Bluegrass Messengers

I Am A Rover- Robert Dibble (Som) 1904 Sharp MS

[From Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/9/660)

R. Matteson 2017]


I Am A Rover-  sung by Robert Dibble of Bridgwater, Somerset on August 21, 1905. Collector: Cecil J. Sharp

I am a rover and that's well known
I'm just a going to leave my home
Leaving my home and my friends to roam
Farewell my bonny lass till I return.

O I set myself down and I wrote a song
I wrote it wide and I wrote it long
At every line O I shed a tear
And at the end of every verse "I've a lost my dear."

O am I married or am I free
O am I bound for to married be
A married life you soon shall see
A contented mind shows no jealousy.

As I crossed over yon Belainior[1]
There I lost sight of my true love's door
My heart did ache & my eyes went blind
When I thought of the bonny girl I left behind

I wish I wish but its all in vain
I wish I was but a maid again
A maid again O I never shall be
Till an apple grows on an orange tree.

1. for "dreary moor"