William and Nancy or The Two Hearts- (Lon) 1856 print
[My abbreviated title for "A new song called William and Nancy or The Two Hearts." Published by E. Hodges of 26 Grafton Street, Soho, London, c. 1855-1861. It appears in the Bodleian Library broadsides collection, shelfmark Firth b.25(433).
The broadise was alos printed with minor changes in Ireland. by Alex Mayne, High-street, Belfast. Reprinted in Ulster Folklife - Volumes 29-33 - Page 2, 1987.
This should be confused with the "William and Nancy" ballads or the "Early, early all in the spring" ballads-- which are part of the extended family of Died for Love.
R. Matteson 2017]
A new song called William and Nancy
or,
The Two Hearts
It's early early by the break of day,
Down by the fields I chanc'd to stray.
I heard a fair maid both sigh and say,
The lad I love is gone far away.
He's gone and left me in grief and woe,
And where to find him I do not know,
I'll search those green fields and vallies low,
If the hills were cover'd with frost & snow.
What voice, what voice is that I hear
It's like the voice of my Willy, dear,
If I had wings, I would fly to you,
See what the force of true love can do.
There's one thing more that's grieved my mind,
My Willy dear, has proved unkind,
For when he's crossing the western shore,
He'll ne'er think of his true love [any] more.
I wish I was now with my sweetheart,
Sitting here alone breaks my poor heart,
You have two hearts now, but I have none,
Pray grant me mine love and keep your own.
Young men will come to you with a flattering tongue,
And tell[1] that they think they have you won,
Then out of sight they see out of mine[2],
Listen to one but they'll prove unkind.
The laurel leaf shall be my bed,
The highest angel guard my head
It's there I'll lie till the break of day
And pretty small birds around me play.
But if he had been true as me,
I'd not stay here, love, in poverty,
I'd sail to America where plenty flow,
And seek my fortune with my Willy O.
1. Until
2. they think out of mind,