Captain Wedderburn's- McCabe (NL) 1929 Karpeles A
[Not a local title. From Maud Karpeles, “Folksongs from Newfoundland” 1934, version A.
R. Matteson 2014]
The ‘Lost Voices’ of Maud Karpeles, “Folksongs from Newfoundland”
by Glenn Colton
In September 1929, Maud Karpeles of the English Folk Dance and Song Society arrived in Newfoundland for the first of two pioneering expeditions. A disciple of Cecil Sharp and friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Karpeles was a central figure in the British folk revival and later co-founder of the International Folk Music Council. She had initially planned to visit the island with Sharp as early as 1918, however that trip was cancelled due to funding concerns and Sharp’s untimely death foiled similar plans seven years later. Undaunted, she undertook the challenge alone, notating more than 200 tunes from singers in forty outport communities in one of the earliest Newfoundland folksong expeditions of its kind.
A. Captain Wedderburn's Courtship- sung by Mrs. Mary McCabe at North River, conception Bay, 17th October 1929
O what is greener than the grass,
Or higher than the tree,
O what do pass the female heart,
What is deeper than the sea,
What bird sings best when the lark is at rest,
O where does the dew first fall?
So you must comply with me to lie
Down by the cold stone wall.
O death is greener than the grass,
The sun is higher than the tree,
The devil he passes the female's heart,
Hell is deeper than the sea,
The thrush sings best when the lark is at rest,
On the grass the dew first falls,
So I'll not comply with you to lie
Down by the cold stone wall.
But you must for my breakfast get
A fish without a bone,
And for my dinner you must get
A cherry without a stone,
And for my supper you must get
A bird without a gall,
Or you must comply with me to lie
Down by the cold stone wall.
O when the fish is in its sporn[1]
You know it has no bone,
And when the cherry is in full bloom
You know it has no stone,
The dove she is a gentle bird,
She flies without a gall,
So I'll not comply with you to lie
Down by the cold stone wall.
1. refers to "spawn" as a fish egg.