Deep in Love/ Must I Go Bound / Blue-eyed boy variants
Deep in love [swain/waly] Arthur's bed/ Unfortunate Swain
18829
See: Baring Gould's MS
The Sea-mans leave taken of his sweetest Margery,
AND
Margery her singing loath to depart,
Being very unwilling to leave her Sweet-heart.
To the tune of. Ile goe through the world with thee.
For Francis Coles about 1626
from Second Part
Man.
I have seaven Ships upon the Sea,
and are all laden to the brim;
I am so inflamd with love to thee,
I care not whether they sinke or swim.
Maid.
If I had wist before I had kist,
that Love had been so deare to win;
My heart I would have closd in Gold,
and pinnd it with a Silver pin.
Ship upon the sea
deep in love
muirson burns collection
I set my Back against an oak,
I thought it was a trusty tree,
But first it bent and then it broke
So did my false Love to me.
---------------
Must I Go Bound in Blue-eyed boy and other variants comes from "The Unfortunate Swain" and "Picking Lilies" broadsides:
"The Unfortunate Swain" From: The Merry Songster. 1770:
Down in a Meadow both fair and gay,
Plucking a Flowers the other day,
Plucking a Flower both red and blue,
I little thought what Love could do.
Where Love's planted there it grow,
It buds and blows much like any Rose;
And has so sweet and pleasant smell,
No Flower on Earth can it excell.
Must I be bound and she be free?
Must I love one that loves not me?
Why should I act such a childish Part
To love a Girl that will break my Heart.
________________________________________
Parker, Martin
ANGELA MCSHANE
Subject Literature » Renaissance Literature DOI:
Martin Parker (1624 – 38; d. ?1654) is the most renowned black-letter ballad writer of the seventeenth century, Little is known about Parker's life, other than that by 1640 he lived in St Giles in the Fields, London
and, appropriately enough for a ‘potpoet’, was an alehouse keeper.
The Roxburghe Ballads
edited by Charles Hindley
The Distressed Virgin; Or,
the False Young-man, and the Constant Maid
1678 - Martin Parker
BM 1655.
The Distressed Virgin
Or,
The false Young-man, and the constant Maid, The qualities of them both displaid.
To AN EXCELLENT NEW TUNE.
A thousand times my love commend
to him that hath my heart in hold;
I tooke him for my dearest friend;
his Love I more esteem'd than Gold.
When that mine eyes did see his face,
and that mine eares had heard his voyce,
His Love I freely did embrace,
my heart told me he was my choice.
O had he still continued true,
and in affection permanent,
Had hee performed what was due,
then had I found true heart's content:
But hee, regardlesse of his vow,
which he did make to me before,
Hath thus in sorrow left me now,
my former follies to deplore.
Would I had never seene those eyes
that (like attractive Adamants),
Did my poore heart with love surprize,
the power of Love so me enchants.
I have no power to leave his love,
though with sterne hate he me pursue,
To him I will most constant prove,
though he be faithlesse and untrue.
[[I put my finger unto the bush,
thinking the sweetest Rose to find,
I prickt my finger to the bone,
and yet I left the Rose behind:
If Roses be such prickling flowers,
they must be gathered when tha're green;
But she that loves an unkind Love,
alas! she rowes against the streame. ]]
Oh! would he but conceive aright
the griefe that I for him sustaine,
He could not chuse but change his spight
to faithfull love, and leave disdaine.
I love to have him still in place,
his too long absence makes me mourne;
Yet he disdaines to see my face,
and holds my company in scorne.
It grieves my heart full sore to thinke
that he whom I so dearely love,
Should thus refuse with me to drinke,
yet can my passion ne're remove!
Though he, I know, could wish my death,
so great is his inveterate hate,
Yet I could sooner lose my breath
than see him wrong'd in name or state.
Ill hap had I to come in place
where first I saw his tempting looke;
As soone as I beheld his face,
I Cupid's prisoner straight was tooke:
And never since that fatall houre
I have enjoyed one minute's rest;
The thought of him is of such power,
it never can forsake my brest.
Then was I strucke with Cupid's Dart;
then was my fancie captivated;
Then did I vow that still my heart
should rest with him, though me he hated.
Then did he make a shew of love,
which did much more my heart enflame;
But now he doth perfidious prove,
and gives me cause his love to blame.
[Second Part to the Same Tune]
Nay more, he made a vow to me
that I should be his wedded wife,
And he forsakes me now, I see,
which makes me weary of my life:
I little thought what now I finde,
that Young-men could dissemble so;
Sure he's the falsest of his kinde,
ill hap have I to prove him so!
Could any man be so hard-hearted
to leave a harmelesse Maid in griefe;
From me all comfort cleane is parted,
unlesss his favour grant reliefe.
Hee is the man that bred my paine;
he is the man whose love alone
Must be the slave to cure my paine,
or else my life will soon be gone.
O faithlesse wretch! consider well
that Heaven abhorreth perjury;
Great torments are prepar'd in Hell
for them that thus will sweare and lye.
Oh! hast thou never made a show
of love, thou hadst excus'd thy blame;
But thy false heart full well doth know
what oaths thy perjur'd tongue did frame.
That obstacle that hinders me
is that, which I suspect full sore,
His fruit grows on some other tree,
and he's seduced by some whore:
Or else he hath some other Lasse,
perhaps, like me, a harmlesse Maid,
Whom he may bring to such a passe
as I am brought, by Cupid's aide.
Oh Heavens! forbid that any one
that bears an honest loving mind
Should thus have cause to grieve and moan
for such a knave, that shames his kind!
But why should I, as passions move,
with bitter words upon his raile,
Whom I am ever bound to love
untill my vitall spirits faile?
Sweet love forgive my lavish tongue,
if I offend in any sort:
To recompence thee for that wrong
He always give thee good report:
Although to me thou art unkind,
who never gave thee any cause,
Yet I am still resolv'd, in mind,
never to break God Cupid's Lawes.
And if I never be thy wife
(which is the thing I justly climae),
I vow to live a single life,
and never thinke of Lovers' game:
But why speake I of life, when death
doth every minute claime his due?
I cannot long retaine my breath,
having a Lover so untrue.
Let all true Lovers judge aright
in what a case, poore soule, am I;
Come, Gentle Death! and worke thy spight,
for now I am prepar'd to dye:
O Heaven! forgive thy Love is wrong
none unto me, a Maiden pure,
Who for his sake must dye ere long,
for long my life cannot endure.
FINIS. M. P.
Printed at London for F. Coules
=============
Baring Gould
In “The Distressed Virgin” Roxburgh Ballads vol. I. p. 277, a ballad temp. Jas. I by Martin Parker occurs this verse :-
I put my finger into the bush,
Thinking the sweetest rose to find,
I prickt my finger to the bone
And yet I left the rose behind.
If Roses be such pricking flowers,
They must be gathered when they’re green;
But she that loves an unkind Love
Alas! she rows against the stream.
A. Baring Gould
1.A ship came sailing o’er the sea,
As heavily laden as she might be,
But not so deep in love as I’m
For I care not whether I sink or swim.
2.I leaned my back against an oak,
Thinks I, I’ve found a trusty tree,
But first it bent & then it broke,
And so did my false love to me.
3.I put my hand into a bush,
I thought a lovely rose to find,
I pricked my fingers to the bone,
And left the lovely rose behind.
4.I wish! I wish! but ‘tis in vain,
I wish I had my heart again,
I’d lock it in a golden box,
I’d fasten it with a silver chain.
Sent me by Miss Octavia L. Hoare, Cornwall Cottage, Dean, Kimbolton. “Herewith I send melody & words of what I believe to be an old Cornish song. I heard it sung by an old Cornish parson, Mr. Walker of S. Enoder, who had picked it up from an old fellow in his parish.” 1889
B.
1.Shall I be bound, & she be free?
Shall I love one that loves not me?
Shall I play such a childish part?
For woman’s love to break my heart?
2.Ten thousand lovers in the room,
But my true love’s the fairest bloom.
I’m sure she is the fairest one
I will have her, or else have none.
3.I saw a ship come sailing by,
As heavily laden as she might be.
But not so deep in love as I.
I care not if I sink or swim.
4.Down in a meadow t’ other day
I thought a lovely rose to find,
I pricked my finger to the bone
And left my lovely rose behind.
5.Down in a meadow t’other day
A plucking flowers red & blue,
I wandered doleful on my way,
And little thought what love can do.
Taken down from Mary Satcherly, an old woman, at Huckaby Bridge, Dartmoor, learned it from her father, a famous singer.
Notes
Transcription by Martin and Shan Graebe
Text transcription: David Jacobs.
C.
In the Scottish song “Wally, wally, up the bank” Orpheus Caledenius” 1725. No. 34.
verse 3 runs:
I leant my back unto an aik
I thought it was a trusty tree,
But found it bowed & sure it broke,
And sae did my false love to me.
verse 9:
But had I wist before I trust
That love had been sae ill to win
I’d lock my heart in a case of gold,
And pin’d it with a silver pin.
D.
In “Scotts Musical Museum” of Johnson, 1787, VI. p. 582
1. In yonder garden fine & gay,
Plucking lilies a’ the day
Gathering flowers of ilka hue,
I ust na then what love cu’d do.
2.Where love is planted, there it grows
It buds & blows like any rose
It has a sweet and pleasant smell,
No flower on earth can it excel.
3.I put my hand into the bush,
And thought the sweetest rose to find
But pricked my finger to the bone,
And left the sweetest rose behind.
E.
In “The Wandering Lover’s Garland” circ 1730
3.I’ll set my back against them all
Whilst the whitest Blossom is in Bloom,
That all the World may plainly see
Little Cupid bid me love too soon.
4.I went to pluck the red Rose Bud
That did bedeck the spangled Plain
There grows a Thorn which prickt my heart
I shall never love the Rose again.
5.Young men we find &c.
F.
In the meadow t’other day
Plucking flowers both fine & gay
Plucking flowers red, white & blue
I little thought what love could do.
Where love is planted there it grows
It buds & blossoms like a rose
It bears a sweet & pleasant smell
There’s not a flower can it excell.
Ten thousand ladies in the room
My love she is the fairest bloom
………………………………….
I said I would have her or none.
Taken down from Will. Nichols, Whitchurch, May 29 1891: his grandmother’s song sung abt. 1825.
G.
In “The Distressed Virgin”, Hendby’s Roxburgh Ballads. II. p. 360
I put my finger into the bush,
Thinking the sweetest Rose to find,
I prickt my finger to the bone
And yet I left the Rose behind.
If Roses be such pricking flowers
They must be gathered when they’re green
But she that loves an unkind Love
Alas! she rowes against the stream.
H. [Unfortunate Swain/Picking Lilies]
1. Down in yon meadow fresh & gay
Picking lilies fresh & gay
Picking lilies red & blue
I little thought what love could do
2. Where love is planted there it grows
It buds & blossoms like any rose
It has such a sweet & pleasant smell
No flower on earth can it excel.
3. Then is thousands, thousands in a room
My love she carries the brightest bloom
She surely is some chosen one
I will have her or I’ll have none.
4.I saw a ship sailing on the sea
As deeply loaded as she could be,
But not so deep in love as I am
I care not whether I sink or swim.
5. Must I go bound, shall she go free?
Must I love one that loves not me?
Why should I act such a childish part
As to love one that would break my heart?
6. I put my hand into a bush
Thinking the sweetest rose to find
But I pricked my finger to the bone
And left the sweetest rose behind.
7. If roses be such a prickly flower
They should be gathered when they are green,
For he that weds with an unkind love,
I’m sure he strives against the stream.
8. If my love were dead & gone to rest
I’d think on her that I love best.
I’d wrap her up in the linen strong
And I’d think on her when she’s dead & gone.
From chap book “Four Excellent Songs” circ. 1782, in Logan’s Pedlar’s Pack; p. 336.
I.
Ballad “The Unfortunate Swain” a new song circ. 1766 in “Single sheet Broadsides B.M. 11621. k. 4. vol.2. p. 275.” order then as H. 1.2.5.3.4. “I set my foot against an oak &c” 6.7.8.
J.
see end Book
[these iterations are found on page 231, at the end of the volume – Ed.]
[K.]
1. Down in a meadow fair & gay, Plucking a rose the other day
Plucking a rose both red & blue, I little thought what love could do.
2.Where love is planted there it grows, It buds & blossoms like a rose
And has so sweet & pleasant smell, No power on earth can it excel.
3.Must I be bound that can go free, Must I love one that loves not me?
Why should I act such a childish part, To love a girl that will break my heart.
4.If there’s a thousand in the room, My true love has the highest bloom,
Sure she is some chosen one, I will have her or I’ll have none.
5.I spied a ship sail on the deep, She sail’d as deep as she could swim
But not so deep as in love I am, I care not whether I sink or swim.
6.I set my foot against an oak, I thought it had been a trusty tree
But first it bent & then it broke, And so did my true love to me.
7.I put my hand into a bush, Thinking the sweetest rose to find.
I pricked my finger to the bone, I wish I’d left that rose behind.
8.If roses are such prickly flowers, They should be gathered while they’re green
And he that loves an unkind maid, I’m sure he strives against the stream.
9.I think on her whom I love best, To wrap her up in linen strong,
I’ll think of her when dead & gone, When my love is dead & at her rest.
The same with slight verbal differences, but same order of verses in “The Merry Songster” Aldermary Churchyard, circ. 1760; B.M. 11621, e. 6. No. 1.
The last stanza is more correct:-
When my love is dead & at her rest
I think on her whom I love best.
To wrap her up in linen strong,
I’ll think on her when dead & gone.
This also is entitled “The Unfortunate Swain”.
J.
“The Sailing Trade” Glasgow, 1801 (B.M. 11621. b. 13, No. 15)
The sailing trade is a weary trade
It has robbed me of my heart’s delight.
And left me here in tears to mourn,
Still waiting for my love’s return.
Like one distracted this fair maid ran,
For pen & paper to write her song.
And at every line she dropped a tear,
Crying Alas for Billy my dear
Thousands thousand all in a room
My love he carries the brightest bloom,
He surely is some chosen one,
I will have him, or else have none.
The grass doth grow in every lee
The leaf doth fall from every tree,
&c.&c.
J. “The Forsaken Lover” (To the Tune of “Farewell thou Flower of false deceit”. A Broadside with figure outside in Chas. 2 costume. Single Sheet Broadsides, B.M 11621, K. 4 vol. II. p. 425
1. I run my finger into a bush, Thinking the sweetest rose to find
I pricked my finger to the bone, And left the sweetest rose behind.
2. If roses be such a fading flower, They must be gathered when they’re green
And she that loves an unkind man, ‘Tis like striving against the stream.
3. Against the stream, love, I dare not go, Because the stream it runs so strong,
I’m deadly fraid I’m one of those, That loved an unkind man too long.
4. I wish to God my babe was born, And smiling on its daddy’s arms
And I myself wrapt up in clay, Then should I be free from all harm.
5.I lent my back against an oak, Thinking it was a trusty tree,
First it bent, & then it broke, And so did my false love to me.
6. Had I kept my apron down, My love had ne’er forsaken me
But now he walks up & down the town With a harlot & not with me.
7. What makes the Western winds to blow, And blow the green leaves from the tree,
Come death, come death, & end my woe, For a maiden more I ne’er can be.
8. I cast my anchor in the sea, And it sank down into the sand,
And so did my heart in my body, when I took my false love by the hand.
K. “The Effects of Love”, Broadside circ. 1780, Single Sheet Broadsides 11621 K. 4. vol. I. p. 158.
1.O Love is hot, & love is cold, And love is dearer than any gold,
And love is dearer than anything, Unto my grave it will me bring.
2.O when my apron it hung low, He followed me through frost & snow.
But now I am with child by him, He passes by, & says nothing.
3.I wish that my dear babe was born, And dandled on its daddy’s knee
And I in the cold grave did lie, And the green grass grew over me.
4.Ye Christmas winds when will ye blow, And blow the green leaves from the tree.
O gentle death, when will you call, For of my life I am quite weary.
5.Unloose those chains love & set me free, And let me be at liberty.
For was you here instead of me, I’d unloose you love & set you free.
Baring-Gould Ms. Ref. PC 1. 178 (86)
Notes
Transcription by Martin and Shan Graebe
--------------------------
Belden Ballads and Songs, 1940
The Blue-Eyed Boy
Here divers images or motifs seem to have been gathered around a refrain stanza which gives the name to the song. I have found. it reported from else-where only in Nebraska (ABS 272-3). In A the refrain stanza is not marked as such and the other elements are the hand and lips image (vaguely remembered from The Lass of Roch Royal), the turtle dove, the green willow tree, and 'Must I go bound while he goes free?';[1] in B, the lover going to sea, the value of a true friend., the little bird, and the refrain stanza; in C, the harp hung on the willow tree (which here has thrust the 'blue-eyed boy' stanza from its place as refrain),'Must I go bound and you go free?', the value of a true friend, and the turtle dove. D lacks the 'blue-eyed boy' altogether, but I have included it here because of the 'Must I go bound' stanza; the other stanza belongs to the tradition of 'There is an Alehouse in Yonder Town,' for which see the headnote to The Butcher Boy.
1. Known also in Dorsetshire (JFSS VII 69), Virginia (TBV 269-70, SCSM 284-5 319), and North Carolina (BMFSB 50-1, SCSM 288 288). It goes back at least to the seventeenth century; see Ronburghe Ballads YII 104-5.
'Blue-eyed Boy.' Secured in 1909 by Miss Hamilton from Julia Rickman of the West Plains High School.
Oh, who, oh, who will be my friend,
Oh, who will take my lily-white hand,
Oh, who will kiss my ruby lips
When I go in a foreign land?
My father, he will be my friend,
My sister take my lily-white hand.,
Some stranger kiss my ruby lips
When I go in a foreign land.
Oh, bring me back my blue-eyed boy,
Oh, bring my darling back to me,
Oh, bring me back the one I love
And happy will I ever be.
If I had the wings of a turtle dove
I would fly away to the one I love,
I would fly to the one I love so dear,
And talk to him 'while she is near.
I have not the wings of a turtle dove,
I cannot fly to the one I love;
But the loss of one is the gain of two,
And this is why I mourn for you.
Must I go bound while he goes free?
Must I love a fellow when he don't love me ?
Or must I act the childish part
And love a fellow when he broke my heart?
Adieu, adieu, kind friends, adieu,
I can no longer stay with you.
I'll hang myself on a green willow tree
Unless he consents to marry me.
B. 'The Blue-eyed Boy.' Secured by Miss Hamilton in 1910 from Grace Clemmons of the West Plains High School, who had it from a Mrs. Autherson, formerly of Wisconsin.
My lover told me last night
He'd take me across the deep blue sea;
And now he's gone and left me alone,
An orphant[1] girl without a home.
Chorus:
Then bring me back the blue-eyed boy,
Go bring my darling back to me;
Then bring me back the blue-eyed boy
And oh! how happy I shall be.
Remember me and bear in mind,
A good true friend is hard to find;
And when you find one good and true
Don't change the old one for the new.
My love is like the little bird
That flits about from tree to tree,
And when he is with some other girl
He doesn't even think of me.
C. 'Adieu.' Communicated to Miss Hamilton in 1911 by Shirley Hunt of the
Kirksville Teachers College. Note the 'eavesdropping' introductory stanza, a
favorite opening for the pastourelle type of street ballad.
As I walked out one evening fair
To view the plains and take the air
I overheard a young man say
He loved a girl that was going away.
Chorus:
Adieu, adieu, my friends, adieu,
I can no longer stay with you.
I'll hang my harp upon the willow
And bid this lonesome world adieu.
Go bring me back that blue-eyed. boy,
Go bring my darling back to me,
Go bring me back the one I love
And happy I shall always be.
Must I be bound and you go free ?
Must I love one that don't love me?
Or must I act a childish part
And stay with one that broke my heart ?
Sometimes you think you have a friend
And one you always can depend;
But when you think that you have got,
'When tried will prove that you will not.
D. No title. Secured by Miss Hamilton in 1909 from Nita Stebbins of the West Plains High School, who described it as 'a country dance' which she learned, from an old woman who used to live in the country.'
As I walked out one morning in May
Gathering flowers all so gay,
I gathered white and I gathered blue
And little did I think what love could do.
Must I go bound, must you go free,
Must I love a pretty girl that won't love me?
Oh, no! no! it never can be,
For love like thee never conquered me.
------
____________________________________
Irish Country Songs, Volume 1
edited by Herbert Hughes 1909
Fragment of an old Song.
Must I go bound and you go free?
Must I love the lass that wouldnt love me?
Was eer I taught so poor a wit
As to love the lass would break my heart?
--------------
See: "The Unfortunate Swain" and Related Songs/ also Waly Waly
----------
2ns stanza --dated c. 1883 Bodleian print from songbook.
RADOO RADOO RADOO (Adieu) Or May this World go well with you.
Words from a Creole Song, Music by Bessie O’Connor. Arranged for the Guitar by Walter Redmond. Pub. Francis, Day and Hunter, 195, Oxford St, London. New York, T B Harms & Co. 18 east 22nd St.
Looking at the song list on the back it appears to be dated 1893. Explanation inside of the word Radoo. ‘The word ‘Radoo’ meaning ‘adieu’ is used by the Negroes of South America.’
Radoo, radoo, kind friends, radoo, radoo, radoo,
And if I never more see you, you ,you,
I’ll hang my harp on a weeping willow tree,
And may this world go well with you, you, you.
Shall I be bound, shall I be free, free, free,
And many is de girl dat don’t love me, me, me,
Or shall I act a foolish part,
And die for de girl dat broke my heart, heart, heart.
Give me a chair and I’ll sit down, down, down,
Give me a pen, I’ll write it down, down, down,
And every word that I shall write,
A tear will trickle from my eye, eye, eye.
Radoo, radoo, kind friends, radoo, radoo, radoo,
And if I never more see you, you ,you,
I’ll hang my harp on a weeping willow tree,
And may this world go well with you, you, you.
Repeat 1.
(from a Peggy Seeger book, but I can't remember the title), is:
^^
Must I be bound and you go free? Must I love one who ne'er loved me?
Why should I act such a childish part, to love a lad who would break my heart?
The first thing that my love gave me, it was a cap well lined with lead.
The longer that I wore that cap, it grew the heavier on my head.
And next he bought me a gown to wear, with sorrow stitched and lined with fear.
And the drink he gave me was bitter gall, but the blows he gave me were worse than all.
The third thing that my lad gave me, it was a belt with colours three.
The first was sorrow, the next was shame and the third it was sweet misery.
But I shall gain my liberty and I shall climb a higher tree
And I shall find a richer nest and be with one I may love best.
--------------
DEEP IN LOVE - "Must I go bound or must I go free" - Overhears girl complaining about her false lover so she goes to the meadows to find a flower that will ease her mind but none does so she makes a bed of flowers - Alternative titles: APRON OF FLOWERS; PEGGY GORDON; O WALY WALY; UNFORTUNATE SWAIN; WATER IS WIDE - LAWS #P-25 ABBB 1957 p261 "Love has brought me to despair" - ROUD#60 - Cf CHILD #204 "Jamie Douglas" - GREIG-DUNCAN Coll 1995 vol 6 #1165 pp247-251 5var 12v/5m "My heart is sair" & #1156 p252 1v/m "Love it is pleasing" - BARING GOULD Ms #86 (a) Miss Octavia L hoare, Kimbolton, Cornwall (b) Mary Sackerey, Huckaby Bridge 1890 (c) Will Nichoils, Whitchurch 1891 (besides publ there are other collected versions as well as Logan, Garlands, Broadsides, Scots, Roxburgh etc) SOW #86 "A ship came sailing" Cornwall - BG-HITCHCOCK 1974 p96 "So deep in love" (as SOW) - SHARP-MARSON FSS 2 - Sel Ed 1 - Novello Schl Ser 2 - HUGHES ICS 1 1909 p68-9 "Must I go bound?" frag Co Derry 3v - HENRY SOP #218 "Johnny Johnny" (W & M versions) - JFSS 7:27 1923 p69-73 Hammond "Must I be bound" - JEFDSS 1954 p161 "The Unfortunate Swain" Article by J W Allen on "Waly Waly" with refs - REEVES IOP 1958 p38 "Waly Waly" - REEVES EC 1960 pp89-91 Hammond from Jacob Baker, Bere Regis, Dorset 1905 - PURSLOW MB 1965 p23 Hammond - BROCKLEBANK/KINDERSLEY DBFS 1966 p8 Hammond: J Pomeroy, Broadoak, Dorset "Must I be bound" - SEDLEY 1967 p160 "The Water is wide" & p125 "Must I be bound" - COPPER S&SB 1973 p219 2love" - KENNEDY FSBI 1975 p349 Copper from Gladys Stone, Fittleworth, Sussex 1954 --- COX FSS #142 "Maggie Goddon" - see also DIED FOR LOVE; DOWN IN THE MEADOWS; I AM A MAID THAT'S DEEP IN LOVE; SUMMER IS COME; WILL YE GANG, LOVE? -- Julia ADCOCK rec by PK, Watton, Norfolk 1950 7RTR-0009 "False Lover"/ 502 - Gladys STONE rec by Bob Copper, Fittleworth, Sussex 1954: RPL 22740/ 015 & 427 - Guy CARAWAN (with guitar) rec by PK London July 1957: 7"RTR-0499 "The Water is wide" - Jack LANGSTAFF (with piano): TRADITION TLP-1009 1957 "O Waly, Waly" (CJS) - Shirley COLLINS "The Ramblers" Skiffle Radio prog 1958 prod by Lomax: Ewan McCOLL, Peggy SEEGER with Bruce TURNER (clar), John COLE (harmonica) 7"RTR-0291/ CASS-30-1276 - KINGSTON TRIO: EMI T-1474 1961 "W is w" - RIPLEY WAYFARERS Derbsh: TRADITIONAL SOUND TSR-006 1971 - Cyril TAWNEY: ARGO ZFB-87 1973 Dorset (from Baring Gould) Cornwall - Sylvia MOORE Ensemble: 137 & 418 "W is w" - INN FOLK: 095 "W is w" --- Almeda RIDDLE rec by Jerry Epstein & Don Wade 1977: MINSTREL JD-203
Must I Go Bound
DESCRIPTION: The singer laments, "Must I go bound and you go free." (S)he hears someone sing "that marriage was a pleasant thing," but "My marriage day soon turned to woe." The singer's spouse has scorned/abused the singer; the singer hopes for revenge
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: marriage abuse betrayal
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H218a/b, p. 386, "Must I Go Bound" (2 texts, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Butcher Boy" [Laws P24] and references there
cf. "My Blue-Eyed Boy" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "Died for Love (I)" (theme)
cf. "Yon Green Valley" (lyrics)
cf. "Love Has Brought Me To Despair" [Laws P25] (lyrics)
Notes: This, like "My Blue-Eyed Boy," is so close to "The Butcher Boy" that I almost listed them as one song. But where "The Butcher Boy" is relatively coherent, this is little more than a lament composed of floating verses (e.g. from "Waly Waly") and the complaint "I heard (a shepherd//fair maid) sing That marriage was a pleasant thing, [but] My (marriage/wedding) day soon turned to woe." So I've listed them separately -- but there may well be intermediate versions.
For further discussion, see the notes to "The Butcher Boy." - RBW
"Must I be bound" was published by EFDSS in Stephen Sedley's anthology, the Seeds of Love, attributed principally to the Sam Henry collection but overlaps with "Deep in Love" - also published by EFDSS in Marrow Bones, Hammond and Gardiner collection.
Sedley's notes are, as often, misleading. His collation includes only two verses deriving (modified to fit a different tune) from Sam Henry's collection (H218a): 1 and 3. Verses 2 and 4 are adapted from Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, II, 1881, 226-7). The first and last verses are "floaters"; Must I go Bound is really a different song. This one is less often found, and generally as The Belt Wi' Colours Three (as in Christie); there is no mention of physical violence in the Scottish examples.
Sedley seems to have adapted the tune from Christie, too, though (surprise...) he doesn't say. I do hope that Willa remembers the immediate source of this; it does look rather as if it's a slightly altered form of the Sedley collation rather than a genuinely traditional example, but you never can be sure without the details. I don't have time to "translate" Willa's tune indication, unfortunately, but it looks rather like Sedley's adaptation transposed.
With music, two versions in Sam Henry, one for girls, one for lads:
Lyr. Add: MUST I GO BOUND?
(Lad's version)
Must I go bound and you go free?
Must I love them that wouldn't love me?
Or could I act a childish part,
And go with Martha that broke my heart?
One day I heard a shepherd sing
That marrying was a very fine thing,
But to my grief I found it so,
That my marriage day soon turned to woe.
The first thing that she brought me was a necktie to wear,
It was lined with sorrow and bound with care,
She brought me vinegar mixed with gall,
And she gave me blows far worse than all.
When I had money, she had part,
When I had none, she had my heart,
The more I wink, sure I am not blind,
When she had money, it was none of mine.
The fields are green and the meadows gay,
The leaves are spreading on every tree,
But the time will come, and then you'll see
She'll be tripping upstairs with gramachree.
Lad's "a retaliatory plagiarism." This version H218b, 1928
Sam Henry's Songs of the People, ed. Huntington and revised by Lani Herrmann, Univ. Georgia Press, 1990. P. 386.
---------------
MUST I GO BOUND
from: Something to Sing About! - The Personal Choices of America's Folk Singers
Collected and arranged by Milton Okun, The Macmillan Company - Collier-Macmillan Ltd., London, 1968, p 184.
"Buffy Saint-Marie" , '…. For this collection Buffy has chosen a song of English origin, "Must I Go Bound," that has numerous versions. The poetry of the lyrics is among the most refined to found in any folk-art collection, as deft and subtle as the most polished work of a classical poet.'
Key of A 4/4
Must (A)I go bound while you go (E)free?
Must (E) I love one who won't love (A)me?
Must I then act the (A7) child-ish (D)part,
And (E7) love the one who'd break my (A) heart?
I put my finger to the bush
To pluck a rose of fairest kind,
The thorn it pierced me to a touch,
And so I left the rose behind.
I leaned my back against an oak.
I thought it was a trusty tree,
But first it bent and then it broke,
Just as my love proved false to me.
Oh, I'll go bound while you go free,
And I'll love one who won't love me,
And I will act the childish part,
And love the one who'd break my heart.
-----------
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Must I Be Bound
From: Malcolm Douglas - PM
Date: 02 Sep 04 - 07:02 PM
The "notes" at Folktrax should be disregarded by everybody who doesn't know what they mean; they will only confuse most people, and probably shouldn't be directly quoted here.
If we are to refer to every song that contains the extremely common floating verse beginning "Must I go bound", we will be here forever. The appearance of that verse in a song is not, in itself, evidence of any relationship with any other song containing the same verse. Evidence of relationship must be sought elsewhere. That's not to say that there aren't a great many fine examples of the song-group to be found, of course. The issue is what is helpful in this particular discussion.
To stick, for the moment, to the song Willa posted; I may as well supplement in this new thread the comments I made in the old one. On re-examining the Belt Wi' Colours Three text in Ord's Bothy Ballads (1930), my impression is that it was probably copied from Christie with some minor editorial modifications.
Christie comments on his penultimate verse (the final verse in Sedley's collation), mentioning that a similar one appeared in As I cam' down by yon Castle wa' (contributed by Burns to the Scots Musical Museum, 1792).
All he has to say about his text and tune is "The Editor can trace this beautiful old Air and Ballad, through his relatives, far into the last century."
That's the 18th, of course. A broadside origin isn't unlikely for that particular song. The Sam Henry example happens to have a couple of lines reminiscent of the Christie song (and which may perhaps have wandered in from it; a lot of singers read song books) and on the strength of that, Sedley drafted in some more.
Whether or not that was Peggy Seeger's source, we won't know until the book is identified and any information it may contain is quoted. At the moment, my money's on Sedley.
--------------
"Must I Go Bound" has two entries in the index of Randolph's Ozark Folksongs
(The Butcher Boy - tune is NOTHING similar to Saint-Marie's)
Vol. I, "British Ballads" p. 230 under "Butcher Boy" #45, variation G, Mr. J.C. Wasson, Elm Springs, Ark, Dec. 22, 1941, sings the final stanza thus:
Must I go bound while he goes free?
Must I love the boy that don't love me?
Alas, alas, it will nevr be
Till oranges grows on apple trees.
variation H, A manuscript copy from Mrs. Arlie Feeman, Natural Dam, Ark, Jan 4, 1942 makes the same verse read:
Must I go bound while he goes free?
Must I love a boy that won't love me?
I laugh, I laugh, it will never be
Till oranges grow on apple trees.
Vol. I p. 227 , fourth stanza variation B: Some additional stanza supplied by Mrs. Violet Savory Justis, Clinton, Mo., July 1, 1928:
Must I be bound while he goes free?
Must I love a man that don't love me?
Or must I act a foolish part
An' die for man that's broke my heart?
HOWEVER, in Randolph's Vol IV, "Religious Songs and other Items" p. 260-262, # 759, the tune is virtually identical to the one used by Saint-Marie (two notes different) and is noted as My Blue-Eyed Boy
Version A: Sung by Mrs. Elizabeth Brayman, Springfield, Mo., July 5 1933. Mrs. Brayman learned the song from her sister at Eureka Springs, Ark., about 1900.
Shall I go bound, shall I go free?
Shall I love a man that don't love me?
Or shall I act a childish part
An' love the man that broke my heart?
Version B: Sung by Mrs. W.E. Jones, Pineville, Mo., Feb. 14, 1928.
Must I go bound while he goes free,
Must I love him when he don't love me?
An'must I act a childish part
To love him when he broke my heart?
"Cox (Folk-Songs of the South 1925, p. 87 lists this as one of the songs intowhich the "shoe my foot" stanzas of "The Lass of Roch Royal" (Child 76) are often introduced. A very similar pieces is reported by Sanburg, (American Songbag 1927, p. 324) under the title "Go Bring Me Back My Blue-Eyed Boy." See also the "Blue-Eyed Boy" songs collected in Missouri by Belden (Ballads and Songs, 1940, pp 478-480."
-----------
MUST I GO BOUND?
(Girl's version, Sam Henry)
Key of E flat.
Must I go bound and you go free?
Should I love them that wouldn't love me?
Or should I act the childish part,
To follow the lad that would break my heart?
Once I heard a fair maid sing
That marriage was a pleasant thing,
But for myself I can't say so,
My wedding day cost me great woe.
The first thing he brought me was a mantle to wear,
It was lined with sorrow and bound with care,
And the drink he gave me was vinegar and gall,
And the blows he gave me were worse than all.
The fields are green and the meadows gay,
The leaves are spreading on every tree,
The time will come and soon it will be,
He'll rue the day he slighted me.
There is a bird sits on yon tree,
Some say it's blind and does not see;
Oh, I wish it had been the case with me
When first I fell into his companie.
I wish and I wish and I wish in vain,
I wish my sweetheart would come again,
He's far away now across the sea,
And my heart is breaking, och, anee!
As noted with the Lad's version, Sam Henry "Songs..." p. 386.
-----------
In Belden, "Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society," as noted by Gargoyle, the "Must I go (be) bound" verse appears in three of the four versions of the "The Blue-Eyed Boy that he collected in 1909-1911. None has the mantle or vinegar-gall lines. Two involve a girl who is going away and in one the boy departs, leaving "an orphant girl without a home."
In a footnote, Belden suggests the song goes back to the 17th c. (Roxburghe Ballads VII 104-5), but not which verse(s). he does say "divers images or motifs seem to have been gathered around a refrain stanza (Bring me back the blue-eyed boy) which gives the name to the song."
The song is not in "Folk Songs of Peggy Seeger," Oak, 1964
---------------
have a copy of Roxburghe VII to hand at the moment.
The only real similarity with Roxburghe VII, 104-5 (The Maid's Revenge upon Cupid and Venus, written by Laurence Price) is the following:
Shall I be bound, that may be free? Shall reason rule my raging mind?
Shall I love him that loves not me? No, though I wink, I am not blind.
Commonplaces, really, to be found in many songs. Bruce Olson quoted a close example from Martin Parker (1633-4)
----------------
June Tabor's 'Quiet Eye' and her version is very close to the one I posted. From the sleeve notes:^^
Must I be bound while you go free?
Must I love one who never loved me?
Must I enact such a childish part
And follow one who will break my heart?
The first thing that my love gave me,
It was a cap well lined with lead.
The longer that I wore that cap,
It grew the heavier on my head.
You gave me a mantle for to wear,
Lined with grief and stitched with care.
And the drink you gave me was bitter gall
And the blows you gave to me were worse than all.
And the last thing that my love gave me gave me,
It was a belt with colours three.
And the first was pain and the next was sorrow
And the last it was sad misery.
But I will climb up that high, high tree,
And I will rob that wild bird's nest
And I will fall without a fear
And find me one that loves me the best.
Repeat V 1
MUST I GO BOUND?
From: Malcolm Douglas - PM
Date: 03 Sep 04 - 02:17 PM
Here is the tune for the two Sam Henry texts quoted earlier by Q:
X:1
T:Must I Go Bound?
B:Gale Huntington and Lani Herrmann, Sam Henry's Songs of the People, University of Georgia, 1990, p. 386
S:David A Forsythe, Balinamore, Ballymoney; Joseph M'Callister, Broan, Killykergan, Coleraine.
N:Henry H218a, 218b, 14 Jan 1928
N:Roud 60
N:Lyric fitted notionally.
L:1/8
Q:1/4=100
M:4/4
K:Eb
E2|G2 B2 e4|dc B2 cd ec|B6
w:Must I go bound and_ you go_ free?__
EF|G2 B2 c4-|cG AF E2 D2|E6:|]
w:Should_ I love them_ that_ would-n't love me?
---------
"My Blue-Eyed Boy" (Randolph, vol. IV, "Ozark Folksongs – Religious Songs and Other Items, University of Misouri, 1980, pp 260-262. Are very similar in lyrics and tune to the Buffy Saint-Marie version of "Must I Be Bound."
Since Randolph's versions are different that that of the DT's "Blue-Eyed Boy" here they are:
My Blue-Eyed Boy
Ver. A – Sung by Mrs. Elizabeth Brayman, Springfield, Mo., July 5, 1933. Mrs. Brayman learned the song from her sister at Eureka Springs, Ark., about 1900.
It's like a ring that has no end,
It's hard to find a constant friend,
But when you find one good and true,
Don't nev-er change 'em for the new.
Shall I go bound, shall I go free?
Shall I love a man that don't love me?
Or shall I act a childish part
An' love the man that broke my heart?
Last night my true love promised me
To take me o'er the deep blue sea,
An' now he's left me all alone,
A orphan girl without no home.
Go dig my grave both wide an' deep,
Put margery stones at my head an' feet,
An' on my breast a snow-white dove,
To show the world I died for love.
-----
Version B
Sung by Mrs. W. E. Jones, Pineville, Mo., Feb 14, 1928.
Must I go bound while he goes free,
Must I love him when he don't love me?
An' must I act a childish part
To love him when he broke my heart?
Go bring me back the one I love,
Go brink my darlin' back to me,
Go bring me back my blue-eyed boy,
An' I will ever happy be.
Version C
Sung by Miss Reba McDonald, Farmington, Ark., Feb 10, 1942.
It's true, the ring has no end,
It's hard to find a faithful friend,
But when you find one good and true
Change not the old one for the new.
Bring back by blue-eyed boy to me,
Bring back by blue-eyed boy to me,
Bring back by blue-eyed boy to me,
That I may ever happy be.
---------------
Alright, then, since it needs doing. This is the tune that Sedley printed:
X:1
T:Must I go Bound?
B:Stephen Sedley, The Seeds of Love, Essex/EFDSS 1967, 125.
N:Modern collation. Text and tune simplified from Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, II, 1881, 226-7, with additions from Gale Huntington and Lani Herrmann, Sam Henry's Songs of the People, University of Georgia, 1990, p. 386, plus other material from unacknowledged sources.
L:1/8
Q:1/4=100
M:3/4
K:G
(EF)|G F (ED) (B,D)|D E E2 (EF)|
w:Must_ I be bound_ and_ you go free Must_
G F G2 A2|B/B/ A B2 (EF)|G F G2 A (G/A/)|
w:I love one who nev-eer loved me Why_ should I act such a_
B A B2 (BA)|G/G/ F (ED) B, D|D E E2|]
w:child-ish part To_ fol-low a lad_ who will break my heart
-------------
X:1
T:The Belt wi' Colours Three
B:Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, II, 1881, 226-7
S:"The Editor can trace this beautiful old Air and Ballad, through his relatives, far into the last century".
N:Roud 5534
N:Some triplet indications omitted in original notation: added here as necessary.
L:1/8
Q:1/4=100
M:3/4
K:G
"Slowly and feelingly"B,|E3/2F/ {A}G2 (FE)|(3~(D3/E/)F ({F}E3/2D/) B, z/ B,/|G3/2A/ B2 {C}~B,2|
w:The moon shined bright up_on_ my pil_low In-to the cham-ber
G3/2A/ B2 (3(ABd)|B3/2A/ B2 ({G}F3/2E/)|(3~(D3/E/F) {F}E3/2D/ B, z/ A/|
w:where I lay I__ could not sleep that_ cauld__ win-ter's night But
B(A/B/) d2 (3(AB)d|(3(BA)F {F}E2 z d|e3/2d/ B2 (3(ABd)|
w:up I_ rose at_ the break_ o' day And though the nicht was__
(3(BA)F ({F}E3/2D/) B, z/ d/|e3/2d/ B2 (3(dBA)|~G3/2A/ B2 (3(ABd)|
w:cauld_ and fros_ty My man-tle green held__ me in heat I__
{d}B3/2A/ B2 (3(AFE)|(3~(D3/E/)F ({F}E3/2D/) B,z/ A/|"tr"B(A/B/) d2 (3(ABd)|(3(BA)F {F}E2 z|]
w:did me down un__to_ the gar_den And gaed in_ at the__ gar_den yett.
THE BELT WI' COLOURS THREE
The moon shined bright upon my pillow
Into the chamber where I lay
I could not sleep that cauld winter's night
But up I rose at the break o' day
And though the nicht was cauld and frosty
My mantle green held me in heat
I did me down unto the garden
And gaed in at the garden yett.
And there I heard a fair maid sighing
And tearing at her yellow hair
She was tearing a' her dark green claithing
And fyling a' her face sae fair
She cried, "For me there is no comfort
And for me now there is no supplie
Lat ne'er a lass love any young man
Until she know that she lovèd be.
"The firsten thing my lad gae to me
It was a cap well lined wi' lead
And aye the langer that I wore it
It grew the heavier on my head.
Oh for me now there is no comfort
And for me now there is no supplie
Lat ne'er a lass love any young man
Until she know that she lovèd be.
"The nexten thing my lad gae to me
It was a mantle wi' sorrow lined
And lang will I wear that black mantle
Till one to borrow it I find.
Oh for me now there is no comfort, &c.
The thirden thing my lad gae to me
It was a belt wi' colours three
The first was shame the next was sorrow
The last of all sad miserie.
Oh for me now &c.
But I may climb as high a tree yet
And there find out as rich a nest
And come down from it without e'er falling
And marry a lad that I may loe best."
Though for me now &c.
"Oh why should ye now climb a tree, may
Or pull the cherries ere they be ripe
For if the gardener do ance you see, may
He'll throw you o'er the garden dyke."
Then up she rose and gaed on slowly
And stately steppèd o'er the lea
And by this samin it is weel kenin'
That mourners crave nae company.
Christie notes, "The Editor can trace this beautiful old Air and Ballad, through his relatives, far into the last century". It is not possible to judge the extent of editorial intervention here, but it may be considerable. Bronson notes that Christie's second strains seem generally to be of his own making.
It appears that the song has not been found independently elsewhere in anything like this form (but see the two Sam Henry Must I go Bound texts above, which borrow a few lines; quite possibly from this printed text rather than from tradition): the text in Ord, Bothy Ballads (1930, 194-5) appears to derive from Christie. A shortened text, lacking Christie's second strain (but specifically adapted from his example) was recorded by Alison MacMorland in 1977, and probably by now other people are singing her re-write of it, which is transcribed in Ailie Munroe, The Folk Music Revival in Scotland, Norwood Editions, 1985, 115-7, and in Sheila Douglas, Come Gie's a Sang, Edinburgh: Hardie Press, 1995, 108.
The version of "Must I Go Bound" that I sing is the fragment collected by Herbert Hughes in 1909 in Ireland (HUGHES ICS 1 1909 p68-9 "Must I go bound?" frag Co Derry 3v) referred to in what Joe posted on Sept O2.
---------
Sam Hinton sings a song by this name on the old LP, Newport Folk Festival, The Evening Concerts (1963). I'm terrible at remembering lyrics, which is why I was trying to look them up. What I remember is this:
1st VERSE:
Oh, grieve, oh, grieve, my true love, grieve.
Must I go bound, while you go free.
....
Must I love one that don't love me.
REFRAIN:
Oh, dig, oh, dig, my grave so deep.
A marble slab at my head and feet.
And on my breast a turtle dove,
To show the world I died of love.
2nd VERSE:
...
...
I'll hang my heart on the willow tree,
To show the world I died for thee.
(REFRAIN)
Traditional Tunes: A Collection of Ballad Airs, Chiefly Obtained ..., Volume 7
edited by Frank Kidson
The first version is another excellent air from Mr. Holgate's store of remembrance of Yorkshire song. The words are found on broadsides, and copies differ slightly from each other.
I am a rover, and that's well known,
I am about for to leave my home;
Leaving my friends and my dear to mourn,
My bonny lassie till I return.
She drew a chair, and bade me sit down,
And soon she told me her heart I’d won;
She turned her head when I took my leave,
“Farewell, my bonny lass, for me don't grieve.”
I sat me down for to write a song,
I wrote it wide and I wrote it long;
At every verse I shed a tear,
At every line, I cried, “My dear!”
“O, am I bound or am I free ?
Or am I bound to marry thee?
A married life you soon shall see,
A contented mind is no jealousy.”
As I crossed over Dannamore," [yon dreary moor]
There I lost sight of my true love's door;
My heart did ache, my eyes went blind,
As I thought of the bonny lass I’d left behind.
“I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain,
I wish that he would return again;
Return, return, he'll return no more,
For he died on the seas where the billows roar.”
The second version of the air, which appears to be older in date, has been communicated by Mr. Lolley from another part of Yorkshire.
The first line commences-—
“I am a roamer and that's well known.”
I AM A ROVER.
(Second Version.)
I am a roamer, and that's well known;
I am a-bout to leave my home;
Leaving my friends and my dear to mourn,
My bon-ny lass, till return,
-----------------
Deep in Love
Roud Folksong Index (S267064)
First Line: As I walked out the other day
Source: George B. Gardiner MSS (VWML) H643
Performer: Arnold, Benjamin
Date: 1906 (Nov)
Place: England : Hampshire : Easton
Collector: Gardiner, G.B.
--------------
Songs of Unhappy Love
Author(s): Lucy E. Broadwood, A. G. Gilchrist and Frank Kidson
Source:
Journal of the Folk-Song Society
, Vol. 7, No. 27 (Dec., 1923), pp. 69-75
Published by: English Folk Dance + Song Society
I6.-DEEP IN LOVE.
[MUST I BE BOUND OR MUST I GO FREE ?]
SUNG BY MR. JACOB BAKER,
Noted by H. B. D. Hammond. AT BERE REGIS, DORSET, IN 1905.
Must I be bound, or must I go free? To love a young man who
ne- ver loved me? Why should I act. such a child - ish part. To
love a young man ...... with all... my heart?
2 He loves another, he loves not me,
And he cares not for my company;
He loves another-I'll tell you why:
Because she's got more gold than 1.
3.
Her gold will saste her beauty blast,
And in time she'll come like me at last.
4 1 put my back up against an oak,
Thinking it was some trusty tree,
But first it bent and then it broke;
And so did thy false love to me!
5 I put my hand into a bush,
Thinking some sweeter flower to find;
I pricked my finger to the bone,
Leaving that sweetest flower alone [behind].
6 Since roses are such prickly flowers
They should be gathered when they're green;
And she did court such an unkind love,
I'm sure she's striving against the stream.
7 For against the stream I dare not go,
For fear that it should overflow;
And not so deep in love am I I
I care not whether he live or die !
8 He gave me honey all mixed with gold [? gall]
He gave me words and bows withal;
He gave me a delicate gown to wear,
All stitched with sorrow and hemmed with fear.
9 Now if ever I gain my liberty,
And that I trust I soon will be,
I'll buy me a delicate gown to wear
Not hemmed with sorrow nor stitched with fear.
Io Now here's his health I mean to drink,
And from his arms I will not slink:
He hath my heart, go where he will
Although he is false I must love him still.
Compare the tune with " Deep in Love," Songs of the West (ist edition). For
notes on the song, which has points in common with "The Alehouse " or " Died of
Love," see Journal, Vol. v, pp. i8i-i89. See also " 0 waly, waly," Songs from
Somerset, for a version of the tune and words.
Mr. Baker's text, here given, is unusual and interesting, especially the imagery of
"the delicate gown to wear, all stitched with sorrow and hemmed with fear." From
a note of Mr. Hammond's, on the MS. of his version of " The Alehouse " called " There
was Three Worms " (sung by another Dorset singer, Mr. Bartlett, and published in
Journal, Vol. v, p. I88), we learn that Mr. Bartlett said that it is an " answer" to
the " Cuckoo " song (see Journal, Vol. iii, p. go). In Rimbault's Musical Illustra
tions of Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (I850) he gives the tune " Cupid's
Assault " here reprinted. He writes " This quaint old melody is taken from the
margin of a copy of the Earl of Surrey's poems belonging to Sir W. W. Wynne (see
the note on " The Aged Lover renounceth Love " in the First Series, Book 2, No. ii).
The air is undoubtedly popular, as we find in 'A gorgious Gallery of Gallant Inven-
tions' (1578) 'an excellent sonet wherein the lover exclaymeth agaynst detraction,
etc: To the tune When Cupid scaled first the Fort.'" This tune seems allied to
various versions of "Deep in Love."-L. E. B.
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Must I Be Bound?
[ Roud 18829 ; Full English HAM/2/5/15 ; trad.]
Shirley Collins sang Must I Go Bound? in 1964 on her Collector EP Shirley Sings Irish.
H.E.D. Hammond collected Must I Be Bound? in August 1905 from Jacob Baker of Bere Regis, Dorset. Cyril Tawney sang this song in 1973 on his Argo album of traditional love songs from South West England, I Will Give My Love.
Jasper Smith sang this song as Down in the Meadow to Mike Yates near Epsom, Surrey, probably on April 26, 1975. This recording was included in 1979 on Yates' Topic anthology of songs, stories and tunes from English gypsies, Travellers, and in 1998 on the Topic anthology My Father's the King of the Gypsies (The Voice of the People Series Volume 11).
Yorkshire Relish (Derek, Dorothy and Nadine Elliott) sang Must I Be Bound? in 1980 on their Traditional Sound album An Old Family Business.
John Kirkpatrick and Sue Harris sang Must I Be Bound? in 1989 on her Topic album Stolen Ground. Their version comes from My Song Is My Own, compiled by Kathy Henderson with Frankie Armstrong and Sandra Kerr, published by Pluto Press in 1979.
June Tabor sang Must I Be Bound? in 1999 on her album A Quiet Eye. This recording was later included on the Topic anthology A Woman's Voice: First Person Singular.
Maddy Prior sang Must I Be Bound? with Liliana Bertolo, Evelyne Girardon, Sandra Kerr on their 1997 Fellside CD Voice Union.
Carolyn Robson and the Tabbush Sisters sang Must I Be Bound? in 2004 on the Mrs Casey anthology Evolving Tradition 4.
The Witches of Elswick sang Must I Be Bound? in 2005 on their second and last album, Hell's Belles. They commented in their liner notes:
This is an absolutely miserable song that Becky found when she was extremely single and wanted to whinge about men. It's from Sandra Kerr, Kathy Henderson and Frankie Armstrong's book My Song Is My Own [but it's not on their same-named LP]. We're glad Becky got it out of her system, because she's got a lovely fella now, unlike the one in the song…
Rachel Newton sang Must I Be Bound? in 2012 on her CD The Shadow Side.
Gladys Stone sang Deep in Love to Bob Copper at Fittleworth, Sussex on November 27, 1954. This recording was included in 2012 on the Topic anthology You Never Heard So Sweet (The Voice of the People Series Volume 21).
This video shows Jefferson Hamer and Rosie Hood singing Must I Be Bound? at Cecil Sharp House, London, in December 2015:
Lyrics
Cyril Tawney sings Must I Be Bound?
Mus I be bound, or must I go free
To love a young maid who never loved me?
Why should I act such a childish part,
To love a young maiden with all my heart?
She loves another, she loves not me.
She cares not for my company.
She loves another, I'll tell you why,
Because he's got more gold than I.
I put my back up against an oak
Thinking it was some trusty tree,
But first it bent, and then it broke,
And so did my false love to me.
I put my head into a bush
Thinking some sweeter flower to find.
I pricked my finger to the bone
Leaving that sweetest flower alone.
Since roses are such prickly flowers
They should be gathered when they're green.
And I did court such an unkind love,
I'm sure I'm striving against the stream.
Against the stream I dare not go,
For fear that it shall overflow,
And not so deep in love am I
That I care not whether I live or die.
She gave me honey all mixed with gall,
She gave me words and vows withall.
She gave me a delicate gown to wear
All stitched with sorrow and hemmed with fear.
Now here's her health I mean to drink,
And from her arms I will not shrink.
She hath my heart, go where she will,
Although she's false I must love her still.
June Tabor sings Must I Be Bound?
Must I be bound while you go free?
Must I love one who never loved me?
Must I enact such a childish part
And follow one who will break my heart?
The first thing that my love gave me,
It was a cap well lined with lead.
The longer that I wore that cap,
It grew the heavier on my head.
You gave me a mantle for to wear,
Lined with grief and stitched with care.
And the drink you gave me was bitter gall
And the blows you gave to me were worse than all.
The Witches of Elswick sings Must I Be Bound?
Chorus (after each verse):
Must I be bound and you go free?
Must I love one who ne'er loved me?
Why should I play such a childish part
To go after a boy who will break my heart?
Oh, the first thing that my love gave to me,
Oh, it was a cap well lined with lead.
And the longer that I wore that cap,
Oh, the weight did grow all upon my head.
-----------------
Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society, London, Volumes 1-10
By Irish Folk Song Society, 1904
Some notes on an Irish Song.
THE IRISH GIRL.
THIS song was taken down from Michael Devlin, Bosapenna, county Donegal. He ' told me that he had always heard it sung with alternate English and Irish verses, a form
of singing which is found in different places in Ireland. He sang it to the air given
here, but I afterwards heard the same air sung by Mary Sweeny, of Rosapenna, who called it ," The Lowlands Low."
I wish I was a Monaghan, a rolling in the grass
And in my hand a flowing bowl, and on my knee a lass,
We would call for liquour plenty and drink before we go, - We roll along the main brave boy let the wind blow high or low. *
In 1903 I was in Mount Charles, county Donegal, where I heard a young woman sing the same song. She gave me a few extra. lines, which I add,
“ The second time I saw my love I was sick and very bad,
The one request I made of her was to tie my weary head ;
To tie my sick and weary head. though time would mend again,
But love it is a killing thing, did you ever feel the pain? "
“ As I roved out one evening down by a riverside, .
And, looking all around me, an Irish girl I spied.
Red and rosy were her cheeks, gold yellow was her hair,
And costly were the robes of gold the Irish girl did wear.
I wish I was a butterfly, I'd light on my love's breast,
l Or if I was a nightingale, I'd sing my love to rest, ‘ Or if I was a blue cuckoo, I'd sin
g till the morning clear; I would sit and sing with you,
Molly, for once I loved you dear.
In 1903 I was in Mount Charles, county Donegal, where I heard a young woman sing the same song. She gave me a few extra. lines, which I add,
“ The second time I saw my love I was sick and very bad,
The one request I made of her was to tie my weary head ;
To tie my sick and weary head. though time would mend again,
But love it is a killing thing, did you ever feel the pain? "
This young woman sang the verse, “ The sort of shoes," etc., exactly as Michael Devlin did, but she used the word “ span," not “spine," and she told me it meant “the dew."
I do not know if this is correct or not. She concluded the song with the following verse :—
“ I wish I was a red, red rose upon the garden wall,
And you to be a drop of dew down on those leaves to fall ;
I would sit with my own darling from evening until day.
I would sit all night with my heart's delight, and I would not think long till day."
One day in 1902, when visiting some of the inmates of the Belfast Workhouse, I heard one of them sing the following song. The air to which she sang it was the wellknown melody set by Moore to the words, “The harp that once in Tara's hall." I
mention it here because some of the lines in it are identical with those in “ The Irish Girl " :
" One morning very early, one morning in the spring,
I heard a pretty maiden so mournfully to sing;
The chains they rattled in her hands, and mournfully sang she,
I love my love because I know my love loves me.
I wish I were a butterfly, I'd fly to my love's breast ;
I wish I were a nightingale, I'd sing my love to rest;
I'd guard her from all danger, how happy I shall be.
I love my love because I know my love loves me.
I'll weave my love a garland, I'll weave it neat and fine ;
With roses, lilies, daisies, all round it I'll entwine;
I'll give it to my love when he at last returns to me.
I love my love because I know my love loves me."
[graphic][graphic][graphic]
Note.—This singer sang the last line of the last verse in a way I have noticed all over Ireland, the song being sung to the air all through, but when the singer comes to the last few words of the last line they are spoken, and no attempt made to sing them to notes. I have often wondered what the origin of this curious custom could be. At first I thought it was an idiosynorasy of the individual singer, but I have met it so often
in different parts of Ireland that I know this is not so.
EDITH WHEELER. [This “ Irish Girl" is in one of Such's ballad sheets. Also compare versions of it in “ Folk Song Society's Journal," Vol. I, No. 1. It is also printed, Mr. Kidson mentions, by
H. Dislcy, St. Giles, and is called ‘ The Irish Girl.“ See also page 190 (“ The New Irish Girl ") from the “ Folk Song Society's Journal."—C. M. Ffl
----
A New Song Call'd, The Irish Girl, 1810
Belfast
As I walked out one evening fair,
down by a riverside
And looking all around me an Irish girl I spied
And rosy was her cheek, and gold yellow of . , was her hair, ... And so
Or if I were a nightingale I would sing my love to rest
Or if I was a green-linnet
I would sing to the shorting clear,
I would fit and sing for you Molly, for once I loved you dear. - - -
I wish my love was a red rose growing in yon garden fair, o And I to be the gardener of her I would take case, - There is not a month throughout the year -
but I would my love renew, I would garnish her with flowers fair, sweet laurel, thyme, and sue. .
I wish I was a Monaghan, a rolling in the grass
And in my hand a flowing bowl, and on my knee a lass,
We would call for liquour plenty and drink before we go, - We roll along the main brave boy let the wind blow high or low. *