I Wish I Wish- Sam Larner (Norf) 1961 REC
[From the recording: Sam Larner, Cruising Round Yarmouth (MTCD369-0) a double CD of music recorded in the early 1960s.
Liner notes follow.
R. Matteson 2017]
Winterton in Norfolk has a long history as a sea-faring and fishing village; a once close-knit community where the great majority of the male population was involved in the fishing industry. Samuel James Larner was born in the village in 1878, one
of nine children. Many families had been in the village for generations, most notably Greens, Georges, Goffins, Hayletts and Larners. All were interrelated and all had singers amongst them, and so Sam grew up in a community where traditional singing didn’t just happen but was very commonplace. Sam certainly learned a good deal of his repertoire
from his father George (born in 1847) and his uncle James Sutton (born in 1858) both fishermen.
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It’s rather surprising that this song, made up of some of the most common floating verses in the canon, should have only 41 Roud entries, and that almost all the named singers are very well known. Most come from England and Scotland, with
just a handful from Ireland and North America.
Although seemingly a distinct song in its own right, I Wish, I Wish comprises a number of verses that can also be found in a group of songs which include Since Love Has Brought me to Despair (Roud 60, Laws P25) and In Sheffield Park (Roud 860).
Other recordings available on CD: Cecilia Costello (MTCD363-4); Lizzie Higgins (MTCD337-8); George Dunn (MTCD317-8); Walter Pardon (MTCD305-6); Jeannie Robertson (Rounder 1720)
I Wish I Wish- sung by Sam Larner (1878- 1965) a sailor/fisherman of Winterton, Norfolk around 1961.
Oh, I wish, I wish, but it’s all in vain,
I wish I was a maid again.
But a maid again I never shall be,
‘Til apples, they grow on an orange tree.
Now there is a hale-house in this town,
Where my love go and sit himself down.
He takes some other girl on his knee,
And don’t you think it’s a grief to me?
A grief to me, I’ll tell you for why;
That girl, she’s got more gold than I,
But her gold will waste, her beauty will fade,
Poor girl, she’ll become like me, in the shade.
Now, when I was young and in my prime,
My Love would follow me at any time.
But now my apron strings won’t meet,
He’ll pass me by and will not speak.
And now my apron strings won’t meet,
He’ll pass me by and will not speak.
I wish, I wish my baby was born,
And sitting on his Dadda’s knee.
And I, poor girl, dead and gone,
And the green grass growing over me.