English Songs and Ballads

Excerpt

About the sweet bag of a bee
A chieftain to the Highlands bound
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever
Agincourt, Agincourt
Ah, my swete swetyng
Alas! my love, you do me wrong
Allen-a-Dale has no faggot for burning
All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd
All ye woods, and trees, and bowers
And did you not hear of a jolly young Waterman
An old song made by an aged old pate
A parrot from the Spanish main
Arm, arm, arm, arm, the scouts are all come in
A simple child
As I came thro' Sandgate
Ask me no more where Jove bestows
Ask me no more, the moon may draw the sea
A spirit haunts the year's last hours
As thro' the land at eve we went
A sweet disorder in the dress
Attend all ye who list to hear our noble England's praise
A weary lot is thine, fair maid
A Well there is in the west country
A wet sheet and a flowing sea

Beauty clear and fair
Be it right or wrong, these men among
Believe me, if all those endearing young charms
Bird of the wilderness
Blame not my Lute! for he must sound
Blow, blow, thou winter wind
Blow high, blow low, let tempests tear
Break, break, break
Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny bonny bride
But are ye sure the news is true

Call for the robin-redbreast and the wren
Cherry ripe, ripe, ripe, I cry
Cold's the wind, and wet's the rain
Come all ye jolly shepherds
Come, cheerful day, part of my life to me
Come, cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer
Come follow, follow me
Come into the garden, Maud
Come live with me and be my love
Come not, when I am dead
Come, Sleep, and with thy sweet deceiving

Dear is my little native vale
Doubt thou the stars are fire
Drink to me only with thine eyes
Duncan Gray came here to woo

Faintly as tolls the evening chime
Fair daffodils, we weep to see
Fair pledges of a fruitful tree
Fair stood the wind for France
Fear no more the heat o' the sun
Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes
Follow thy fair sun, unhappy shadow
For auld lang syne, my dear
Four and twenty bonny boys
From Oberon, in fairy land
From the forests and highlands
From the white blossom'd sloe my dear Chloe requested
Full fathom five thy father lies

Gather the rose-buds while ye may
God Lyaeus, ever young
God prosper long our noble King
God save our gracious King
Go fetch to me a pint o' wine
Go, lovely Rose
Good-morrow to the day so fair
Good people all, of every sort
Go where glory waits thee
Green fields of England, wheresoe'er

Hame, hame, hame, hame fain wad I be
Hang fear, cast away care
Hark! now everything is still
Hark, hark, the lark at Heaven's gate sings
He is gone on the mountain
Her arms across her breast she laid
Here, a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling
Her eyes the glow-worm lend thee
Here's a health unto His Majesty
Here's to the maiden of bashful fifteen
Hide me, O twilight air
Home they brought her warrior dead
Ho! why dost thou shiver and shake
How should I your true love know

I arise from dreams of thee
I cannot eat but little meat
I come from haunts of coot and hern
I come, I come! ye have called me long
I knew an old wife lean and poor
I lov'd a lass, a fair one
I'm lonesome since I cross'd the hill
I'm sitting on the stile, Mary
In going to my naked bed
In good King Charles's golden days
In her ear he whispered gaily
In the merry month of May
In Wakefield there lives a jolly pinder
I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he
Is there for honest poverty
I tell thee, Dick, where I have been
It is an ancient Mariner
It is the miller's daughter
I travelled among unknown men
It was a blind beggar had long lost his sight
It was a friar of orders gray
It was a lover and his lass
It was a summer evening
It was the frog in the well
It was the time when lilies blow
I've seen the smiling
I wander'd by the brook-side

John Anderson, my jo, John
John Gilpin was a citizen

Kentish Sir Byng stood for his King
King Death was a rare old fellow

Lassie wi' the lint-white locks
Lawn as white as driven snow
Lay a garland on my hearse
Let me the canakin clink, clink
Let the bells ring, and let the boys sing
Lithe and listen, gentlemen
Long the proud Spaniards had vaunted to conquer us
Lord, thou hast given me a cell
Love wakes and weeps

Maxwelltown braes are bonnie
Men of England who inherit
Mine be a cot beside the hill
Move eastward, happy earth, and leave
My banks they are furnished with bees
My heart is sair, I darena tell
My heart is wasted with my woe
My mind to me a kingdom is
O, Willie brew'd a peck o' maut

Napoleon's banners at Boulogne
No stir in the air, no stir in the sea
Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note
Now glory to the Lord of Hosts, from whom all glories are
Now, now the mirth comes
Now ponder well, you parents dear
Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white
Now the hungry lion roars

Of all the girls that are so smart
Of a' the airts the wind can blaw
Of Nelson and the North
Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray
Oft in the stilly night
Oh, call my brother back to me
Oh, Mary, go and call the cattle home
Oh!...