thumb|upright=1.3|Broadside ballad entitled "A Huy and Cry After Sir John Barlycorn" by [[Alexander Pennecuik, 1725]]
"John Barleycorn" is an English and Scottish folk song. The song's protagonist is John Barleycorn, a personification of barley and of the beer made from it. 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.
History
Possible ancient origins
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.
Written versions
thumb|upright|Porcelain image of John Barleycorn, c .1761
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.
Musical adaptations
Ralph Vaughan Williams used a version of the song in his English Folk Song Suite (1923). Many versions<!--do not list them here, thanks--> 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 is 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.
In popular culture
"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 places including Duxford, Harlow, Goring, and Southampton. 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" (2022), the song is performed by a class of schoolchildren as they prepare to ritualistically sacrifice their teacher for their harvest festival.
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File:John Barleycorn, Duxford - geograph.org.uk - 758286.jpg|The John Barleycorn, Duxford, Cambridgeshire
File:Masked criminal at the grave of John Barleycorn cph.3b52743.jpg|Use of "John Barleycorn" to symbolise alcohol in an anti-prohibition illustration
File:John Barleycorn use of name in headline.png|Headline: "John Barleycorn at Work"