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> June Tabor > Songs > Go From My Window

Go (Away) From My Window / Come to My Window

[ Roud 966 ; Master title: Go From My Window ; Ballad Index ChWI146 ; DT GOWINDOW ; Mudcat 30405 ; trad.]

Sabine Baring-Gould: Songs of the West William Alexander Barrett: English Folk-Songs William Chappell: Popular Music of the Olden Time Kathy Henderson with Frankie Armstrong and Sandra Kerr: My Song Is My Own Emily Lyle, Kaye McAlpine, Anne Dhu McLucas: The Song Repertoire of Amelia and Jane Harris James Reeves: The Everlasting Circle Sam Richards and Tish Stubbs: The English Folksinger Stephen Sedley: The Seeds of Love Thomas W. Talley: Negro Folk Rhymes

Jeannie Robertson of Aberdeen sang a fragment of Go Away From My Window in a recording made at her home in 1955, where she is accompanied by Josh MacRae on guitar, on her 1956 Riverside album Songs of a Scots Tinker Lady. Hamish Henderson noted:

Here we have a haunting fragment of a folksong, the origin of which seems to be obscure. The title phrase is familiar in both European and American folksong, but this does not mean, of course, that songs in which it occurs have a common origin. It may well be a composed song based on some folk original and already on the lips of the people and in the process of becoming a folk song again.

Eddie Butcher of Magilligan, Co. Derry, sang one verse of The Wind and the Rain in September 1975 to Hugh Shields. This recording was included on the 3 CD set that accompanied Shields’ 2011 book on Eddie Butcher, All the Days of His Life.

Stanley Robertson sang Go Away From My Window in a c.2005 recording that was included in 2009 on his posthumous Elphinstone Institute anthology The College Boy. He commented:

Though it’s aboot a sexual sin that’s taken place and the lassie’s sufferin the consequences of it, when I asked Jeannie what the terrible sin was, she said it wis a young lassie got inveigled wi a cad. And they decided that to get money they’d rob an old bank. And the thing was, that she wis seen at the scene o the crime, but he wisna. And he got aff Scot free. So it’s the lassie speakin aboot her terrible sin. But till an adult it’s a different thing aa thegither! “For my spirit is low and I may take my life” (3.2); she’s contemplating suicide there. And this is what she’s telling her mother. It’s a song I learnt fae auld Burnter’s Bonnet’s Maggie. The tune is a piping retreat that I used to play a lot.

And Thomas A. McKean added:

This old night visiting song can be found in small numbers, the length of Britain, from Cornwall to the North-East. Versions can be found in Newfoundland, and even in African-American tradition (Song to the Runaway Slave in Talley’s Negro Folk Rhymes (1922) pp.88-89) there is a hint of the repeated lines in Gentle Johnnie the Knicht o’ Inverwharity (in Lyle, McAlpine and McLucas, The Song Repertoire of Amelia and Jane Harris (Edinburgh: Scottish Text Society, 2002), p.159). Stanley’s pace and timbre perfectly penetrate the nearly explicit story with its undertone of sin and punishment. A common text of the same name recorded by many mainstream artists does not have this serious undercurrent, but instead speaks metaphorically: “An’ th cuckoo’s on his nest / An’ you can’t get lodgin’ here.” (May Kennedy McCord, Springfield, Montana, 1960, Max Hunter Folk Song Collection, no. 0546).

Iona Fyfe sang Away From My Window as the title track of her 2018 CD Away From My Window. She noted:

Hamish Henderson collected an unaccompanied recording of Jeannie Robertson singing the song in 1955 which is archived on Tobar an Dualchais. Jeannie’s version differs from that of Stanley [Robertson]’s in length, lyrics and melody—it also mentions a token ring. It’s noted that this version is American, but similar to a text found in the North of Scotland. It is thought that the Appalachian singer, Jean Ritchie, who visited Scotland in the 1950’s, taught this to Jeannie, who then recorded it, with guitar accompaniment from Josh MacRae, and released it on her 1957 Riverside album Songs of a Scots Tinker Lady. In 2009, the Elphinstone Institute released the song among 34 other recordings of Stanley Robertson in an album titled The College Boy. It is thought that the song is about a sexual sin which has taken place, but Jeannie informed Stanley that the song was actually about a young girl who got involved in crime, and robbed a bank with a partner. The girl was caught at the crime scene, but the man was not and this is what the terrible sin is about. Stanley comments that he learnt the song from “Burnter’s Bonnet’s Maggie” and that the tune is a piping retreat that he used to play.

Found in Peter Buchan’s Ancient Ballads and Songs Volume 2, Roud 966

This video shows Iona at Celtic Connections 2018 singing Away From My Window:

Shirley Collins sang a quite different Go From My Window on her and her sister Dolly’s 1970 album Love, Death & the Lady. She noted:

From a printed source English Folk-Songs edited by William Alexander Barrett (price 2/6d). He notes that the song was known in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

and wrote in her 2018 book All in the Downs that this song was from John Stokoe’s book Songs of the North but I can’t find any reference to such a book.

Jon Rennard sang Go From My Window in 1970 on his Traditional Sound album Brimbledon Fair.

Wisdom (Wiggy) Smith sang Go From My Window in The Cat and Fiddle, Whaddon Road, Cheltenham in 1970. This recording made by Mike Yates was released in 1979 on the Topic anthology of songs, stories and tunes from English Gypsies, Travellers, and was included in 2000 on his Musical Traditions anthology Band of Gold. Rod Straling noted:

The earliest known British version of Go From My Window is the one printed in 1587-88 by John Wolfe of London and a set of variations on the tune current in the late 16th century were composed by either John Mundy or Thomas Morley and included in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Another well-known version appears in Act III of Beaumont and Fletcher’s play The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1613).

Roud has 16 references to this song, including five sound recordings—but it has been extraordinarily widespread. Jeannie Robertson in Aberdeen knew it, so did Anne O’Neill in Belfast, a Mrs Hall in Stannington, Northumberland and John Woodrich in Thrushelton, Devon. It’s even included in Negro Folk Rhymes (expanded edn, 1991), Talley, pp.75-76.

After Wisdom finished singing he leant across the microphone and said [to Mike Yates], “You understand, don’t you, that it was a Gypsy woman singing that song. She sang it in her trailer. Her husband was out poaching, you see, and a policeman was waiting to catch him in the trailer when he returned. Now the woman heard her husband coming, so she warned him not to come in. She took her baby in her arms, because it wasn’t sleeping, and sang that song. The policeman thought that she was singing the baby to sleep, but she wasn’t, she was warning her husband not to come into the trailer. That’s true, that is.”

Derek, Dorothy and Nadine Elliott sang Go From My Window in 1976 on their Traditional Sound album Yorkshire Relish. They give as their source “The Seeds of Love, edited by Stephen Sedley”.

Andrew Cronshaw played the tune of Go From My Window in 1977 on his Trailer album Earthed in Cloud Valley.

Roy Harris sang Go From My Window in 1977 on his Topic album By Sandbank Fields. He noted:

The situation is this. A woman has invited her lover for a visit. Bad weather brings her husband home early. The lover is at the window, the woman is in the kitchen with her baby. She pretends to sing the song to the baby, really she is warning the lover, but he’s slow to cotton on. It’s a common enough song but I can’t recall how it came to me. I do know that I added the ‘fare ye well‘ bit purely for effect!

Tim Hart’s sang Come to My Window in 1979 on his solo album Tim Hart, and Steeleye Span—by then without Tim—recorded Go From My Window in 1996 for their album Time.

Swan Arcade sang Go From My Window on their 1984 Fellside album Together Forever. This album was re-released in 2001 as part of their Fellside compilation CD Round Again, and this track was included in 2001 on the Fellside anthology of English traditional songs, Voices in Harmony. They noted:

Great song to sing in harmony. Lots of interesting double meanings. Learnt from, and used as a fond memory of, the late Jon Rennard.

Joe Stead sang Go From My Window in 1986 on his Greenwich Village album A Baker’s Score.

Claire Lloyd with Folly Bridge sang Go From My Window, “a night-visiting song dating back to the 16^th century”, in 1992 on their second WildGoose cassette, Unabridged.

June Tabor recorded Go From My Window in 1997 for her CD Aleyn. She noted:

This song has 16^th century origins and is quoted in Beaumont and Fletcher, Otway and Middleton. The tune, from Norfolk, is found in Chappell’s Popular Music of the Olden Time.

Elle Osborne sang Go From My Window on her 1999 album Testimony.

Joe Rae sang Bogie Man in 2001 on his Musical Traditions album The Broom Blooms Bonny. He commented:

That’s all I can remember of that. I think that’s the chorus of the song and when I did ask my mother she was too old… she couldna remember the rest of the words, but she told me that the story was that the young wife was having a visitor when her husband was away… and if the husband was at home she’d stand at the window with a bairn in her arm… and sing the song tae warn him not tae come in… that’s it.

And Rod Stradling noted:

Here Joe sings a fragment of the once well-known, and widespread, song Go From the Window, My Love Go. It was printed in 1587-88 by John Wolfe of London and a set of variations of the tune current in the late 16^th century was composed by either John Mundy or Thomas Morley and included in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. The song also appears in Act III of Beaumont and Fletcher’s play The Knight of the Burning Pestle.

Versions have been collected from various English singers over the years, but very few Scottish singers seem to have had the song. Jeannie Robertson had a version, as did a singer called John Hunter from Fife. A version that was recorded from a Gloucestershire gypsy, Wisdom Smith, can be heard on the CD Band of Gold. (Musical Traditions MTCD307).

Eliza Carthy sang Go From My Window in 2002 on her cousin Oliver Knight’s first solo album, Mysterious Day, with Chris Parkinson playing harmonica. This track was also included in 2003 on the Eliza Carthy anthology The Definitive Collection.

Eliza Carthy also sang Go From My Window with very different words on her 2023 album Conversations We’ve Had Before where she noted:

Dad (DrMCMBE) heard a theory that this whole song is code, as the “unwelcome” visitor is a poacher, wife of the lady inside, and the police have come to call. She makes the baby cry extra loud and says a specific series of things to let her husband know that he can’t come home yet.

Or it’s a song about unwanted persistence!

Mike Bosworth sang Go From My Window in 2004 on his album of Songs from the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould Collection, By Chance It Was. He noted:

Collected from Jack Woodrich (Ginger Jack). Story read by Lisa Nolan. John Woodrich was in an alehouse in Bideford in 1864 when he heard an old man recite this tale with the song. Sabine in his notes claims this story with song snatches is the original framework.

Charlotte Greig sang Go From My Window on her 2005 album Quite Silent.

Éilís Kennedy sang Go From My Window on her 2006 album One Sweet Kiss. She noted:

A song dating back to the 16^th century folk tradition, collected by A.L. Lloyd. The woman warns her lover that the man of the house is within…

Barry Lister and Dave Lowry sang Come to My Window in 2006 on Lister’s WildGoose album Ghosts & Greasepaint. This track was also included in 2024 on Dave Lowry’s WildGoose album Songs of a Devon Man. Bill Crawford noted:

Dave learnt this with Dave Griggs while they were both living in Dave Lowry’s house in Roseberry Road, Exeter. They first recorded it with Isca Fayre, and it’s from Songs of the West.

Fiony White sang Go From My Window on her 2007 album Myths of Time.

Sue Brown and Lorraine Irwing sang Go From My Window in 2012 on their RootBeat album The 13^th Bedroom. They noted:

Here a woman cleverly uses a song that she is singing to her child to warn her lover that her husband is at home. We learnt this from Shirley Collins’ recording Love, Death & the Lady. It appears in Chappell’s Popular Music of the Olden Time (c.1860) and both words and tune seem to date back to the Elizabethan era.

Sally Timms with The Mini Mekons sang Go From My Window in 2015 on Earth Records’ anthology celebrating Shirley Collins, Shirley Inspired….

Fay Hield learned Go From My Window from Ian Giles of Folly Bridge fame in an Oxford pub, and sang it in 2016 on her third CD, Old Adam.

Diana Collier sang Go From My Window unaccompanied on her 2020 bonus EP So Dearly I Loved My Love.

Lyrics

Jeannie Robertson sings Go Away From My Window

Go away from my window, don’t bother me,
Go away from my window, don’t enter in.

I sent you back your letter, I sent you back your ring,
Go away from my window, don’t enter in.

I’ll tell my brothers, I’ll tell him of my sins,
Go away from my window, don’t enter in.

Stanley Robertson sings Go Away From My Window

Go away from my window, do not venture in
Go away from my window, do not venture in
I will tell my dear brother of my terrible sin
Go away from my window, do not enter in.

Go away from my window, take your form from my door
For my heart it is sad an my spirit is poor
I will tell my old father it will soon break his heart
Of my terrible sin to what you took apart.

Go away from my window, you have caused me much strife
For my heart is so low that I may end my life
I will tell my old mother for she will understand
But I may have to go to another strange land.

Go away from my window, do not bother me
For my sister Jane told me of things that would be
She said when I met you that day I would rue
For no good could ever come from a man such as you.

Iona Fyfe sings Away From My Window

Go away from my window, do not venture in,
Go away from my window, do not enter in.

I will tell my dear brother of my terrible sin,
Go away from my window, do not enter in.

Go away from my window, take your form from my door,
For my heart, it is sad and my spirit is poor.

I will tell my old father, it will soon break his heart,
Of my terrible sin, of what you took apart.

Go away from my window, you have cause me much strife,
For my heart, it is so low that I might end my life.

I will tell my old mother for she will understand,
But I may well go to another strange land.

Go away from my window, do not bother me,
For my sister, she told me of things that would be.

She said that when I met you, that day I would rue,
For no good could ever come from a man such as you.

Go away from my window, do not venture in,
Go away from my window, do not venture in.

Shirley Collins sings Go From My Window

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
For the wind is in the West and the cuckoo’s in his nest
And you can’t have a lodging here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
Oh, the weather it is warm, it will never do thee harm
And you can’t have a lodging here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
For the wind is blowing high and the ship is lying by
And you can’t have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
The wind and the rain have brought him back again
But he can’t have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
Oh, the devil’s in the man that he will not understand
He can’t have a harbouring here.

Wisdom (Wiggy) Smith sings Go From My Window

You go from the window, my love, go.
The Devil’s in the rest an’ we cannot understand
Please go from the window, my love, go.

For the cuckoo’s in the nest an’ we cannot take no rest
Go from the window, my love, go.

For the Devil’s in the man an’ he cannot understand
Go from the window, my love, go.

Folly Bridge sing Go From My Window

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
For the wind is in the West and the cuckoo’s in his nest
And you can’t have a lodging here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
For the weather it is warm, it will never do thee harm,
And you can’t have a lodging here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
For the wind is blowing high and the ship is lying by
And you can’t have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
For the window and the rain they have brought him back again
And you can’t have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
For the devil’s in the man that he will not understand
But you can’t have a lodging here.

Tim Hart sings Come to My Window

Come to my window, my love, my dove,
Come to my window, my dear.
There’s nothing I can do but to sit and wait for you
And you’ll find a welcome here.

Come to my window, my love, my dove,
Come to my window, my dear.
Like a river to the sea you will find your way to me
And you’ll find me waiting here.

Come to my window, my love, my dove,
Come to my window, my dear.
Like the moon across the sky you look happier by and by
And you’ll find me waiting here.

Come to my window, my love, my dove,
Come to my window, my dear.
Like the wind and like the rain you’ll be coming back again
And you’ll find me waiting here.

Come to my window, my love, my dove,
Come to my window, my dear.
There’s nothing I can do but to sit and wait for you
And you’ll find a welcome here.

Steeleye Span sing Go From My Window

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
The wind is in the West and the cuckoo’s in his nest
And you can’t have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
The weather it is warm, it will never do thee harm
But you can’t have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
The wind is blowing high and the ship is lying by
And you can’t have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
The window and the rain have brought him back again
But you can’t have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
The devil’s in the man that he will not understand
He can’t have a harbouring here.

June Tabor sings Go From My Window

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
For the wind is in the West and the cuckoo’s in her nest
And you can’t have a lodging here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
For the weather it is warm, it will never do you harm
And you can’t have a lodging here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
For the wind is rising high and the ship is lying by
And you can’t have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
Oh, the wind and the rain have fetched him back again
But he can’t have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
Oh, the devil’s in the man that he will not understand
That he can’t have a lodging here, fare thee well,
That he can’t have a lodging here.

Joe Rae sings Bogie Man

Gyang awa frae the windae, bogie man.
Gyang awa frae the windae, bogie man.
It was the wind and the rain, That brought your daddie hame.
So, gyang awa frae the windae, bogie man.

Eliza Carthy sings Go From My Window on Mysterious Day

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
Oh the weather it is warm, it will never do you harm
And you won’t have a welcome here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
For the wind is blowing nigh and our ship is lying by
And you won’t find a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
Oh the devil’s in the man that will not understand
That he won’t find a lodging here.

Go from my window, my love, my dove,
Go from my window, my dear.
For the wind is in the west and the cuckoo’s in his nest
And you won’t have a welcome here.

Eliza Carthy sings Go From My Window on Conversations We’ve Had Before

Go from my window go, from my window go,
The wind is in the West and the cuckoo’s in his nest,
And you can’t come in, no, no.

Go from my window go, from my window go,
The weather it is warm, it will never do you harm,
And you can’t come in, no, no.

Go from my window go, from my window go,
The wind is blowing nigh and the ship is lying by
And you can’t come in, no, no.

Go from my window go, from my window go,
The weather with the rain they have brought him back again,
But you can’t come in, no, no.

Go from my window go, from my window go,
The devil’s in the man when he will not understand
And you can’t come in, no, no.

Fay Hield sings Go From My Window

Go from my window, my love, my love,
Go from my window, my dear.
The wind is in the West and the cuckoo’s in his nest,
You cannot have a harbouring here, fare thee well,
You cannot have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my love,
Go from my window, my dear.
The weather it is warm and’ll never do you harm,
You cannot have a harbouring here, fare thee well,
You cannot have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my love,
Go from my window, my dear.
The wind is blowing high and his ship is lying nigh,
You cannot have a harbouring here, fare thee well,
You cannot have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my love,
Go from my window, my dear.
The wind and the rain have brought him back again,
You cannot have a harbouring here, fare thee well,
You cannot have a harbouring here.

Go from my window, my love, my love,
Go from my window, my dear.
The devil’s in the man that he cannot understand,
You cannot have a harbouring here, fare thee well,
You cannot have a harbouring here.