> The Copper Family > Songs > The False Bride / A Week Before Easter
> A.L. Lloyd > Songs > The False Bride
> Shirley Collins > Songs > The False Bride
> June Tabor > Songs > The Week Before Easter

The False Bride / The Week Before Easter / I Once Loved a Lass / I Courted a Wee Girl / The Lambs on the Green Hills

[ Roud 154 ; Master title: The False Bride ; G/D 6:1198 ; Ballad Index K152 ; VWML CJS2/10/75 , CJS2/9/505 ; GlosTrad Roud 154 ; Wiltshire 599 , 829 ; DT FLSEBRD2 , FLSEBRD5 ; Mudcat 18103 ; Just Another Tune; trad.]

Sabine Baring-Gould, H. Fleetwood Sheppard: Songs of the West Copper Family: The Copper Family Song Book Nick Dow: Southern Songster Colm Ó Lochlainn: Irish Street Ballads John Ord: Bothy Songs and Ballads Roy Palmer: Everyman’s Book of English Country Songs Frank Purslow: The Foggy Dew Steve Roud, Julia Bishop: The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs Peggy Seeger, Ewan MacColl: The Singing Island Ralph Vaughan Williams, A.L. Lloyd: The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs Sheila Douglas: The Sang’s the Thing Stephen Sedley: The Seeds of Love Mike Yates: Traveller’s Joy

Cecil Sharp collected The False Bride in 1904 from Lucy White, Hambridge, Somerset [VWML CJS2/10/75] . This version was included by Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. In 1960, A.L. Lloyd recorded The False Bride for the album A Selection From the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. Like all tracks from this LP it was reissued in 2003 on the CD England & Her Traditional Songs. Lloyd wrote in the album’s sleeve notes:

A version of this sad, tender song was printed on a Newcastle broadsheet in the 1680s, but it may be more than three hundred years old. A feeble prettied version, called The False Nymph, was current in concert halls in the eighteenth century. But as often happens, the common people preserved the song in much finer form than fashionable folk had it. It seems to have lasted best in the South, for several sets have turned up in Somerset, Devon and Sussex. Cecil Sharp had this one from Lucy White of Hambridge, Somerset.

Bob Copper sang The False Bride on 24 April 1952 for a BBC recording made by Séamus Ennis. This recording was later included on the anthology Songs of Courtship (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 1; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1968). He also recorded this song as A Week Before Easter in 1971 for the Copper Family’s 4 LP box A Song for Every Season.

John Strachan of Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, sang It Wisnae My Fortune to Get Her in 1952. This recording made by Hamish Henderson was included in 2005 on his Kyloe anthology CD Hamish Henderson Collects.

Ewan MacColl sang I Loved a Lass, accompanied by Peggy Seeger on guitar, in 1956 on their Tradition album Classic Scots Ballads. He commented in the sleeve notes:

Songs of jilted and forsaken lovers are common enough in Scotland but, for the most part, they tend to be ironical rather than pathetic in feeling. “There are plenty more fish in the sea” is the philosophy of our jilted heroes and heroines. In this curious little song, however, the jilted lover, after attending his ex-sweetheart’s nuptials, just lies down and dies. I learned the song from Miscellanea of the Rymour Club, Edinburgh. The air is a variant of The Old Gael’s Lament.

Jeannie Robertson sang I Saw My Own Bonnie Lass at a concert in 1958 that was published in 1984 on her Lismor CD Up the Dee and Doon the Don.

George ‘Pop’ Maynard sang The Week Before Easter on 18 May 1960 at The Cherry Tree, Copthorne. This recording made my Brian Matthews was included in 2000 on Maynard’s Musical Traditions anthology Down the Cherry Tree and a year later on the Musical Traditions anthology of songs from country pubs, Just Another Saturday Night.

Shirley Collins recorded The False Bride in 1963 for her EP Heroes in Love. She learned it from the repertoire of the Copper Family. Like all tracks of her EP, it was included in her compilation Fountain of Snow and on the CD reissue of The Sweet Primeroses. It was also included in her anthology The Classic Collection. A live recording from the St Andrews Folk Club in December 1964 was released in 2002 on the Shirley Collins anthology Within Sound. In 1969 Shirley Collins used the tune of The False Bride for Austin John Marshall’s poem Whitsun Dance on her album Anthems in Eden.

Archie Fisher sang I Loved a Lass at the Edinburgh Folk Festival in 1964. This recording was included in the same year on the Decca album Edinburgh Folk Festival Vol. 2.

Alex Campbell sang The False Bride in 1965 on his eponymous Transatlantic album, Alex Campbell.

Danny Brazil sang The False Bride to Peter Shepheard at Over Bridge, Gloucester, on 12 May 1966. This recording was included in 2007 on the Brazil Family’s Musical Traditions anthology Down By the Old Riverside.

Owen Hand recorded I Loved a Lass for the title track of his 1966 Transatlantic album, I Loved a Lass. He noted:

I learnt this from the singing of Jeannie Robertson. It is a beautiful song of unrequited love.

Norman Kennedy sang She’s Only My Auld Sheen at a concert in Aberdeen in 1966. This recording by Tom Spires was included in 2002 on Kennedy’s Tradition Bearers CD Live in Scotland.

Sandy Denny sang a version with somewhat different verses that is sometimes known as I Once Loved a Lass. This recording was originally released in 1967 on Alex Campbell and His Friends and later reissued on the Saga LP Sandy Denny, on the Mooncrest CD The Original Sandy Denny, and in 2005 on Where the Time Goes. Sandy sang it with minimum accompaniment and maximum sensitivity; on this track she approached the quality shown on her solo radio broadcasts (as collected on The Attic Tracks Vol. 3). Two radio recordings from the BBC broadcast “The Johnny Silvo Folk Four” on 7 November 1966, where Sandy is backed by the Johnny Silvo Folk Group (Johnny Silvo, David Moses and Roger Evans), and from “Cellar Full of Folk” on 21 March 1967 are not released.

Sarah Makem sang I Courted A Wee Girl in a recording made by Bill Leader in her home in Keady, Co. Armagh, in 1967. This was released a year later on her Topic LP Mrs Sarah Makem: Ulster Ballad Singer and in 1998 on the Topic anthology Come Let Us Buy the License (The Voice of the People Series Volume 1). Sean O’Boyle noted on the original album:

This delightful little song, with a most interesting tune, tells the sad story of a lover rejected for “courting too slow”. It is perhaps better known as The Lambs on the Green Hills (Irish Street Ballads, Ó Lochlainn, Dublin, 1939). Mrs Makem’s first verse is a better introduction to the theme than Colm Ó Lochlainn’s first verse which, although it supplies his title, seems to be completely unrelated to the story of the song. Here are the verses in question:

Ó Lochlainn:
The lambs on the green hills they sport and they play,
And many strawberries grow round the salt sea
And many strawberries grow round the salt sea
And many’s the ship sails the ocean.

Mrs Makem:
I courted a wee girl for many’s along day
And I slighted all others that came in my way
And well she rewarded me to the last day
For she’s gone to get wed to another.

There seems to be a good case for the general adaptation of Mrs. Makem’s title. The air sung here is the traditional one associated in Donegal with Caitlin Triall, first published in an instrumental version by Bunting in his 1840 edition of Ancient Music of Ireland. It is of particular interest to students of folk song that the four-line musical verse has acquired a fifth line in the process of oral transmission—most probably to supply a chorus for the singer’s audience.

The Ian Campbell Folk Group sang I Loved a Lass on their 1968 Transatlantic album The Cock Doth Crow. This track was also included in 2005 on their anthology The Times They Are A-Changin’.

Pentangle sang I Loved a Lass in 1968 on their second Transatlantic album, Sweet Child.

Séamus Ennis sang The False-Hearted Lover on his 1969 Leader album Masters of Irish Music. He also sang The False Bride on 15 July 1969 at the King’s Head Folk Club in Islington, London. This recording was included in 2012 on the Musical Traditions anthology King’s Head Folk Club.

Lizzie Higgins sang She’s Only My Old Shoes (The False Bride) on 11 March 1970 at the King’s Head Folk Club in Islington, London. This recording made by Rod Stradling was included in 2006 on her Musical Traditions anthology In Memory of Lizzie Higgins and in 2012 on the Musical Traditions anthology King’s Head Folk Club.

Robin and Barry Dransfield sang A Week Before Easter in 1970 on their Trailer album The Rout of the Blues, and Barry Dransfield sang it in 1996 on his solo CD Wings of the Sphinx. The latter recording was also included a year later on their Free Reed anthology Up to Now. Barry Dransfield commented in his liner notes:

I heard this from the Coppers and Louis Killen in the early days. I still can’t resist this one and often sing it on gigs when I’m feeling sentimental.

In 1971 in Edinburgh, Andrew Cronshaw recorded June Tabor singing The Week Before Easter a cappella with lyrics very similar to those of Shirley Collins. This recording was finally published in 2005 on the June Tabor anthology Always.

Dave Burland sang The False Bride in 1972 on his eponymous Trailer album, Dave Burland.

Louis Killen sang The Week Before Easter in 1973 on his album Sea Chanteys.

Derek Sarjeant and Hazel King sang A Week Before Waster on their 1973 album Folk Matters. They noted:

Collected orally but published by the E.F.D.S.S. This version from Sussex also known under the titles The False Bride and The False Hearted Lover.

Cyril Tawney sang The False Bride in 1973 of his Argo album of traditional love songs from South West England, I Will Give My Love. His Somerset version is the same one that A.L. Lloyd sang.

Tony Capstick sang The Week Before Easter in 1974 on his Rubber album Punch & Judy Man.

John Lyons sang The Lambs on the Green Hills in 1974 on his Topic album The May Morning Dew. A.L. Lloyd and Sandra Kerr commented in the sleeve notes:

England knows the song under the title: The False Bride. This Irish version became famous after Colm Ó Lochlainn printed it in his valuable Irish Street Ballads (Dublin, 1939). Ó Lochlainn had learnt it from Mrs Reddin, of Dublin, in 1915. John Lyons first heard it from Tom Leach, likewise of Dublin.

Mick Flynn sang The Lambs on the Green Hills in a recording made by Roly Brown in 1976/77 that was included in 1978 as the title track of the 1978 Topic album of songs from County Clare, The Lambs on the Green Hills. Roly Brown noted:

Mick says he learned this from a record, probably the one The Johnstons put out in 1968 (Transatlantic TRA 169). They, in turn, got it from Colm Ó Lochlainn’s collection, Irish Street Ballads (1939) p.170, and it seems that the song, which Ó Lochlainn got from a Mrs Reddin of Dublin, received quite a boost through its publication.

The Clutha sang The False Bride on their 1977 Topic album The Bonnie Mill Dams. Don Martin commented in the liner notes:

An Aberdeenshire version of a very widespread and well-known song. In English versions (and, indeed, some Scottish versions) the narrator pines for a grave “long, wide and deep” to expire into. As Gavin Greig remarked, however, the northern folk-singer would rebel against the idea of a discarded lover taking his defeat lying down and would change the latter part of the song accordingly.

Martyn Wyndham-Read sang The Forlorn Lover in 1979 on his album Andy’s Gone, and he sang Lambs on the Green Hills in 1997 on his Fellside CD Beneath a Southern Sky.

Graham and Eileen Pratt sang Lambs in the Green Hills on their 1980 album To Friend and Foe. They noted:

A well known and well loved account of unrequited love. This is an Irish variant passed on to us by Johnny Coppin.

The Tannahill Weavers sang I Once Loved a Lass in 1981 on their Plant Life album Tannahill Weavers IV. They noted:

We heard this particular version of the song many years ago but, for a variety of reasons, never got round to performing it either live or on record.

Perhaps the saddest of all human emotions is unrequited love, and let’s face it, most of us like a good requite now and then. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

John Bowden, accompanied by Martin Carthy, sang The False Bride on the 1986 Fellside anthology A Selection From the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. Paul Adams commented:

From Elizabeth Mogg, Holford, Somerset; noted in 1904 by Cecil Sharp [VWML CJS2/9/505] . This melancholy song has remained long in the affections of country singers. Its age is uncertain. A version was published in the late seventeenth century, but it may not have been new then. Mrs White’s text has been slightly amended with lines from two other Somerset versions collected by Sharp in 1904. Versions have been printed in Devon and Sussex.

Danny Spooner sang The Week Before Easter on his 1987 album When a Man’s in Love. He noted:

Just one of many variants, this song tells of endless pain and sorrow which can be produced by the missed opportunity.

For courting too slowly you’ve lost this fair maid
And now you will never enjoy her

There is a curious riddle-like verse in this song which suggests that it may be older than it appears at first hearing and may have once been a song of the supernatural.

Whippersnapper sang A Week Before Easter in a live recording made in between 1984 and 1988 on their 1988 album These Foolish Strings.

Roger Wilson sang The False Bride in 1991 on his, Pete Morton’s and Simon Edwards’ Harbourtown cassette Urban Folk Vol. I. He noted:

The False Bride is about a jilted ghost with aching goolies and was sung in almost this form to Cecil Sharp by Mrs Overd of Somerset in 1904.

Elizabeth Stewart of Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, sang I Aince Hid a Lass on her 1992 cassette ’Atween You an’ Me. This track was also included in 2004 on her Elphinstone Institute anthology Binnorie. This album’s notes commented:

There can be few more cutting lines than those found in some North-East versions of this song, referring to the compromised bride: “She’s jist my aul sheen though you’ve got her.” There are strong parallels with Down in Yon Valley [Roud 567; G/D 6:1199], but this song is probably the older. Sometimes known as The Forsaken Lover, The False Bride, The Week Before Easter, or I Aince Hid a Lad, depending on circumstances, it is found in a c.1685 broadside, printed by John White, Newcastle upon Tyne, and is well-known throughout England, Scotland, and North America. Gavin Greig maintained that the song was English in origin, “The ecclesiastical machinery being Anglican” (Greig-Duncan, vol. 5, p. 568). Elizabeth’s very full version was learnt from her aunt Lucy [Stewart], whose version can be found in Kennedy, p. 352.

Sheena Wellington sang The False Bride in a concert at Nitten (Newtongrange) Folk Club, Scotland, that was published in 1995 on her Greentrax CD Strong Women. She commented in her liner notes:

One of many versions of this theme; I had this from the singing of Gordeanna McCulloch. I am indebted to that other fine singer, Anne Neilson, for unravelling some textual puzzles. The tune bears a strong resemblance to that often used for the Irish variant, The Lambs in the Green Hills.

Maggie Murphy sang The Clock Striking Nine on her 1996 CD of traditional folk songs and ballads from Tempo, Co Fermanagh, Linking O’er the Lea.

Pete Coe sang I Courted A Wee Girl on his 1997 CD Long Company. He commented in his liner notes:

Back to Sarah Makem again—this version is based on hers. The song is variously known as The Week Before Easter, The False Bride, and The Lambs on the Green Hill. No fanciful imagery, no strawberries growing in the salt sea etc. Mrs Makem got down to the plain misery of this song on betrayal and lost love.

Rod Paterson sang I Loved a Lass on the 1998 anthology Scottish Love Songs.

Lorraine Jordan sang I Once Loved a Lass on her 2000 album This Big Feeling.

Sangsters sang Fause Bride in 2000 on their Greentrax CD Sharp and Sweet.

Gordon Hall sang The Week Before Easter on his 2001 CD Good Things Enough.

Alasdair Roberts sang The False Bride in 2001 on his CD The Crook of My Arm.

Duncan Williamson of Ladybank, Fifeshire sang Those Men of the Forest on 13 August 2001 to Mike Yates. This recording was included in 2002 on the Kyloe anthology Travellers’ Tales Volume 2.

Jim Moray sang The Week Before Easter in 2003 on his CD Sweet England.

John Roberts and Tony Barrand sang The Week Before Easter in 2003 on their CD Twiddlum Twaddlum. They commented in their liner notes:

Early Christians believed the week before Easter was a good time to be baptised, calling it “White Week” because of the clothing customarily worn between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. The song is also known as The False Bride who was, in keeping with the season, “dressed all in white”. We took this version in the 1970s from the singing of Robin and Barry Dransfield.

Rod Stradling sang The Week Before Easter on the 2005 Musical Traditions anthology Songs From the Golden Fleece.

Geoff Jerram sang The Week Before Easter in 2006 on his Forest Tracks album Bedlam. He noted:

A classic song, widespread throughout the British Isles, concerning unrequited love.

Chris Foster sang The False Bride in 2008 on his CD Outsiders.

Maddy Prior sang I Heard the Banns in 2008 on her Park album Seven for Old England. She noted:

I decided to reverse the sex of this song and tell it from a woman’s perspective, completely missing the fact that it is called the False Bride, and the False Bridegroom just didn’t seem right.

Again one of those melancholy lyrical ballad, much concerned with that useless emotion, regret.

Chris Miles sang My Auld Sheen at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival, Collessie, Fife in May 2009. This recording was released a year later on the festival anthology There’s Bound to Be a Row (Old Songs and Bothy Ballads Volume 6). The liner notes commented:

This is a version of I Aince Loed a Lass or The False Bride. In many versions the jilted lover asks for his grave to be dug as he prepares to die of a broken heart. However, in this version, as in others from the northeast traveller community, the jilted lover compares his false love to a pair of worn shoes and declares in the last lines, “a-roving I’ll go, never fear, but I’ll soon find another”.

Jon Boden sang A Week Before Easter as the 17 April 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Sam Lee sang My Ausheen (My Old Shoes) on his 2012 CD Ground of Its Own.

Matt Quinn sang The Week Before Easter on his 2012 CD Broom Abundance. He commented:

This brilliantly detailed and rather lengthy version comes from Gordon Hall.

Andy Turner learned A Week Before Easter from Bob Copper’s book A Song for Every Season, and sang it a week before Easter as the 23 March 2013 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week.

Rosie Upton sang The False Bride in 2014 on her CD Basket of Oysters. She noted:

Pete MacGregor used to sing this version of The False Bride when I first met him and I stole it because I thought it was such a strong account. I don’t have much sympathy for the jilted lover. In most versions he lies down and dies but not in this. It’s more than jealousy, he’s manipulative, cruel and selfishly determined to ruin her new marriage.

Olivia Chaney sang The False Bride in 2015 on her Nonesuch CD The Longest River. This video shows her singing it on Guernsey in summer 2011:

Peter Knight sang A Week Before Easter in 2015 on Gigspanner’s CD Layers of Ages:

Fiona Ross sang The False Bride in 2017 on her Tradition Bearers album with Tony McManus, Clyde’s Water. She noted:

Another well-known ballad, with many variations, this song has remained one of my favourites to sing over the years. Stories of the spurned lover often end on a suitably plaintive note, but I like the defiant turnaround in this one.

Top Floor Taivers sang The False Bride, “a traditional ballad that tells the story of a forsaken lover”, on their 2017 CD A Delicate Game.

Annie Winter sang I Courted a Bonny Lass (The False Lover) on Amsher’s 2018 album of Hampshire songs collected by Lucy Broadwood in Oxfordshire, Patience Vaisey at Adwell 1892. Bob Askew noted:

Another song of unrequited love. This time from the point of view of a man whose lover is marrying another. The song had been popular for hundreds of years and still remained so around 1900, in the heyday of English song collecting.

David Cambridge sang False Bride on his 2019 CD Songtales. He noted:

Versions of this ballad appeared as broadsides in the late 17^th century, but the ballad itself is probably much older. It tells of a jilted lover, and his subsequent sadness at being passed over for another, and unusually incorporates a riddle verse concerning strawberries (or lilies in some versions) and dark ships.

Green Ribbons sang The Week Before Easter in 2019 on their eponymous CD Green Ribbons. Frankie Armstrong noted:

This beautiful evocative song has been collected widely in Britain and Ireland, the first printed version from the oral tradition being in 1867. However versions were found in broadsides as early as the 17^th century, all of which indicate how widely loved the song has been. I’m sure my text is an amalgam of versions I’ve heard over decades.

Ye Vagabonds sang I Courted a Wee Girl in 2019 on their River Lea album The Hare’s Lament. They noted:

Diarmuid [Mac Gloinn] learned this from a recording of Sarah Makem that he heard while he was staying with a friend in Paris. He carried it around in his pocket for several months while he was busking his way around Europe and has many fond associations with it. It belongs to a family of songs that tell of an earnest lover passed over in favour of a wealthier suitor. In this case the poor pathetic character actually attends his lover’s wedding and looks on with a broken heart as she’s wed to another man. In the final verse he asks only that he be buried and covered with roses.

David Carroll sang A Week Before Easter in 2024 on his Talking Elephant CD Bold Reynold Too. He noted:

This sad song, a close relation of The False Bride, crops up in many variations accross the south of England. This version I got from the singing of Sussex’s Copper Family.

Lyrics

The Lambs on the Green Hills in Irish Street Ballads

The lambs on the green hills they sport and they play,
And many strawberries grow round the salt sea,
And many strawberries grow round the salt sea,
And many’s the ship sails the ocean.

The bride and bride’s party to church they did go,
The bride she rode foremost, she bears the best show.
But I followed after, with my heart full of woe,
To see my love wed to another.

The first place I saw her ’twas in the church stand,
Gold rings on her finger and her love by the hand.
Says I, “My wee lassie, I will be the man
Although you are wed to another.”

The next place I seen her was on the way home,
I ran on before her, not knowing where to roam.
Says I, “My wee lassie, I ’ll be by your side
Although you are wed to another.”

“Stop, stop,” said the groomsman, “ ’till I speak a word,
Will you venture your life on the point of my sword?
For courting so slowly you’ve lost this fair maid,
So begone, for you’ll never enjoy her.”

Oh, make now my grave both large, wide and deep,
And sprinkle it over with flowers so sweet.
And lay me down in it to take my last sleep,
For that’s the best way to forget her.

Bob Copper sings The False Bride / A Week Before Easter

Now a week before Easter the morn bright and clear,
The sun it shone brightly and keen blew the air.
I went up in the forest to gather fine flowers,
But the forest won’t yield me no roses.

The roses are red the leaves they are green,
The bushes and briars are pleasant to be seen,
Where the small birds are singing and changing their notes
Down among the wild beasts in the forest.

Now the first time I saw my love she was dressed all in white,
Made my eyes run and water quite dazzled my sight,
When I thought to myself that I might have been that man
But she’s left me and gone with another.

Now the next time I saw my love she was in the church stand
With a ring on her finger and a glove in her hand.
So now she’s gone from me and showed me false play,
She’s gone and got tied to some other.

So dig me a grave both long, wide and deep,
And strew it all over with roses so sweet,
That I might lay down there and take a long sleep,
And that’s the right way to forget her.

A.L. Lloyd sings The False Bride

Oh, when that I saw my love in the church stand,
With the ring on her finger and the glove in her hand,
I jumped in betwixt them and kissed the false bride,
Saying: “Adieu to false loves for ever.”

Oh, when that I saw my love out the church go,
With the brides-men and bridesmaids they made a fine show,
Then I followed after with my heart full of woe,
For I was the man that ought to had her.

Oh, when that I saw my love sat down to meat,
I sat myself by her but nothing could eat.
I thought her sweet company better than wine,
Although she was tied to some other.

Go dig me a grave both long, wide, and deep,
And strew it all over with flowers so sweet,
That I may lay down there and take my long sleep,
And that’s the best way to forget her.

Shirley Collins sings The False Bride

I courted a bonny girl for many’s the day,
And hated all people who ’gainst her did say.
But now she’s rewarded me well for my pains
For she’s gone to get tied to another.

The week before Easter, the morn bright and clear,
When the sun it shone brightly and keen blew the air,
I went down to the forest to gather fine flowers
But the forest won’t yield me no roses.

The first time I saw my love it was to the church go,
The bride and the bridegroom they cut a fine show.
While I followed after, my heart full of woe,
For to see my love tied to another.

The parson that married them aloud he did cry,
All you’d who’d forbid it, I’d have you draw nigh.
Well, thought I to myself, I’d a good reason why,
Though I had not the heart to forbid it.

The next time I saw my love, it was in the church stand,
A gold ring on her finger, white gloves on her hand.
Thought I to myself, I should have been that man,
Though I’d never once mentioned to have her.

And the last time I saw my love, she was all dressed in white,
Made my eyes fill with tears, they quite dazzled my sight.
So I picked up my hat and I wished her good night,
Here’s adieu to all false-hearted true loves.

The ladies and gentlemen they are all asking me,
“How many lilies grow in the salt sea?”
But I’ll ask them back with a tear in my eye,
“How many ships sail in the forest?”

Go dig my grave both long, wide and deep,
And strew it all over with roses so sweet.
So that I might lie down there and take a long sleep
And that’s the best way to forget her.

Sandy Denny sings I Once Loved a Lass

I once loved a lass and I loved her so well
And I hated all others who spoke of her ill.
And now she’s rewarded me well for my love,
For she’s gone and she’s wed another.

And I saw my love up to the church go
With bride and brides-maidens she made a fine show.
And I followed on with my heart full of woe
For she’s gone and she’s wed another.

I saw my love as she sat doon to dine.
I sat doon beside her and poured the wine.
And I thought of the lassie that should have been mine,
Now she’s gone and she’s wed another.

All men in yon forest they asked of me,
“How many strawberries grow in the salt sea?”
And I answered them with a tear in my e’e,
“How many ships sail in the forest?”

Oh dig me a grave and dig it sae deep,
And cover it over with wee flowers sae sweet.
And I lay me doon for to tak’ a long sleep
And maybe in time I’ll forget her.

So they dug him a grave and they dug it sae deep
And they covered it over with wee flowers sae sweet
And he lay him doon for to tak’ a long sleep
And maybe in time he’ll forget her.

Sarah Makem sings I Courted A Wee Girl

Well, I courted a wee girl for many’s a long day,
And I slighted all others that came in my way,
And well she rewarded me to the last day,
For she’s gone to get wed to another, another;
She’s gone to get wed to another.

For, the bride and bride’s party to church they did go.
And the bride she went forward; she bore the best show.
And I followed after with a heart full of woe.
For to see my love wed to another, another;
To see my love wed to another.

And the bride and bride’s party in church they did stand;
Gold rings on her fingers, her love by the hand,
And the man she is wed to has houses and land.
He may have her since I couldn’t gain her, gain her;
He may have her since I couldn’t gain her.

Then, the first time I saw her she was all dressed in white,
And the more I gazed on her she dazzled my sight.
I lifted my cap and I made her good night.
Adieu to all false-hearted lovers, lovers;
Adieu to all false-hearted lovers.

Then the next time I saw her she was leaving down meat.
I sat down beside her; not a bite could I eat,
For I thought my love’s company far better than meat,
Since love was the cause of my ruin, ruin;
Since love was the cause of my ruin.

Oh, it’s dig me a grave and dig it down deep,
And strew it all over with the red rose so sweet,
And lay me down silent no more for to weep.
For love was the cause of my ruin, ruin;
For love was the cause of my ruin.

Graham and Eileen Pratt sing Lambs in the Green Hills

Oh the lambs in the green hills, they sport and they play;
But never will strawberries grow in the sea;
But ne’er will strawberries grow in the salt sea,
And never will ships sail the forest.

The bride and bride’s party to the church they go;
The bride she rode foremost, she bears the finest show;
But I followed after with my heart full of woe,
To see my love wed to another.

The first place I saw her, it was in the church stand;
Gold ring on her finger, her love by her hand.
Says I, my dearest lassie, I will still be the man.
Although you are wed to another.

The next time I saw her, it was on her way home;
I ran on before her not knowing where to roam.
Says I, my dear lassie, I will stay your side,
Although you have married another.

Stop, says the groomsman, till I speak one word;
Won’t you venture your life at the point of my sword?
A-courting oh so slowly, well you’ve lost this fair maid.
Begone, for you’ll never enjoy her.

Make me now my grave, make it long wide and deep.
And scatter it over with flowers so sweet.
And lay me down inside it, for to take my last sleep,
For that’s the best way to forget her.

Danny Spooner sings The Week Before Easter

The week before Easter the day being fair,
The Sun it shone brightly and bright grew the air;
I went into the forest to gather wild flowers
But the forest would yield me no roses.

The roses are red the leaves they are green;
The bushes and briars are pleasant to be seen,
And the birds in the trees they are a-changing their notes
All among the wild beasts of the forest.

When I saw my own-love to the church go,
The bride and bride’s party they made a fine show,
And I followed on with a heart full of woe
For she’s gone to be wed to some other.

Then I saw my own-love sit down to dine
I sat down beside her and poured out her wine;
And I drank to the lassie I thought should be mine,
But she’s gone to be wed to another.

The up spake the groomsman, “I’ll have just one word,
Will you venture your life on the point of me sword;
For courting to slowly you’ve lost this fair maid
And now you shall never enjoy her.”

The men of the forest they asked of me,
“How many strawberries grown in the salt sea?”
But I asked of them with a tear in my e’e,
“How many fish swim in your forest?”

Oh dig me a grave, dig it long wide and deep,
And cover it o’er with the flowers so sweet.
And I’ll turn me in and I’ll take a long sleep
And maybe that way I’ll forget her.

So they dug him a grave, dug it long wide and deep,
And covered it o’er with the flowers so sweet,
And he turned him in for to take a long sleep
And maybe by now he’s forgot her.

Maddy Prior sings I Heard the Banns

I heard the bands published in church
I rose from my seat and went out in the porch
I thought he was constant as constant could be
But now he is going to be married

I saw my love to the church go
With bride and brides maidens they made a fine show
And I followed on with my heart full of woe
For now he is going to be married

I saw my love in the church stand
With a ring on his finger and glove in his hand
I thought to myself I could have been that one
But now he is tied to some other

I saw my love sit down to eat
I sat down beside him but nothing could eat
I thought his sweet company better than meat
But now he is gone to some other

Dig me a grave long wide and deep
And cover it over with flowers so sweet
That I may lie down there to take a long sleep
And that’s the best way to forget him

Chris Miles sings My Auld Sheen

When I saw my bonnie love tae the kirk go,
Wi bridegroom and maidens they made a fine show;
And I follaed her on wi a hert fu o woe,
She’s gaen tae be wad tae another.

When I saw my bonnie love at the kirk style,
I trod on her goun-tails but didnae them fyle;
And she turned hersel roond and she gaed a sweet smile,
But she’s gaen tae be wad tae another.

The clerk o the parish he gaed a loud cry,
“If ye’ve ony objections, pray bring them by."
And I thocht tae masel guid objections hae I,
But I hadnae the will tae affront her.

When I saw my bonnie love sit doun tae dine,
I sat doun beside her and poured oot the wine;
And I drank tae the lassie wha should hae been mine,
But noo she is wad tae another.

Up spak the bridegoom, “Begone for a coward,
Ye’ve ridden ower lang on the point o your word;
Ye hae ridden ower lang o’er an unknown ford,
Sae be gane for ye ne’er shall enjoy her.”

“Ye but wear my auld sheen, ye but wear ma auld sheen,
Ye may dance in them till ye dance them dane;
Aye and when they are dane ye maun sew them again,
For they’re but ma auld sheen noo ye’ve got them.”

And noo she is gaen, even so let her go,
For I’ll never gie ower tae sorrow and woe;
And I’ll cheer up ma hert and a-rovin I’ll go,
Never fear but I’ll soon find another.

Fiona Ross sings The False Bride

When I saw my bonnie love tae the kirk go
Wi bridegroom and maidens she made a fine show
And I followed her on, wi a hert fu o woe
For she’s gane tae be wed tae another

When I saw my bonnie love at the kirk style
I trod on her coat tails but didna them fyle
And she’s turned hersel roon and she’s gied a sweet smile
But she’s gane tae be wed tae another

The clerk o the parish, he’s gied a loud cry
Gin ye’ve ony objections, pray bring them by
And I thocht tae myself, guid objections hae I
But I hadna the will tae affront her

When I saw my bonnie love sit doon tae dine
I sat doon beside her and poured oot the wine
And I drank tae the lassie that should hae been mine
But noo she is wed tae another

Up spake the bridegroom, be ye gane for a coward
For ye’ve bidden ower lang on the edge of my sword
And ye’ve ridden ower deep through an unknown ford
So be gane for ye ne’er shall enjoy her

Ye but wear my auld sheen, ye but wear my auld sheen
And ye may dance in them till ye dance them deen
And when they are deen, ye maun sole them again
For they’re just my auld sheen and ye’ve gotten them

And so she is gane, even tho let her go
For I’ll never gie ower tae sorrow and woe
But I’ll cheer up my hert and a rovin I’ll go
Never fear, but I’ll soon find another

Music Transcription

Sandy Denny’s version transcribed by Jan Hauenstein

Comment by Jan Hauenstein: I first learned this song from a Pentangle record. The singer was Bert Jansch, a Glaswegian, a real Scotsman. Small wonder that the Scottish accent that Sandy tries to emulate in the last verses was even more pronounced on the Pentangle version. yon=yonder, e’e=eye, sae=so, wee=tiny, doon=down, tak’=take. Both versions are absolutely beautiful. If you love Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention, you’ll probably love The Pentangle, too.

Acknowledgements

Lloyd’s words are from The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, eds Ralph Vaughan Williams & A.L. Lloyd, Penguin, 1959. Thanks to Garry Gillard.