> Eliza Carthy > Songs > The Poor and Young Single Sailor
> Cyril Tawney > Songs > The Broken Token

The Young and Single Sailor / The Poor and Young Single Sailor / A Fair Maid Walking / The Broken Token

[ Roud 264 ; Master title: The Young and Single Sailor ; Laws N42 ; G/D 5:1038, 6:1201 ; Henry H471, H818 ; Ballad Index LN42 ; VWML GG/1/6/312 , PG/5/25 ; GlosTrad Roud 264 ; Wiltshire 375 , 884 ; DT JREILLY , JREILLY3 ; Mudcat 171276 ; trad.]

Katherine Campbell: Songs From North-East Scotland Edith Fowke: The Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs Gale Huntington, Lani Herrmann, John Moulden: Sam Henry’s Songs of the People Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger: Travellers’ Songs From England and Scotland Sean O’Boyle: The Irish Song Tradition Colm O Lochlainn: Irish Street Ballads John Ord: Bothy Songs and Ballads Patrick O’Shaughnessy: Twenty-One Lincolnshire Folk Songs Roy Palmer: The Valiant Sailor Frank Purslow: Marrow Bones James Reeves: The Everlasting Circle Steve Roud, Julia Bishop: The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs Ken Stubbs: The Life of a Man Ralph Vaughan Williams, A.L. Lloyd: Penguin Book of English Folk Songs

Mrs Thompson of Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, sang A Fair Maid Walkin’ All in Her Garden to Percy Grainger in August 1906 [VWML PG/5/25] . Grainger used the tune in his Lincolnshire Posy suite.

The Young and Single Sailor is a, if not the, archetypal “broken token” song. Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd printed it in 1959 in their Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, as sung by Mr Burridge, near Capel, Surrey, to Vaughan Williams in August 1908.

John Higgins of Blairgowrie sang In a Garden a Lady Walking to Maurice Fleming in 1955. This School of Scottish Studies recording (SA 1955.14.A2) was included in 2011 on the Greentrax anthology Songs and Ballads From Perthshire Field Recordings of the 1950s (Scottish Tradition 24).

Jeannie Robertson sang The Broken Token, in a recording made at her home in 1955, on her 1956 Riverside album Songs of a Scots Tinker Lady. Hamish Henderson noted:

Often known as A Pretty Fair Maid (Miss) in the Garden, this ballad has achieved as wide circulation in the United Stated as in the British Isles. It makes moving use of the oldest ballad themes, detailing the dialogue and action of a long-absent returning lover who resolves to test his sweetheart’s fidelity; upon finding her true, he identifies himself by matching parts of a broken ring.

Winnie Campbell sang The Broken Token in a concert presented by the EFDSS at the Royal Festival Hall on 4 June 1965. A recording of this concert was issued in the same year as the EMI/HMV album Folksound of Britain.

Alex Campbell sang John Riley at a concert on 16 August 1965 in Copenhagen. It was recorded and released in the same year on his Storyville album Alex Campbell in Copenhagen.

Daisy Chapman sang The Poor and Single Sailor at home in George Street, Aberdeen, to Peter Hall in 1965. This recording was included in 2000 on her Musical Traditions anthology Ythanside. Rod Stradling noted:

An extremely popular song wherever English is spoken, and most particularly in the USA. There are 272 instances in Roud, under a great variety of titles—A Fair Maid Walking All in Her Garden, The Young and Single Sailor, Pretty Fair Maid and The Broken Token being among the most common. The only other Buchan version is called The Poor and Single Sailor, so that’s what we’ve called Daisy’s.

Sarah Makem sang A Servant Maid in Her Father’s Garden at home in Keady, Co. Armagh in a recording made by Bill Leader in 1967. This was released in 1968 on her Topic album Ulster Ballad Singer. An earlier recording made by Peter Kennedy and Sean O’Boyle in 1952 was included in 2011 on her Musical Traditions anthology As I Roved Out. A third recording made by Paul Carter and Sean O’Boyle in 1967 was included in 2012 on her Topic anthology The Heart Is True (The Voice of the People Series Volume 24).

Dellie Norton from Sodom sang Pretty Fair Miss in Her Garden to John Cohen in 1967. This recording was included in 2005 on the Smithsonian Folkways anthology Dark Holler. John Cohen noted:

This song has been collected widely, and remains popular today. It is often known as The Broken Token, and Laws designates it N42. Sharp reported six versions (no. 98), five of them from nearby North Carolina counties, including from singers Mary Sands, Jane Gentry, and Rosie Hensley. Dellie’s abbreviated version gives the core of the song.

Robin and Barry Dransfield sang A Fair Maid Walking All in Her Garden in 1970 on their Trailer duo album The Rout of the Blues.

Roy Bailey sang A Fair Maid Walking in 1971 on his eponymous album on the Trailer label, Roy Bailey.

The Broadside sang A Fair Maid Walking on their 1971 album of Lincolnshire folk songs, The Gipsy’s Wedding Day. They noted:

Collected by [Percy] Grainger at Barrow-on-Humber in 1906. [VWML PG/5/25] . […] Often known as The Broken Token. The theme is widespread in folklore.

The Taverners sang A Young and Single Sailor in 1973 on their Trailer album Blowing Sands. They noted:

Young lovers forced to part by angry parents have been favourite subjects for balladeers for centuries. In a tearful scene, the girl breaks a token and promises to hold it and him dear until he returns from the wars or the sea. Seven magic years later, the lover does return to test his love by a series of questions. Only when she has answered them correctly and the two halves of the token refitted together, does he admit to being the one true love. No matter the scene or the change in characters, most of these ‘broken token’ songs follow a pattern. Here, Brian [Osborne] sings of a young and single sailor.

Geoff Jerram sang The Broken Token in 1974 on the Forest Tracks album Folk Songs From Hampshire of songs collected in 1905-09 by Dr. George B. Gardiner. John Edgar Mann noted:

Sometimes known by other titles (e.g. A Fair Maid Walking in Her Garden), this is a beautiful song on the familiar theme of the broken ring, concerning ballads which occur in many European countries. Gardiner collected the song in 1906 from George Blake in the Southampton suburb of St. Denys [VWML GG/1/6/312] , just five minutes over Cobden Bridge from my home in Bitteme Park where these words are being written.

John Goodluck sang A Fair Maid Walking in 1977 on his Traditional Sound Recordings album Monday’s Childe. He noted:

One of the famous ‘broken token’ ballads. A gold ring is broken in two so that, the two halves matching perfectly together after having been closely treasured during the years of parting, the lovers will be certain of mutual recognition.

Sarah Anne O’Neill sang A Fair Young Maid in Her Father’s Garden in her home near Derrytresk, Coalisland, Co. Tyrone in 1977 to Robin Morton. This recording was released a year later on her and her brother George Hanna’s Topic album On the Shores of Lough Neagh. It was also included with the title Standing in Yon Flowery Garden on the 1998 Topic anthology Who’s That at My Bed Window? (The Voice of the People Series Volume 10).

Mary Cash sang A Lady in Her Father’s Garden in a recording made between 1973 and 1985 by Jim Carroll and Pat Mackenzie. This recording was published in 1986 on the VWML cassette Early in the Month of Spring and in 2003 on the Musical Traditions anthology of songs of Irish Travellers in England, From Puck to Appleby. Jim Carroll noted in the album’s booklet:

This is probably one of the most popular of all the ‘broken token’ songs, in which parting lovers are said to break a ring in two, each half being kept by the man and woman. At their reunion, the man produces his half as a proof of his identity.

Robert Chambers, in his Book of Days, 1862-1864, describes a betrothal custom using a ‘gimmal’ or linked ring:

Made with a double and sometimes with a triple link, which turned upon a pivot, it could shut up into one solid ring… It was customary to break these rings asunder at the betrothal which was ratified in a solemn manner over the Holy Bible, and sometimes in the presence of a witness, when the man and woman broke away the upper and lower rings from the central one, which the witness retained. When the marriage contract was fulfilled at the altar, the three portions of the ring were again united, and the ring used in the ceremony.

These ‘broken token’ songs often end with the woman flinging herself into the returned lover’s arms and welcoming him back, but [this] version has it differently and, Mary Delaney, who also sang it for us, had the suitor even more firmly rejected:

For it’s seven years brings an alteration,
And seven more brings a big change to me,
Oh, go home young man, choose another sweetheart,
Your serving maid I’m not here to be.

Cas Wallin sang Pretty Fair Miss All in the Garden at his home in Sodom Laurel, Madison County, North Carolina, on 27 August 1980 to Mike Yates. This recording was included in 2002 on Musical Traditions anthology of songs, tunes and stories from Yates’ Appalachian collections, Far in the Mountains Volume 4. And Cas Wallin’s newphew Doug Wallin sang Pretty Fair Miss All in the Garden at his home at Crane Branch, Madison County, North Country, on 23 May 1983 to Mike Yates, which was included in 2013 on Far in the Mountains Volume 5. Mike Yates noted in the first album’s booklet:

Pretty Fair Miss All in Her Garden is an Old World broadside ballad that was popular with 19^th century printers like Catnach and Such. G. Malcolm Laws also lists a number of American broadsides. It’s a popular piece, said by some to be descended from the classic ballad of Hind Horn. Often, the ring has been broken before the lover’s separation and the soldier/sailor is able to match his half of the ring with that kept by the maiden, a motif that also occurs in Homer’s Odyssey.

The rumbling that can sometimes be heard in the background to this recording is not, as one reviewer thought, a fault with the microphone; but is the sound of a thunderstorm that was echoing around the surrounding hills.

A version that I collected from the Sussex singer Mabs Hall can be heard on the Veteran Tapes cassette The Horkey Load - Volume 2 (VT109), whilst other American recordings can be heard sung by Cas’s nephew Doug Wallin (Smithsonian Folkways SF CD 40013), by Wavie Chappell (Augusta Heritage cassette 009), by Corbett Grigsby & Martin Young of Kentucky (Smithsonian Folkways SFCD 40077) and by Tom Ashley of Tennessee (Smithsonian Folkways SFCD 40097). Mary Cash, an Irish traveller then living in London, has a fine version on the cassette Early in the Month of Spring (EFDSS VWML 001), and Daisy Chapman has a rather different one called Poor and Single Sailor on Ythanside (Musical Traditions MTCD308).

Derek Sarjeant and Hazel King sang A Fair Maid Walking in Her Garden, “a traditional song from Dorset”, on their c. 1980 Luzifer album Shades of Loving and Leaving.

Maggie Murphy sang Seven Years Since I Had a Sweetheart in her cottage in Tempo, Co Fermanagh, to Keith Summers and Peta Webb in summer 1983. This recording was included in 2004 on the Musical Traditions anthology of traditional songs from around Lough Erne’s shore, The Hardy Sons of Dan. She also sang it in a 1995/6 recording made by John Howson that was included in 1996 on her Veteran CD of “traditional folk songs and ballads from Tempo, Co Fermanagh”, Linkin’ O’er the Lea. John Howson noted:

The broken token ballad, where the sailor and his sweetheart break a token (often a ring) in two so that they will recognise each other after the passage of time, is a classic element of a traditional singer’s repertoire and Maggy has one of the best versions you are likely to hear. The song is widespread all over Ireland (Tom Munnelly has recorded it in Mayo, Wexford, Cavan, Galway, Kerry, Limerick and Cork) while noteworthy Ulster recordings which have been made commercially available are from Sarah-Anne O’Neill, Derrytresk, Co. Tyrone (Topic 12TS372), Sarah Makem, Keady, Co. Armagh (Topic 12T182), John Quinn, Mullaghbawn, Co, Armagh (Outlet 0AS3018), and Jimmy Houghton, Inishowen, Co. Donegal (Inishowen Singers’ Circle ITSC001). This is another of Maggy’s mother’s songs.

Mabs Hall of Billinghurst, Sussex, sang A Fair Maid Walking in the Garden Mike Yates in the 1980s. This recording was published in 1988 on the Veteran cassette Horkey Load 2 (VT 109) and in 2008 on Mabs and Gordon Hall’s Veteran CD anthology As I Went Down to Horsham.

Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill sang There Was a Lady in 1985 on Relativity’s eponymous Green Linnet album Relativity. They noted:

A song with many versions, this one is from Neillí Ní Dhomhnaill, Tríona’s aunt. (“It’s a pretty complete version, and at least it has a ‘happy’ ending!”)

Linda Adams sang The Young and Single Sailor, accompanied by Jez Lowe on guitar and dulcimer, in 1986 on the Fellside anthology A Selection from The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. Steve Roud printed this song as Fair Maid Walking in Her Garden in 2012 in his updated version, The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.

Home Service played A Brisk Young Sailor as part of Percy Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy on their 1986 Making Waves album Alright Jack.

Duncan Williamson sang A Pretty Fair Maid at home in Fife to John Howson in August 1991. This recording was included in 2014 on his Veteran anthology Put Another Log on the Fire.

Cyril Tawney sang The Broken Token on the 1992 Fellside anthology of English traditional songs, Voices. Paul Adams commented in the album’s booklet:

Broken Token ballads abound in the English Tradition. The general idea is that the lovers divide a ‘token’ (usually a ring) when they part (he usually goes off to foreign parts as a soldier or sailor) and agree to be faithful. He later returns, but she does not recognise him at first, etc. etc. Cyril learnt this version in his native West Country from his Mother and this goes to show how difficult it is to regionalise folk songs because she learnt it from her Grandmother, Mary Sharkey, in Northern Ireland! Cyril’s rolling West Country accent sounds just right for this charming little song. Cyril is an ex submariner, an expert on sailors’ songs and a noted songwriter.

Nancy Kerr sang The Poor and Young Single Sailor in 1995 on her and Eliza Carthy’s second album Shape of Scrape. She commented in the record’s sleeve notes:

A classic “Broken Token” song, sometimes called A Lady Fair or A Fair Maiden Walking. Two lovers part, breaking a ring between them as a token of their love. She naturally spends seven years pining, moping and generally preserving her honour until he returns having made his fortune and “tests” her fidelity. The subject of his honour is not broached. Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1908 from a Mr Burridge, near Capel, Surrey.

Nova Baker and Elsie Vanover of Pound, Virginia, sang Pretty Fair Miss All in the Garden in August 1996 to Mark Wilson. This recording was included in on the Musical Traditions anthology of folk songs of the Upper South, Meeting’s a Pleasure Volume 1. Mark Wilson noted:

On my first visit to Stallard’s Branch in 1973, I did not encounter Nova’s sister Elsie, although Annadeene later told me about the excellent duets they sang together, as well as the wonderful songs that Nova would sing with her husband Travis on fiddle. By the time that I finally managed to get that far south again, Travis had passed away but I was able to record some of Elsie. She had recently had a throat culture and was apologetic about her voice, but the two sisters supplied me with a number of harmonized ballads, most of them learned from their dad. I believe that there are many families scattered through present day Appalachia that remember old songs like these yet, but they are hard to locate, largely because the chief occasions for their performance occur only when families get together. Once upon a time, a Nimrod Workman or Wash Nelson could find a non-family audience in the mines, at a lumber camp or in a medicine show, but once these venues vanished, there was only the family to sing to and the younger folk frequently lost interest in this material after early childhood. Fiddle music, in contrast, managed to retain a larger component of social utility longer and so we have been able to locate instrumental traditional music more easily.

This broadside derivative, which Sharp called The Broken Token, remains extremely popular today, even on the bluegrass circuit. An elderly lady once came to Annadeene’s festival who knew exactly two songs, this piece and Merle Haggard’s All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers (well, they are both good songs). Cousin Emmy’s Decca recording remains unbeatable; see also MT 308, 324 and 329.

John Roberts and Tony Barrand sang this song as A Fair Maid Walking on their 1998 album, Heartoutbursts: English Folksongs collected by Percy Grainger. Its sleeve notes commented:

The “broken token” theme is well known, and many versions of this particular story line exist. [Percy] Grainger recorded this one in 1906 from Mrs. Thomson at Barrow-on-Humber. It appears in Lincolnshire Posy as The Brisk Young Sailor (who returned to wed his True Love).

Bob Lewis sang The Young and Single Sailor at a concert he did with Bob Copper at Nellie’s Folk Club, The Rose and Crown Hotel, Tonbridge, Kent, on 17 October 1999. This concert was released in 2017 on their Musical Traditions CD The Two Bobs’ Worth. Lewis also sang The Young and Single Sailor at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival, Collessie, Fife in May 2009. This recording was included in the following year on his Autumn Harvest album Drive Sorrows Away. Peter Shepheard noted:

The song is one of a class of songs known as broken-token songs. Many traditional singers both sides of the Atlantic have versions in their repertoire. A young maid out walking meets a sailor. He tries to entice her and offers marriage. She tells him that she has a true love who had been away to sea for seven years. He puts his hand in his pocket and takes out a ring that they had broken between them. She then realises he is her long lost lover, they kiss and are soon married. Bob remembers it being sung at The Cherry Tree at Copthorne where Pop Maynard used to sing and the gang that used to go there at that time all used to join in.

Alasdair Roberts sang Standing in Yon Flowery Garden on his 2001 album The Crook of My Arm.

Magpie Lane sang I Saw a Maid in My Father’s Garden in 2002 on their CD Six for Gold. They noted:

This is a classic example of a broken token ballad. It was collected from Miss Sykes, of Deddington, Oxfordshire and sent in 1913 by a Miss Turner to the Adderbury song collector Janet Heatley Blunt. We learned it from the EFDSS publication Forty Long Miles, edited by Tony Foxworthy. The phrase ‘bright golden stars’ in the last verse almost certainly started life as ‘bright gold in store’—in other words, the sailor has not returned from the sea empty-handed. We think that the stars are a far more romantic proposition however.

Finest Kind sang Fair Maid Walking on their 2003 album Silks & Spices. They noted:

The return of a man after years away at sea, disguised so he can test his lover’s faithfulness, was probably an ancient story device when Homer sang about Odysseus and Penelope. During the past 200 years, the plot has been the basis of the “broken token” ballad, sung in dozens of versions on both sides of the Atlantic. Each is a dialogue between a maiden and her disguised sailor lover who tries to woo her. When the maid spurns him, the sailor reveals his identity by producing the “token” of their love—his half of a ring they broke before he went away—and the couple is happily reunited.

Shelley [Posen] learned our version in the 1970s from the singing of the English brother duo Robin and Barry Dransfield on their classic album, The Rout of the Blues. They got their tune from Percy Grainger’s Twenty-One Lincolnshire Folk Songs, and the words from the EFDSS songbook, Marrow Bones.

The Demon Barbers learned John Riley from Alex Campbell’s 1965 album In Copenhagen and sang it in 2005 on their CD Waxed.

Margaret Spiers sang A Fair Maid in Her Harden Walking at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival, Collessie, Fife in May 2006. This recording was included in the following year on the festival anthology Some Rants o’ Fun (Old Songs & Bothy Ballads Volume 3). And the Spiers Family sang it on their 2012 album Oh, Gin I Were There…. They noted:

Maggie [Spiers] learned this well known broken token song from the singing of Daisy Chapman. It was very popular in NE Scotland in the early 1900s, but clearly has English rather than Scottish roots.

Steve Turner sang The Poor and Single Sailor in 2008 on his Tradition Bearers album The Whirligig of Time. He noted:

This Scottish version of the classic ‘broken token’ ballad is one of the fullest I’ve come across. The song is a tribute to short memories and good hiding places.

Mary Humphreys and Anahata sang Young and Single Sailor in 2009 on their WildGoose CD Cold Fen. Mary Humphreys noted:

Ida Huckell wrote this song out in sol-fa notation for Lucy Broadwood and sent it via the Bull family. I can find no record of Ida Huckell after the 1891 census. She was 15 in September 1906 when she sent the song to Miss Broadwood. Ida wrote that the song came from a great-aunt, though she does not name her. I do not believe that the song has ever been published. It has a very pretty tune and compares favourably with other versions.

Hannah James sang The Young and Single Sailor in 2009 on her and Sam Sweeney’s first duo CD, Catches & Glees. They also performed it at a House Gig in Bedfordshire in October 2011:

Old Blind Dogs sang Broken Ring in 2010 on their CD Wherever Yet May Be. Aaron Jones commented:

I worked with fiddler/singer Tom McConville for a couple of years and he used to sing an Old Time ‘Broken Token’ song called Pretty Fair Maid. I found this old Irish version of the song in the fantastic Sam Henry’s Songs of the People. The concept that you can go abroad, return and your beloved not recognise you is a concept familiar to many gigging musicians!

Vicki Swan and Jonny Dyer sang The Broken Token in 2011 on their WildGoose album Stones on the Ground. They noted:

Collated from a number of traditional variations on the broken token theme. Boy goes off to make a fortune but somehow has the foresight to think that on his return, his true love won’t recognise him. Perhaps in disguise, on his return he wants to find out if she has been faithful. In all the versions we have read, there’s never been a reference of her seeing if he has been faithful. That’s equality for you!

Cup O’Joe sang Pretty Fair Maid in Her Garden in a BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award Nominees live recording on the anthology BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2015.

Arthur Knevett sang Seven Years Did I Have a Sweetheart on his 2016 CD Simply Traditional. He commented in his liner notes:

This ‘broken token’ ballad is from the singing of the wonderful Irish singer Maggie Murphy. There are many songs in which a ring is broken in two, each half being kept as a love token and a means of recognition after a long separation, usually by the young man going to sea for seven year. H.G. Wells in his book Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul uses the same idea when Kipps is given half a sixpence as a love token by his sweetheart Ann.

Helen Diamond sang Standing in Yon Flowery Garden on her 2018 eponymous first album Helen Diamond. She noted:

This version comes from the fantastic Armagh singer Sarah Anne O’Neill. I learned it from Topic Record’s Who’s That at My Bed Window? (The Voice of the People Series Volume 10).

Annie Winter sang Fair Maid Walking in Her Garden on Amsher’s 2018 album of Hampshire songs collected by Lucy Broadwood in Oxfordshire, Patience Vaisey at Adwell 1892. Bob Askew noted:

Also known as Sailor Boy and Fair Phoebe. Another broken token song: a sailor returns unrecognised. This was very popular with over 100 entries in Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. In her pre-cinematic time, perhaps think of young Patience imagining herself swooning into Clark Gable’s arms!

More Maids sang Maid in Her Father’s Garden on their 2021 CD Fourmaids. They noted:

We first heard this song played by the band North Cregg, and we gave it our own spin. It combines two common motives in traditional ballads, one being a nobleman’s romantic advances to a poor girl who subsequently turns him down because she believes that their social differences cannot be overcome or that his reasons are not honest and fair. The other one being the broken token motive: Lovers exchange a token—often a ring—before one of them—usually the man—leaves to go to sea or to war. Often the man will test the girl’s faithfulness by disguising himself when approaching her upon his return.

This particular story takes a different turn—o such an extent that one might suspect the gentleman isn’t the lost lover at all, but a villain who got hold of the ring in a dubious way.

Compare this to Lal Waterson singing The Welcome Sailor on her and Norma Waterson’s LP and CD A True Hearted Girl and on the CD reissue of The Watersons’ For Pence and Spicy Ale, and to The Dark-Eyed Sailor, sung by Steeleye Span on their first album, Hark! The Village Wait, and by June Tabor and the Oysterband on their album Freedom and Rain.

Lyrics

John Higgins of Blairgowrie sings In a Garden a Lady Walking

For it’s in a garden a lady walking
A bright young sailor came passing by
He stepped up to her in chance to woo her
He says, “My maid would you fancy I?”

“Oh no kind sir I am not to marry
A servant girlie o low degree
For I’ve a true love and he’s a sailor
He sails upon yon deep blue sea.”

“For do you see yon high, high castle
All decorated with lilies white
I’ll give you gold love I’ll give you silver
If you only say you’ll be mine tonight.”

“Oh what do I care for your high, high castle
Or what div I care for your lilies white
Or what div I care for your gold or silver
If me own true Billy was here tonight.”

He put his hand into his pocket
His fingers they were some long and small
For he pulled a ring which broke between them
And when she saw that she dropped down.

He raised her up into his arms
And gave to her a sweet loving kiss
“For once I was a poor servant lassie
But now I am a brave sea captain’s wife.”

Daisy Chapman sings The Poor and Single Sailor

A fair maid in her garden was walking,
A brisk young sailor came riding by;
For he steppèd up to her in purpose to view her,
And said, “Fair maid wid ye fancy I?”

“Fancy I,” said the fair young maiden,
“A servant girl o’ a low degree;
For I once had a sweethert and he was a sailor,
And noo he sails on the dark blue sea.”

“Perhaps he is married, perhaps he is drownèd,
Perhaps he’s on some foreign shore.”
“But if he be married, I wish him plenty,
If he be drownèd, I wish him rest.”

“You’ll see those castle, those high, high castle,
And see them towrin tae the sun.
Wouldn’t you forsake your poor single sailor,
Tae come alang wi me and dine?”

“O yes I see the high, high castle,
And see them towrin tae the sun,
But I widna forsake my poor single sailor,
Tae gang alang wi you and dine.”

He put his hand into his pocket,
His fingers they were long and small,
And he took from his pocket the ring that was broken,
And when she saw it, she down did fall.

He took her up into his arms,
And gave her kisses, sweet kisses three,
And he said, “I’m your Johnny, your ain dear Johnny,
Come back again for to mairry you.”

And now this couple, they’ve got married,
And they’ve got children, one two, three,
And instead of being a poor servant girl,
She has become a rich captain’s bride.

Mary Cash sings A Lady in Her Father’s Garden

There being a lady in her father’s garden,
A gentleman, he was passing by.
And he stood a while for to gaze all on her,
He said, “Fair lady, would you fancy I?”

“Oh no kind sir, I am no lady,
I’m but a poor girl of a low degree.
There before, young man, choose another sweetheart,
I’m not fitting for your slave to be.

“It is seven years since I had a sweetheart,
And seven more since I did him see.
And seven more I’ll wait all on him,
If he’s alive he’ll come home to me.”

“Or maybe your love he is dead and drownded.
Or maybe your love he is dead and gone.”
“Or if he is sick I’ll wish him better,
And if he’s dead I will wish him rest.”

Saying, “Lady, lady, I’m your own true lover,
I came from sea love, to marry you.”
Saying, “If you’re my own and my single sailor,
Your face and features do look strange to me.”

For he put his hand all in his pocket,
His lily-white fingers do look long and small,
And it’s up between he pulled a gold ring,
And when she seen it to the ground she fell.

He picked her up all in his arms,
He gave her kisses most tenderly,
Saying, “I’m your own and your loyal true lover,
You’re the only young girl that my heart love best

Saying, “If I had you in those Phoenix Islands,
One thousand miles from your native home,
In some lonesome valley, love, between two mountains,
It’s there, sweetheart, I’ll call you my own.”

“For I’ve a house; I’ve a good way living,
I’ve plenty of money for to spend on you,
And if you come there love, it’s the lady I’ll make you.
I’ll have some servants for to wait on you.”

“You haven’t me in those Phoenix Islands,
Neither one thousand miles from my native home.
Neither in that valley, love, between two mountains,
Nor later sweetheart you won’t call me your own.”

Cas Wallin sings Pretty Fair Miss All in the Garden

Spoken: This is an old love ballad song, Pretty Fair Miss All in the Garden… in her Garden.

A pretty fair miss all in her garden,
A very fine soldier come riding by.
It’s he stepped up and thus he ’dressed her,
Said, “My pretty fair miss, will you marry me?”

“Oh no, kind sir, a man of honour”,
Says, “A man of honour you may be.
How can you impose on a fair young lady,
Who never intends your bride to be?”

“I have a truelover gone to the army,
And he’s been gone for seven years long.
But if he stays a seven years longer,
No man on earth could marry me.”

“Pre-haps your lover’s drownd-ed in the ocean.
Pre-haps he’s in some battlefield slain.
Pre-haps he’s taken another girl and married.”
“I’d just love that girl that’d marry him.”

His fingers being long and slender,
All from his pockets he brought his hand.
Says, “Here’s a ring that you did give me,
Before I started to the war.”

She threw her lily white arms around him,
And prospered at his feet did fall.
Says, “You’re the man that used to court me,
Before you started to the war.”

“Yes I’ve been on the deep sea sailing,
And I’ve been sailing for seven years long.
But if I’d have stayed there seven years longer,
A-no girl on earth could have married me.”

Doug Wallin sings Pretty Fair Miss All in the Garden

A pretty fair miss down in her garden,
When a brave young soldier came riding by.
Then he stepped up and thus he addressed her
Said, “Pretty fair miss, won’t you marry me?”

“Oh no, kind sir”, replied the maiden,
“Though a man of honour you may be.
How can you impose on a fair young maiden,
Who never intends your bride to be?”

“For I have a true love o’er the ocean,
Yes, seven years across the sea,
And if he stays for seven years longer,
No man on earth can marry me.”

“Perhaps he’s drowned in the ocean.
Or he may be on some battlefield slain.
Or he may be to some pretty girl married
And you may never see him again.”

“Now if he’s drowned, I hope he’s resting,
Or if he’s on some battle field slain.
Or if he’s to some pretty girl married
I’ll love the one that married him.”

Then he ran his hand down in his pocket
His fingers being long and slim,
And then drew forth a ring she’s given
A ring that she had given to him.

She threw her lily white arms around him,
And straight before him she did fall.
Said, “You’re the very man that used to court me
Before you went away to war.”

Then they walked down the path together
His arm around her waist so trim
Then he told to her a beautiful story
And then she gave her heart to him.

Maggie Murphy sings Seven Years Since I Had a Sweetheart

As Mary walked all in her garden,
A gentleman who was passing by
And as he viewed her he stepped up to her,
Saying, “Fairest lady would you fancy I?”

“Oh fancy you, a man of honour,
A man of honour you seem to be.
But what am I but a servant lassie,
And a servant lassie I mean to be.”

“Oh do you see yon high, high buildings?
Oh do you see yon castle fine?
Oh do you see ships sailing on the ocean?
Those will be yours if you’ll be mine.”

“Oh yes I see yon high, high buildings.
Oh yes I see yon castle fine.
Oh yes I see ships sailing on the ocean.
They will not be mine, for I won’t be thine.

“It’s seven years since I had a sweetheart,
And seven more since I did him see.
And seven more I will wait upon him.
If he’s alive he’ll come back to me.”

“I wonder why that you love a sailor?
I wonder why that you love a slave?
For he might be dead or he might be married.
Or the ocean deep might be his grave.”

“Now If he’s married I wish him happy,
And if he’s dead then I wish him rest.
For no other young man will e’er enjoy me,
For he’s the one that I do love best.”

He put his hand into his pocket,
His lily-white fingers were long and small.
He pulled out a ring which was bent and broken.
At the sight of this to the ground she fell.

He picked her up into his arms,
Giving her kisses one, two, three.
Saying, “I’m your true love and faithful sailor,
Home from sea for to marry you.”

“Now if you’re my own true and faithful sailor,
Your face and features seem strange to me.
Doesn’t seven years make an alteration,
And the ocean deep between me and you.”

Now all you’s fair maids must now take warning;
Never slight a true love when he’s at sea.
For when he comes home he’ll make you his own,
And take you out to Amerikay.

Mabs Hall sings A Fair Maid Walking in the Garden

A fair maid walking in the garden.
A brisk young sailor was standing by.
He stepped up to her, thinking for to view her.
And he said, “My dear, can you fancy I?”

“O I have a sweetheart of my own sir.
And seven years he’s been gone to sea.
And seven more I will wait for him.
If he’s alive he’ll return to me.”

“Seven long years make great alterations.
Your true love he may be dead and gone.
Or he may be crossing the ocean.
To Botany Bay or where e’er he’s bound.”

“If he’s alive I love him dearly.
And if he’s dead I hope he’s at rest.
For no other man shall e’er enjoy me.
Single I’ll go to my silent grave.”

He put his hand into his bosom.
His fingers being so long and small.
Showed her the ring that was broke between them.
And when she saw it she down did fall.

He picked her up all in his arms.
He gave her kisses, one, two or three.
Saying, “I am your single sailor.
Whose just returned for to marry thee.”

Linda Adams sings The Young and Single Sailor

A fair maid walked all in her garden.
A brisk young sailor she chanced to spy.
He stepped up to her, thinking to view her.
Says he, “Fair maid, could you fancy me?”

“Oh no, young man, you’re a man of honour,
A man of honour you seem to be.
So don’t impose on a poor young woman
Who is scarce fitted your servant to be.”

“If you tell me you’re a poor young woman,
The more regard I shall have for you.
So come with me and I’ll make you happy,
And you’ll have servants for to wait on you.”

“Oh no, young man, I have a sweetheart,
And seven long years he’s away from me,
And seven more I will wait for him,
And if he’s alive he will return to me.”

“Oh, seven years makes an alteration.
Perhaps he’s drowned and is now at rest.”
“Then no other man shall ever join me,
For he’s the darling boy that I love best.”

He put his hand all in his pocket,
His fingers being both long and small,
Saying, “Here’s the ring, love, we broke between us.”
Soon as she saw it, then she down did fall.

He took her close all in his arms,
He gave her kisses by one, two, three,
Saying, “I’m your young and single sailor,
That has come home for to marry thee.”

Nancy Kerr sings The Poor and Young Single Sailor

A fair maid walking all in a garden
A brisk young sailor she chanced to spy
He stepped up to her thinking to view her
Said he, “Fair maid, could you fancy I?”

“You seem to me like a man of honour,
A man of honour you seem to be,
How can you impose on a poor young woman
Who is not fit your servant for to be?”

“If you are not fitted to be my servant
Then still I have great regard for thee.
I’ll marry you and make you a lady
And you’ll have servants to wait on thee.”

“But I have a true lover of my own, sir,
For seven years he’s been on the sea
And seven years I have waited for him.
If he’s alive, he’ll be true to me”

He put his hand all in his bosom,
His fingers being both long and small,
Saying, “Here’s a ring that was broke between us.”
And when she sees it then down she falls.

He took her up all in his arms,
Giving her kisses one two and three.
Said, “I am the poor and young single sailor
Who has returned for to marry thee.”

Nova Baker and Elsie Vanover sing Pretty Fair Miss All in the Garden

Pretty fair miss all in the garden
A soldier boy came riding by
Saying, “Pretty fair miss, don’t you want to marry?
Don’t you want to be a soldier’s bride?”

“O no, kind sir, a man of honor
A man of honor I take you to be.
How could you intrude on a single lady
Who never intends your bride for to be?”

“I have a true love in the army
He has been gone for seven long years
And if he’s gone for seven years’ longer
No other man shall marry me.”

He pulled his hands all from his pockets
His fingers being both slim and small
He spied the ring that he had gave her
When this she saw at his feet she did fall.

He picked her up all in his arms
And kisses gave her one, two, three
Saying, “This is your old and single soldier
Who has returned for to marry thee.”

John Roberts and Tony Barrand sing A Fair Maid Walking

A fair maid walking all in her garden,
A brisk young sailor she chanced to spy,
He stepped up to her thinking to woo her,
Cried thus: “Fair maid, can you fancy I?”

“You seem to be some man of honor,
Some man of honor you seem to be,
I am a poor and lowly maiden, not fitting, sir,
Your servant for to be.”

“Not fitting for to be my servant?
No, I’ve a greater regard for you.
I’d marry you, and make you a lady,
And I’d have servants for to wait on you.”

“I have a true love all of my own, sir,
And seven long years he’s been gone from me,
But seven more I will wait for him;
If he’s alive, he’ll return to me.”

“If seven long years thy love is gone from thee,
He is surely either dead or drowned,
But if seven more you will wait for him,
If he’s alive, then he will be found.”

He put his hand all in his bosom,
His fingers they were both long and small.
He showed to her then the true-love token,
And when she saw it, down then she did fall.

He took her up all in his arms,
And gave her kisses, one, two and three,
Here stands thy true and faithful sailor,
Who has just now returned to marry thee.

Magpie Lane sing I Saw a Maid in My Father’s Garden

I saw a maid in my father’s garden,
A maid of honour she seemed to me,
Until a young man he stepped up to her,
He said, “My darling, can you fancy me?”

“Oh fancy you, a man of honour,
A man of honour you seem to me,
But how could you impose on a poor young woman,
That is not fitting your servant to be.”

“I have a true love on the ocean,
Seven long years he’s been gone from me,
Seven long years I’ve been waiting for him,
P’raps seven more years he’ll return to me.”

“Perhaps that young man is married.
Perhaps he’s either dead or drowned.”
“If he is married, I wish him happy,
If he’s dead, I know he’s in glory crowned.”

He put his hand all in his bosom,
Drew out the ring both neat and small,
It was the ring that had been broke between them,
Soon as she saw it, down she did fall.

He picked her up all in his sorrow,
And tears in streams down her neck did fall,
He said, “My darling, I’m your single sailor,
And now returned to marry you.”

“If you are then my single sailor,
Your voice and features seem strange to me,
But seven long years makes a great difference,
Besides my darling, I do long to see.”

“Oh I have houses, both land and riches,
Bright golden stars I will give to thee.
I’ll marry you and make you my lady,
And you shall have servants to wait on thee.”

Margaret Spiers sings A Fair Maid in Her Garden Walking

A fair maid in her garden was walking,
A brisk young sailor came riding by.
He stepped up to her intent tae woo her
And said, “Fair maid wid ye fancy I?”

“It’s seven lang years since I loved a sailor,
It’s seven lang years since he went tae sea.
My love is strong and I’ll aye prove faithful,
I’ll aye choose him o’er the likes o thee.

“Perhaps he is married, perhaps he is drowned,
Perhaps he’s on some foreign shore.
But if he be married I wish him plenty,
If he be drowned I wish him rest.

“Do you see yon high high castle,
All decorated wi lilies white.
I have gold love and I have silver
If you will say you’ll be mine to-night.”

“What care I for yon high high castle,
All decorated wi’ lilies white?
What care I for your gold and silver
If my true love was here to-night.”

He put his hand in tae his pocket,
His fingers they were long and small.
He took from his pocket the ring that was broken
And when she saw it she down did fall.

He took her up in tae his arms
And gave her kisses sweet kisses three,
He said, “It is I love, yer ain dear Johnnie,
Come back again for tae marry thee.”

This couple they are now married
And they are free from care and strife.
She is nae langer a serving lassie,
For now she is a bold captain’s wife.

Steve Turner sings The Poor and Young Single Sailor

A fair maid all in her garden walking,
A young man chanced her to see.
He stepped up to her, thinking to gain her,
And said, “Fair maid, can you fancy me?”

First with smiling and then reviling
She said, “Young man, what want you with me?
For I am neither to woo nor marry
Nor yet a serving girl to fee.

“I’m just a poor and forsaken maiden
Which causes many to laugh at me.
I had a true love all of my own, sir,
And seven years he’s been gone from me.”

“If seven years he’s been gone to sea, love,
Then surely he has forgotten thee.
Or else by now he’d have written to you
Were he not drowned all in the sea.”

“If he’s alive I do love him dearly,
And if he’s dead I wish him rest;
For of all the young men I ever saw
I do declare that I love him best.”

“Don’t you see yon bonny lands, love?
So bonny they lie in and out,
And don’t so see yon bonny castle
The stormy winds do blow about?

“And don’t you see yon bonny garden
Decked all around with flowers fine?
Will you forsake your young single sailor
To follow yonder and you’ll be mine?”

“I’ll never have your bonny castle
Were my single sailor to come home,
Nor all your lands and all your rents, sir,
Though you count them all in a high sum.”

He said, “I will no longer feign now,
It’s a pity true love should be crossed.
I am your poor and your single sailor
By the raging seas you thought was lost.”

“If you’re my poor and my single sailor
Your form and colour do not agree.
For in long absence he might have changed,
It’s seven years since I did him see.”

He put his hand all in his bosom,
His pretty fingers were long and small;
He drew the ring that they broke between them
And when she saw it down she did fall.

He took her up all in his arms then,
He gave her kisses one, two and three,
Saying, “I’m your poor and your single sailor
Just now returned for to marry thee.”

They went unto the church directly
Thinking that it would end all strife.
And the very next morning there they were married,
Now she’s become the sailor’s wife.

Bob Lewis sings The Young and Single Sailor

A fair maid walking all in her garden,
A brisk young sailor she chanced to spy;
He steppèd up to her thinking for to view her,
And he says, “Fair maid, can you fancy I?”
He stepped up to her thinking for to view her,
And he says, “Fair maid, can you fancy I?”

“You appears to be some young man of honour,
Some young man of honour you appears to be;
How can you impose on a poor young woman,
Who is not fitting your servant to be?”

“If you are not fit for to be my servant,
I have a sincere regard for thee;
I will marry you and make you my lady,
And you shall have servants to wait on thee.”

“I have a true love all of my own,
And for seven long years he’s been gone to sea;
If it’s seven more years I will wait for him,
And if he’s alive he will wait for me.

“Now seven long years makes an alteration,
He might be either dead or drowned;
If he’s alive I do love him dearly,
And if he’s dead he’s in glory crowned.”

He put his hand all in his pocket,
His fingers being both long and small,
Pulled out the ring that they broke between them,
Soon as she see it she down did fall.

He picked he up all in his arms,
And gave her kisses by one, two by three;
Saying, “I’m your young and your single sailor,
I have now returned for to marry thee.”

Soon as she see her true love was loyal,
In wedlock chains they both were bound;
They live together and adore each other,
In London city they do there dwell.

More Maids sing Maid in Her Father’s Garden

There was a maid in her father’s garden
A gentleman being passing by
He stood a while and he gazed upon her
Saying, fair young lady will you marry me

I’m no lady but a poor girl
And a poor man’s daughter of low degree
So now, young man, choose another sweetheart
For I’m not fitting your maid to be

I have houses and I have lands
And I have money to set you free
I’ll make you a nice young lady
And you’ll have servants to wait on thee

It’s seven years since I had a sweetheart
And seven more since i did him see
Seven more I will wait upon him
If he’s alive he’ll come home to me

It’s seven years since you had a sweetheart
And seven more since you did him see
Seven more you will wait upon him
Perhaps that young man you’ll never see

If he’s sick I wish him better
And if he’s dead I wish him rest
If he’s alive he will come home to me
He’s the fairest man I do love best

He put his hand into his pocket
His gentle fingers they were thin and small
And out between them he drew a gold ring
And when she saw it down she did fall

He took her up all in his arms
And gave her kisses most tenderly
Saying, I’m your true love, a single sailor
Who came home from sea, to wed with thee

If you’re my true love, a single sailor
Your face and features are strange to me
But seven years make great alterations
On the raging seas between you and me

Acknowledgements

The words are from The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, eds Ralph Vaughan Williams & A.L. Lloyd, Penguin, 1959. Linda Adams’ variations transcribed by Reinhard Zierke. Thanks to Garry Gillard for the Nancy Kerr transcription.