False Lovyer- Mr. Punt (Essex) 1904 Williams A
[My title. From Ralph Vaughan Williams Manuscript Collection (at British Library) (RVW2/2/64). 1st stanza with music printed in Journal of the Folk-Song Society- Volume 2, page 160, 1906-- under Died for Love. Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
The MS is hard to read and refers to Broomfield's version.
R. Matteson 2017]
False Lovyer (Brought Me to Despair)- sung by James Punt of East Horndon, Essex on 23 April, 1904. Tune noted by R. Vaughan Williams.
I. Her father bin a noble knight,
Her mother bin, a lady bright:
I bin, an only child of her
False lovyer brought me to despair.
II. There is a flower some people say,
Will give ease by night and day;
But if I could that flower find
'Twould ease my heart and cheer my mind."
III. Down in the meadows then she run,
To gather flowers as they sprung:
But of every sort she plucked, she pulled,
Until she gained her apron full.
IV. Then unto her father's house she run,
Told them over one by one,
But (of) all the flowers she could not find
(One that) would ease her heart and cheer her mind.
V. O yonder he stands on yonder hill,
He's got a heart as hard as steel,
He's gained two hearts in the room of one
And he'll be a true lover when I am gone.