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> Cyril Tawney > Songs > Must I Be Bound?
> June Tabor > Songs > Must I Be Bound?
> Maddy Prior > Songs > Must I Be Bound?

Deep in Love / Down in the Meadow / Must I Be Bound?

[ Roud 18829 ; Master title: Deep in Love ; Henry H218ab ; Ballad Index HHH218 ; VWML HAM/2/5/15 ; Mudcat 73011 ; trad.]

Shirley Collins sang Must I Go Bound? in 1964 on her Collector EP Shirley Sings Irish.

H.E.D. Hammond collected Must I Be Bound? in August 1905 from Jacob Baker of Bere Regis, Dorset [VWML HAM/2/5/15] . Cyril Tawney sang Must I Be Bound? in 1973 on his Argo album of traditional love songs from South West England, I Will Give My Love.

Jasper Smith sang this song as Down in the Meadow to Mike Yates near Epsom, Surrey, probably on 26 April 1975. This recording was included in 1979 on Yates’ Topic anthology of songs, stories and tunes from English gypsies, Travellers, and in 1998 on the Topic anthology My Father’s the King of the Gypsies (The Voice of the People Series Volume 11).

Yorkshire Relish (Derek, Dorothy and Nadine Elliott) sang Must I Be Bound? in 1980 on their Traditional Sound album An Old Family Business.

John Kirkpatrick and Sue Harris sang Must I Be Bound? in 1989 on their Topic album Stolen Ground. Their version comes from My Song Is My Own, compiled by Kathy Henderson with Frankie Armstrong and Sandra Kerr, published by Pluto Press in 1979.

June Tabor sang Must I Be Bound? in 1999 on her album A Quiet Eye. This recording was later included on the Topic anthology A Woman’s Voice: First Person Singular.

Maddy Prior sang Must I Be Bound? with Liliana Bertolo, Evelyne Girardon, Sandra Kerr on their 1997 Fellside CD Voice Union.

Carolyn Robson and the Tabbush Sisters sang Must I Be Bound? in 2004 on the Mrs Casey anthology Evolving Tradition 4.

Miranda Sykes sang Deep in Love in 2005 on her Irregular CD Miranda Sykes Band.

The Witches of Elswick sang Must I Be Bound? in 2005 on their second and last album, Hell’s Belles. They noted:

This is an absolutely miserable song that Becky found when she was extremely single and wanted to whinge about men. It’s from Sandra Kerr, Kathy Henderson and Frankie Armstrong’s book My Song Is My Own [but it’s not on their same-named LP]. We’re glad Becky got it out of her system, because she’s got a lovely fella now, unlike the one in the song…

Peter and Barbara Snape sang Must I Be Bound? on their 2011 CD Revel & Rally. Barbara Snape noted:

I’ve had the words of this song for a long time but never knew of a tune for it until recently. Now we have a lovely haunting melody to put to the story based on an eclectic text in Sam Henry’s collection and also related to Christie’s Traditional Ballad Airs. The last verse crops up frequently in other songs such as False Young Man and Verdant Braes of Skreen for example. I admire the fact that she comes out of an abusive relationship optimistically stronger.

Rachel Newton sang Must I Be Bound? on her 2012 CD The Shadow Side.

Gladys Stone sang Deep in Love to Bob Copper at Fittleworth, Sussex on 27 November 1954. This recording was included in 2012 on the Topic anthology You Never Heard So Sweet (The Voice of the People Series Volume 21).

This video shows Jefferson Hamer and Rosie Hood singing Must I Be Bound? at Cecil Sharp House, London, in December 2015:

Matt Quinn learned Deep in Love from the singing of Gladys Stone and recorded it for his 2017 CD The Brighton Line.

Nick Hart learned Down in the Meadow from the singing of Jasper Smith and sang it on his 2017 CD Nick Hart Sings Eight English Folk Songs.

Sandra Kerr sang Must I Be Bound? on her 2019 CD Rebel With Her Chords. She noted:

The beauty of the melody and imagery almost overshadow the harshness of the subject: abuse in a relationship. From the Hammond & Gardiner collection.

Eric D. Johnson and Anaïs Mitchell sang Deep in Love on Bonny Light Horseman’s 2020 eponymous album Bonny Light Horseman.

Angeline Morrison sang Must I Be Bound? on her 2022 album The Brown Girl and Other Folk Songs. She noted:

The heart-rending version sung by June Tabor was my first experience of this song—and what an experience. Another ancient song with many versions, Must I Be Bound was collected in 1905 from the singing of Jacob Baker in Bere Regis, Dorset, by H.E.D. Hammond. The storytelling and human emotion in this song is stark and eloquent.

Emily Portman and Rob Harbron sang Down in the Meadow on their 2022 album Time Was Away. They noted:

Within this small but finely wrought song, the briefest of floating verses succinctly juxtapose an innocent moment picking flowers in a meadow with the chaos and destruction left in love’s wake. The digger sounds that bookend this song were recorded as they dug up Emily’s local ‘meadow’, a patch of wasteland down by the river Mersey, where wildflowers grew over the landfill that was dumped there in the 1980s, until it was upturned for regeneration and housing. Emily learned this song from a recording of the fine singer Jasper Smith (1921-2003), brother to Levi Smith and an activist for his Romany community around Kent and Surrey.

Maddie Morris learned Must I Be Bound from the singing of Rachel Newton and sang it with adapted lyrics on her 2024 CD Skin.

Lyrics

Cyril Tawney sings Must I Be Bound?

Must I be bound, or must I go free
To love a young maid who never loved me?
Why should I act such a childish part,
To love a young maiden with all my heart?

She loves another, she loves not me.
She cares not for my company.
She loves another, I’ll tell you why,
Because he’s got more gold than I.

I put my back up against an oak
Thinking it was some trusty tree,
But first it bent, and then it broke,
And so did my false love to me.

I put my head into a bush
Thinking some sweeter flower to find.
I pricked my finger to the bone
Leaving that sweetest flower alone.

Since roses are such prickly flowers
They should be gathered when they’re green.
And I did court such an unkind love,
I’m sure I’m striving against the stream.

Against the stream I dare not go,
For fear that it shall overflow,
And not so deep in love am I
That I care not whether I live or die.

She gave me honey all mixed with gall,
She gave me words and vows withall.
She gave me a delicate gown to wear
All stitched with sorrow and hemmed with fear.

Now here’s her health I mean to drink,
And from her arms I will not shrink.
She hath my heart, go where she will,
Although she’s false I must love her still.

Jasper Smith sings Down in the Meadow

Oh, down in the meadow the other day
Gathering flowers both fine and both gay.
Gathering flowers both red and blue,
There was little thought what love could do.

So I leaned my back against an oak,
Thinking it was a trusty tree.
That first it bent and then it broke.
So did my true love to me.

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

June Tabor sings Must I Be Bound?

Must I be bound while you go free?
Must I love one who never loved me?
Must I enact such a childish part
And follow one who will break my heart?

The first thing that my love gave me,
It was a cap well lined with lead.
The longer that I wore that cap,
It grew the heavier on my head.

You gave me a mantle for to wear,
Lined with grief and stitched with care.
And the drink you gave me was bitter gall
And the blows you gave to me were worse than all.

And the last thing that my love gave me gave me,
It was a belt with colours three.
And the first was pain and the next was sorrow
And the last it was sad misery.

But I will climb up that high, high tree,
And I will rob that wild bird’s nest
And I will fall without a fear
And find me one that loves me the best.

The Witches of Elswick sings Must I Be Bound?

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
Must I be bound and you go free?
Must I love one who ne’er loved me?
Why should I play such a childish part
To go after a boy who will break my heart?

Oh, the first thing that my love gave to me,
Oh, it was a cap well lined with lead.
And the longer that I wore that cap,
Oh, the weight did grow all upon my head.

And next he bought me a mantle to wear,
All lined with sorrow and stitched with care.
And the drink he gave me was bitter gall
But the blows he gave to me were worse than all.

And the last thing that my lad gave to me,
Oh, it was a belt with colours three.
The first was shame, the next sorrow
And last of all was sad misery.

So I lean my back against the solid oak
Thinking that it was a trusty tree;
But first it bent, then it broke,
Likewise did my false love to me.

Angeline Morrison sings Must I Be Bound?

Must I be bound, while you go free?
Must I love one who never loved me?
Must I enact such a foolish part,
As to follow one who would break my heart?

The first gift that my love gave me,
It was a cap well-lined with lead.
And the longer that I wore that cap,
It grew the heavier upon my head.

You gave to me a mantle for to wear,
Well-lined with grief, and stitched with care.
And the drink you gave me was bitter gall,
And the blows you gave to me were worse than all.

But I will climb the high, high tree
And I will rob the wild bird’s nest,
And I will fall without a fear,
And find the one who loves me the best.