1. |
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Three gypsies come round to my door,
And downstairs ran my lady-o.
And one sang high and one sang low
And one sang Bonny Bonny Biscay-o.
Then she took off her silken gown
And dressed in hose of leather-o.
The dirty rags all around my door;
And she’s gone with the raggle-taggle gypsies-o.
Twas late at night my lord returned
Enquiring for his lady-o.
The servants one and all replied,
Well she’s gone with the raggle-taggle gypsies-o.
Go harness up my milk white steed,
Go fetch to me my pony-o.
And I will ride and seek my bride
Who’s a-gone with the raggle-taggle gypsies-o.
So he rode high and he rode low,
He rode through woods and copses too,
Until he came to a wide open field
Where he has spied his lady-o.
Why did you leave your new wedded lord
And your house and lands and money-o
To go and seek a roving life
All along with the raggle-taggle gypsies-o?
What care I for my new wedded lord
And my house and lands and money-o?
Tonight I’ll seek a roving life
All along with the raggle-taggle gypsies-o.
Last night she slept in a goose-feather bed
With the sheets turned down so bravely-o;
Tonight she’ll lie in the cold open field
All in the arms of the raggle-taggle gypsies-o.
What care I for a goose-feather bed
With the sheets turned down so bravely-o?
Tonight I’ll lie in the cold open field
All in the arms of the raggle-taggle gypsies-o.
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2. |
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As I was out walking one fine summer’s morning,
As I was out walking one midsummer’s day;
met a young female, all dressed in white linen,
Aye, dressed in white linen and as cold as the clay.
Oh mother, dear mother, come sit down beside me,
Come sit down beside me and hear me sad case;
For I’ve loved a soldier who has lately deserted
And he’s gone and he’s left me in shame and disgrace.
Oh daughter, dear daughter, why didn’t you tell me?
Why didn’t you tell me all of it in time?
I could have bought salt, aye, and pills of white margery
You’re a true-hearted girl, cut down in your prime.
Come doctor, dear doctor, and fill up your bottles,
Come fill up your bottles and make them quite dry;
For me bones they are aching and me heart it is breaking
In shame and disgrace I’m afraid I must die.
Have six jolly sailors to carry me coffin,
Have six jolly soldiers to sing me a song;
Have six bonny lasses carry bunches of roses
So that you can smell me as we roll along.
Then play your fife lowly and play the drum slowly,
Sing out the dead march as you go along;
Take me to the graveyard and throw the sods on me,
I’m a true-hearted girl but I never done wrong.
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3. |
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I sowed the seeds of love,
It was all in the spring,
In April, May and in June likewise
While small birds they do sing.
While small birds they do sing.
My garden was planted well
With flowers everywhere;
But I hadn’t the liberty to choose for myself
The flowers that I loved dear.
The flowers that I loved dear.
My gardener he stood by
And I asked him to choose for me.
He chose me the violet, the lily and the pink
But those I refused all three.
But those I refused all three.
In June there’s the red rosebud,
And that’s the flower for me,
For often have I plucked at the red rose bud,
Till I gained the willow tree.
Till I gained the willow tree.
Come all you false young men,
Don’t leave me to complain;
For grass that has often been trampled underfoot,
Given time, it will rise again.
Given time, it will rise again.
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4. |
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Oh, mother dear mother come riddle to me
Come riddle it all as one
Should I marry Fair Ellen
Or bring the brown girl home?
The brown girl she has house and land
Fair Ellender she has none
So therefore I charge you with my blessing
Go bring the brown girl home
He got on his horse and he rode and he rode / He rode ‘til he came to her hall
And no one so ready as Fair Ellen / To rise and welcome him in
What news have you brought, Lord Thomas? / What news have you brought unto me?
I’ve come to ask you to my wedding / A sorrowful wedding to be
Oh mother, dear mother, should I stay? / Fair child, you do as you please
But I’m afraid you’ll never return / To see your mother no more
She turned around all dressed in white / Her sisters dressed in green
And every town that they rode through / They took her to be some queen
They rode & they rode ‘til they came to the hall / She pulled on the bell & it rang
And no one so ready as Lord Thomas / To rise and welcome her in
Then taking Fair Ellender by the hand / And leading her through the hall
Saying fifty gay ladies are here today / But here is the flower of all
The brown girl she was standing by / With knives ground keen and sharp
And between the long ribs and the short / She pierced Fair Ellender’s heart
Lord Thomas he was standing by / With knives ground keen and sharp
And between the long ribs and the short / He pierced his own bride’s heart
Then placing the handle against the wall / The point against his breast
Saying, this is the ending of three lovers / God sends us all to rest
Oh father, oh father, go dig my grave / Dig it large and wide and deep
And place Fair Ellender in my arms / And the brown girl at my feet
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5. |
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There were three ravens on a tree, Down, down
There were three ravens on a tree, Down
There were three ravens on a tree
They were as black as they might be
With a down down derry down down
The one of them said to his mate...
Where shall we our breakfast take...
Down in yonder greeny field...
There lies a knight slain neath his shield...
His hounds they lie down at his feet...
So well they do their master keep...
His hawks they fly so eagerly...
There is no fowl come near him nigh...
Down there comes a fallow doe...
As great with young as she might go...
She lifted up his bloody head...
And kissed his wounds that were so red...
She got him up upon her back...
And carried him to an earthen lake...
She buried him before the prime...
She was died herself fore even-time...
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6. |
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Long Lankin was a mason, good as ever hewed stone
Built the Lord a fine castle, and pay he got none
Said the lord to the lady, as he mounted his horse:
Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the moss.
Let the doors be all bolted and the windows all pinned,
And leave not a hole for a mouse to creep in.
The doors was all bolted and the windows all pinned,
Except one little hole, where Lankin crept in.
Oh where dwells the lord, says cruel Long Lankin,
He’s away in fair London. said the false nurse to him.
Where’s the heir of this house? said Long Lankin.
He’s asleep in his cradle, said the false nurse to him.
We’ll prick him, we’ll prick him all over with a pin,
And then the fine lady will come down to him.
So he pricked him, he pricked him all over with a pin,
And the nurse held the basin for the blood to flow in.
O nurse, how you slumber. O nurse, how you sleep.
You leave my little son, to cry and to weep.
I’ve tried him with apples, I’ve tried him with a pear.
Come down, my fair lady, and rock him in your chair.
My lady came down, all a-thinking no harm.
Long Lankin stood ready to catch her bare arm.
There’s blood in the kitchen. There’s blood in the hall.
There’s blood in the parlour where my lady did fall.
Her maiden looked out from the turret so high,
And she saw her master from London riding by.
O master, O master, don’t lay the blame on me.
Twas the false nurse and Lankin that killed your fair lady.
Long Lankin was hanged on a gibbet so high
And the false nurse was burnt in a fire close by.
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7. |
Sovay (Roud 7) - SAMPLE
00:47
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Sovay, Sovay all on a day,
She dressed herself in man’s array
With a sword and pistol all by her side
To meet her true love, to meet her true love, away did ride.
As she was riding all over the plain
She met her true love and bid him stand:
Your gold and silver, kind Sir, she said,
Or else this moment, or else this moment, your life I’ll have.
And when she’d robbed him of his store
She said, Kind Sir, there is one thing more:
A golden ring which I know you have,
Deliver it, deliver it, your sweet life to save.
Oh that golden ring a token is;
My life I’ll lose, the ring I’ll save.
Being tender-hearted just like a dove,
She rode away, she rode away, from her true love.
Now next morning in the garden green
Just like true lovers they were seen;
He spied his watch hanging by her clothes
Which made him blush, made him blush, like any rose.
Oh what makes you blush at so silly a thing,
I thought to have had your golden ring;
‘Twas I that robbed you all on the plain,
So here’s your watch, here’s your watch and your gold again.
Oh I did intend and it was to know
If that you were me true love or no.
So now I have a contented mind
My heart and all my heart and all my dear is thine.
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8. |
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There were two little sisters a-walking along, hey hey to the grinding
Two little sisters a-walking along, by the bonny bonny bows of London
The eldest pushed her sister in...
Pushed her sister into the stream...
Well she pushed her in and she watched her drown
Watched her body floating down
She floated up and she floated down
Down till she come to the miller’s dam
Out and out come the millers son
Father dear here swims a swan
They laid her out on the bank to die
A fool with a fiddle come riding by
He took some strands of her long yellow hair
He made some strings from that yellow hair
He made fiddle pegs from her long fingerbones
And he made a bridge out of her nose-bone
He made a fiddle out of her breastbone
It played so loud it played all alone
But the only tune the fiddle would play, was oh the Bows of London
The only tune the fiddle would play, was the bonny bonny Bows of London
So the fool’s gone away to the king’s high hall
There was music and dancing and all
And he laid the fiddle all down on a stone
It played so loud it played all alone
It sang yonder sits my father the king
Yonder sits my father the king
Yonder sits my mother the queen
How she’ll grieve at my burying
Yonder sits my sister Anne
It was she who drownded me in the stream
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9. |
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There was a lady that lived in York
All alone and aloney
She proved a child by her own father’s clerk
Down by a greenwood sidey
She leaned her back against the oak...
She thought three times that her back would be broke...
She leaned her head against a thorn
There her three fine sons they were born
She pulled out her long penknife
And there she took away their three lives
Years went by and one summer’s morn
She saw three boys, they were playing bat and ball
Oh my fine boys if you were mine
Sure I’d dress you up in silk so fine.
Oh mother dear when we were yours
You did not dress us in silk so fine.
You pulled out your long penknife
And there you took away our three lives.
Oh my fine boys what will become of me
You’ll be seven long years a bird in a tree.
You’ll be seven years more a tongue in a bell
And you’ll be seven long years a porter in hell.
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10. |
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Oh where have you been, Lord Randall, my son?
Oh where have you been, my bonny young man?
I’ve been to the wild wood, mother, make my bed soon,
I’m sick to my heart, and I need to lie down
What happened in the wild wood, Lord Randall, my son?
What happened in the wild wood, my bonny young man?
Oh I dined with my true love, mother, make my bed soon,
I’m sick to my heart, and I need to lie down.
What had you for your supper, Lord Randall, my son?
What had you for your supper, my bonny young man?
I had eels boiled in broth, mother, make my bed soon,
I’m sick to my heart, and I need to lie down.
Oh I fear that you are poisoned, Lord Randall, my son,
I fear that you are poisoned, my bonny young man.
Oh yes, I am poisoned, mother, make my bed soon,
I’m sick to my heart, and I need to lie down.
What’ll you leave your mother, Lord Randall, my son?
What’ll you leave your mother, my bonny young man?
My gold and my silver, mother make my bed soon,
I’m sick to my heart, and I need to lie down.
What’ll you leave your true love, Lord Randall, my son?
What’ll you leave your true love, my bonny young man?
A rope for to hang her, mother make my bed soon,
I’m sick to my heart, and I need to lie down.
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Karl Sinfield High Peak District, UK
graphic designer and traditional-folk-adjacent musician/writer
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