“Kitty Jay” by Seth Lakeman
In this track, Seth Lakeman narrates the story of a farm girl named Mary, popularly remembered as Kitty Jay. The song, presented in the form of a prayer, addresses her tragic account of how she ended up in the grave at such a tender age.
True to the legend, Kitty is said to have worked hard on a farm land, living a life of poverty. At about age 17 or 18, she is said to have been impregnated by the farm owner’s son. The Speaker refers to him as the ‘Devil’.
Out of frustration and the shame of bearing a child out of wedlock, the young Kitty Jay decided to end her life. The singer captures this tragedy perfectly as he describes how her young life was cast away and turned into a dusty grave.
Lakeman wrote and released this track as part of his 2004 album. The said album also shares the same name as this song.
Kitty Jay
During the late eighteenth century, an orphaned girl named Mary or more popularly Kitty Jay, started working in a farm near Manaton, Devon. She had resided on this farm since age five. As told in several folklore, Kitty worked extremely hard, lived a rather solitary life and was known to have only befriended a guy named Jamie who happened to be her employer’s son.
Tragically, when Kitty was about 17 or 18, she got pregnant after being raped. According to reports, it was Jamie who got her pregnant. He however, abandoned her to bear the shame and responsibility alone. At the end of the day, Kitty committed suicide by hanging herself in the same farm she grew up in.
