A Faithful Shepherd- John Clare (Northamptonshire) 1818
[My title, Clare titled it "Ballad." MS from John Clare (b. 1793) in "Collection of Songs, Airs and Dances for Violin, dated 1818. Clare was from "Helpstone," an English village formerly in the Soke of Peterborough, geographically in Northamptonshire. See: Folklore of Northamptonshire by Peter Hill.
This opens with a variant of Brisk Young Lover stanza.
R. Matteson 2017]
Ballad (A Faithful Shepherd) - from John Clare (b. 1793 in Helpstone), MS dated 1818
A faithful shepherd courted me,
He stole away my liberty
When my poor heart was strange to me
He came and sailed and stole it then.
When my apron would hang low,
Me he sought through frost and snow,
When it puckered up with shame,
And I sought him, he never came.
When summer brought no fears to fright,
He came to guard me every night.
When winter nights did darkly prove,
None came to guard me or to love.
I wish, I wish, but all in vain,
I wish I was a maid again
A maid again I cannot be,
O when will green grass cover me.