Canada Versions 7H. She's Like the Swallow
[Narrative Folksong: New Directions. ed. Edwards & Manley, p59, Green Grows the Laurel.]
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She's Like the Swallow- Noted by Maud Karpeles from Mr John Hunt at Dunville, Placentia Bay, 8 July 1930. The note values have been doubled here and the key signature changed from 6/8 to 6/4; the tune is transposed from the original three sharps.
She's like the swallow that flies so high,
She's like the river that never runs dry,
She's like the sunshine on the lee shore,
I love my love and love is no more.
'Twas out in the garden this fair maid did go,
A picking the beautiful primrose;
The more she plucked the more she pulled
Until she got her aperon full.
It's out of these roses she made a bed,
A stony pillow for her head.
She laid her down, no word did say,
Until this fair maid's heart did break.
She's like the swallow that flies so high,
She's like the river that never runs dry,
She's like the sunshine on the lee shore,
I love my love and love is no more.
Singing Together, Spring 1976, BBC Publications
Notes: Noted by Maud Karpeles from Mr John Hunt at Dunville, Placentia Bay, 8 July 1930. The note values have been doubled here and the key signature changed from 6/8 to 6/4; the tune is transposed from the original three sharps. See the discussion thread for the version as originally colleced and further information.
Roud: 2306 (Search Roud index at VWML)
Noted by Maud Karpeles from Mr John Hunt at Dunville, Placentia Bay, 8 July 1930. The note values have been doubled here and the key signature changed from 6/8 to 6/4; the tune is transposed from the original three sharps, perhaps to make it easier for children to sing.
The text has, likewise, been tidied up; by Miss Karpeles herself, who printed it as an alternative form for singing. Mr Hunt sang:
She's like the swallow that flies so high,
She's like the river that never runs dry,
She's like the sunshine on the lee shore,
I love my love and love is no more.
'Twas out in the garden this fair maid did go,
Picking the beautiful prim-e-rose;
The more she plucked the more she pulled
Until she got her whole aperon full.
It's out of those roses she made a bed,
A stony pillow for her head.
Now this fair maid she lay down, no word did she say
Until this fair maid's heart was broke.
There are a man on yonder hill,
He got a heart as hard as stone.
He have two hearts instead of one.
How foolish must that girl be
For to think I love no other but she.
For the world was not meant for one alone,
The world was meant for every one.
Maud Karpeles, Folk Songs from Newfoundland. London: Faber and Faber, 1971, 243 (notes, 289-290; amended text, 332).
The amended arrangement seems to have been broadcast regularly on Canadian radio. Kenneth Peacock got two further versions in 1959; one of the singers remarked that the "air is just like that man sings on the radio". (Peacock, Songs of the Newfoundland Outports, Ottawa: National Museum of Canada, 1965, III, 711-714).
Roud 2306. Although there is the usual question of floating verses to cloud the issue, songs quite close have been found also in England and Ireland. It's also worth amplifying on Peacock's reference to the 17th century court musician Robert Johnson's song As I Walked Forth One Summer Day, which appeared in Pills to Purge Melancholy (1719-20, III, 55-56, as The Forsaken Lover's Complaint) among other collections
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She's Like The Swallow (Peacock) MIDIs, videos
Variant A Collected in 1959 from Mrs Charlotte Decker of Parson's Pond by Kenneth Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.711-712 by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
She's like the swallow that flies so high,
She's like the river that never runs dry;
She's like the sunshine on the lee shore,
She loves her love, but she'll love no more.
'Twas down in the meadow this fair bent,
A-picking the primrose just as she went;
The more she picked and the more she pulled,
Until she gathered her apron full.
She climbed on yonder hill above,
To give a rose unto her love;
She gave him one, she gave him three,
She gave her heart in company.
And as they sat on yonder hill,
His heart grew hard, so harder still;
He has two hearts instead of one,
She says, "Young man, what have you done?
When I carried my apron low,
My love followed me through frost and snow;
But now my apron is to my chin,
My love passes by and won't call in."
"How foolish, foolish you must be,
To think I love no one but thee;
The world's not made for one alone,
I take delight in everyone."
She took her roses and made a bed,
A stony pillow for her head;
She lay her down, no more did say,
Just let her roses fade away.
She's like the swallow that flies so high,
She's like the river that never runs dry;
She's like the sunshine on the lee shore,
She lost her love and she'll love no more.
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She's like a swallow that flies so high,
She's like the river that never runs dry;
She's like the sun shines on the lee shore,
She lost her love and she'll love no more.
Out in the meadow this fair went,
Picking those flowers just as she went;
The more she picked and the more she pulled,
Until she gathered her apron full.
There is a man on yonder hill,
He has a heart hard as steel;
He has two hearts instead of one,
She says, "Young man, what have you done?"
"How foolish, how foolish this girl must be,
To think I love no other but she;
The world's not made for one alone,
I take delight in everyone."
Out of those flowers she made a bed,
A stony pillow for her head;
And there she lay and never spoke,
Until this poor girl's heart was broke.
She's like a swallow that flies so high,
She's like the river that never runs dry;
She's like the sun shines on the lee shore,
She lost her love and she'll love no more.
Collected in 1959 from Mrs Wallace Kinslow of Isle aux Morts by Kenneth Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.713-714 by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
A variant consisting of only 4-1/2 verses was also collected in 1930 from John Hunt of Dunville, Placentia Bay, NL, by Maud Karpeles [1885-1976] and published in Folk Songs From Newfoundland, p.243, Faber & Faber, London, 1971.
Kenneth Peacock noted that ever since Maud Karpeles collected a tantalizing fragment of this lyric ballad in Newfoundland in 1930 scholars and singers alike have been fascinated by its elusiveness and beauty. In variant B Mrs Kinslow used the title verse once or twice during the song as a sort of chorus, but Peacock placed it just at the beginning and end. Peacock also took Verse 5 of variant A from She Died In Love to further heighten the symbolism of the apron. He noted that the apron is often used as a symbol of pregnancy, though in this case just its position is sufficient to convey the before-and-after attitude of the young man. Meadows, gardens, and flowers in general are often used as fertility symbols, and Peacock could think of no other lyric where the rose symbolism had been used so exquisitely and with such persistent emotional logic, right to the bitter end.