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The Leaves in the Woodland

[Peter Bellamy]

June Tabor sang the role of the Mother in Peter Bellamy’s ballad opera The Transports. In the 1992 Whitby Folk Festival performance of The Transports, Norma Waterson took over the role of the Mother.

Grace Notes sang The Leaves in the Woodland on the 2004 re-recording of The Transports.

Peter and Barbara Snape sang The Leaves in the Woodland on their 2011 CD Revel & Rally. Barbara Snape noted:

From The Transports—A Ballad Opera written by Peter Bellamy. The song was sung by the mother (June Tabor) in the original recording in 1977 and it is a most beautiful and haunting song.

Lyrics

Oh the grass in the meadow, the reeds by the mere,
The sad boom of the bittern is all that I hear.
And the leaves in the woodland and the gulls by the shore
Cry: 𝄆 You never shall sit by your loved-ones no more. 𝄇

When I was a young girl the world did seem gay,
But these cruel hard times do drive comfort away.
And the leaves in the woodland and the gulls by the shore
Cry: 𝄆 You never shall dance with your sweetheart no more. 𝄇

Once I gathered wild flowers in the sweet countryside,
But my garlands have withered, my posies have died.
And the leaves in the woodland and the gulls by the shore
Cry: 𝄆 You never shall lie by your husband no more. 𝄇

Once I went a-courting, but now my man’s gone,
Once I was a mother, but now I’m alone.
And the leaves in the woodland and the gulls by the shore
Cry: 𝄆 You never shall walk with your men-folk no more. 𝄇

Come all you young women that’s free from all care,
Don’t you ever get married, all sorrows lies there.
For the leaves in the woodland and the gulls by the shore
Cry: 𝄆 The heart that is given no man may restore. 𝄇

Now the fields are all empty, the hedgerows are bare,
Only wild desolation is all I find there.
I’ll go down to the river to ease all my pain
And 𝄆 who knows, but I might find my dear ones again. 𝄇

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Wolfgang Hell who kindly provided me with the sleeve notes of the The Transports LPs. I changed a few words to the actual singing of June Tabor. Thanks to Chiho Nakagawa for correcting some more words.