British & Other Versions 7K. Love is Teasing (Love is Pleasing)
[The "Love is Teasing" identifying stanza has a long tradition in the UK dating back to the first half of the 1500s[1] where it was found in an MS book of Thomas Wood, Vicar of St. Andrews:
Hey trollie lollie, love is jolly
A qhyll qhill it is new;
Qhen it is old, it grows full cold,
Woe worth the love untrew!
I've translated it to make it better understood; "trollie lollie" is just a nonsense expression of the day:
Hey trollie lollie, love is jolly,
A while, (a) while it is new,
When it is old, it grows full cold,
Woe befalls the love untrue.
The stanza with new first and last lines appeared near it's standard form in the Scottish songs "Waly, Waly" of the early 1700s:
3 Waly, waly! but love be bony
A little time, while it is new;
But when 't is auld, it waxeth cauld,
And fades away like morning dew. [Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany]
The standard stanza in Love is Teasing version of the early 1900s is[2]:
Love is teasing, love is pleasing
Love is a jewel when first 'tis new
But love grows older then waxes colder
And fades away like morning dew. [from an Irish servant girl]
The ancestry of the additional stanzas is founded on four main broadsides; the first, "Arthur's Seat," circa 1700 is closely tied with Waly, Waly; the second, "Wheel of Fortune" dates back to the early 1700s; the third "Unfortunate Swain" is dated circa 1750, and the last "I'm Often Drunk and Seldom Sober," is a broadside dated circa 1800. Along with from these main broadsides and Waly, Waly, are stanzas borrowed from the Died for Love songs.
By the late 1800s "Love is Teasing" became attached to another old broadside "Wheel of Fortune." One broadside (no date or imprint) is available to be viewed online at Bodleian broadsides online[3] while Christie published a version in 1876 from tradition and print in his Traditional Ballad Airs. Here are the related four stanzas that formed the standard UK versions by the late 1800s and early 1800s:
When I was young I was much beloved
By all the young men in the country ;
When I was blooming all in my blossom,
A false young lover deceived me.
I did not think he was going to leave me,
Till the next morning when he came in;
Then he sat down and began a-talking,
Then all my sorrows did begin.
I left my father, I left my mother;
I left my sister and brothers too;
And all my friends and old aquaintance,
I left them all to go with you.
If I had known before I had courted,
That love had been so ill to win,
I wad locked my heart in a chest of gold,
And pon'd it with a silver pin.
In addition to these core stanzas is the "warning to all maids" stanza which is also the identifying stanza in "Come All you Fair and Tender Ladies," a similar song found in the US. This is standard "warning" stanza[4]:
4. Now, all young maids by me take warning,
And not by false men be led astray
For they are like a star on a foggy morning
When they ought to be here they are far away.
Besides the traditional versions with the Wheel of Fortune stanza were versions that used the standard Died for Love stanza. A good example was sung by Lucy Stewart of Aberdeenshire in December, 1959[5].
Love is Teasin'
Oh whit needs I go busk an' braw
Oh whit needs I tae cam my hair
When my false lover has me forsaken
And he says he'll never love me [any] mair[6],
And he says he'll never love me [any] mair.
I leaned my back into an oak[7]
I thought it was a trusty tree
At first it stood till its branches grew
And shaded by false love tae me
And shaded by false love tae me
Love it is teasin', love it is freezin'
A little while, [when] it is new,
But as it grows older, it grows the colder
And it fades awa' like the mornin' dew.
And it fades awa' like the mornin dew.
Oh when my aperon was tae me shin,
My love he keepit my company,
But noo my aperon is tae my chin,
And he passes the door and he never looks in,
And he passes the door and he never looks in.
I wish my baby it was born,
And sit upon the nurse's knee,
And me in the grave now was laid
And the green, green grass waving over me
And the green, green grass waving over me.
I wish I wish in vain,
I wish I was a maid again,
But a maid again I ne'er can be
Till the orange grows on the apple tree
Till the orange grows on the apple tree.
A different example of the use of Died for Love stanzas was recorded by Corrie Trio and Paddie Bell in 1963 (SLP 530). It was arranged to be sung from the male perspective:
"Love is Teasing"
O love is teasin' and love is pleasin'
Love is a treasure when first it's new;
And as it grow older so love grows colder,
It fades away like the morning dew.
I wish, oh I wish but it's all in vain
I wish I were a lad again,
But a lad again I shall never be,
Till apples grow on an orange tree.
O love is teasin' and love is pleasin'
Love is a treasure when first it's new;
And as it grow older so love grows colder,
It fades away like the morning dew.
I wish oh I wish that my babe were born,
And lying o'er on his mother's knee
And I, poor lad, were dead and gone,
With grasses green growing over me.
O love is teasin' and love is pleasin'
Love is a treasure when first it's new;
And as it grow older so love grows colder,
It fades away like the morning dew.
In the 1900s the Love is Teasing stanza also became mixed with other songs from the 1800s including "Youth and Folly," "What Can't Be Cured" and "I'm Always Drunk." A Love is Teasing fragment with these various new influences was published in "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce, in 1922 (as sung by Mr. Dedalus from Cork):
"'Tis youth and folly, makes young men marry,
So here, my love, I'll no longer stay.
What can't be cured, sure, must be injured[endured], sure,
So I'll go to Amerikay.
My love she's handsome, my love she's bonny:
She's like good whisky, when it is new;
But when 'tis old, and growing cold
It fades and dies like the mountain dew.
Joyce's 1st stanza, found in "What Can't Be Cured" of the 1860s, is similarly found the several Irish songs, "O'Reilly From The County Kerry" and "When First I Came to the County Limerick" (see also: Young Reilly) while his second stanza is "Love is Teasing." Now let's look at the Dubliners' text as sung by Ronnie Drew and recorded in 1963:
I Wish (Till Apples Grow)- by the Dubliners 1964, sung solo by Ronnie Drew. Transcription R. Matteson 2017.
I wish, I wish, I wish in vain,
I wish, I wish, I was a youth again
But a youth again I can never be
Till the apples grow on an ivy tree.
I left me father, I left me mother
I left all me sisters and brothers too
I left all me friends and me own relations
I left them all for to follow you.
But the sweetest apple is the soonest rotten
And the hottest love is the soonest cold
And what can't be cured love has to be endur-ed love
And now I am bound for Americ-ka.
Oh love is pleasin' and love is teasin'
And love is a pleasure when first it's new
But as it grows older sure the love grows colder
And it fades away like the morning dew.
And love and porter makes a young man bolder
And love and whiskey makes him old and grey
And what can't be cured love has to be endur-ed love
And now I am bound for Americ-ka.
The Dubliners released this on January 1, 1964 and later included it on recordings with the "Love is Pleasing" title. From their version we can see the various influences; stanza 1--Died for Love; stanza 2--Wheel of Fortune; stanza 3--Effects of Love identifying stanza (Love is Pleasing); then James Joyce's 1st stanza (What Can't Be Cured) was modified to make two From the 1960 a number of similar versions have appeared sometimes with a stanza of Wheel of Fortune or Died for Love. This next version titled "Love Is Teasing" was recorded at Kilrush Fleadh Cheoil, County Clare in the Summer of 1967. The singer is a young Dolly MacMahon, the wife of the late Ciarán Mac Mathúna. Her recording is on youtube and is transcribed here:
I wish, I wish, I wish in vain
I wish I were a maid again
But a maid again I can never be
Until apples grow on an ivy tree.
For love is pleasing[8] and love is teasing
And love is a treasure when first it's new
But as love grows older then love grows colder
And it fades away like the morning dew
Now there is an alehouse in the town
And there my love he sits him down
He takes a strange girl on his knee
And he tells her things that he once told me.
And love and porter make young men bolder,
And love and whiskey makes them old and grey
And what cannot be cured, love, must be endured, love
And now I am bound for Amerikay.
Dozens of versions, mostly cover songs, have been recorded in the last 50 years since Dolly's exquisite version. The songs remains popular and its old melody is used as an instrumental version as well. I'm including several folk revival versions from the 60s which may or may not be traditional. According to several sources[9], many of the revival versions come from pubs, a form of oral transmission.
R. Matteson 2017]
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Footnotes:
1. It's appearance in Stewart Style, 1513-1542: Essays on the Court of James V, p. 175 by Janet Hadley Williams, 1996 implies it is dated before 1542.
2. Collected by Jean Ritchie in NYC in 1947 was from the singing of Peggy Stanton, who learned it in Co. Sligo, Eire.
3. Wheel of Fortune: http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/static/images/sheets/20000/19042.gif
4. Sung by Mrs. Hopkins of Axford, Hampshire in October, 1907.
5. Taken from two recordings made by Stewart in 1959 and 1961. Both recordings are available online at School of Scottish Studies.
6. Stewart sings this very quietly at the end, so the last words may not be accurate.
7. She sings "aik"
8. It seems odd that this is named "Love is Teasin' " when "love is pleasing" is first here.
9. Roy Palmer (Everyman's Book Of British Ballads; London: Dent, 1980) gives a tune that he says was "popular in folk clubs which is where he first heard it." Steve Gardham also said he first hear the song sung in pubs in England in the 1960s..
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CONTENTS:
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Mudcat: Love is teasin that I have comes from the late Willie Beaton via the late Sean McDonagh (sorry don't have proper spelling)sean nos singer from Carna
the verse is that mentions the silver twine is:
If I had known before I started
That love would bee such a killing crime
I'd have locked my heart in a golden box
And bound it round with silver twine
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"Love is Teasing" Corrie Trio and Paddie Bell 1963 on SLP 530
O love is teasin' and love is pleasin'
Love is a treasure when first it's new;
And as it grow older so love grows colder,
It fades away like the morning dew.
I wish, oh I wish but it's all in vain
I wish I were a lad again,
But a lad again I shall never be,
Till apples grow on an orange tree.
O love is teasin' and love is pleasin'
Love is a treasure when first it's new;
And as it grow older so love grows colder,
It fades away like the morning dew.
I wish oh I wish that my babe were born,
And lying o'er on his mother's knee
And I poor lad I were dead and gone,
With grasses green growing over me
O love is teasin' and love is pleasin'
Love is a treasure when first it's new;
And as it grow older so love grows colder,
It fades away like the morning dew.
Isobel Campbell's “O Love Is Teasin'.
O Love Is Teasin'
Album: Milkwhite Sheets
Milkwhite Sheets is the fourth solo album released by former Belle & Sebastian member Isobel Campbell. The album was released on October 23, 2006
O love is teasing and love is pleasing
And love's a pleasure when first it is new
But as love grows older it still grows colder
And fades away like the morning dew
Come all you fair maids, now take a warning
Don't ever heed what a young man say
He's like a star on some foggy morning
You think he's near he's far away
I left my father, I left my mother
I left my brothers and sisters too.
I left my home and my fond relations,
Oh my young man, for the sake of you
O love is pleasing and love is teasing
And love's a pleasure when first it is new
But as love grows older, it soon grows colder
And fades away like the morning dew
Isobel Campbell (born 27 April 1976) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, cellist and composer. Campbell rose to prominence at age nineteen as a member of the Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, but left the group to pursue a solo career, first as The Gentle Waves, and later under her own name.
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Love is Pleasing
England.
Tune collected from Somerset.
[arr. Terry Stephens]
When I was young I was well beloved
By all the young men in this country.
When I was young, love, and in full blossom,
A false young man came a-courting me.
Chorus:
O love it is pleasing, and love is teasing,
And love is a treasure when first it's new.
But when it grows older it waxes colder,
And fades away like the morning dew.
I left my father, I left my mother,
I left my brothers and sisters, too.
I left my home and my kind relations
I left them all for the love of you.
Chorus:
O love it is pleasing, and love is teasing,
And love is a treasure when first it's new.
But when it grows older it waxes colder,
And fades away like the morning dew.
I never thought that my love would leave me,
Until one morning when he came in.
He drew up a chair and sat down beside me,
And then my sorrows they did begin.
Chorus:
O love it is pleasing, and love is teasing,
And love is a treasure when first it's new.
But when it grows older it waxes colder,
And fades away like the morning dew.
O turn you round, love, your wheel of fortune,
Turn you around, love, and smile on me.
For surely there'll be a place of torment
For this young man who deceived me.
Chorus:
O love it is pleasing, and love is teasing,
And love is a treasure when first it's new.
But when it grows older it waxes colder,
And fades away like the morning dew.
So girls beware of your false true lovers,
Never mind what a young man say.
He's like a star on a foggy morning,
You think he's near, and he's far away.
Chorus:
O love it is pleasing, and love is teasing,
And love is a treasure when first it's new.
But when it grows older it waxes colder,
And fades away like the morning dew.
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North Dublin Nelson's Pillar
The Atlantic - Volume 210 - Page 41
https://books.google.com/books?id=zGQQAAAAIAAJ
1962 - Snippet view - More editions
I left me father, I left me mother,
I left all my sisters and brothers too
I left me friends and kind relations
I left them all for to follow you.
For love is teasing, first hot, then freezing.
Love is a wonder when first got new;
But as it grows older, it soon grows colder.
And fades away like the morning dew
Oh! love and porter make young men [b]older
And love and whiskey make old men decay
So what can't be cured love must be endured, love,
And so I am off to Americay.
Singing, Love is teasing, first hot, then freezing. Love is a wonder when first got new; But as it grows older, it soon grows
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"Young Riley" Labrador collected Leach; stanza with "Youth and Folly" text- last stanza
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source??
My love is bonny
My love is brawny
She's like whiskey bright
When first 'tis new
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How old is the line "Love is teasing"? Well, I can find it in a song called LOVE'S A TYRANT that goes back at least to 1831:
And ah! 'tis useless to complain:
Though love is teasing,
'Tis also pleasing.
And pleasure yields as well as pain
The Vocal Annual, Or Singer's Own Book for 1831: A Collection of the Newest
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online- no source
I can not have her in some lone valley ten thousand miles from her native home;
For youth and folly make young men marry and springtime fancy is light as foam;
i<‘nr in the springtime the young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts Off love,
But in the fall he says farewell, Nancy, for you were really my turtle dove
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Item 5: from 1) "What Can't Be Cured" The Wide World Songster, 1863, p.222, London. from 2) "What Can't Be Cured" Maclagan's Musical Age Songster, Volume 1000, 1864 London. 3) "Mick-A-Vick" Hooley's Opera House Songster; published by Dick & Fitzgerald, New York, Circa 1863.
WHAT CAN’T BE CURED.
Banjo Song.
Oh, youth and folly
Make young men marry—
So, far thee well, love, I must away-
What can’t be cured, love,
Must be endured, love—-
So, far thee well, love, I must away!
What can’t be cured, &c.
She cried and sighed, oh!
When we parted;
Says I, ‘My dear, wipe those tears away,'
Says she to me, ‘John,
I’m broken hearted,
To think you’re going far across the sea.'
What can’t be cured, &c.
My heart is sad,
Lovely Johnny dear!
To think you’ll leave your sweet Sarah here;
And your auburn hair
Did my heart ensnare,
And your gimlet eyes have bored a hole through me!
What can’t be cured, &c.
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When First I Came to the County Limerick [last stanza]
O’Reilly from the County Leitrim [last stanza]
In the morning when I cannot see you, my heart lies bleeding for you all day
For in the evening I can't come near you, for them that's bound they must obey
For youth and folly make young men marry and here no lnoger can I stay
What can' t be cured must be endured, so farewell darling, I must away'
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Colm O'Lochlainn's Irish Street Ballads it appears as O'Reilly From The County Kerry, or The Phoenix of Erin's Green Isle.
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Keg of Brandy by Cherish the ladies
I'm always drunk and I'm seldom sober
A constant roving from town to town
Ah but I'm old now, my sporting's over
So Molly, a stór, won't you lay me down?
Just lay my head on a keg of brandy
It is my fancy, I do declare
For while I'm drinking, I'm always thinking
On lovely Molly from the County Clare
The ripest apple is the soonest rotten
And the warmest love is the soonest cold
And a young man's fancies are soon forgotten
Beware, young maids, and don't make so bold
Just lay my head on a keg of brandy
It is my fancy, I do declare
For while I'm drinking, I'm always thinking
On lovely Molly from the County Clare
For it's youth and folly make young men marry
And makes them tarry along the day
What can't be cured, love, must be endured, love
So farewell, darling, I'm going away
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Sarah Makem
Musical Traditions Records-As I Roved Out (MTCD353-5)
Sarah Makem of County Armagh
18th October 1900 - 20th April 1983
2 - 21 Love is Easing (Roud 1049)
Recorded by Diane Hamilton, 1955
For love is easing, and love is teasing
And love's a pleasure when first it's new
But as it grows older it gets the colder
And fades away like the morning dew.
Today, one would think this a quite well-known song (maybe because of the Jean Ritchie's singing), but it seems to have found little popularity amongst traditional singers; Roud has only 20 entries. The only Irish entry is from Sam Henry' Songs of the People - titled The Ripest of Apples - but I have my doubts whether that's the same song ... making Sarah's fragment here almost unique. The only sound recording listed is John Howson's of Tommy Morrissey, from Padstow (VT122), no longer available on CD.
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Keg of Brandy- Robbie O'connell
I’m always drunk and I’m seldom sober,
I’m constant rovin’ from town to town.
Ah, but I’m old now, my sporting’s over
So, Molly, a store, won’t you lay me down.
REFRAIN:
Just lay my head on a keg of brandy,
It is my fancy, I do declare,
For while I’m drinkin’, I’m always thinkin’
On lovely Molly from the County Clare.
For the ripest apple is the soonest rotten
And the warmest love is the soonest cold.
And a young man’s fancy is soon forgotten,
So beware young maids and don’t make so bold.
It’s youth and folly makes young men marry,
And makes them tarry a long, long day.
What can’t be cured, love, must be endured love,
So farewell darling, I’m going away.
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I'm always drunk and I'm seldom sober,
I'm constant rovin' from town to town;
Ah, but I'm old now, my sporting's over,
So, Molly, a stór, would you lay me down.
Just lay my head on a keg of brandy,
It is my fancy, I do declare;
For when I'm drinkin', I'm always thinkin',
On lovely Molly from the County Clare.
The ripest apple is the soonest rotten,
And the warmest love is the soonest cold;
And a young man's fancy is soon forgotten,
So beware, young maids, don't make so bold.
Just lay my head on a keg of brandy,
It is my fancy, I do declare;
For when I'm drinkin', I'm always thinkin',
On lovely Molly from the County Clare.
It's youth and folly make a young man wasting,
And it makes him tarry a long, long day;
What can't be cured, love, must be endured, love,
So farewell, darling, I'm going away.
Just lay my head on a keg of brandy,
It is my fancy, I do declare;
For when I'm drinkin', I'm always thinkin',
On lovely Molly from the County Clare.
####.... This song is often considered traditional, but was written by Robbie O'Connell, Liam Clancy's nephew, and recorded on his 1987 album Love Of The Land, on Green Linnet Records, Danbury, Connecticut, © Slievenamon Music (BMI). O'Connell adapted the song with new words and music from a piece of a British broadside ballad he came across, I'm Often Drunk, But Seldom Sober, published by Liptrot (St Helens, Merseyside, United Kingdom), date unknown, and archived at the Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, shelfmark: Harding B 11(1731)
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[1972:] [This] has long been a standard in the folk clubs of Britain. The tune is almost certainly of Irish origin, varied over the years, but the words tend to be 'zippers and floaters', found in a multitude of other settings. (Notes Spinners, 'Love Is Teasing')
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Jane Rothfield sang it on her album with Allan Carr, Atlantic Bridge (Green Linnet SIF 1080)
From the liner notes:
Label: Green Linnet
ASIN: B00ABZESLQ
1987
“Atlantic Bridge” on Green Linnet
LOVE IS TEASING
(Words Trad. Additional lyrics Allan Carr (Scottish) / Tune J. Rothfield ©1986)
Love is pleasing, love is teasing
And love's a pleasure when first it is new
But as love grows older, it soon grows colder
And fades away like the morning dew
I left my home and all my relations
I left them all for the love of you
I came so far to this wild country
Trusting that your heart was true
If I had known before I courted
That love would be such a killing crime
I'd a locked my heart in a box of gold
And tied it up with a silver twine
I never thought that my love would leave me
Until one morning when he came in
He pulled up a chair and sat down beside me
And then my sorrows, they did begin
So girls, beware of your false true lovers
Never mind what the young men say
For they're like a star on a foggy morning
You think they're near and they're far away
Turn around, you wheel of fortune
Turn around and smile on me
For surely there'll be one honest young man
In this wide world, who won't deceive me
Love is pleasing, love is teasing
And love's a pleasure when first it is new
But as love grows older, it soon grows colder
And fades away like the morning dew
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Love is teasing, love is pleasing
And love is a pleasure when first it's new
But as love grows old, love grows cold
And fades away like morning dew
I wish, I wish, I wish in vain
I wish I were a maid again
But a maid again I ne'er can be
Till apples grow on an ivy tree
I leaned my back against some young oak
Thinking it was a trusty tree
First it bent and then it broke
So did my true love and me
I wish, I wish my babe was born
Sitting on its nurse's knee
And I poor girl was dead and gone
The long green grass growing over me
(as sung by Iain MacKintosh & Hamish Imlach)
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[1972:] [This] has long been a standard in the folk clubs of Britain. The tune is almost certainly of Irish origin, varied over the years, but the words tend to be 'zippers and floaters', found in a multitude of other settings. (Notes Spinners, 'Love Is Teasing')
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June Tabor sang I Never Thought My Love Would Leave Me in 1983 on her Topic album Abyssinians. This track was also included in 2005 on her Topic anthology Always. She commented in the latter's booklet:
Isabel Sutherland collected this song from one of the Stewarts at Blairgowrie. It felt right as soon as I heard it and I knew I wanted to sing it.
I can't find this Blairgowrie version in the Roud index or on any of my Stewart Family albums and have tentatively sorted it here. It might be catalogued as There is a Tavern (Roud 60; Laws P25) too.
June Tabor sings I Never Thought My Love Would Leave Me
I never thought that my love would leave me
Until that morning when he came in.
He sat down and I sat beside him;
'Twas then our troubles they did begin.
Oh love is pleasing and love is teasing
And love is a pleasure when first it's new.
But love grows older and grows quite colder
And fades away like the morning dew.
There is a tavern in yon town
And there my love goes and he sits down.
He takes a dark girl on his knee
And tells her what he once told me.
There is a blackbird sits on yon tree;
Some say he's blind and cannot see.
Some say he's blind and cannot see
And so is my false love to me.
I wish my father had never whistled,
I wish my mother had never sung;
I wish the cradle had never rocked me,
I wish I'd died, love, when I was young.
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Norman Kennedy learned I Little Thocht My Love Wid Leave Me from Isla Cameron in the early 1960s. He sang it at a concert in Watertown near Boston on October 23, 1999 that was released in 2004 on his Autumn Harvest CD I Little Thocht My Love Wid Leave Me.
Norman Kennedy is one of Scotland's finest traditional singers with a unique repertoire of folk songs and ballads.Born and brought up in Aberdeen, he was a neighbour of the great ballad singer Jeannie Robertson and during the evolving folk scene of the 1960s he picked up many songs from her and from other singers such as the bothy ballad singer Jimmy McBeath and the traveller and street singer Davie Stewart.
The album was recorded live by the Folk Song Society of Greater Boston at a concert held at the First Parish of Watertown Unitarian Universalist Church on the 23rd October 1999.
Isla Cameron 1927-1980
I Little Thocht My Love Wid Leave Me
From Isla Cameron. I heard Isla sing this when I shared a gig with her in London in the early 1960s.
The verse is in "Love Is Pleasin'," Lomax, "Folk Songs of North America," No. 70, p. 136 with music (Arranged by Matyas Seiber).
"From the singing of an Irish servant girl, recorded by Jean Ritchie, NY, 1940's." "Seamus Ennis says: one of the oldest west of Ireland tunes" (no reference).
Verse 3.
If I'd a-knowed before I courted,
That love had a-been such a killin' crime,
I'd a-locked my heart in a box of gold,
And tied it up with a silver twine.
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Frank Lennon hase a different verse and 'bound for Amerikay-
Lyr. Add: Love Is Pleasing
(Intro- Last Line)
Chorus:
Oh (C)love is pleasin' and (G)love is teasin'
And love is a pleasure when first it's (C)new
But (C)as it grows older sure (G)love grows colder
And it fades away like the morning dew(C).
I left my father, I left my mother
I left all my brothers and sisters too
I left all my friends and my own relations
I left them all for to follow you.
Chorus
But the sweetest apple is the soonest rotten
And the hottest love is the soonest cold
And what cannot be cured love, must be endured love
And now I am bound for Amerikay.
Chorus
And love and porter make a young man older
And love and whiskey make him old and grey
And what cannot be cured love must be endured love
And now I am bound for Amerikay.
Chorus
(Intro Repeat- Key D)
(D)I wish, I wish, I (A7) wish in vain
I wish I was a maid a(D)gain
(D)But a maid again I (A7)ne'er will be
Till the cherries grow on an ivy (G)tree.
Chorus (repeat last line- slow)
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Well it's the very first song on the very first commercial recording I made, EKLP-2 for Elektra, in 1952 or so. I learned it after I came to NYC from Kentucky, from Peggy Staunton (from Co. Sligo) who waited tables for the "Family" at Henry St. Settlement where I lived and worked. Alan Lomax later learned the song from me. It has a lovely melody- different from Jean Redpath's or Peggy Seeger's. Peggy Staunton's verses:
O love is teasin and love is pleasin
And love's a pleasure whene'er it is new,
But as love grows older it grows the colder,
And fades away like the mornin dew.
I left my father, I left my mother,
I left my brothers and sisters too;
I left my home and my fond d-wellin,
O my young man, for the sake of you.
Come all ye fair maids, now take a warnin,
Don't never heed what a young man say;
He is like a star on some foggy mornin-
When you think he's near he is far away.
O love is pleasin, and love is teasin, (etc. repeat first vs)
The old 10" vinyl had a long title, something like, Jean Ritchie- Singing the Songs of Her Kentucky Mountain Family. The new compilation is this record, my second Elektra record, and my later Warner Brothers record...Elektra was taken over by WB, so that's why.
It's one of Rhino's Handmade Series, and is titled, Mountain Hearth and Home, available only online, from Rhino.
Sorry- this is probably more than any of you wanted to know! Jean
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A nice version of this song with 1001 names and versions, from Sam Henry.
Lyr. Add: OH, JOHNNY, JOHNNY
Oh, Johnny, Johnny, but love is bonny,
A little while when it is new.
But when it's old it groweth cold
And fades, fades away like the morning dew.
Oh, Johnny, Johnny, but you are nice, love,
In keeping company with me sae lang,
You are the first boy that e'er I had, love,
So kiss me, Johnny, before ye gang.
One kiss of my lips ye ne'er shall get, love,
For you have caused me sore to sigh,
Nor will I grant you that sweet request, love,
That oftentimes you did me deny.
If I would grant you that sweet request, love,
My heart on you I might then bestow,
But as good a lover as you may come, love,
So I'll not hinder you for to go.
For I have stepped the steps of love, dear,
And I have stepped a step too low;
Was it to be done that I have done,
It would never be done by me, I know.
It's ower the moss, love, you need'na cross, love,
And ower the moor ye needna ride,
For I have gottn a new sweetheart, love,
And you may go get yourself a bride.
For love dies come and love does go, love,
Like a little small bird unto its nest.
Was I to tell you, love all I know, love,
They're far away that I love best.
It's had I known the first time I kissed you
That women's hearts were so ill to win,
I would have locked mine all in a chest, love,
And screwed, screwed it tight with a silver pin.
Oh, I wish my father had never whistled,
And I wish my mother had never sung,
And I wish the cradles had never rock-ed
When I was a boy and so very young.
Verse 8, chest screwed tight with a silver pin, reminds of "locked my heart in a box of gold and tied it up with silver twine" in the version of "Love is Pleasin' posted by Joe.
Source: Maud Houston. With music and extended comments, first printed 1924 (stanza 9 did not appear in the paper), pp. 392-393, "Sam Henry's Songs of the People," Univ. Georgia Press, 1990.
I'm surprised that no one's mentioned "Come all you fair and tender ladies," which as I recall it contains the "killing crime" verse cited by Rob and has a very different tune from any of the "Love is pleasing and love is teasing" songs. For that matter, I'm not convinced that they're all the "same song" -- I know that RISE UP SINGING mushes them all together under "The Water is Wide" but I associate different melodies for the different "variants," including the single-verse variant sung by Lizzie Higgins (Jeanie Robertson's daughter):
"Love it is teasing, and love is enticing;
O, love come beside me and keep me warm;
But when it grows older, love it grows colder,
And it just fades away like the dew on the rose."
It's frustrating that she only sang the one verse to a melody that I wish I could reproduce here; it's eerily different, and if anyone know any other verses she sang (or could have sung) to it, I'd love to hear them.
'Come all you fair and tender ladies' with that verse in.
'If I had known before I courted,
I never would have courted none;
I'd have locked my heart in a box of golden,
And fastened it up with a silver pin.'
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Joyce sites somewhere the same song with the verse:
'Tis youth and folly
That make men marry
So here my love, I'll no more stay;
What can't be cured sure
Must be inDUred sure,
So I'll go to Amerikay
..and goes on from there with love being brawny and bony, like whiskey bright when first 'tis new, etc.
"Love it is a Killing Thing" is given as the title of what look like variants of this song on several websites. Some seem to be an amalgamation of the song usually known as "Blackwater Side" and "Love is Teasing" along with several "floater" verses.
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"Love is Teasing". I think it is Irish.
I first heard it sung by Isla Cameron:
For love is teasing and love is pleasing
Love is a pleasure when first it's new
But as you grow older then love grows colder
Then fades away like the morning dew
I wish I wish but all in vain
I wish I was a maid again
But maid again I never can be
'til apples grow on an orange tree
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From: Steve Gardham - PM
Date: 03 Aug 15 - 09:41 AM
Love is Pleasin, the traditional song, is really a fragment or perhaps better described as a commonplace or floater in other lament/love songs of the type. It gained its own recognition as a song mainly in the folk revival since WWII. Similar pieces are 'I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain' which is often coupled with the 'LIP' stanza.
However the fragments have made such an impact that the late great Roy Palmer chose it for the title as one of his many folk song anthologies. The song inside the book at p22 with this title is again just a collection of 4 floaters with the LIP stanza as the chorus. The text is from Mrs Gulliver of Combe Florey, Somerset and collected by Hammond in 1905. His tune source simply says 'popular in folk clubs which is where he first heard it. And that goes for me as well.
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Missing versions:
Love is Pleasing
Roud Folksong Index (S214190)
First Line: I wish, I wish, I wish in vain
Source: Veteran VT 122 ('Pass Around the Grog')
Performer: Morrissey, Tommy
Date:
Place: England : Cornwall : Padstow
Collector: Howson, John
Roud No: 1049
Love is Pleasing
Roud Folksong Index (S340535)
First Line: Oh love is handsome and love is fine
Source: Mike Yates Collection: British Library National Sound Archive C 796/125 (VWML 34 CDA Yates)
Performer: Upton, Harry
Date: 1977 (Jul)
Place: England : Sussex : Balcombe
Collector: Yates, Mike
Roud No: 1049
Love is Pleasing
Roud Folksong Index (S339212)
First Line: O love it is pleasing although it is teasing
Source: Stephen Sedley Sound Collection (Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, London) 13 CDA Tape Collection
Performer: Saunders, Joe
Date: 1966 (26 Mar)
Place: England : Kent : Biggin Hill
Collector: Sedley, Stephen
Roud No: 1049
Love It is Pleasing
Roud Folksong Index (S339211)
First Line: It's all you young ladies that takes a call
Source: Stephen Sedley Sound Collection (Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, London) 17 CDA Tape Collection
Performer: Cooper, Joe
Date: 1966 (19 Aprl)
Place: England : Kent : Biggin Hill
Collector: Sedley, Stephen
Roud No: 1049