Author Topic: Add: The Shepherds' Song

dmcg

 Posted - 12 Apr 03 - 11:45 am
Shepherds' Song, The

We shepherds are the best of men,
That e'er trod English ground;
When we come to an alehouse
We value not a crown.
We spend our money freely,
We pay before we go;
There's no ale on the wolds,
Where the stormy wind do blow.

Chorus: We spend, etc

A man that is a shepherd
Does need a valiant heart,
He must not be faint-hearted,
Be it rain, or frost, or snow,
With no ale on the wolds
Where the stormy winds do blow.

Chorus: He must not, etc

When I kept sheep on Blockley Hills
It made my heart to ache
To see the ewes hang out their tongues
And hear the lambs to bleat;
THen I plucked up my courage
And o'er the hills did go,
And penned them in the fold
While the stormy winds did blow.

Chorus: Then I plucked, etc

As soon as I had folded them
I turned me back in haster
Unto a jovial company
Good liquor for to taste;
For drink and jovial company
THey are my heart's delight,
Whilst my sheep lie asleep
All the fore-part of the night.

Chorus: For drink and jovial company, etc.


Source: Broadwood, Lucy, 1893, English County Songs, Leadenhall Press, London


Notes:

Lucy Broadwood's notes are given below:

The first verse was taken from the recitation of a lady born at Stoke, Gloucestershire in 1793; the remaining verses were recovered from Thomas Coldicote, shepherd. of Ebrington, Gloucestershire. Blockley, referred to in verse 3, is in the parish adjoining Ebrington. Possibly it was usual for the signer to fill in a local name in the place.


Database entry is here.



Edited By dmcg - 02/05/2003 09:24:40



Edited By dmcg - 03-Mar-2004 11:36:14 AM




dmcg

 Posted - 02 Aug 05 - 09:13 pm
Snuffy sent me this message:

[This is] still how it is sung in and around Blockley. Verse two is missing two lines:

A man that is a shepherd
Does need a valiant heart,
He must not be faint-hearted,
But bravely play his part.
He must not be faint-hearted,
Be it rain, or frost, or snow,
There's no ale on the wolds
Where the stormy winds do blow.

In verse 3 Blockley Hill should be singular

And in V4 jovial should refer to an "alehouse" in line 3, and "company" in line 5
-------

I have added the extra lines, which appear in English County Songs, but have left the other items, such as the plural of Hills, as that is how it appears in the source. Since Snuffy is (presumably) local, and Lucy Broadwood was (presumably) not, the singular is likely to be more accurate.




Snuffy

 Posted - 03 Aug 05 - 02:55 pm
A page of Blockley Parish Council's website mentions Blockley Hill several times





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