scythe", the character is referenced with the line "'John Barleycorn must die'".

"John Barleycorn" has been used as a symbol or a slang term for alcohol, and its association with alcohol has been used in various areas of life. Several pubs in the South of England are called "John Barleycorn", in locations including Harlow, Southampton and Reading. Jack London's 1913 autobiographical novel John Barleycorn takes its name from the song and discusses his enjoyment of drinking and struggles with alcoholism. The use of the term to symbolise alcohol misuse was so widespread that it was used as a headline on court reports about drunkenness in late Victorian times. In the climax of the Inside No. 9 episode 'Mr King', the song is performed by a class of schoolchildren as they prepare to ritualistically sacrifice their teacher for their harvest festival.