I Wish, I Wish- H. Rae (Aber) 1908 Greig A
[From The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection - Volume 8 - Page 256; by Patrick N. Shuldham-Shaw, Emily B. Lyle - 2002.
Miss Rae was a teacher at Whitehill School, married and lost her husband in the war [Last Leaves]. This version is of the Brisk Young Sailor variety without the standard first stanza. The suicide is corrupt in two ways he is standing instead of hanging and she is the one who should be committing suicide-- not him.
R. Matteson 2017]
A. "I Wish, I Wish." Sung by Miss H. Rae, Sandhaven, about February 1908.
1. I wish, I wish in vain,
I wish I were a maid again,
But a maid again I'll never be
Till an apple grows on an orange tree.
2. There is an alehouse in yonder toon
My love gangs and sits aye doon
He takes a strange girl on his knee
And don't you think this grief to me?
3. It's grief to me and I will tell you why,
Because she's got more gold than I,
But her gold shall waste and her beauty pass,
And alas, poor girl she'll be left a maid.
4. I love his father, I love his mother,
I love his sisters and all his brother,
I love his comrades and all his friends,
And the very boats that he sails in.
5. I went up yon winding stair
I saw my true love hanging[1] there,
I took a knife and cut him down,
And in his heart was a letter found.
6. Go dig my grave both wide and neat[2],
Put a marble stone at both head and feet,
And in the centre a turtle-dove
To signify that I died in love.
1. originally "standing"
2. usually "deep"