> Martin Carthy > Songs > Early One Morning

Early One Morning

[ Roud 12682 ; Ballad Index FSWB185 ; Mudcat 33631 ; trad.]

Martin Carthy and Maggie Goodall sang Early One Morning, a song of courting and abandonment, in 1984 on the album The Old Songs.

Lyrics

Martin Carthy and Maggie Goodall sing Early One Morning

Early one morning, just as the sun was rising,
I heard a maid sing in the valley below:
“Oh don’t deceive me, Oh never leave me,
How could you use a poor maiden so?

“Remember the vows that you made to me truly;
Remember how tenderly you nestled close to me.
Oh don’t deceive me, Oh never leave me,
How could you use a poor maiden so?

“And gay is the garland, fresh are the roses
I’ve culled from the garden to bind over thee.
I ask of the roses, why should I be forsaken?
Why must I here in sorrow remain?

“How could you slight so a fair maid who loves you,
A fair maid who loves you so dearly and warm?
Thus ever ranging, turning and changing,
Always seeking for a girl that is new.”

Thus sang the maiden, her sorrows bewailing;
Thus sang the poor maid in the valley below:
“Oh don’t deceive me, oh never leave me,
How could you use a poor maiden so?”