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> A.L. Lloyd > Songs > Sovay, the Female Highwayman
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The Female Highwayman / Cecilia / Sovay / Sylvia

[ Roud 7 ; Master title: The Female Highwayman ; Laws N21 ; Henry H35 ; Ballad Index LN21 ; VWML CJS2/9/11 , CJS2/10/2685 , GG/1/3/95 ; Bodleian Roud 7 ; GlosTrad Roud 7 ; Wiltshire 561 ; trad.]

Gale Huntington, Lani Herrmann, John Moulden: Sam Henry’s Songs of the People Maud Karpeles: The Crystal Spring Roy Palmer: Everyman’s Book of British Ballads Frak Purslow: The Wanton Seed Steve Roud, Julia Bishop: The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs

Timothy Walsh of Devonport, Devon, sang Sylvia to Cyril Tawney on 5 April 1960. This BBC recording 26310 was included without its last two verses on the anthology Fair Game and Foul (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 7; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1970). The album’s booklet noted:

Possibly this ballad does not belong in its present company, for it is actually another form of the romantic tale of the young lady who dresses in men’s clothes in order to pursue her sweetheart. In this case, the heroine decides to test her lover’s devotion by disguising herself as a highwayman and demanding at pistol point the ring she had given him as a love-token. He willingly gives over his money and watch, but swears that he will die before he will surrender the ring. Tender-hearted Sylvia rides away hiding her blushes and her pleasure under her outlaw’s disguise.

A number of versions have been collected in various parts of England, New England, and Eastern Canada. The usual title is The Female Highwayman. Old Timothy Walsh sings a fragmentary version to which we add the following stanzas from other sources:

After verse 5:

What makes you blush at such a silly thing?
I fain would have had your diamond ring,
For ’twas I that robbed you on the plain—
So take your watch and gold again.

Last 2 verses:

I only did it for to know
Whether you were a true-lover or no.
But now I’ve a contented mind;
My heart and all, my dear, are thine.

The match was made without delay
And soon they fixed the wedding day,
And now they live in joy and content
In happiness their days are spent.

Laws, 213.

Martin Carthy sang Sovay in 1965 on his first album Martin Carthy. A slightly different version of Sovay is on Brass Monkey’s eponymous 1983 album Brass Monkey, re-released in 1993 both on the CD The Complete Brass Monkey and on Carthy’s anthology Rigs of the Time, and in 2003 on the Martin Carthy anthology The Definitive Collection. A live recording with Dave Swarbrick at the Folkus Folk Club in 1966 is available on Both Ears and the Tail, another one—recorded at Focal Point, St. Louis, Missouri in 1990—is on their album Life and Limb.

Martin Carthy noted on his first album:

Sovay Sovay was a great favourite among country singers and was printed by Such, among others, under its alternative title of The Female Highwayman. Her name varies from place to place—Sovay, Silvy, Shilo, Sally, etc. —but the story remains the same being a rather involved and slightly chancy way of establishing her lover’s good faith. The tune sung here was collected by Hammond in Dorset and slightly altered rhythmically by Bert Lloyd giving it a somewhat Balkan lift. The text is collated from various versions.

This video shows Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick on the Australian TV programme “Tonight Live” on 22 January 1990:

A.L. Lloyd sings a very similar version (same tune, slightly different words) of Sovay, the Female Highwayman on his 1966 album First Person. This was also included, for example, on the CD reissue of his and Ewan MacColl’s album Bold Sportsmen All and in 1994 on his Fellside anthology Classic A.L. Lloyd. He noted:

Another girl who dressed in men’s clothes, high-spirited this time to a dangerous degree. The heroine of this piece has been called “the kinkiest girl in folk song”. It’s not quite clear whether her name is really Sylvie or Sophie, but of her forthright and adventurous character there can be no doubt. Lucy Broadwood found this “an exceedingly favourite ballad with country singers”, and every collector of prominence has found versions of it. The good Dorian tune here is akin to the one Sharp published to the words of The Flash Lad (he called it The Robber) in his Somerset series, Vol. V, and is substantially the same as H.E.D. Hammond’s Sovie tune from Long Burton, Dorset. In a couple of places I’ve added a pinch of spice to the rhythm which seems to me to suit the character of both the song and its heroine.

Pentangle sang Sovay in 1968 on their second Transatlantic album, Sweet Child, and Bert Jansch sang it in 1980 on his album Thirteen Down. This Pentangle video from Six Fifty-Five Special on 5 August 1982 has both Bert Jansch and Jacqui McShee singing:

George Dunn sang The Female Highwayman in 1971 to Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. This recording was included in 2002 on his Musical Traditions anthology Chainmaker. Roy Palmer noted:

Under various names, including Priscilla, Zillah, Sylvia, Sovay, Sovie and Cecilia, our female highwayman tests her true love’s allegiance in a song with a soppy scenario but a good tune which commanded widespread admiration for a couple of centuries. Almost all Roud’s 62 examples are from southern England—but I also collected a version from one J Francis, from nearby Castle Bromwich, Warwickshire, in 1974. There are only two other British recordings of this song known to Roud; by Timothy Walsh, of Devonport, and Mabs Hall, of Billingshurst, Sussex.

George, who had no title for the song, initially remembered a substantial fragment, and eventually the full text.

Anne Briggs recorded Sovay in 1973 but the ensuing album was shelved, only to be released in 1996 as Sing a Song for You. She noted:

Other people have minutely psychoanalysed this song, so I won’t! Just to say it’s an amusing exchange of gender roles—“it made him blush like a rose” when he realised that he’d been had. But “she’d have pulled the trigger and shot him dead” if he’d blown it. Strong stuff.

A 1971 recording, very probably an out-take from the recording sessions for her 1971 Topic album Anne Briggs, was released on Record Store Day 2024 on the 7" bonus single The Lost Tape accompanying that album’s reissue. She noted:

Clearly uncertain about her love’s intentions, she decided to put him to the test at the point of a gun and requests he surrenders a love token she had given him. He didn’t recognize her because she was dressed as a highwayman and he refuses to give her his ring, even on the point of death. She decided he must be okay, so doesn’t shoot him and tells him what a lucky fellow he was.

The timing in the song is unusual and reminiscent of East European folk music and all adds to the suspense of the story.

Bert Lloyd introduced me to this version.

Isla St Clair sang Sovay on her 1981 BBC television soundtrack album The Song and the Story.

Mabs Hall sang Cecilia to John Howson or Mike Yates in the 1980s. This recording was included in the 1990s on the Veteran Tapes cassette of traditional singing in Sussex, Ripest Apples, and in 2008 on her and her son Gordon Hall’s Veteran anthology As I Went Down to Horsham. John Howson and Mike Yates noted:

Most Victorian broadside printers, including Pitts, Catnach, Disley and Such, all of London, Lund of York, Wright of Birmingham, and Stenton of Cheltenham, called this Silvia’s Request and (Young) William’s Denial. One unknown printer used the title Sylvia’s Cruelty to Her Kind Lover, while Magee of Belfast simply called it Sylvia. It was once extremely popular in southern England often under the title The Female Highwayman (there are seven versions in Cecil Sharp’s collection) and many versions have turned up along the eastern seaboard of Canada and America. Mabs learned her version from her father, and it was one of her favourite songs. Gordon also enjoyed the song and he can be heard singing it on Good Things Enough.

Gordon Hall sang Cecilia in a private recording in 1994 that was included in 2001 on his posthumous Country Branch album Good Things Enough. Roy Palmer noted:

Cecilia, Priscilla, Zillah, Sylvia, Sovay: the name varies but the action always concerns a woman who dresses as a highwayman to ambush her lover and test his constancy—hence the song’s usual title of The Female Highwayman. Gordon’s mother, Mabel, learned this version from her father and it was one of her favourite songs.

Liliana Bertolo, Evelyne Girardon and Sandra Kerr sang Sove in 1997 on their Fellside CD Voice Union.

Pete Morton sang Sylvia on his 1998 Harbourtown album Trespass. He noted:

Sexy woman seeks man who likes horse riding and dressing up. Must remain faithful even when looking down the barrel of a gun.

The Witches of Elswick sang Sovai in 2003 on their first CD Out of Bed. They noted:

Becky [Stockwell] and Fay [Hield] have sung this for years, albeit a couple of hundred miles apart, and forced Bry[ony Griffith] and Gillian [Tolfrey] to sing it at gun point in true highway woman style. They got it right in the end.

Emily & Hazel Askew sang Sovay in 2005 on their first WildGoose CD, Six By Two. They noted:

This is a great song about a woman trying to find out if her lover is worthy enough to marry. I wonder if he did marry her after this… she’s certainly not for the weak hearted!

Steve Jordan sang The Female Highwayman in 2005 on the Hampshire half of the Forest Tracks album Folk Songs From Hampshire and Dorset. Paul March noted:

Another taken directly from the mss, noted from Richard Hall of Itchen Abbas, June 1905 [VWML GG/1/3/95] .

First published in the eighteenth century as Sylvie, the Female Highwayman. Dressing in disguise, in this case as a highwayman, to test whether a lover is true, is a popular theme in traditional song.

Benji Kirkpatrick sang Sovay in 2005 on the Fellside anthology of English traditional songs and their American variants, Song Links 2, and Jeff Davis sang the related American variant Pretty Sylvia. Paul Adams noted on Sovay:

Sovay, or Sophie or Sylvie as she is called in printed broadsides, is otherwise known as The Female Highwayman. She is a resourceful young woman who tests her sweetheart’s love by dressing up as a highwayman in order to rob him and make him part with the ring that she gave him. Cecil Sharp collected this version in September 1903, in Hambridge, Somerset, from Mrs Louie (Louisa) Hooper and her sister Mrs Lucy White [VWML CJS2/9/11, CJS2/10/6] , from whom he collected a hundred songs.

In 1931, Louie spotted an item in her local newspaper. A.H. Fox Strangways, who was writing a biography about Sharp, was enquiring for information about him. Louie responded:

Oct 12/1931 Louisa Hooper, 100 Westport, Hambridge

Sir, I was looking down the paper when I seen Cecil Sharp’s name. And you wanted to know if any one knew him. Now I must say, I Louie Hooper and my sister Lucy White both of this place knew him quite well and spent many a happy hour singing to him at the Vickrige (sic) Hambridge with Father Marson, his friend. He took our photos and put them in the first book of Somerset Folks Songs. He often came to my house with Miss Bertha Clark for to here (sic) me sing. He gave me a nice concertina. I could play it. And Mrs Sharp gave me and my sister a new blouse each…

Sovay is published in The Crystal Spring: English Folk Songs collected by Cecil Sharp, edited by Maud Karpeles, OUP 1975.

… and on Pretty Sylvia:

Otherwise known as The Female Highwayman, this song held a great appeal for many women, perhaps vicariously enjoying Sylvia’s spirited behaviour.

Jeffrey Davis writes: “In the summer of 1940, the folk song collectors Anne and Frank Warner went to visit friends near Peterborough in southern New Hampshire. The Warners heard that there was a woman living nearby who knew dozens of old songs. They got the woman’s address, knocked on the door and met Lena Bourne Fish. When Mrs Fish heard that the Warners were interested in old songs, she invited them in, sat them down, and in four recording sessions over four weekends sang not a dozen, but a hundred songs. Her repertoire was a splendid variety of material, from the most ancient English ballads and old broadsides, to theatre pieces dating from her childhood. Mrs Fish kept the words to her songs in a notebook for fear she’d forget them some day, but had no such help with the tunes. She had a wonderful precise memory for tunes, and where other singers flattened tunes, she kept intact complicated, angular and antique melodies. I learned the song from the singing of the Warners’ older son, Jeff, who unconsciously changed a few words, and I’ve shifted a few more.”

A version called Silvy Gay, from the singing of Henry Burton in Roulette, Pennsylvania, was published in Shoemaker’s Mountain Minstrelsy of Pennsylvania (1931).

Rubus sang this song as Cecilia in 2008 on their CD Nine Witch Knots. Emily Portman noted:

Cecilia, disguised as a highwayman, holds up and threatens to shoot her boyfriend as a test of his loyalty. Some may see this song as celebrating a feisty feminist before her time; but it could also be seen to tread a fine line between militancy and madness. This version comes from the singing of Mabs Hall of Sussex (Ripest Apples, Veteran VT107) who leaves us to make our own minds up about the lovers’ fate.

James Yorkston & The Big Eyes Family Players sang Sovay in 2009 on their Domino album Folk Songs.

Isambarde sang Sovay on their 2010 CD Telling Tales.

The Outside Track sang Silvy Silvy, “from Helen Creighton’s collection of songs from New Brunswick”, in 2010 on their CD Curious Things Given Wings.

Steve Roud included The Female Highwayman in 2012 in The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. Lucy Ward, James Findlay, Bella Hardy and Brian Peters sang it a year later on the accompanying Fellside CD The Liberty to Choose.

GreenMatthews sang Sovay on their 2013 CD A Brief History of Music 1260-1915.

Hannah Sanders and Liz Simmons sang Sovay on their 2013 EP World Begun.

Danny Spooner sang Sovay on his 2013 CD Gorgeous, Game Girls. He noted:

In folksongs it’s usually the male who uses a disguise to test the fidelity of his sweetheart. In this song, however, the situation is reversed and one is left wondering whether she would have carried out her threat had he handed over the ring.

Andy Turner sang Sovay as the 21 April 2013 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week, and returned to it in 2017 on Magpie Lane’s CD Three Quarter Time. They noted:

Sovay was collected in 1911 from William Pratley of Ascott-under-Wychwood in Oxfordshire, by Cecil Sharp [VWML CJS2/10/2685] . Mr Pratley was also a Morris dancer, and was one of Sharp’s sources when collecting the Ascott-under-Wychwood Morris dances. Our arrangement starts with a processional Morris dance from Wheatley in Oxfordshire called, reasonably enough, The Wheatley Processional.

Laura Smyth sang Cecilia on her and Ted Kemp’s 2017 CD The Poacher’s Fate. They noted:

Tales of women cross-dressing occur frequently in traditional folk song. By adopting men’s clothing the woman is liberated, becoming an active character in the story. In Cecilia the woman tests the loyalty of her sweetheart. Laura learned this song from the fantastic larger-than-life Sussex singer and gin drinker, Gordon Hall. Whilst not using the same vocal mannerisms, Laura hopes that she has captured some of the spirit of Gordon’s performances.

Rachael McShane sang Sylvie in 2018 on her Topic album with The Cartographers, When All Is Still. She noted:

This version of The Female Highwayman or Sovay was one of the first songs we put together as a band. I’d just bought a viola and was enamoured by the sound of the open strings, so that became the opening of the arrangement. Sylvie disguises herself as a highwayman to test her lover’s loyalty and bravery. She sounds like the ultimate bridezilla to me, he’d be better off out of it.

Melrose Quartet sang Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer to the tune of Sovay in 2019 as part of their Rudolph Variations.

Varo sang Sovay in 2020 on their eponymous first album, Varo. They noted:

We first heard this Suffolk song on Anne Briggs’ album Sing a Song for You. It tells the tale of a woman who decides to test the love of her man by dressing as a highway robber and attacking him in a valley to attempt to steal the ring she had given him as a keepsake. From the very beginning we have been interested in songs told from a female perspective and this particular song grabbed our attention straight away. The woman in the story is a very strong character, as opposed to the more common scenario in which the woman is portrayed as a powerless victim who is either betrayed or abandoned by a man.

Suthering sang Sovay on their 2022 album If We Turn Away.

Bird in the Belly sang Sovay on the 2023 anthology Sing Yonder 1. They noted:

We based our interpretation of this song on the singing of Martin Carthy which was adapted by A.L. Lloyd. Production wise, we punctuated the song with lush romantic flute solos to [hopefully] invoke images of Sovay riding on horseback on the plains.

Matt Quinn sang Cecilia, “from the powerhouse singing of Gordon Hall”, on his 2024 download album Quinn the Roud: 1-10 in which he followed up Series 1 of his folk song podcast In the Roud with his own recordings of the Roud 1-10 songs.

See also The Male Female Highwayman on the Kipper Family’s 1984 album Since Time Immoral.

Lyrics

Timothy Walsh sings Sylvia

Sylvia, Sylvia, Sylvia one day,
She dressed herself in men’s array
With a loaded pistol down by her side
To rob her true-love, to rob her true-love Sylvia did ride.

As she rode up to him and she bid him stand,
Stand and deliver all the gold you have,
Stand and deliver all your gold and store,
Or else this moment, or else this moment you life’s no more.

He delivered up all his gold in store,
But yet, she said, there is one thing more,
There’s a diamond ring that 1 know you do wear,
Deliver it, deliver it and your life I’ll spare

Now this diamond ring, being a token give o’er,
This ring I’ll keep or lose my life.
She was tender-hearted, just like a dove.
She rode, she rode from her own true-love.

[ Now as they were walking the garden green;
He spied his watch hanging from her chain,
He spied his watch hanging through her cloak,
Which made her blush, which made her blush like any rose. ]

[ Now why did you enter such a silly plot?
Suppose that pistol you did have shot—
If you had shot me upon that plain,
For ever after, for ever after you’d be put to shame. ]

Martin Carthy sings Sovay

Sovay, Sovay all on a day,
She dressed herself in man’s array
With a sword and pistol all by her side
To meet her true love, to meet her true love, away did ride.

As she was riding over the plain
She met her true love and bid him stand:
“Your gold and silver, kind Sir,” she said,
“Or else this moment, or else this moment, your life I’ll have.”

And when she’d robbed him of his store
She said, “Kind Sir, there is one thing more:
A golden ring which I know you have,
Deliver it, deliver it, your sweet life to save.”

“Oh that golden ring a token is;
My life I’ll lose, the ring I’ll save.”
Being tender-hearted just like a dove,
She rode away, she rode away, from her true love.

Now next morning in the garden green
Just like true lovers* they were seen;
He spied his watch hanging by her clothes
Which made him blush, made him blush, like any rose.

“Oh what makes you blush at so silly a thing,
I thought to have had your golden ring;
’Twas I that robbed you all on the plain,
So here’s your watch, here’s your watch and your gold again.”

“Oh I did intend and it was to know
If that you were me true love or no.
So now I have a contented mind
My heart and all my heart and all my dear is thine.”

* Martin Carthy pronounces it loviers or lovyers.

Brass Monkey sing Sovay

Sovay, Sovay all on a day
She dressed herself in man’s array
With a sword and a pistol all by her side
To meet her true love, to meet her true love, away did ride.

And as she was a-riding over the plain
She met her true love and bid him stand;
“Your gold and silver, kind Sir,” she said,
“Or else this moment, or else this moment, your life I’ll have.”

And when she’d robbed him of his store
She says, “Kind sir, there is one thing more:
A golden ring which I know you have,
Deliver it, deliver it, your sweet life to save.”

“Oh that golden ring a token is:
My life I’ll lose, the ring I’ll save.”
Being tender-hearted just like a dove,
She rode away, she rode away, from her true love.

Oh next morning in the garden green
Just like true lovers they were seen;
Oh he spied his watch hanging by her clothes
And it made him blush, made him blush like any rose.

“Oh what makes you blush at so silly a thing,
I thought to have had your golden ring:
It was I that robbed you all on the plain,
So here’s your watch, here’s your watch and your gold again.”

“I did intend and it was to know
If that you were me true love or no.
For if you’d have give me that ring,“ she said,
“I’d have pulled the trigger, I’d have pulled the trigger, and shot you dead.”

A.L. Lloyd sings Sovay, the Female Highwayman

Sovay Sovay all on a day
She dressed herself in man’s array
With a brace of pistols all at her side
To meet her true love, to meet her true love, away she ride.

As she was galloping on the plain
She met her sweetheart and bid him stand:
“Stand and deliver, young man,” she said,
“If’n you do not, if’n you do not, I’ll shoot you dead.”

He delivered up his golden store
And still she craved for one thing more:
“That diamond ring that I see you wear,
Oh hand it over, oh hand it over, and your life I’ll spare.”

“From me diamond ring I wouldn’t part,
For it’s a token from me sweetheart.
Shoot and be damned, you rogue,” said he,
“And you’ll be hanged, and you’ll be hanged for murdering me.”
She being soft-hearted much like a dove
She turned her horse and she rode away from her true love.

Next morning in the garden green
Young Sophie and her love were seen;
He spied his watch hanging by her clothes
Which made him blush, lads, which made him blush like any rose.

“Why do you blush you foolish thing,
I thought to have that diamond ring.
Twas I who robbed you all on the plain
And here’s your gold, love, and here’s your gold and your watch and chain.”

“I only did it for to know
Whether you were a man or no;
If you had given me that ring,” she said,
“I’d have pulled the trigger, I’d pulled the trigger and shot you dead.”

George Dunn sings The Female Highwayman

Shiloh, Shiloh, one day, one day,
She dressed herself in man’s array;
With a sword and pistol by her side
To meet her true love, to meet her true love away did ride.

She met her true love on the plain,
“Stand and deliver, sir,” she said,
“Stand and deliver, sir,” she said,
“Or else this moment, or else this moment I will shoot you dead.”

He stood and delivered of his golden store.
She then cried out, “There is one thing more.
There’s a diamond ring I know you have:
Deliver it, deliver it your dear life to save.”

“The diamond ring was given by my love
Was a token of our own true love.
To deliver it would not be right,
So I’ll keep the ring, I’ll keep the ring if you take my life.”

Next morning in the garden green
Just like two lovers they did meet.
He saw his watch hang down her clothes,
Which made him blush, which made him blush like any rose.

“What makes you blush, you silly thing?
It was I that wanted your diamond ring;
It was I that met you on the plain,
Oh take your watch, on take your watch and your gold again.

“I only did it for to know
Whether you were my true love or no,
But now I have contented mind:
My hand and heart, love, my hand and heart, love, and all is thine.”

And now this couple married were,
And they did live a happy life.
The bell did ring and the music play,
And they got pleasure, and they got pleasure both night and day.

Mabs Hall sings Cecilia

Cecilia on one certain day
She dressed herself in man’s array,
With a brace of pistols all by her side
To meet her true love, to meet her true love,
To meet her true love away did ride.

She met him boldly on the plain.
“Stand and deliver,” she said, “ young man.
Stand and deliver, young man,“ she said,
“Or else this moment, or else this moment.
Or this very moment your life I’ll lay.”

She robbed him of his watch and gold.
Gave him the empty purse to hold.
Saying, “There’s one thing more on your finger now.
Deliver it to me, deliver it to me,
Deliver it to me, your life to spare.”

“That diamond ring a token was,
Before I’d loose it my life I’d loose.”
She being tender hearted, more like a dove,
She rode away, she rode away,
She rode away from her own true love.

Early next morning, plain to be seen,
That couple walked on the garden green.
When he saw his watch hanging by her clothes
Which made him blush, which made him blush,
Which made him blush, like the damask rose.

“How can you blush at such a thing,
More if I’d had your diamond ring.
For it’s I that robbed you, upon the plain.
Now take your gold love, now take your gold love,
Now take your gold love and your watch again.”

The Witches of Elswick sing Sovai

Sovay Sovay all on a day
She dressed herself in man’s array
With sword and pistols down by her side
To meet her true love, to meet her true love, away did ride.

She met her true love all on the plain
She stepped up to him and bade him stand:
“Stand and deliver unto me
“Or else this moment, or else this moment I’ll shoot you dead.”

He gave her all his golden store
But still she said, “There is one thing more:
A diamond ring, sir, I’ve seen you wear;
Make haste and give it, make haste and give it, your life I’ll spare.”

“This diamond ring is a pledge of love;
My life I’ll lose before the ring I’ll give.”
Being tender-hearted just like a dove,
She turned around, she turned around and left her love.

One day after these two were seen
Walking together in the garden green,
He spied his watch hanging by her clothes
Which made him blush, made him blush like any rose.

“What makes you blush so silly a thing,
I fain would have had your diamond ring.
It was I who robbed you down on the plain
So here’s your watch, love, here’s your watch and your gold again.”

“I did it just for to know
If that you were a true love or no;
But if you’d have given me that ring,” she said,
“I’d have pulled the trigger, I’d have pulled the trigger and shot you dead.”

Benji Kirkpatrick sings Sovay

Sovay, Sovay all in one day,
She dressed herself in man’s array,
𝄆 With a brace of pistols by her side,
To meet her true love and away did ride. 𝄇

As she was riding over the plain
She met her true lo$e and bid him stand.
𝄆 “Stand and deliver, kind sir,” she said,
“Or else this moment I’ll shoot you dead.” 𝄇

Then he delivered all his gold;
“Oh then,” she said, “there’s one thing more,
𝄆 There’s a diamond ring that I see you wear.
Deliver it and your life I’ll spare.” 𝄇

“My ring’s a token of love for me,
My ring I’ll save and my life I’ll lose.”
𝄆 Being tender-hearted like a dove,
Away she rode from her own true love. 𝄇

As they were walking in a garden green
Much like two lovers they were seen;
𝄆 He saw his watch hanging by her clothes,
Which made him blush just like any rose. 𝄇

“What made you blush, you silly thing?
I fain would have had yon diamond ring.
𝄆 It was I that robbed you all on the plain.
So take your gold, love, and watch and chain. 𝄇

“I only did it for to know
Whether you were loyal, yes or no.
𝄆 Since now I know your intended mind,
My heart, my hand and my all is thine.” 𝄇

Jeff Davis sings Pretty Sylvia

Pretty Sylvia on a summer’s day,
She dressed herself in man’s array.
A sword and pistol hung by her side
To rob her true love she did ride.

She met her true love all on the plain,
She boldly bade her true lover stand:
“Stand and deliver, without no strife,
Or in one moment I’ll end your life.”

After he had given her his gold
She said, “There is one thing that you hold:
That diamond ring you so proudly wear,
Deliver it and your life I’ll spare”

“That diamond ring is a gift of love,
Gives by that’s constant as a dove.
Of all my gold I will freely share;
End my life, but the ring I’ll spare.”

She rode away from her own true love
For she was harmless as the dove.
Love or gold, to see which was the best,
Her own true lover had stood the test.

As they were walking in the garden green
No fairer couple was ever seen;
He saw his watch hanging by her clothes
Which made him blush like a blooming rose.

“Why do you blush at a deed so bold?
I would freely give you back your watch and gold.
And since your love to me has proven true
Nothing but death parts me from you.”

Pretty Sylvia on a summer’s day,
She dressed herself in man’s array.
Her sword and pistol hung by her side
To rob her true love she did ride.

Laura Smyth sings Cecilia

Cecilia on one certain day,
She dressed herself in man’s array,
With a brace of pistols all by her side
To meet her true love, to meet her true love,
To meet her true love away did ride.

She met him boldly on the plain,
“Stand and deliver,” she said, “young man,
Stand and deliver, young man,” she said,
“Or else this moment, or else this moment,
Or else this moment your life I’ll lay.”

She robbed him of his watch and gold,
Gave him the empty purse to hold.
Saying, “There’s one thing more on your finger now:
Deliver it to me, deliver it to me,
Deliver it your life to spare.”

“This diamond ring a token was,
Before I’d lose it I’d lose my life.”
She being tender hearted, more like a dove,
She rode away, she rode away,
She rode away from her own true love.

Now early next morning plain to be seen
This couple walked on the garden green,
When he saw his watch hanging by her clothes
Which made him blush, which made him blush,
Which made him blush like the damask rose.

“How can you blush at such a thing,
More if I’d had your diamond ring.
For it was I who robbed you upon the plain,
So take your gold, love, so take your gold, love,
So take your gold, love, and watch again.”

“Why did you enter such a foolish plot?
Suppose your pistols you would have shot,
And if you had killed me out on the plain,
Forever after, forever after,
Forever after you’d be brought to shame.”

“I did intend and ’twas to know
Whether your love it was true or no.
But now I have a contented mind,
My love and all, my love and all,
My love and all, dear, they are thine.”

So this couple married were
And they do live a most happy pair.
For the bells do ring and the music play
And they have pleasure, and they have pleasure,
And they have pleasure both night and day.