1. |
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Once I knew a pretty girl,
I loved her as my life,
I'd gladly give my heart and hand,
To make her my wife,
Ooh, to make her my wife.
She took me by the hand,
She led me to the door,
She put her arms around me,
Saying, "Please don't come no more,"
Ooh, "Please, come no more."
Well, I'd not been gone but about six months,
When she did complain,
And she wrote me a letter,
Saying, "Please come back again,"
Ooh, "Please, come again."
So I sent her an answer,
Just for to let her know,
That no young man should venture,
Where once he could not go,
Ooh, Where once he could not go.
So come all you young lovers,
Take a warning from me,
And never hang your affections,
On a green, growing tree,
Ooh, on a green, growing tree.
For the leaves they will wither,
Roots will decay,
And the beauty of a young girl,
Will soon fade away,
Ooh, will soon fade away.
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2. |
Hangman
03:16
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"Hangman, hangman,
Slack your line,
Slack it just a while,
For I think I see my papa comin',
Travelin' many a mile,
Travelin' many a mile.
"Papa, papa,
Have you brought gold,
For to pay this hangman's fee,
Or did you come to see me swingin'
High from this hangman's tree,
High from this hangman's tree?"
"Daughter, daughter, daughter,
I brought no gold,
For to pay that hangman's fee,
But I come to see you swingin', swingin',
High from this hangman's tree,
High from this hangman's tree."
"Hangman, hangman,
Slack your line,
Slack it just a while,
For I think I see my mama comin',
Travelin' many a mile,
Travelin' many a mile.
"Mama, mama,
Have you brought gold,
For to pay this hangman's fee,
Or did you come to see me swingin'
High from this hangman's tree,
High from this hangman's tree?"
"Daughter, daughter,
I brought no gold,
For to pay this hangman's fee,
But I come to see you swingin', swingin',
High from that hangman's tree,
High from that hangman's tree."
"Hangman, hangman,
Slack your line,
Slack it just a while,
For I think I see my lover comin',
Travelin' many a mile,
Travelin' many a mile.
"Sweetheart, sweetheart,
Did you bring gold,
For to pay this hangman's fee,
Or did you come to see me swingin'
High from this hangman's tree,
High from this hangman's tree?"
"Darlin', darlin', darlin',
I brought that gold,
For to pay that hangman's fee,
'Cause I don't want to see you swingin', swingin',
High from this hangman's tree,
High from this hangman's tree."
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3. |
Plaisir D'Amour
03:40
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Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment,
Chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.
The joys of love are but a moment long,
The pain of love endures the whole life long.
Your eyes kissed mine, I saw the love in them shine,
You brought me heaven right there when your eyes kissed mine.
My love loves me, and all the wonders I see,
A rainbow shines through my window; my love loves me.
And now he's gone like a dream that fades into dawn,
But the words stay locked in my heartstrings; my love loves me.
Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment,
Chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.
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4. |
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Starry, starry night,
Paint your palette blue and gray,
Look out on a summer's day,
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul,
Shadows on the hills,
Sketch the trees and the daffodils,
Catch the breeze and the winter chills,
In colors on the snowy linen land.
Now I understand,
What you tried to say to me,
And how you suffered for your sanity,
And how you tried to set them free,
They would not listen, they did not know how,
Perhaps they'll listen now.
Starry, starry night,
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze,
Swirling clouds in violet haze,
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue,
Colors changing hue,
Morning fields of amber grain,
Weathered faces lined in pain,
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.
Now I understand,
What you tried to say to me,
And how you suffered for your sanity,
And how you tried to set them free,
They would not listen, they did not know how,
Perhaps they'll listen now.
For they could not love you,
But still your love was true,
And when no hope was left inside,
On that starry, starry night,
You took your life, as lovers often do,
But I could've told you Vincent,
This world was never meant for,
One as beautiful as you.
Starry, starry night,
Portraits hung in empty halls,
Frameless heads on nameless walls,
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget,
Like the strangers that you've met,
The ragged men in ragged clothes,
A silver thorn, a bloody rose,
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow.
Now I think I know,
What you tried to say to me,
And how you suffered for your sanity,
And how you tried to set them free,
They would not listen, they're not listening still,
Perhaps they never will.
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5. |
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Sleep, oh sleep, my young love,
Outside the rain is weeping.
Mama has your toys so fine,
She will keep them safe for a time,
While we spend this long, dark nighttime sleeping.
There is much the darkness knows,
Heavily dreams tumble.
Oft we watched the pale white snows,
And pitch-black sands where nothing grows,
Death-deep I've felt the glaciers crumble.
Sleep so sound, sleep so long,
You needn't wake in the morning.
It isn't bad, it isn't wrong,
All shall fade before too long,
And leave us loving, missing, weeping and yearning.
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6. |
Ana Thea
03:23
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Lazla Thea stole a stallion,
Stole him from the misty mountain,
And they chased him and they caught him,
And in iron chains they bound him.
Word was brought to Ana Thea,
That her brother was in prison,
Bring me gold and six fine horses,
I will buy my brother's freedom.
"Judge, oh judge, please spare my brother,
I will give you gold and silver."
"I don't want your gold and silver,
All I want are your sweet favours."
"Ana Thea, oh my sister,
Are you mad with grief and sorrow?
He will rob you of your flower,
And he'll hang me from the gallows."
Ana Thea did not heed him,
Straightway to the judge went running,
In his golden bed at midnight,
There she heard the gallows groaning.
Cursed be that judge so cruel,
Thirteen years may he lie bleeding,
Thirteen doctors cannot cure him,
Thirteen shelves of drugs can't save him.
Ana Thea, Ana Thea,
Don't go out into the forest,
There among the green pines standing,
You will find your brother hanging.
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7. |
The Death of Queen Jane
04:15
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Queen Jane lay in labour for nine days or more,
Tilll her women grew so tired, they had quite given her o'er,
They had quite given her o'er.
"Good women, good women, good women as you be,
Will you open my right side and find my baby?
And find my baby?"
"Oh no," cried the midwives, "that's a thing that can never be,
We will call on King Henry and hear what he may say,
And hear what he may say."
King Henry was sent for, King Henry he did come,
Saying "What does ail you, my sweet love? Your eyes they look so dim.
Your eyes they look so dim."
"King Henry, King Henry, will you do one thing for me?
Will you open my right side and find my baby?
And find my baby?"
"Oh no," cried King Henry, "that's a thing that I could never do.
If I lose the flower of England, I shall lose the branch too,
I shall lose the branch too."
The surgeon was sent for, he came with all speed,
In a gown of black velvet from the heel to the head,
From the heel to the head.
He gave her rich caudle, but the death sleep slept she,
Then her right side was opened and the babe was set free,
And the babe was set free.
There was fiddling and dancing on the day the babe was born,
But the flower of fair England lay cold as a stone,
Lay cold as a stone.
They mourned in the kitchen, they mourned in the hall,
But royal King Henry mourned longest of all,
Mourned longest of all.
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8. |
The Little White Road
01:34
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Oh the little white road clambers over the hill,
My feet they must follow, they cannot be still,
Must follow and follow though far it may roam,
Oh, little white road, will you never come home?
Oh the hills they are patient and steadfast and wise,
They look o'er the valleys and up to the skies,
But the little white road clambers up them and over,
Oh, little white road, you are ever the rover.
I fain would go with you right down to the sea,
Where a ship with white sails would be waiting for me,
Go sailing and sailing to strange lands afar,
Where deserts and forests and lost cities are.
But when I grew weary of my gypsy ways,
I'd sail home again for to end all my days,
In the little grey cottage, beside the grey hill,
Where you, little road, will be wandering still.
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9. |
The Trees They Grow Tall
02:14
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Oh the trees they grow tall,
And the leaves they do grow green,
Many's the time my true love I've seen,
And many an hour I've watched him all alone,
He's young, but he's daily growing.
Father, dear father,
You've done me great wrong,
You've married me to a boy who is too young,
For I am twice twelve and he is but fourteen,
He's young, but he's daily growing.
Daughter, dear daughter,
I've done you no wrong,
I've married you to a great lord's son,
He'll make a lord for you to wait upon,
He's young, but he's daily growing.
Father, dear father, if you see fit,
We'll send him to college for one year yet,
I'll tie blue ribbons all around his head,
To let the maidens know that he's married.
One day I was looking o'er my father's castle wall,
I spied all the boys a-playin' with the ball,
My own true love was the flower of them all,
He's young, but he's daily growing.
By the age of fourteen, he was a married man,
At the age of fifteen, the father of a son,
At the age of sixteen, his grave it was green,
And death had put an end to his growing.
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10. |
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I saw a rose growing tall from the lee,
I heard a bird sing in the willow tree,
I saw a maid with a babe in her arms,
And all these things made me dream of thee,
And all these things made me dream of thee.
The sun it sets in yon willow,
The nights are long and cold for me,
So long it has been since I last saw thee,
My heart is sad that alone I must be,
My heart is sad that alone I must be.
The lands of far did call thee away,
To the raging wars so long for to stay,
May the good lord keep thee safe, I pray,
To come back again to your own true love,
To come back again to your own true love.
I cannot write thee in a fine hand,
But I'll send the the bird from yon willow tree,
And I'll send thee the rose growing tall from the lee,
And I'll give thee a babe to hold in your arms,
And I'll give thee a babe to hold in your arms.
Now the growing rose is gone from the lee,
And the bird is gone from yon willow tree,
But your babe is held so close to me,
And all these things made me dream of thee,
And all these things made me dream of thee.
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11. |
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My young love said to me: "My mother won't mind,
And my father won't slight you for your lack of kind."
Then she stepped away from me and this she did say:
"It will not be long, love, till our wedding day."
She stepped away from me and she moved through the fair,
And fondly I watched her move here and move there,
And then she went homeward with one star awake,
As the swan in the evening moves over the lake.
The people were saying no two e'er were wed,
But one has a sorrow that never was said,
And she smiled as she passed with her goods and her gear,
And that was the last that I saw of my dear.
Last night she came to me, she came softly in,
So softly she came that her feet made no din,
And she laid her hand on me and this she did say:
"It will not be long, love, till our wedding day."
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12. |
Mary Hamilton
04:11
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Word is to the kitchen gone and word is to the hall,
And word is up to madam, the Queen, and that is the worst of all.
That Mary Hamilton has born a babe to the highest Stuart of all.
"Arise, arise, Mary Hamilton, arise and tell to me,
What thou hast done with thy wee babe I saw and heard weep by thee."
"I put him in a tiny boat and cast him out to sea,
That he might sink or he might swim, but he'll never come back to me."
"Arise, arise, Mary Hamilton, arise and come with me,
There is a wedding in Glasgow town this night we'll go and see."
And as she rode into Glasgow town, the city for to see,
The bailiff's wife and the provost's wife cried "Ach and alas for thee."
"Ah you need not weep for me," she cried, "you need not weep for I,
For had I not slain my own wee babe, tonight I would not die."
"Cast off, cast off my gown," she cried, "but let my petticoat be,
And tie a napkin round my face, for the gallows I would not see."
Then by and come the King himself, looked up with a pitiful eye,
"Come down, come down, Mary Hamilton, tonight you will dine with me."
"Oh, hold your tongue, my sovereign liege and let your folly be,
For if you'd a mind to save my life, you'd have never have shamed me here.
"Last night there were four Marys, tonight there'll be but three,
There was Mary Beaton, and Mary Seaton, and Mary Carmichael and me."
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Alice Dillon Edinburgh, UK
A folk and traditional singer and guitarist based in Edinburgh. I was a semi-finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award
2016.
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCs3dne0FG_83URM_QLbux5A
Website: alicedillonfolk.wordpress.com
Peerie Faeries: peeriefaeries.wordpress.com
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