Washington, 1994.
Preceding element provides place and date of transcription only.
This transcription intended to be 99.95% accurate.
For more information about this text and this American Memory collection, refer to accompanying matter.
Text
Robertson, Sidney [md] collector
Graham; George Vinton [md] singer
Asmussen, Ella [md] transcriber of text
Recorded at San Jose, California
December 1938
UC-BPA Disk No. 4E-A1
True Lover of [Mine?]
Where are you going? To Caprian.
Green grows the merry and tine,
And if you see that nice young man,
I want him for a true lover of mine.
Tell him to plow me one acre of ground,
Green grows the merry and tine,
And plant it all over with one grain of corn,
And he shall be a true lover of mine.
Tell him to thresh it 'gainst yonders barn,
Green grows the merry and tine,
That never was built since Adam was born,
And he shall be a true lover of mine.
Tell him to thresh it against yonders wall,
Green grows the merry and tine,
And not for the life of him let one grain fall,
And he shall be a true lover of mine. *
Tell her to make me one cambric shirt,
Green grows the merry and tine,
And not for the life of her let one stitch of it be needlework,
And she shall be a true lover of mine.
Tell her to iron it with a red hot iron,
Green grows the merry and tine,
And not for the life of her let one stitch of it burn,
And she shall be a true lover of mine.
* This stanza was dictated to the transcriber by Mr. Graham.
Page 1.
TRUE LOVER OF MINE.
This is a song that hasn't got any title, but it's something about an impos
impossibility, I think.
" Where are you going? [?]
Green grows the [merry and tine?] ?*
And if you see that nice young man,
I want him for a true lover of mine.
" Tell him to plow me one acre of ground
Green grows the merry and tine *
And plant it all over with one grain of corn,
And he shall be a true lover of mine.
in [? barn?]
[in all?] barn[;?]
Green grows the merry and tine *
)?]
There never was built. There never [?] barn ?
That is all I can recall now. I shall have to go get a drink of water.
* I took the expression "merry and tine" from the card, for I couldn't
understand what he said.
[???]
True lover of Mine
Joyce, [old 1 RM. S
p. 59 No 117
Wells- w.f. version
practical identical; tune
related [md] Joyces [??]
[?] collections is [?]
Joyce's [air?] is [certain?] Irish?]