Folk Songs From Somerset
Encyclopedia
Folk Songs from Somerset is the third movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams'
English Folk Song Suite
. It consists of several different English
folk songs that originated in Somerset
, and is Child ballad 112. The earliest printed version of the song appears in Ravenscroft's Deuteromelia (1609) as The Overcurteous Knight.
Kept sheep all on the hill;
And he walk'd out one May morning
To see what he could kill.
Chorus
And sing blow away the morning dew
The dew, and the dew.
Blow away the morning dew,
How sweet the winds do blow.
He looked high, he looked low,
He cast an under look;
And there he saw a fair pretty maid
Beside the wat'ry brook.
Chorus
Cast over me my mantle fair
And pin it o'er my gown;
And, if you will, take hold my hand,
And I will be your own.
Chorus
If you come down to my father's house
Which is walled all around,
And, you shall have a kiss from me
And twenty thousand pound.
Chorus
He mounted on a milk white steed
And she upon another;
And then they rode along the lane
Like sister and like brother.
Chorus
As they were riding on alone,
They saw some pooks of hay.
O is not this a very pretty place
For girls and boys to play?
Chorus
But when they came to her father's gate,
So nimble she popped in:
And said: There is a fool without
And here's a maid within.
Chorus
We have a flower in our garden,
We call it Marigold:
And if you will not when you may,
You shall not when you wolde.
Chorus
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
English Folk Song Suite
English Folk Song Suite
Written in 1923, the English Folk Song Suite is one of English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams's most famous works for military band. Although it is commonly known by the title given above, it was actually published as "Folk Song Suite" - the title which is used on the score and parts...
. It consists of several different English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
folk songs that originated in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
Blow Away the Morning Dew
Blow Away the Morning Dew is the first folk song to feature in the movement. It is also known as The Baffled KnightThe Baffled Knight
The Baffled Knight or Blow Away the Morning Dew is Child ballad 112 , existing in numerous variants. A version is recorded in Thomas Ravenscroft's Deuteromelia with a matching tune, making this one of the few early ballads for which there is extant original music.-Synopsis:A knight meets a maid...
, and is Child ballad 112. The earliest printed version of the song appears in Ravenscroft's Deuteromelia (1609) as The Overcurteous Knight.
Lyrics
There was a farmer's son,Kept sheep all on the hill;
And he walk'd out one May morning
To see what he could kill.
Chorus
And sing blow away the morning dew
The dew, and the dew.
Blow away the morning dew,
How sweet the winds do blow.
He looked high, he looked low,
He cast an under look;
And there he saw a fair pretty maid
Beside the wat'ry brook.
Chorus
Cast over me my mantle fair
And pin it o'er my gown;
And, if you will, take hold my hand,
And I will be your own.
Chorus
If you come down to my father's house
Which is walled all around,
And, you shall have a kiss from me
And twenty thousand pound.
Chorus
He mounted on a milk white steed
And she upon another;
And then they rode along the lane
Like sister and like brother.
Chorus
As they were riding on alone,
They saw some pooks of hay.
O is not this a very pretty place
For girls and boys to play?
Chorus
But when they came to her father's gate,
So nimble she popped in:
And said: There is a fool without
And here's a maid within.
Chorus
We have a flower in our garden,
We call it Marigold:
And if you will not when you may,
You shall not when you wolde.
Chorus
See also
- Ralph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
- English Folk Song SuiteEnglish Folk Song SuiteWritten in 1923, the English Folk Song Suite is one of English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams's most famous works for military band. Although it is commonly known by the title given above, it was actually published as "Folk Song Suite" - the title which is used on the score and parts...
- Seventeen Come SundaySeventeen Come Sunday"Seventeen Come Sunday" is an English folk song which was used in the first movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams' English Folk Song Suite and a choral version by Percy Grainger . The words were first published between 1838 and 1845 .-Lyrics:...
- My Bonny BoyMy Bonny BoyMy Bonny Boy is an English folk song which is featured as the second movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams' English Folk Song Suite.-Lyrics:I once loved a boy and a bonny bonny boy,I loved him I vow and protest,...