US versions 7S. Down in a Meadow (Gathering Flowers) Roud 18829
[The Unfortunate Swain broadside is not known to have been printed in the US and its appearance in US tradition is very rare. Apparently there are no extant Canadian versions. A variant of the opening stanza has been combined with the "Must I Go Bound" stanza and was used as a play-party song that was collected in the US South before the Civil War[1]. The first extant US version with "The Unfortunate Swain" opening was a fragment published in the article "The Gin-Around" in 1874[2]:
All of them pretty girls a marching away;" and which was soon exchanged for one which ran thus:—
"As I walked out, one morning In May,
A gathering flowers (I looked so gay).
The prettiest little girl I ever did see
Come a-walking along by the side of me.
"Shall I go bound, or shall I go free?
Shall Hove a pretty girl that don't love met
No, no, no! it never shall be
That ever love shall conquer me!"
The next extant version is described as a "country dance" instead of a play-party song but the song is used in a similar fashion and has an identical first line indicating a similar antecedent. Belden published this untitled version in 1940, as his D version of Blue-Eyed Boy. The fragment was "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[3]."
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.
These were corroborated by a fragment collected by Cecil Sharp from the singing of Jane Hicks Gentry in 1916 in North Carolina[4]. The identical first line and first stanza (Belden's version) are followed by the Deep in Love stanza:
As I walked out one morning in May,
A-gathering flowers all so gay,
I gathered white and I gathered blue,
But little did I know what love can do.
Seven ships on the sea,
Heavy loaded as they can be,
Deep in love as I have been,
But little do I care if they sink or swim.
Another version collected by Sharp in Virginia in 1918 which provides a few additional lines[5]:
GATHERING FLOWERS. (Play Game) Sung by Fanny Coffey of White Rock Virginia on May 8, 1918.
As I walked out one morning in May,
Gathering flowers fresh and gay,
Gathering flowers pink and blue,
So little did I think what love would do.
The prettiest girl I ever did see
Come walking down by the side of me.
Must I go bound, must I go free,
Must I love a pretty girl that don't love me?
No, O no, it never can be,
Love can never conquer me.
I won't go bound. I will go free,
I won't love a pretty girl that don't love me.
My rambling days are over and passed,
And I've got a pretty little wife at last.
She was the one that once said "No,"
But now she says "Yes," and it shall be so.
Apparently all these versions of "Gathering Flowers[6]" (see also headnotes to Unfortunate Swain) were known as a play-party song in Appalachia, the American South and Midwest. The two-stanza fragments may use either stanza as the identifying stanza.
These fragments appears to be the only extant versions of Unfortunate Swain. The "gathering flowers" stanza has some similarity to the "Constant Lady" stanzas found occasionally attached to Died for Love songs and could also be related in that context. The only example I know is in "Through the Meadow She Ran," sung by Mrs. Emma Dusenbury (1899-1990) of Mena, AR in August, 1936:
Through the meadow she ran,
A-pickin' every flower that sprung
She picked; she pulled of ev'ry hue
She picked; she pulled red, white and blue.
The last two lines resemble the Unfortunate Swain/Pickin' Lilies text. There may be other composites.
R. Matteson 2017]
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Footnotes:
1. I've titled the song "Gathering Flowers" and dated it c. 1858. It appeared in the article “The Gin-Around” which was published in Godey's Lady's Book and Ladies' American Magazine in 1874 by J.B.S. The play-party was held at the “overseer's house” across a field from J. B. S.'s family home.
2. “The Gin-Around” was published in Godey's Lady's Book and Ladies' American Magazine in 1874. The nearly identical opening lines of the US versions indicate they are from the same source which may be much older.
3. See H.M. Belden's "Ballads and Songs," under the auspices of the Missouri Folklore Society, 1940.
4. From Sharp Ms.: CJS2/9/2544 (text), CJS2/10/3456 (with tune) at The Full English Digital Archive; see also Smith 1998, p. 157).
5. From: Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/9/3045).
6. Gathering Flowers is a good master title for these short US versions. The version as sung by Gentry is substantially different after the opening stanza.
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CONTENTS: (Because the full texts appear on this page, it is unnecessary to add individual pages)
E. "Gathering Flowers," c. 1858, from the article “The Gin-Around” which was published in Godey's Lady's Book and Ladies' American Magazine in 1874 by J.B.S. The play-party was held at the “overseer's house” across a field from J. B. S.'s family home.
K. "Gathering Flowers," my title, no title given. Secured by Miss Hamilton in 1909 from Nita Stebbins of the West Plains High School. From H.M. Belden's "Ballads and Songs," under the auspices of the Missouri Folklore Society, 1940.
L. "Gathering Flowers," sung by Jane Gentry, of Hot Springs, North Carolina in 1916
M. "Gathering Flowers," sung by Fanny Coffey of White Rock, Virginia on May 8, 1918; from Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/9/3045).