British & Other Versions 7P. I am a Rover (The Rover) Roud 1112
[The song, "I am a Rover (The Rover)," composed largely of stanzas from Died for Love and its extended family, was printed as a broadside as early as 1819[1]. A different text, which became the standard broadside text (my C), was printed in the 1830s. "I am a Rover" entered tradition and was somewhat popular in England in the latter half of the 1800s. By 1916 it was known in Wiltshire only by the oldest informants[2], showing that the song was no longer current in Wiltshire. Norma Waterson states on Troubadours of British Folk Vol. 1, a 1995 release: "I Am a Rover was collected by Frank Kidson in Yorkshire and is a favourite among country singers." That "I am a Rover" is a country favourite is not borne out by tradition. Versions have not been collected and the Watersons appear to be one of the few source since the 1960s and their version was collected in 1881 and taken from print. Although the song was in the repertoire of UK singer "Owen the rogue" who emceed the Philadelphia Folk Festival in the 1970s, there is no evidence it was collected during the folk collecting boom of the 1970s in the UK or anywhere after 1923[3].
Two early broadsides A "The Rover," a broadside, printed J. Pitts, Wholesale Toy Warehouse, 6 Great Street, Seven Dials. Andrew St. as early as c. 1819; Johnson Ballads 977 and B "The Rashiemuir, a new song," a broadside, Firth c.26(30) c. 1830 have variant stanzas. The standard text is found in C which was printed from the 1830s until about the 1880s.
The identifying lines of this song are found in the first lines of the first stanza and appear in A as:
I am a rover, and that's well known,
Long time I've left my native home;
The following standard text from Cd was printed by H. P. Such, while he was at 177 Union St. and Borough, London (see print illustration above). Since he operated there from 1863 and 1885, I've given a date of c.1872. All the broadsides of C bear the title "The Rover" and are 6 stanzas with minor differences. Here's the text of Cd in full:
The Rover
1. I am a rover, and that's well known,
I am now going to leave my home;
Leaving my friends to sigh and mourn,
Farewell, my bonny girl, till I return.
2. She drew a chair, and bade me sit down,
And soon she told me her heart was won;
She turned her head when I took leave,
Farewell, my bonny girl, for me don't grieve.
3. I sat me down and I wrote a song,
I wrote it wide and I wrote it long;
At every line I shed a tear,
At every line, I cried, Polly dear!
4. Oh am I single or am I free
Or am I bound to marry thee;
A married life you soon shall see,
A contented life shows no jealousy.
5. As I crossed over Dulcimore,
There I lost sight of my true love [door];
My heart did ache, and my eyes went blind,
Thinking of my bonny girl that I’d left behind.
6. I wished, I wished, but all in vain,
I wish I'd been a maid again;
A maid again I never will be,
Till apples grow on the orange tree.
The broadsides of C have some different stanzas and a different emphasis that A or B-- the rover shows a loving interest in the maid and regrets leaving her behind. The text is sung in first person by the Rover except for the last stanza which appears to be tacked on from Died for Love. All the extant traditional versions are similar to or based on C. The opening line bears a marked resemblance to Rambling Boy, a member of Died for Love that was printed in the mid-1700s but died out in the mid-1800s. Some of the floating stanzas of A and B are similarly found in Rambling Boy.
Here's D, "I am A Rover," the earliest traditional text which was collected from Mr. Holgate and appeared in Traditional Tunes: A Collection of Ballad Airs, Chiefly Obtained in Yorkshire and the South of Scotland, Vol. 7 by Frank Kidson- 1891. The text is nearly identical to C.
I am a Rover - sung by Mr. Holgate sent to Kidson by 1891
1. I am a rover, and that's well known,
I am about for to leave my home;
Leaving my friends and my dear to mourn,
My bonny lassie till I return.
2. She drew a chair, and bade me sit down,
And soon she told me her heart I’d won;
She turned her head when I took my leave,
“Farewell, my bonny lass, for me don't grieve.”
3. I sat me down for to write a song,
I wrote it wide and I wrote it long;
At every verse I shed a tear,
At every line, I cried, “My dear!”
4. “O, am I bound or am I free?
Or am I bound to marry thee?
A married life you soon shall see,
A contented mind is no jealousy.”
5. As I crossed over Dannamore," [yon dreary moor]
There I lost sight of my true love's door;
My heart did ache, my eyes went blind,
As I thought of the bonny lass I’d left behind.
6. “I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain,
I wish that he would return again;
Return, return, he'll return no more,
For he died on the seas where the billows roar.”
Holgate's text is similar to the C broadsides. The variation of the "Must I Go Bound variant (stanza 4) is reminiscent of a stanza from 7R, Yon Green Valley. As with the broadsides of C the opening stanza is similar to "Rambling Boy" while stanzas 2, 3 and the end of 6 resemble 7A, Sailor Boy (Sweet William). Stanza 5 is a corruption of the traditional Scottish song, Rashy Muir (Moor) The word "Dannamore," (probably "dreary moor") by its corruption shows that the stanza was taken by a writer from tradition.
Of the many broadsides of C only one bears a different title[4]: The Bonny Girl I Left Behind. It has 5 stanzas instead of six and essentially the same text as other C broadsides. For more information, see Maan Headnotes.
R. Matteson 2017]
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Footnotes:
1. The date is between 1819 and 1833.
2. The collector Alfred Williams said in his MS: "An ancient and simple piece, that is only remembered by the most aged men. I obtained the copy of Elijah Iles, Inglesham and James Shilton, Lechlade, one of whom is ninety four, and the other ninety years of age."
3. Sharp collected a version in 1923 and gave only one stanza with music. Carpenter collected a version c. 1929- c.1935 but his collection is still unavailable.
4. View it as the Bodleian: http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/abaaf734-97fd-4c7b-b4ed-bd6a63c43997/
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CONTENTS: (To access individual versions click on the highlighted title below, or, on the title attached to this page, see green highlight on left hand column)
1) The Rover- (London) c.1819 Pitts broadside
2) The Rashiemuir- (London) c.1830 broadside
3) The Rover- (London) c.1872 broadside H.P. Such
4) I am a Rover- Mr. Holgate (York) 1891 Kidson A
5) I am a Roamer- Mr. Lolley (York) 1891 Kidson B
6) I am a Rover- Ted Nevill (Essex) 1904 Williams
7) I've Been a Rover- Eli Bollen (Som) 1904 Sharp MS
8) I Am A Rover- Robert Dibble (Som) 1904 Sharp MS
9) Riply Moor- Mrs. Cole (Hamp) 1906 Gardiner MS
10) I am a Rover- William Cousins (Som) 1906 Gardiner
11) I am a Rover- Henry Adams (Hamp) 1906 Gardiner
I am a Rover- Mary Anne Cole (Som) 1906 Sharp
I Am A Rover- John Chapman (Som) 1906 Sharp
Dannamore- Mrs. Goodyear (Hamp) 1907 Gardiner
I am a Rover- D. Newman (Hamp) 1907 Gardiner
I Am A Rover- Henry Tidball (Som) 1907 Sharp
I am a Rover- Charles Shears (Wilt) 1909 Gardiner
The Rover- Jack Brown (Sus) 1911 Clive Carey
Rover- Elijah Iles (Wilt) 1916 Alfred Williams
Rover- James Shilton (Wilt) 1916 Alfred Williams
The Rover- William Pittaway (Oxford) 1923 Sharp
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Random notes
The Philadelphia Folk Song Society Newsletter
https://books.google.com/books?id=anPaAAAAMAAJ
Philadelphia Folk Song Society - 1974 - Snippet view - More editions
Owen teh rogue who emceed the Philadelphia Folk Festival, instead find Owen with a soft gentle voice, singing tender ballads (among them, "Mary from Dungloe", "Locks and Bolts", "Matt Hyland", and ray own favorite, "I am a Rover and That's Well Known").
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Watersons;
The Watersons sang I Am a Rover at their club Folk Union One in Hull. This recording by Bill Leader was released in 1966 on their album The Watersons. Like all but one tracks from this LP, it was re-released in 1994 on the CD Early Days. It was also reissued on the Rhino sampler Troubadours of British Folk Vol. 1 and in 2004 on the Watersons' 4CD anthology Mighty River of Song.
A.L. Lloyd commented in the original album's sleeve notes:
Not the “seldom sober” wanderer of the Scottish song but a wild Yorkshireman with a touch, maybe, of the darkling Heathcliff whom Emily Bronte created about him. Frank Kidson's informant, Mr Holgate, gave him this bitter-sweet ballad from his “store of remembrances of Yorkshire song.” The rambling boy who, willing or unwilling, must leave his dear girl behind is a familiar figure in folk song in Britain and America. This song is full of echoes of other sad love songs—Oh, Am I Bound or Am I Free, I Wish, I Wish But It's All in Vain, the letter with a tear dropped at the end of each line—but has a beauty all its own.
Norma Waterson states on Troubadours of British Folk Vol. 1:
I Am a Rover was collected by Frank Kidson in Yorkshire and is a favourite among country singers. This particular version was slightly reworked by the Watersons (as continues to be their wont), made up of verses from here and there with lots of floaters but none the worse for that, and is one of their songs which has entered the general repertoire.