As I walked out- Edmund Fry (Dev) 1889 Baring Gould
[From Sabine Baring-Gould Manuscript Collection (SBG/3/1/348). An additional stanza is given by Baring-Gould in his MS from a different informant, J Parsons about same time. Baring-Gould has at least 7 versions in his notebook including print versions and Burns' Waukrife Minnie. This version was reworked, using only just the first stanza here, to produce the recreation "On a May Morning so Early" attributed to Roger Huggins, at Lydford but completely reworked by Sheppard. The rationale for censoring texts in 'Seventeen" versions by Baring-Gould and also Sharp is hardly justified considering the foul murder ballads left untouched.
Baring-Gould freely changed collected versions which means theses stanzas are also suspect.
R. Matteson 2018]
A. "As I Walked out" -sung by Edmund Fry of Lydford, Devon in 1889. Collected by H. Fleetwood Sheppard and Sabine Baring-Gould.
1. As I walked out one May morning
One May morning so early,
O there I spied a fair pretty maid
All in the dew so pearly.
With a fa-la-la- with a fa-la-la
All in the dew so pearly.
2.O where are you going, my fair pretty maid?
O where are you going my lambie?
Then cheerfully she answered me
An errand for my mammie
With a fa-la-la &c.
An errand for my mammy.
3. "How old are you, my fair pretty maid?
How old are you my honey?
Then cheerfully she answered me
I’m seventeen on Sunday.
With a fa-la-la &c.
I’m seventeen on Sunday.
4.Will you take a man my fair pretty maid?
Will you take a man, my lambie?
Then cheerfully she answered me
I dare not for my mammie.
With a fa-la-la &c.
I dare not for my mammie.
5.If you’ll come to my mammy’s house,
When the moon is shining clearly.
I’ll lift the pin & I’ll let you in,
And my mammy shall not hear me.
With a fa-la-la &c.
And my mammy shall not hear me.
6.O then I went to her mammy’s house
When the moon was brightly shining.
Then she lifted the pin & she let me in
And we lay our arms entwining
With a fa-la-la &c.
And we lay our arms entwining
7.Then she said to me, will you marry me?
As she let me out in the morning.
For by thee I am one that is all undone,
O leave me not with scorning
With a fa-la-la &c.
And leave me not with scorning
8.Then she said to me, will you marry me
O say this now or never,
For if that you are not good & true
Then I am undone for ever
With a fa-la-la &c.
Then I am undone for ever