np lay the bent ...

[Dave Monroe]

According to the Wikipedia, nothing, but ...

"Phrases of apparent nonsense in refrains (Lay the
bent to the bonny broom?) ..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrain

However ...

The symbolic refrain, "Lay the bent to the bonnie
broom," is thought to refer to the Scotch broom plant.
Stiff fronds of this plant were tied together with
willow strips (bentwood) around a handle to create a
tool for sweeping things clean around the hearthstone.
Scotch broom produces brilliant yellow flowers,
suggesting the yellow hair of the drowned girl. Both
the harp and the broom are thus symbolic objects, used
to bring the truth to light.

http://journals.aol.com/belfastcowboy75/TrickleofSemi-consciousness/entries/978

Here's a discussion of that lyric ...

http://www.snaigow.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi?pg=prev&topic=26&page=340

And another ...

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.CFM?threadID=15717

Which mentions along the way ...

Miss Broadwood's observations on the magical
properties of plants represented in the burdens of The
Elfin Knight (2) and Riddles Wisely Expounded (1) [in
her book, English Traditional Songs and Carols,
London, 1908] may be summarized as follows: parsley,
used by the ancient Greeks at funerals, and on graves,
and employed magically in Germany, the British Isles,
and in Europe generally; sage, a magic plant in
England, and proof against the evil eye in Spain,
Portugal, etc.; rosemary, called "Alicrum" or "Elfin
Plant" in Spain and Portugal, is worn there against
the evil eye, burnt against witches in Devonshire, and
everywhere else associated with funerals and death;
thyme, a chief ingredient in a recipe (ca. 1600) for
an eye-salve for beholding without danger the most
potent fairy or spirit, and associated with death and
the grave in England; juniper, sacred to the Virgin in
Italy and France, and especially potent against evil
spirits; the gentle (thorn or bush), the name used all
over Ireland for the large hawthorns which are
regarded as holy and sacred to the "gentry" -- "gentle
people" or fairies who inhabit them; holly and ivy,
used magically from the earliest heathen times, holly
being particularly abhorred by witches in England and
other countries of Europe; broom, most potent against
witches and spirits, and per contra, often used by
witches in their spells; the bent or rush, protective
against the evil eye, and, as Miss Broadwood points
out, doubly powerful when combined with the broom, as
in the refrain (1 A), "Lay the bent to the bonny
broom." We may dismiss the subject of the incantation
refrain by quoting a note from Scott, which goes no
little way toward proving Miss Broadwood's point that
our plant burdens are incantations directed against
evil spirits:

The herb vervain, revered by the Druids, was also
reckoned a powerful charm by the common people; and
the author recollects a popular rhyme, supposed to be
addressed to a young woman by the devil, who attempted
to seduce her in the shape of a handsome young man:--

"Gin ye wish to be leman mine,
Lay off the St. John's wort and the vervine."

By his repugnance to these sacred plants, his mistress
discovered the cloven foot. (Wimberley, Folklore in
the English and Scottish Ballads, pp 350/351)

[...]

Just as in the Middle Ages single episodes became
detached from complex epic narratives to form complete
ballads on their own, so in more recent times single
lyrical details have become detached from ballads to
lead an individual life as short songs. [...] Probably
the oldest form is the story in which one must guess
riddles in order to avoid being carried off by a
fairy; the change from paganism to Christianity is
reflected in the versions in which the girl puts the
devil out of countenance by answering his riddles and
thus demonstrating that she is God's and none of his.
[...] The change from sober parable to lovers' jest
may have occurred during the seventeenth century.
[...] At some time, the riddles became detached from
the story and formed into a short lyrical song, a
sentimental piece of seemingly unassailable popularity
usually bearing as first line: 'I gave my love a
cherry without a stone'. [...] 'Lay the bent to the
bonny broom' (a phrase of 'physiological significance'
- 'bent' = 'horn' - says Miss Margaret Dean-Smith who
has a sharp sense for euphemism). (Lloyd, England
153f)

http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/r/riddlesw.html

There's more there, some of those ellipses are on the
site, some are mine, but let me know if any of that is
of any help ...

--- Otto Sell <ottosell at yahoo.de> wrote:

> What do I have to make of the following sentence?
> 
> "Lay the bent to the bonnie broom"
> http://www.lordlandless.de/songs/cruel.php
> 
> Otto
> 
> 
> 
> 	
> 
> 	
> 		
>
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