Oh, my hat it is frozen to my head
And my feet they are like a lump of lead.
My shoes they are frozen to my feet
A-standing at your window.
"Oh let me in" the soldier cried,
Cold, haily, windy night,
"Oh let me in," the soldier cried,
"For I'll not go back again-o."
"My father he watches on the street,
My mother the chamber keys do keep,
The doors and windows, they do creak,
I dare not let you in-o."
"Oh let me in," the soldier cried,
Cold, haily, windy night,
"Oh let me in," the soldier cried,
"For I'll not go back again-o."
And she's rose up and she's let him in,
She's kissed her true love cheek and chin,
And she's drawn him between the sheets again,
And she opened and she let him in-o.
Then she has blessed the rainy night,
Cold, haily, windy night,
Then she has blessed the rainy night,
That she opened and she let him in-o.
"Soldier, soldier stay with me,
Soldier, soldier won't you marry me?"
"Oh no,no,no that ne'er can be
So fare thee well forever."
Then she has wept for the rainy night,
Cold, haily, windy night,
Then she has wept for the rainy night,
That she opened and she let him in-o.
And he's jumped up all out of the bed
And he's put his hat all on his head,
For she has lost her maidenhead
And her mother she heard the din-o.
Then she has cursed the rainy night,
Cold, haily, windy night,
Then she has cursed the rainy night,
That she opened and she let him in-o.
abc | midi | pdf
Source: Kennedy, D (1987) Martin Carthy: A Guitar in Folk Music. Petersham, New Punchbowl Music
Notes:
Recorded by Martin Carthy on Landfall (Phillips, 1971). Also by Steeleye Span on Please To See The King (B&C, 1971)
On the sleeve of Landfall, Carthy notes:
Cold Haily Windy Night is based on the version collected by Baring-Gould in the South West of England. The tune comes from Johnson's Musical Museum, with a composite text. Although this version may not be very old, in its various parts the idea is as old as the hills, for it is to be found, among other places, in the Song of Songs: "Let me in my love, my dove, my undefiled, for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night."
Roud: 135 (Search Roud index at VWML)
Laws:
Child:
Related Songs: Let Me in this Ae Night (thematic)