Lover's Tasks- William Huxtable (Som) 1906 Sharp

Lover's Tasks- William Huxtable (Som) 1906 Sharp

[Cecil Sharp & Charles R. Marson's "Folk Songs From Somerset, III"  titled "The Lover's Tasks", No. LXIV, pp. 26-7, notes, p. 75; also Bronson I, 2.36, p. 24.

This is likely a composite.

R. Matteson 2018]

The Lover's Tasks- Words and air from Mr. William Huxtable, Taunton, Somerset by 1906.

12. "The Lover's Tasks", from the singing of William Huxtable, Somerset, from Cecil Sharp & Charles R. Marson, Folk Songs From Somerset. Third Series, London 1906, No. LXIV, pp. 26-7

        Say can you make me a cambric shirt
        Sing Ivy Leaf, Sweet William and Thyme,
        Without any needle or needle work?
        And you shall be a true lover of mine.

        Yes, if you wash it in yonder well
        Sing Ivy Leaf, Sweet William and Thyme,
        Where neither springs water, nor rain ever fell,
        And you shall be a true lover of mine.

        Say can you plough me an acre of land
        Sing Ivy Leaf, Sweet William and Thyme,
        Between the sea and the salt sea strand?
        And you shall be a true lover of mine.

        Yes, if you plough it with one ram’s horn
        Sing Ivy Leaf, Sweet William and Thyme,
        And sow it all over with one pepper corn,
        And you shall be a true lover of mine.

        Say can you reap with a sickle of leather
        Sing Ivy Leaf, Sweet William and Thyme,
        And tie it all up with a Tom-tit’s feather?
        And you shall be a true lover of mine.

        Yes if you gather it all in a sack,
        Sing Ivy Leaf, Sweet William and Thyme,
        And carry it home on a butterfly’s back,
        And you shall be a true lover of mine.