The Gray Cock- Clark (ON) 1961 Fowkes
[From: British Ballads in Ontario by Edith Fowke; Midwest Folklore, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Autumn, 1963), pp. 133-162. This is also titled, "I'll Go See My Love."
Her notes appear at the bottom of this page.
R. Matteson 2013]
TEXT 6: THE GRAY COCK- Sung by Mrs. Gordon Clark, Richmond, Ontario, 1961.
1. "This night of May I can stay no longer,
The burning tempest I have to cross,
And though the night be as dark as dungeon,
This very night I'll go see my love."
2. And when he got to his true love's window,
He gentlie knelt down on a stone,
And through the pane oh he whispered lowly,
"My darling girl, are you alone?"
3. She then arose from he soft down pillow,
And snowy milk-white was her breast,
And through the pane oh she whispered lowly,
Saying, "Who's this keeps me from my night's rest?"
4. "It's your true lover, so now uncover
And rise up quicklie and let me in,
I'm weary, weary from my long journey,
Besides I'm wet, love, unto the skin."
5. She then arose with the greatest pleasure
To let her own dear true lover in.
They kissed, shook hands, and embraced each other
Till that long night wore to an end.
6. The night being spent and daylight appearing,
And the wee cocks they began to crow,
They kissed, shook hands, and in sorrow parted,
He took his leave and away did go.
At first glance this text does not indicate clearly its relationship to Child 248, but that it is a version of "The Gray Cock" is evident when it is compared with its English original published in JEFDSS (VII, 97). That version, collected from an English-born singer of Irish descent in 1951, contains ten stanzas: the first five parallel almost line for line the corresponding stanzas sung by Mrs. Clark (except that the "burning Thames" of the original has here become a tempest), but the remaining five, which have here been radically condensed into one, reveal that the lover is a ghost. A six-stanza version has also turned up in Nova Scotia as "Here's a Health Unto All True Lovers" (Creighton II, p. 63): it is quite similar to Mrs. Clark's version except that the first stanza has been expanded into two and stanza 5 is missing.