A great number of English folk songs are about love and its many forms and expressions. Some are about unrequited love, some are about love of a place or a thing, and others use love as a euphemism for something else entirely. The four folk songs selected for this suite express four different viewpoints of fidelity.
Bobby Shaftoe
Bobby Shaftoe's gone to sea, with silver buckles on his knee,
He'll come back and marry me, Bonny Bobby Shaftoe.
Bobby Shaftoe's bright and fair, combing down his yellow hair,
He's my love forever mair, Bonny Bobby Shaftoe.
Bobby Shaftoe's gettin' a bairn, for to dangle in his airm,
In his airm and on his knee, Bobby Shaftoe loves me.
Dabbling in the Dew
Oh where are you going to, my pretty little dear,
With your red rosy cheeks, and your coal black hair?
"I'm going a-milking, kind sir," she answered me,
And it's dabbling in the dew makes the milkmaids fair.
Oh may I go with you, my pretty little dear,
With your red rosy cheeks, and your coal black hair?
"Oh, you may go with me, kind sir," she answered me,
And it's dabbling in the dew makes the milkmaids fair.
What is your father, my pretty little dear,
With your red rosy cheeks, and your coal black hair?
"My father's a farmer, kind sir," she answered me,
And it's dabbling in the dew makes the milkmaids fair.
And what is your mother, my pretty little dear,
With your red rosy cheeks, and your coal black hair?
"My mother's a dairy maid, kind sir," she answered me,
And it's dabbling in the dew makes the milkmaids fair.
I should chance to kiss you, my pretty little dear,
With your red rosy cheeks, and your coal black hair?
"The wind may take it off again, kind sir," she answered me,
And it's dabbling in the dew makes the milkmaids fair.
Oh say, will you marry me, my pretty little dear,
With your red rosy cheeks, and your coal black hair?
"Oh yes, if you please, kind sir," she answered me,
And it's dabbling in the dew makes the milkmaids fair.
Will you be constant, my pretty little dear,
With your red rosy cheeks, and your coal black hair?
"That I cannot promise you, kind sir," she answered me,
And it's dabbling in the dew makes the milkmaids fair.
Then I won't marry you, my pretty little dear,
With your red rosy cheeks, and your coal black hair?
"Nobody asked you, kind sir," she answered me,
And it's dabbling in the dew makes the milkmaids fair.
The Turtle Dove
Fare you well, my dear, I must be gone
and leave you for a while;
If I roam away, I'll come back again,
though I roam ten thousand miles, my dear,
though I roam ten thousand miles.
So fair thou art, my bonny lass,
so deep in love am I,
but I never will prove false to the bonny lass I love
till the stars fall from the sky, my dear,
till the stars fall from the sky.
The sea will never run dry, my dear,
nor the rocks never melt with the sun,
but I never will prove false to the bonny lass I love
till all these things be done, my dear,
till all these things be done.
Oh, yonder doth sit that little turtle dove,
he doth sit on yonder high tree,
a-making a moan for the loss of his love,
as I will do for thee, my dear,
as I will do for thee.
Swansea Town
Oh, farewell to you, my Nancy,
ten thousand times adieu,
I'm bound to cross the ocean, girl,
once more to part from you;
once more to part from you, fine girl,
you're the girl that I adore,
but still I live in hopes to see
old Swansea Town once more.
Oh, it's now that I am out at sea
and you are far behind,
kind letters I will write to you
of the secrets of my mind.
The secrets of my mind, fine girl,
you're the girl that I adore,
but still I live in hopes to see
old Swansea Town once more.
Now the storm is rising,
I can see it coming on,
the night so dark as anything
we cannot see the moon,
Our good ole ship, she is tossed aft,
the rigging is all tore,
but still I live in hopes to see
old Swansea Town once more.
Oh, now the storm is over,
and we are safe on shore,
we'll drink strong drinks and brandies
to the girls that we adore;
to the girls that we adore, fine girls,
we'll make this tavern roar,
and when our money is all gone,
we'll go to sea for more.
But still I live in hopes to see
old Swansea Town once more.