I am a Rover- Mr. Holgate (York) 1891 Kidson A
[From Traditional Tunes: A Collection of Ballad Airs, Chiefly Obtained in Yorkshire and the South of Scotland by Frank Kidson- 1891. Holgate's text is an assemblage of floating stanzas from the Died for Love songs and their relatives which are similarly found in various broadsides of C titled "The Rover." The variation of the "Must I Go Bound variant (stanza 4) is reminiscent of a stanza from 7R, Yon Green Valley. As with the broadsides of C the opening stanza is similar to "Rambling Boy" while stanzas 2, 3 and the end of 6 resemble 7A, Sailor Boy (Sweet William). Stanza 5 is a corruption of the traditional Scottish song, Rashy Muir (Moor). The word "Dannamore," (probably "by dreary moor") by its corruption shows that the stanza was taken by a writer from tradition.
R. Matteson 2017]
The first version is another excellent air from Mr. Holgate's store of remembrance of Yorkshire song. The words are found on broadsides, and copies differ slightly from each other.
"I am A Rover" from Mr. Holgate.
1. I am a rover, and that's well known,
I am about for to leave my home;
Leaving my friends and my dear to mourn,
My bonny lassie till I return.
2. She drew a chair, and bade me sit down,
And soon she told me her heart I’d won;
She turned her head when I took my leave,
“Farewell, my bonny lass, for me don't grieve.”
3. I sat me down for to write a song,
I wrote it wide and I wrote it long;
At every verse I shed a tear,
At every line, I cried, “My dear!”
4. “O, am I bound or am I free?
Or am I bound to marry thee?
A married life you soon shall see,
A contented mind is no jealousy.”
5. As I crossed over Dannamore," [yon dreary moor]
There I lost sight of my true love's door;
My heart did ache, my eyes went blind,
As I thought of the bonny lass I’d left behind.
6. “I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain,
I wish that he would return again;
Return, return, he'll return no more,
For he died on the seas where the billows roar.”