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> June Tabor > Songs > The Water Is Wide

The Water Is Wide / The Bonny Boat

[ Roud 87 ; Child 204 ; Ballad Index C204 , K149 ; VWML CJS2/9/1027 ; Bodleian Roud 87 ; Just Another Tune; trad.]

Carolyn Hester sang The Water Is Wide on the 1963 Hullabaloo ABC Television programme broadcast on 5 October 1963.

Alex Campbell sang this mournful song from the eighteenth century on his 1966 album Yours Aye, Alex; this track was included in 2005 on his anthology Been on the Road So Long.

Louis Killen sang The Water Is Wide in 1975 on his and Sally Killen’s LP Bright Shining Morning. He noted:

I don’t know where, or how, I learned this song, probably by osmosis; or perhaps it was forced into my head at school. Many good songs were dinned into me in those days though I’m not sure I always appreciated their goodness at the time. However, I do know that it was collected by Cecil Sharp around 1909. It has had its ups and downs in the “fashions” of the folk revival, which is a great pity; its fine lyricism deserves a more stable position.

Barry Dransfield played The Water Is Wide in his role as the blind fiddler, Michael Byrne, in the Dino de Laurentiis movie The Bounty (1984) with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins. And he recorded it in 1994 for his CD Be Your Own Man.

Mary Black sang The Water Is Wide on her 1985 album Without the Fanfare.

Gay Woods sang a very short version of The Water Is Wide with just two verses on Steeleye Span’s 1996 CD Time. The sleeve notes commented:

They were once known as “love affairs” but now we call them “relationships”. They are still fraught, however, with what seems to be insurmountable problems and sometimes we know not if we “sink or swim”. When all is said and done, perhaps a “boat that will carry two” is the best way to navigate the sea of love and life.

An earlier live recording from The Forum, London on 2 September 1995 was released in 1999 on Steeleye Span’s 25^th anniversary double CD, The Journey. Their fiddler Peter Knight sang this song in 2002 on the Feast of Fiddles’ CD Nicely Wrong, and their guitar player Ken Nicol recorded it in 2006 for his solo album Thirteen Reasons.

June Tabor recorded The Water Is Wide in 1998 for her Topic CD A Quiet Eye; this track was also included on her anthology The Definitive Collection.

Niamh Parsons sang The Water Is Wide in 1999 on her Green Linnet album Blackbirds & Thrushes. She noted:

A very well known song, with a rich history in America, Ireland, and England. I got this version from Cyril O’Donohue from Ennis. The fifth verse makes this song for me.

e2K sang The Water Is Wide in 2001 on their Topic CD Shift. In the same year e2K won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Folk Awards, and this track was included on the accompanying CD The Folk Awards 2001.

Marsden Blant & Squire recorded The Water Is Wide in 2003 for their album Trio.

GiveWay sang The Water Is Wide in 2009 on their Greentrax CD Lost in This Song.

Jon Boden sang The Water Is Wide as the 13 September 2010 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. He commented in the blog:

I learnt to ‘fiddle-sing’ by learning half the arrangements off Be Your Own Man by the lime-light-shunning Barry Dransfield.

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

This is a version of The Water Is Wide and closely related to Waly Waly. This version comes from Elizabeth Mogg (or Mogeridge), one of Sharp’s informants [VWML CJS2/9/1027] . She lived a pretty racey life for a nineteenth century woman, bearing two illegitimate sons to two different fathers. However despite her bad choice in men, she was a good mother and well loved by the community in her village of Doddington. Her one pleasure was to consume large quantities of snuff. She died in 1921. Most of her songs, understandably concerned deserted maidens.

Banter sang Gathering Flowers in 2021 on their Mrs Casey album Three. They noted:

Collected widely by Cecil Sharp in Southern England and published by him in 1906 as The Water Is Wide. Also known commonly as O Waly Waly and appearing earlier in broadside collections without tunes, the ballad was frequently adapted by individual singers. We’re continuing that tradition with this reworking. A song about the matters of love and human nature. As true today as ever. (Child 204: Roud 87)

The Ian Walker Band sang The Water Is Wide on their 2023 album We Come to Sing. Ian Walker noted:

This widely popular song of Scottish origin dating from the 1600s is a variation of the ancient ballad Waly, Waly. It has been sung by an extraordinarily diverse range of artists worldwide from Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Pete Seeger to James Taylor, Barbara Streisand and Runrig … and now … us!

Lyrics

Louis Killen sings The Water Is Wide

The water is wide, I can’t get o’er
And neither have I wings to fly;
Give me a boat that will carry two
And will row my love and I.

Down in the meadow the other day
A-gathering flowers both bright and gay,
Gathering flowers red and blue
I little thought then what love might do.

I put my hand in some soft bush,
Thinking the fairest flower to find;
But I pricked my finger to the bone
And left the fairest flower behind.

I leaned my back against an oak,
I thought he was a trusty tree;
But first he bent and then he broke
And so did my false true love to me.

Oh, love is handsome and love is kind
Oh love’s a jewel when first is new.
But as it grows old love waxes cold
And fades away like the morning dew.

Oh, there’s a ship that sails the sea
She’s loaded deep as deep can be,
Yet not so deep as the love I’m in;
I know not if I sink or swim.

Barry Dransfield sings The Water Is Wide

The water is wide, I cannot get o’er
Nor yet have I the wings to fly;
Give me a boat that will carry two
And both shall row, my love and I.

Down in the meadow the other day
A-gathering flowers both bright and gay,
Gathering flowers both red and blue
I little thought what love could do.

I put my back against an oak
Thinking it was a trusty tree,
But first it bent and then it broke
Just like my own false love and me.

There is a ship and it sails the sea,
It’s loaded deep as deep can be.
But not so deep as this love I’m in
I know not if I sink or swim.

For love is gentle and love is true,
And love’s a pleasure when first it’s new.
But as it grows old it waxes cold,
Then fades away like the morning dew.

(repeat first verse)

Steeleye Span sing The Water Is Wide

There is a ship that sails the sea
It is loaded deep as deep can be.
But not so deep as the love I’m in
That I know not if I sink or swim.

The water is wide we cannot get o’er
And neither have I wings to fly.
Give me a boat that will carry two
That boat shall row my love and I

Note: On The Journey, the first line of the second verse ends with “I cannot swim over”.

June Tabor sings The Water Is Wide

The water is wide, I cannot get o’er
Neither have I wings to fly;
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I.

There is a ship and she sails the sea,
She’s loaded deep as deep can be.
But not so deep as the love I’m in,
I know not if I sink or swim.

I leaned my back against an oak
Thinking that she was a trusty tree,
But first she bent, aye, and then she broke,
So did my false love to me.

For love is handsome and love is fine,
And love’s a pleasure when first it’s new.
But love grows old, aye, and waxes cold
And fades away like morning dew.

Niamh Parsons sings The Water Is Wide

The water is wide, I can’t swim o’er
And neither have I wings to fly.
Build me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I.

There is a ship and she sails the sea,
She sails so deep as deep can be.
But not so deep as the love I’m in,
I know not how to sink or swim.

I leaned my back against an oak,
Thinking it was the strongest tree.
But first it bent and then it broke
And that’s the way love treated me.

For love is handsome and love is fine
And love’s a jewel when first it’s new.
But love grows old and waxes cold
And fades away like morning dew.

When salt sea turns far inland
And mussels grow on every tree,
When cockle shells make Christmas bells
Then would I lose my love for thee.

The water is wide, I can’t swim o’er
And neither have I wings to fly.
Build me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I,
And both shall row, my love and I.

Banter sing Gathering Flowers

The water is wide, I cannot get over
And neither have I wings to fly.
Give me a boat that will carry two
And both shall row my love and I.

Chorus (after each verse):
Down in the meadows I’m gathering flowers,
Gathering flowers, of red and blue – oh
Down in the meadow I’m gathering flowers,
I never thought what love can do.

I put my hand into one soft bush
Thinking the sweetest flower to find.
I pricked my finger right to the bone
And left the sweetest flower alone.

I leaned my back up against some oak
Thinking that he was a trusty tree.
But first he bended and then he broke
Just like my false love to me.

A ship there is and she sails the sea,
She’s loaded deep as deep can be.
But not so deep as the love I’m in,
I know not if I sink or swim.

O love is handsome and love is fine
And love’s a joy when it is new.
But when it is old it groweth cold
And fades away like the morning dew.