> A.L. Lloyd > Songs > Turtle Dove
> Peter Bellamy > Songs > The Turtle Dove
> Nic Jones > Songs > Ten Thousand Miles
> June Tabor > Songs > Ten Thousand Miles

The Turtle Dove / The Blackest Crow / Ten Thousand Miles

[ Roud 422 ; Master title: The Turtle Dove ; Ballad Index Wa097 , R793 ; VWML CJS2/9/568 , CJS2/10/707 , HAM/3/20/20 ; MusTrad DB20 ; Folkinfo 253 , 671 ; DT TENTHMIL , TUTRLDOV ; Mudcat 4015 , 108603 ; trad.]

Katherine Campbell: Songs From North-East Scotland Maud Karpeles: Cecil Sharp’s Collection of English Folk Songs Maud Karpeles: The Crystal Spring Roy Palmer: Folk Songs Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams Frank Purslow: Marrow Bones James Reeves: The Idiom of the People Stephen Sedley: The Seeds of Love Cecil Sharp: One Hundred English Folksongs

This parting song is known as The Turtle Dove, Ten Thousand Miles, and with a lot of other names. It is not easy separating the versions because they share many floating verses.

Emma Shelton of Alleghany, North Carolina sang The True Lover’s Farewell to Maud Karpeles on 10 August 1955. This recording was included in 2017 on the Musical Tradition anthology of historic recordings of Appalachian singers and musicians, When Cecil Left the Mountains. Rod Stradling noted:

A version titled The Unkind Lovers, or, The Languishing Lament of Two Loyal Lovers, is to be found in the Osterley Park Ballads, taken from a broadside printed by C. Bates (1630.1712). Robert Burns clearly knew the song, which he used as the basis for his well-known poem My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose. Cecil Sharp collected six versions in England, as well as a further nine sets from Appalachian singers. One of these versions came from a Mrs Sylvaney Ramsey of Hot Springs, who may have been related to Evelyn Ramsey, who can be heard singing her version of the song on MTCD 501-2.

A.L. Lloyd sang Turtle Dove unaccompanied in 1956 on his Tradition album The Foggy Dew and Other Traditional English Love Songs. He noted:

Around 1770, leaflets bearing the words of this song were being hawked about the fairgrounds of England and Scotland. Milkmaids and horse-handlers would paste such leaflets on the walls of dairy and stable to learn the songs as they worked. Now and then, the place would get a new coat of whitewash and a fresh layer of song sheets. Robert Burns obtained one of the Turtle Dove leaflets (it still exists, with his name scrawled on it in a boyish hand). Years later, he remade the song into his famous lyric, My Love Is Like a Red Red Rose. Beautiful as Burns’ song is, it is no better than the present version, evolved by country singers in Dorset.

Nancy Whiskey sang Poor Little Turtle Dove in 1957 on her Topic EP Nancy Whiskey Sings.

Guy Caravan sang Poor Little Turtle Dove and Who’s Going to Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot in 1958 on his Topic 10" album Mountain Songs and Banjo Tunes. The sleeve notes commented:

Turtle Dove and songs very like it have been collected in Britain, and the words of Who’s Going to Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot is a fragment of a big ballad.

Long John Baldry with Davy Graham sang Careless Love on the 1963 Hullabaloo ABC Television programme broadcast on 2 November 1963.

Isla Cameron sang Turtle Dove in 1966 on her Transatlantic album Isla Cameron. She noted:

One of the few songs my mother knew. I learned some of it from her and the rest from Ewan MacColl.

Peter Bellamy sang The Turtle Dove unaccompanied in 1968 on his Transatlantic first solo LP, Mainly Norfolk. He noted:

The songs which complete each side of the record are both “foreign” [i.e. not collected in Norfolk] — the reason for including them being that I like them too much not to. Both were collected by Cecil Sharp and published in his Folk Songs From Somerset: The Turtle Dove from Mrs Glover of Huish Episcopi [VWML CJS2/9/568] and The Saucy Sailor from Mr Thomas Hendy of Ilminster.

Sweeney’s Men sang My Dearest Dear in 1968 on their eponymous Transatlantic album, Sweeney’s Men. They also sang it in June 2012 at Andy Irvine’s 70^th Birthday Concert. Andy Irvine noted:

Terry [Woods] found these lyrics in a songbook in the early 60’s. Liking the words and being influenced by The Carter Family, he put his own tune to it. The words are very similar to songs collected in the Appalachian Mountains, either called The Blackest Crow or The Time Draws Near. Bruce Molsky has a version he learned from the great banjo and fiddle player from Mount Airy NC, Tommy Jarrell.

Cyril Tawney sang The Turtle Dove on his 1973 Argo album of traditional love songs from South West England, I Will Give My Love. His version is from Somerset.

Nic Jones learned Ten Thousand Miles from A.L. Lloyd. He sang it in a BBC Radio 1 John Peel Sessions recorded on 6 July and first broadcast on 23 July 1976. He recorded it in 1977 for his third album, The Noah’s Ark Trap, which sadly is unavailable now. An unspecified concert, club and studio performances from before 1982 was released in 2001 on his anthology Unearthed. Eliza Carthy sang Ten Thousand Miles on the 2014 Topic DVD The Enigma of Nic Jones.

This is Nic Jones singing Ten Thousand Miles on 28 May 2011 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London:

Graham Shaw sang The Turtle Dove in 1978 on his Traditional Sound album I Am the Minstrel. He noted:

There is obviously nothing complicated about this song, although the idea of comparing a young lady awaiting the return of her true love to a bird sitting in a tree appeals to my warped sense of humour (she’d have a sore bum if she did). I also like the jaunty little tune and catchy little chorus.

The Aire Valley Singers sang The Turtle Dove in 1979 on their Hill & Dale album Out of the Aire.

Evelyn Ramsey from Sodom Laurel, Madison County, North Carolina sang The True Lover’s Farewell to Mike Yates on 30 August 1980. This recording was included in 1988 on the EFDSS anthology A Century of Songs and in 2002 on the Musical Traditions anthology of songs, tunes and stories from Mike Yates’ Appalachian collections, Far in the Mountains Volume 2. Yates and Rod Stradling noted:

A version titled The Unkind Lovers, or, The Languishing Lament of Two Loyal Lovers, is to be found in the Osterley Park Ballads, taken from a broadside printed by C Bates (1630-1712). Robert Burns clearly knew the song, which he used as the basis for his well-known poem My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose. Cecil Sharp collected six versions in England, as well as a further nine sets from Appalachian singers. One of these versions came from a Mrs Sylvaney Ramsey of Hot Springs, who may have been related to Evelyn Ramsey.

Evelyn’s verse 5 (which begins, “I wish my breast was made of glass”) also appears in Doug Wallin’s song The Time Draws Near, and in several versions of The Willow Tree / Brisk Young Lover / Died for Love over much of the Anglophone world, while other verses appear in the Hayes Shepherd recording Hard For to Love mentioned previously.

Mary Black sang Fare Thee Well My Own True Love in 1982 on General Humbert’s album II. This track was also included in 1984 on her compilation album Collected.

Sara Grey, Ellie Ellis, Geoff Harris, Steve Turner and Linda Adams sang Turtle Dove in 1982 on Grey and Ellis’s Fellside album A Breath of Fresh Air. They noted:

This hymn comes from the singing of Bessie Jones, of the Georgia Sea Islands.It’s a fusion of Black and White Sacred music, which incorporates a strong Blues element. The words at the end of the chorus are a bastardisation of solfeggio syllables.

Three versions of Turtle Dove are on the 1986 LP An Hour With Cecil Sharp and Ashley Hutchings: a cylinder recording of Mr Pendfold, landlord of the Plough Inn in Rusper, Sussex, by Ralph Vaughan Williams; a version sung by Martin Carthy; and a guitar-only version played by Martin Carthy, Richard Thompson and Dave Whetstone.

Patti Reid sang Ten Thousand Miles in 1987 on her eponymous Fellside album Patti Reid.

June Tabor sang Ten Thousand Miles on her 1992 album Angel Tiger. This recording was also included in 2005 on her 4 CD anthology Always where she noted:

Nic Jones did the definitive version of this song, to my mind. For me to perform it was a kind of homage to him. Given that starting point however, this is what a group of musicians with no preconceptions about what traditional music is or should be, can do in terms of making a traditional song into a different kind of classic. This love song can hold its own against all comers.

Magpie Lane played the tune The Turtle Dove, “from a song already known in England in the early 18^th century”, in 1994 on their Beautiful Jo album Speed the Plough and they sang it in 2011 on their album The Robber Bird on which they noted:

The Turtle Dove is another from Folk Songs Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams. It’s a glorious love song, from David Penfold, landlord of the Plough Inn at Rusper, Surrey. [VWML RVW2/3/223] Vaughan Williams made a phonograph recording of Mr Penfold singing the song in 1907, and you can hear that recording on the British Library Sound Archive website.

Eliza Carthy took Ten Thousand Miles from Nic Jones and recorded it in 1996 for her CD Heat Light & Sound, together with the Morris jig Bacca Pipes. This track was also included in the Mrs Casey Records anthology Evolving Tradition 2. Eliza noted on her original album:

A.L. Lloyd sent a version of this to Nic Jones and he recorded it, and since then not many people have done it. So here it is, with Bacca Pipes which is a Morris jig (thanks Bampton). There are lots of versions of 10.000 Miles in the Journal of the Folk Song Society.

Eliza Carthy recorded this song for a second time with six additional verses for her 1998 album Red. On this recording she was accompanied by Sam Thomas, drums, percussion; Barnaby Stradling, electric bass; Martin Green, piano accordion; Oliver Knight, electric guitar; Ed Boyd, acoustic guitar; and Lucy Adams, vocals. It was later included on the Topic Records anthology The Acoustic Folk Box. She Eliza recorded this song for a third time in 2004 with the Oysterband at The Big Session Vol. 1, where it is followed by the Hungarian March. And Eliza Carthy and Tim Eriksen sang 10,000 Miles on their 2015 album Bottle.

James Fagan and Nancy Kerr sang Turtle Dove in 1997 on their Fellside CD Starry Gazy Pie. They noted:

A song made up of tags from other ballads, collected in Kentucky from “Singing Willie” Nolan. The words are more or less as E.K. Wells printed in The Ballad Tree, but Nancy altered the melody and time signature, and added a final verse.

Chris Wood sang Turtle Dove in 1998 on the trio CD Wood—Wilson—Carthy.

Coope Boyes & Simpson sang Ten Thousand Miles in 1998 on their No Masters album Hindsight. This track was included in 1999 on their No Masters anthology What We Sing. They also sang Turtle Dove on their 2005 album of songs collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Butterworth and Percy Grainger, Triple Echo. They noted on the first album:

There are some performers who can take what you would have otherwise considered not to be a particularly outstanding song and by the judicious use of chords, rhythm and genius tweak it into a masterpiece. Nic Jones’ inspired recording was the basis of our arrangement for this track.

Jenny Crook, Henry Sears sang Ten Thousand Miles at The Herschel Arms, Slough, Berkshire in September 2000. This recording was released in the same year on the CD The Herschel Sessions.

Will Duke and Dan Quinn sang The True Lover’s Farewell in 2001 on their Hebe album Scanned. They noted:

The melody and one verse of The True Lover’s Farewell were collected from a Sussex village at the beginning of the twentieth century by composer George Butterworth. Extra verses were added in by Vic Gammon and Will Duke.

Strawhead Ten Thousand Miles Away an their 2001 album Sweethearts, Salts & Soldiers. This track was also includen in 2004 on the “Folk on the Pier” anthology celebrating 200 years of Cromer’s lifeboats, Someone Was Calling.

George Deacon sang The True Lovers Farewell 2002 on his album of songs collected or written by John Clare, Dream Not of Love. He noted:

Clare’s manuscript says of this song: “This is an old ballad which my father sings, he learned it when a child of his mother who knew it when a lass, therefore it cannot be much less than 100 years old.” This is under the heading “The Origin of Burns’ Red Red Rose”. Clare did however produce a rewritten text of this himself. The melody was collected from Mrs Cranstone, Billingshurst, July 1907, by George Butterworth.

Finest Kind sang Blackest Crow on their 2003 album Silks & Spices. They noted:

Tommy Jarrell, the venerable North Carolina fiddler, sang and played a definitive waltz version of this plaintive song, under the title The Time Draws Near. Ann [Downey] fell for it via a lovely modal banjo version by Toronto old-time musicians Arnie Naiman and Chris Coole on their 1997 CD, 5 Strings Attached With No Backing. They had adapted it from a recording by Brad Leftwich, a new-time (also venerable) old-time player, and a relative of Tommy Jarrell’s.

The Tabbush Sisters sang Ten Thousand Miles on their 2003 album This Close….

Mary Humphreys and Anahata sang The Turtle Dove in 2004 on their WildGoose album Floating Verses Mary Humphreys noted:

The song was collected from Mrs Hann of Stoke Abbot, Dorset in 1906 by H.E.D.Hammond [VWML HAM/3/20/20] and published in JFSS 3:11 1907 pp.86. The words that Hammond published in Folk Songs From Dorset are a composite. The only verses noted from Mrs Hann are verses 3 and 4 in the version sung here. Hammond notes that this is the only major version of the song he has collected. The others were all modal tunes, and heart-rendingly beautiful too.

A broadside printed c. 1690 called the Unkind Parents is thought to be one of the origins of the text. Some verses of the song crop up in all the English-speaking areas of the British Isles and even form the basis of Burns’ My Love is Like a Red Red Rose.

Maurice Condie sang 10000 Miles on his and Gillian Tolfrey’s 2005 album Balanced Books.

Miranda Sykes sang Ten Thousand Miles in 2005 on her Irregular CD Miranda Sykes Band.

Dave Webber and Anni Fentiman sang Lonesome Dove in 2006 on their Old and New Traditon album Unity. They noted:

Anni learned this song from the Kossoy Sisters from the USA. Irene and Ellen are the source for so many wonderful songs. We understand this version comes from Kentucky. Variants of this turn up all over the place, in all sorts of different songs.

Jeff Wesley sang Turtle Dove on his 2006 album Rum and Raspberry. It was recorded on 19 November 2005 at The White Lion, Wherwell, Hampshire, in front of an invited audience. He noted:

An old favourite put together over the years with verses from here and there.

Geoff Jerram sang The Turtle Dove in 2006 on his Forest Tracks album Bedlam. He noted:

I learnt this from a cylinder recording of Clive Carey with his own piano accompaniment. Some of the verses are indistinct and this version is a compilation from a couple of sources, particularly verses 4 & 5.

Lynne Heraud and Pat Turner sang The Little Turtle Dove in 2007 on their WildGoose CD September Days. They noted:

A beautiful song that we got from the singing of the late John Langstaff. It was collected in Somerset by Cecil Sharp [VWML CJS2/10/707] .

Heidi Talbot (verses 1, 3-4) and Kris Drever (verse 2 and 4) sang The Blackest Crow on Talbot’s 2008 album In Love + Light.

Twelfth Day sang Fare Thee Well on their 2008 album Twelfth Day.

Cath and Phil Tyler sang 1000 Years on their 2008 album Dumb Supper.

Bella Hardy sang Ten Thousand Miles on her 2009 album In the Shadow of Mountains.

Tim Laycock sang The Turtle Dove on his 2010 CD of folk songs and tunes from Dorset, Sea Strands. He noted:

This lovely song was included by Frank Purslow in Marrow Bones, his first selection from the folk song manuscripts of the Hammond Brothers that did so much to popularise the Dorset repertoire in folk clubs all over the world. Frank collated three versions of the song from different Dorset singers; one of them, Mr Bridle, lived in Stratton, just across the river Frome from where I now live.

Brian Peters sang Ten Thousand Miles in 2010 on his CD Gritstone Serenade. He noted:

Also known as The Turtle Dove, this song seems to have originated as a 17^th-century broadside, but thereafter its history becomes very tangled, involving traditional North American love songs like The Blackest Crow and A-Roving on a Winter’s Night as well as Robert Burns’ My Love Is Like a Red Red Rose, all of which borrow verses from the original. The tune I use was notated by George Gardiner from George Blake in Sd. Denis, Southampton, in 1906 but, since Mr Blake remembered only one verse, I cherry-picked from several other sources to put together this version.

The Askew Sisters sang The Turtle Dove in 2010 on their CD Through Lonesome Woods. They noted:

We begin this piece with a short rendition of Valentine from the Ascot-under-Wychwood morris tradition, although we used to dance to it in the Fieldtown style. Coincidentally, the title of this tune fits very well with the song that follows it, a beautiful version of the Turtle Dove sung by Edith Sartin (a distant relative of well known folkie Paul Sartin) in Corscombe, Dorset in 1906 (although we have slightly altered the tune). It was collected by brothers Henry and Robert Hammond and can be found in the reissued Marrow Bones book.

Belshazzar’s Feast sang Turtle Dove in 2010 on their Unearthed / One Little Indian album Find the Lady. They noted:

Part of an extensive song family with many variants and ‘floating verses’’, this version was sung by Edith Sartin to the Hammond brothers in July 1907, in Corscombe, Dorset, Edith’s home for most of her life [VWML HAM/4/25/7] . Only two stanzas were taken down from Edith, so Paul S. has added verses from Jane Hann of Stoke Abbot, Dorset (3 and 4) [VWML HAM/3/20/20] . and Edith’s relation Marina Russell (nee Sartin) of Upwey, Dorset (5 and 6) [VWML HAM/4/31/14] .

Jon Boden sang Turtle Dove as the 25 March 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. He noted in his blog:

This is one of my favourite songs from James Fagan and Nancy Kerr’s repertoire. James and Nancy were the first professional musicians I ever met and I was somewhat in awe of them. I still am, truth be told.

Keith Kendrick and Sylvia Needham sang The Turtle Dove (Ten Thousand Miles) as the last track of their 2012 WildGoose album Well Dressed. They noted:

And finally, another great song that came to us from the great afore-mentioned, John (Jack—to his friends) Langstaff. We simply love this version to bits… and Jack’s interpretation too, from which we have unashamedly taken inspiration.

Elliott Morris sang Fare Thee Well on his 2013 album Shadows and Whispers.

Sonya Cohen Cramer and Elizabeth Mitchell sang The Blackest Crow in a 2014 recording that was included in 2024 on Cramer’s posthumous Smithsonian Folkways anthology You’ve Been a Friend to Me. Carla Borden noted:

This ballad is also known as My Dearest Dear, The Lover’s Lament, and The Time Draws Near, and it spread throughout the Appalachian and Ozark Mountains after the Civil War. The lyrics appeared in Carl Sandburg’s The American Songbook (1927), and many modern versions came from the teaching of old-time fiddler Tommy Jarrell of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, who was a family favourite.

Tan Yows sang The Blackest Crow on their 2017 album Hefted. They noted:

Traditional originally English but popularized in the United States by singers such as Bruce Molsky and Red Tail Ring. Featuring fiddle and guitar.

Alden Patterson and Dashwood sang Ten Thousand Miles on their 2018 CD By the Night. They noted:

A traditional English folk song which we learnt while on holiday in Western Ireland. This version was inspired by a recording by Nic Jones from 1977. We changed the melody and the lyrical arrangement.

Claire Hastings sang Ten Thousand Miles on her 2019 CD Those Who Roam. She noted:

Also known as Fare Thee Well, several lyrics in the song parallel those of Robert Burns’ My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose.

Ruth Hazleton sang Ten Thousand Miles on her 2019 CD Daisywheel. She noted:

Also known as The Turtle Dove, this track was inspired by the iconic version sung by Nic Jones (who took his version from A.L. Lloyd). It’s a song I have loved for many years. I have added a refrain taken from the well-known Scottish traditional song My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.

Odette Michell sang Ten Thousand Miles on her 2019 CD The Wildest Rose.

A Different Thread sang The Blackest Crow on their 2020 EP Some Distant Shore.

Anaïs Mitchell sang 10,000 Miles on Bonny Light Horseman’s 2020 eponymous album Bonny Light Horseman.

Nick Dow sang The Turtle Dove on his 2020 album of love songs from the British Tradition, In a Garden Grove. He noted:

A hybrid version of this well known song, with a tune and a couple of verses from Somerset and the rest from various versions from Dorset. I particularly like the verse about the bonny swan. All of the versions collected in the West country seem to have derived from The True Lover’s Farewell printed in 1800, but the song was probably old then. The swan verse is probably Irish in origin.

Sam Lee sang Turtle Dove in 2020 on his Cooking Vinylalbum Old Wow. He noted:

Dedicated to The Knepp Rewilding Estate, RSPB and all those who are working to save our disappearing species.

Jenna Moynihan sang The Blackest Crow on her 2020 download EP Five Songs.

Suthering sang Ten Thousand Miles on their 2020 EP Gather.

The Gigspanner Big Band sang Ten Thousand Miles on their 2022 album with Raynor Winn, Saltlines. They noted:

This version of the well known song was collected by Cecil Sharp from Mrs. Emma Glover, a Romany from Huish Episcopi near Bridgwater in Somerset on Christmas Eve 1904.

The Rosie Hood Band sang Turtle Dove on their 2023 album A Seed of Gold. Rosie noted:

We found this sweet parting song in Robyn [Wallace]’s Great Auntie Jenny’s copy of The Seeds of Love and thought it paired really well with The Swallow. I chose a few favourite verses and wrote a lilting new tune for it.

Heather Cartwright sang The Blackest Crow on her 2024 EP Heather Cartwright.

Compare to this song the related A-Roving on a Winter’s Night and their Canadian cousin, Mary Ann.

Lyrics

Emma Shelton sings The True Lover’s Farewell

“O fare you well my own true-love
So fare you well for awhile
I’m going away, but I’m coming back
If I go ten thousand miles

“If I prove false to you, my love
The earth may melt and burn
The sea may freeze and the earth may burn
If I no more return

“Ten thousand miles my own true-love
Ten thousand miles or more
The rocks may melt and the sea may burn
If I never no more return

“O who will shoe your pretty little feet
Or who will glove your hand
Or who will kiss your red rosy cheek
When I’m in a foreign land?”

“My father will shoe my pretty little feet
My mother will glove my hand
And you can kiss my red rosy cheeks
When you return again”

“O don’t you see yon little turtle dove
A-skippin’ from pine to pine
Lamenting the loss of its own true-love
Just like I lament for mine

“Don’t you see yon pretty little girl
A-spinning on yonder’s wheel?
Ten thousand gay gold guineas would I give
To feel just like she feels”

Peter Bellamy sings The Turtle Dove

O don’t you see yon little turtle dove
Sitting under the mulberry tree
And a-making mourn for his own true love
As I shall mourn for thee, my dear,
As I shall mourn for thee.

So you must suffer grief and pain,
’Tis but for a little while.
And wherever I will go I will return,
Though I go ten thousand mile, my dear,
Though I go ten thousand mile.

Ten thousand mile it is too far
To leave me all alone,
While I must lie, lament and cry,
And you’ll not hear my moan, my dear,
And you’ll not hear my moan

Well the tide it shall seize to beat the shore
And stars shall fall from the sky,
Yet I will love thee more and more,
Until the day i die, my dear,
Until the day i die

Then let the seas run dry, my dear,
And rocks all melt in the sun,
Yet here I’ll stay and never from thee part,
Till all these things be done, my dear,
Till all these things be done

O don’t you see yon little turtle dove
Sitting under the mulberry tree
A-making mourn for his own true love
As I shall mourn for thee, my dear,
As I shall mourn for thee.

Sweeney’s Men sing My Dearest Dear

My dearest dear, the time has come when you and I must part.
And no-one knows the inner grief of my poor aching heart.
To see what I suffered for your sake. You are to my love most dear.
I wish that I could go with you or you might tarry here.

For my old mother it’s hard to leave, my father’s on my mind,
But for your sake I’d go with you and leave them all behind.
But for your sake I’d go with you, O mother, fare ye well,
For fear I never will see no more while here on earth do dwell.

I wish my breast was made of glass, Wherein you might behold,
Your name in secret I would write, in letters of fine gold,
Your name in secret I would write, O believe in what I say,
For you are the girl I love most dear, until my dying day.

But when you’re in some distant land, think of your absent friends,
And when the wind blows cold and clear, a line or two please send.
But when the wind blows cold and clear, please send it on to me
So I will know by your handwrit how things have gone with thee.

(repeat first verse)

Cyril Tawney sings The Turtle Dove

Farewell my joy and heart’s delight
I must leave you for a while,
If I go away I’ll come again
If I go ten thousand mile, my dear,
if I go ten thousand mile.

Ten thousand miles it is too far
To leave me here alone.
Whilst I may lie, lament and cry
Thou cannot hear my moan, my dear,
Thou cannot hear my moan.

Thy moan, my dear, I cannot hear.
Thyself I cannot ease.
If I go away I’ll come again
When all they friends are pleased, my dear,
When all they friends are pleased.

Suppose my friends shall never get pleased
And look with an angry eye?
Then you and I will never never part
Until the seas run dry, my dear,
Until the seas run dry.

Suppose the seas should never run dry
Nor the rocks melt with the sun?
Then you and I will never never part
Until those things are done, my dear,
Until those things are done.

Suppose those things shall never come to pass
As long as we both shall live?
Then you and I will never never part
Till we both lie in our graves, my dear,
Till we both lie in our graves.

The crow that flies so very high
Shall change his colour to white,
If ever I prove false to my own heart’s delight
Bright day shall turn to night, my dear,
Bright day shall turn to night.

Don’t you see that little turtle dove,
How she sits on yonder spray?
How she laments for her true love
As I lament for thee, my dear,
As I lament for thee.

You may call me when you see me not
And speak by me as you find.
For I’m not like that weathercock
That changes with the wind, my dear,
That changes with the wind.

Nic Jones sings Ten Thousand Miles

Fare you well, my own true love,
Farewell for a while;
I’m going away, but I’ll be back
If I go ten thousand miles.

Ten thousand miles, my own true love,
Ten thousand miles or more.
And the rocks may melt and the seas may burn
If I no more return.

O don’t you see yon lonesome dove
Sitting on yon ivy tree:
She’s weeping for her own true love
As I shall weep for mine.

O come back, my own true love,
And stay a while with me;
For if I had a friend all on this earth
You’ve been a friend to me.

Evelyn Ramsey sings The True Lover’s Farewell

So far away from friends and home,
There’s one that’s dear to me.
There’s one forever in my mind,
And that fair one is she.

Come back, come back, my own true-love,
And stay awhile with me.
For if ever I have a friend on earth,
You’ve been a friend to me.

Hush up, hush up, my own true-love,
For I hate to hear you cry.
For the best of friends on earth must part,
So why must you and I?

Ten thousand miles away, my love,
You know that never can be.
For the parting from my old true-love,
Shall be the death of me.

I wish my breast was made of glass,
Wherein you might behold.
It’s on my breast the secret’s wrote,
With letters made in gold.

O take this ring I will to thee,
And wear it on your right hand.
And think of my poor aching heart,
When you’re in some foreign land.

So fare you well, my old true-love,
So fare you well for awhile.
I’m going away but I’m coming back,
If I go ten thousand miles.

Eliza Carthy sings Ten Thousand Miles on Heat Light & Sound

Fare you well, my own true love,
Farewell for a while;
I’m going away, but I’ll be back
If I go ten thousand miles.

Ten thousand miles, it is a long way,
Ten thousand miles or more.
And the rocks may melt and the seas may burn
If I no more return.

O don’t you see yon lonesome dove
Sitting on yon ivy tree:
She’s making her moan for the loss of her own
As I shall do for mine.

O come back, my own true love,
And stay a while with me;
For if I knew a friend all on this earth
You’ve been a friend to me.

(repeat first verse)

Eliza Carthy’s additional verses on Red (continued from above)

If I prove false to you, my love,
The earth may melt and burn;
The sea may freeze and the earth may burn
If I no more return.

Ten thousand miles, my own true love,
Ten thousand miles or more;
The rocks may melt and the seas may burn
If I no more return.

And who will shoe your pretty feet
Or who will glove your hand?
Or who will kiss your red rosy cheek
When I’m in the foreign land?

My father will shoe my pretty little feet,
My mother will glove my hand.
And you can kiss my red, rosy cheek
When you return again.

O don’t you see yon little turtle dove
A-skipping from vine to vine,
A-mourning the loss of her own true love
Just as I mourn for mine.

Don’t you see yon pretty little girl
A-spinning on yonder wheel?
Ten thousand gay gold guineas would I give
To feel just like she feels.

James Fagan & Nancy Kerr sing Turtle Dove

As I walked out one winter’s night
A-drinking of sweet wine,
Conversing with a fair young maid
Who stole this heart of mine.

O fare you well my own true love
And fare well for a while,
For I must go but I’ll be back
If I go ten thousand miles.

But who will shoe my feet, my love?
And who will glove my hands?
And who will kiss my rosy cheeks
While you’re in foreign lands?

O your father will shoe your feet, my love,
And your mother will glove your hands.
Your sister will kiss your rosy cheeks
While I’m in foreign lands.

But don’t you see yon turtle dove
In yonder willow tree?
She’s weeping for her own true love
As I shall weep for thee.

O hush, my love, don’t break my heart,
Don’t make me for to cry.
For the best of friends do have to part
I’m sure that’s you and I.

Yes the best of friends do have to part
And sure that’s you and me.
But the sun shall rise up in the west
If I never return to thee.

(repeat first verse)

Chris Wood sings Turtle Dove

Fare thee well, my dear, I must be gone
And leave you for a while.
If I go away, I’ll come back again
Though I go ten thousand mile, my dear,
Though I go ten thousand mile.

Ten thousand mile it is a long way
To leave me here alone,
To leave me here to sigh and complain
Where you never will hear my moans, my dear,
Where you never will hear my moans.

Your moans, my dear, I shall never hear,
No likewise none of your crying.
If I go away, I’ll come back again
When from your friends you’re free, my dear,
When from your friends you’re free.

O these of my friends, they never should have been
They were growing so lofty and high
And I never will prove false to the one that I love
Till the stars fall from the sky, my dear,
Till the stars fall from the sky.

O the stars will never fall down from the sky
Nor the rocks never melt with the sun
And I never will prove false to the one that I love
Till all these things be done, my love,
Till all these things be done.

O yonder do sit yon little turtle dove,
He do sit on yonder high tree.
He’s a making a moan for the loss of his love
As I will do for thee, my dear,
As I will do for thee.

Heidi Talbot and Kris Drever sing The Blackest Crow

The blackest crow that ever flew would surely turn to white
If ever I prove false to you bright day would turn to night
Bright day wouls turn to night my love, the elements would mourn
If ever I prove false to you the seas will rage and burn

As time draws near my dearest dear when you and I must part
It’s little you know of the grief and woe in my poor aching heart
’Tis but I suffer for your sake believe me dear it’s true
I wish that you were staying here or I was going with you

I wish my heart was made of glass wherein you might behold
That there your name lies wrote in letters made of gold
In letters made of gold, my love, believe me when I say
You are the one that I will adore until my dying day

(repeat first verse)

Bella Hardy sings Ten Thousand Miles

Fare thee well my own true love
Farewell for a while
I’m going away, but I’ll be back
If I go ten thousand miles

Ten thousand miles, my own true love
Ten thousand miles or more
And the rocks may melt and the seas may burn
If I no more return.

O don’t you see the turtle dove
Sitting on yon ivy tree
She’s weeping for her own true love
Just as I shall weep for thee

O come back my own true love
And stay a while with me
For if I had a friend all on this earth
You’ve been a friend to me

(repeat first verse)

Sam Lee sings Turtle Dove

O can’t you see the little turtle dove
Sitting under the mulberry tree
See how she does mourn for her true love
As I shall mourn for thee, my love
As I shall mourn for thee

O fare thee well, my little turtle dove
And fare thee well for a while
For though you go, you’ll surely return
If you go ten thousand miles, my love
If you go ten thousand miles

Ten thousand miles is very far away
For you to return to me
You’ll leave me here to lament and, well-a-day
My tears you will not see, my love
My tears you will not see

The crow that’s black, my little turtle dove
Shall change its colour white
If I prove false to the songbird that I love
The noonday shall sound as night, my love
The noonday shall sound as night

The hills shall fly, my little turtle dove
The roaring billows burn
Before my heart shall suffer me to fail
Or I a traitor turn, my love
Or I a traitor turn

The stars shall fall, my little turtle dove
And the rocks melt with the sun
If I prove false to the mother that I love
Till all these things be done, my love
Till all these things be done

Jenna Moynihan sings The Blackest Crow

The blackest crow that ever flew
Would surely turn to white
If ever I prove false to you
Bright day would turn to night

Bright day would turn to night my love
The elements would mourn
If ever I prove false to you
The seas would rage and burn

The Rosie Hood Band sings Turtle Dove

It’s fare you well my own true love,
It’s fare you well a while.
If I go away I will come again
If I go ten thousand miles my dear,
If I go ten thousand miles.

Ten thousand miles it is too far
To leave me here alone,
Here i may lie, lament and cry,
You cannot hear me mourn, my dear,
You cannot hear me mourn.

O don’t you see that turtle dove,
It sits upon the rowan tree
Lamenting for her own true lave
As I lament for thee, my dear,
As I lament for thee.

O I am like the turtle dove
Who flies from tree to tree
And as he waits for its own mate
So I will wait for thee, my dear,
So I will wait for thee.

When you see them remember me
And bear me in your mind,
And be not like the weather vane
That changes with the wind, my dear,
That changes with the wind.

The crow that is so black, my dear,
Shall change his plume to white.
If ever I prove false to thee
The day shall turn to night, my dear,
The day shall turn to night.

Acknowledgements

Transcribed by Wolfgang Hell from the singing of Martin Carthy.