Down in the Valley- Gladys Stone (Sus) 1954 Copper
[My title, also Deep in Love. From a recording by Bob Copper at Fittleworth, Sussex, November 27, 1954. Gladys Stone's source was her father, John Johnson (c.1865-c.1943), who wrote the text in a handwritten notebook. Matt Quinn learned Deep in Love from the singing of Gladys Stone and recorded it for his 2017 CD The Brighton Line.
An article examines the relationship between British singer Gladys Stone and her father John Johnson. The author narrates Sussex singing family member Bob Copper's visit to Stone's home in Fittlesworth, West Sussex England in November 1954 while collecting folk songs for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The author adds that Stone showed Copper the song book that her father Johnson had compiled which included "Her Servant Man."
R. Matteson 2017]
"Down in the Valley" sung by Gladys Stone at Fittleworth, Sussex, November 27, 1954: recorded by Bob Copper.
Down in the valley the first of May,
Of gathering flowers both fresh and gay
Of gathering flowers both red and blue
I little thought what love could do.
Where love is planted there it grows,
It buds and blossoms most like a rose,
It has a sweet and pleasant smell,
No flower on earth can it excel
I put my hand into the bush
Thinking the sweetest rose to find,
I pricked my finger to the bone,
I left the sweetest rose behind.
If roses are such prickly flowers
They ought to be gathered when they are green,
For controlling of an unkind lover
I'm sure strives hard against the stream.
I leant my back against an oak
Thinking its beams some trustive tree,
But first it bent and then it broke,
And so did my false love and me.
I saw a ship sailing on the deep,
She sailed as deep as she could swim,
But not so deep as in love I am,
I care not whether I sink or swim.
Thousands and thousands all on this earth
I think my love carries the highest show,
Surely she is some chosen one,
I will have her or I'll have none.
But now she's dead and in her grave;
Poor girl, I hope that her heart's at rest.
We will wrap her up in some linen strong
And think of her now she is dead and gone.