Down in the Meadows- Hooper/White (Som) 1903 Sharp
[From Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/64).
It begin with the "Down in the meadow the poor girl run"-- similar to the Unfortunate Swain opening: "Down in a Meadow both fair and gay, Plucking a Flowers the other day," but more precisely found in "The Constant Lady and False-hearted Squire:"
The Lady round the meadow run,
and gather'd flowers as they sprung;
Of every sort she there did pull,
until she got her apron full.
The "Constant Lady" stanzas are usually found at the end, here they open the variant.
R. Matteson 2017]
Down In The Meadows- Louie Hooper & Lucy White at Hambridge, Somerset on Dec. 28 1903.
Down in the meadow the poor girl run
Gathering flowers as fast as they spring
She gathered a flower from every bough-bud
Until she gained her apron full.
She gathered them home and made her bed
With a stonen[1] pillow for her head
She laid herself down and never once spoke
Alas! her tender heart was broke.
Down to the ale house he would go
And call for liquor one quart two and three
Take a stranger girl on his knee
And don't you think it's a grief to me.
When my apron string was plain and low
He followed me through frost and snow
When my apron strings up to my chin
He past by me and say no thing.
1. usually the pillow is made of flowers.