Cold blows the wind to my true love,
And gently drops the rain,
I never had but one sweetheart,
And in greenwood she lies slain,
And in greenwood she lies slain.

I'll do as much for my sweetheart
As any young man may;
I'll sit and mourn all on her grave
For a twelvemonth and a day,
For a twelvemonth and a day.

When the twelvemonth and one day was past,
The ghost began to speak:
Why sittest thou here all day on my grave,
And will not let me sleep?
And will not let me sleep?

There's one thing that I want, sweetheart,
There's one thing that I crave;
And that is a kiss from your lily-white lips
Then I'll go from your grave,
Then I'll go from your grave.

My breast it is as cold as clay,
My breath smells earthly strong;
And if you kiss my cold clay lips,
Your days they won't be long,
Your days they won't be long.

Go fetch me water from the desert,
And blood from out of a stone;
Go fetch me milk from a fair maid's breast
That a youg man never had known,
That a young man never had known.

O down in yonder grave, sweetheart,
Where you and I would walk,
The first flower that ever I saw
Is withered to a stalk,
Is withered to a stalk.

The stalk is witherd and dry, sweetheart,
And the flower will never return;
And since I lost my own sweetheart,
What can I do but mourn?
What can I do but mourn?

When shall we meet again, sweetheart?
When shall we meet again?
When the oaken leaves that fall from the trees
Are green and spring up again,
Are green and spring up again.


abc | midi | pdf

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Source: Sharp, C (ed), 1916, One Hundred English Folksongs, Boston, Oliver Ditson Co.

Notes:
Cecil Sharp's notes are as follows:

This ballad, of which I have collected a large number of variants, is widely known and sung by English folksingers. A Scottish version, "Charles Graeme", is in Buchan's Ancient Ballads and Songs; while several traditional versions of the words are printed by Child. Compare the ballad of "William and Marjorie" (Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p 186), and versions of the well-known "William and Margaret." For variants with tunes, see the Journal of the Folk-Song Society (volumne i, pp 119 and 192; volume ii, p 6); English Country Songs (p 34); Songs of the West (p 12, 2nd ed); and English Traditional Songs and Carols (p 50). The words of the sixth stanza in the text refer to an ancient belief that a maiden bethrothed to a man was pledged to him after his death, and was compelled to follow him into the spirit world unless she was able to perform certain tasks or solve certain riddles that he propounded. In this particular version the position is, of course, reversed, and it is the maiden who lies in the grave. Compare "Scarborough Fair".

Broadside versions at Bodleian Library Broadise Ballads are:

Cold blows the wind ("Cold blows the wind over my true love ...")
Firth c.18(123)
Printer: Pratt, W. (Birmingham)
Date: c.1850
Imprint: W. Pratt, Printer, 82, Digbeth, Birmingham

The weeping lover ("Cold blows the wind over my true love ...")
2806 c.17(461)
Printer: Heppel, R. (Birmingham)
Date: between 1827 and 1840
Imprint: R. Heppel, Printer, 113, Coleshill-st, Birmingham

The weeping lover ("Cold blows the wind over my true love ...")
2806 c.17(460)
Printer: Wright, W. (Birmingham)
Date: between 1820 and 1831
Imprint: Wright, Printer, Smithfield, Birming

Cold blows the wind ("Cold blows the wind over my true love ...")
Harding B 11(634)
Johnson Ballads 1435
Johnson Ballads 1436
Printer: Pratt, W. (Birmingham)
Date: c.1850
Imprint: W. Pratt, Printer, 82, Digbeth, Birmingham.
Note: Slip. Originally a sheet with 2806 c.17(71)


Found mainly in England; occasionally in the USA. Sharp alone collected some 25 examples (nearly half, tunes only) in the South and West.

The tune here was noted by Sharp from Mrs William Ree at Hambridge, Somerset, 4th April 1904, and was first published in the Journal of the Folk Song Society, vol. II issue 6, 1905. Mrs Ree knew four verses, as follows:

I'll do as much for my sweetheart
As any young man may;
I'll sit and mourn all on her grave
A twelvemonth and a day,
A twelvemonth and a day.

The twelve months and the day was past,
The ghost began to speak:
What makes you sit all on my grave
And will not let me sleep?
And will not let me sleep?

There is one thing more I want, sweetheart,
There is one more thing I crave;
And that is a kiss from your lily-white lips
And then I'll go from your grave,
And then I'll go from your grave.

My lips are cold as clay, sweetheart,
My breath smells heavy and strong;
And if you kiss my lily-white lips,
Your time will not be long,
Your time will not be long.


For the commercial arrangement, the other verses were introduced from other sets, and modified to fit them to Mrs Ree's tune and to the style of wording. This makes them difficult to place with certainty; but based on the published material, it appears verse 1 was mostly from William Spearing (Ile Brewers, Somerset, 6th April 1904); verse 4 uses his "sittest thou". Verses 5 and 6 look to be mostly from Mrs Elizabeth Smitherd (Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, 11th April 1908); verses 7 and 8 from Mrs Elizabeth Hutchings (Langport, Somerset, 17th August 1904); verse 9 from Mrs Anna Pond (Shepton Beauchamp, Somerset, 16th August 1904). Mrs Pond was also the source for the tune (and some of the text) of Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor.

Sharp omitted "thou" in verse 3. The word "grave" in verse 7 is puzzling, as it makes no sense and doesn't appear in any of the traditional sets. It ought to be "grove", but the word in One Hundred English Folksongs is certainly "grave". It is possibly a slip at the time on the part of a transcriber or typesetter; natural enough given the nature of the song.

Roud: 51 (Search Roud index at VWML) Take Six
Laws:
Child: 78

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Related Songs:  Cold Blows the Wind (Shropshire) (thematic)