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Book One

by Mary Hampton

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1.
Don't sing love songs, you'll wake my mother; She's sleeping here close by my side And in her right hand she holds a dagger She says that I shan't be your bride. All men are false, says my mother They'll tell you wicked loving lies And the very next evening, they'll court another Leaving you alone to pine and sigh. My father is a handsome devil And there's a chain that's five miles long, On every link a heart does dangle Of some poor girl he's loved and gone. I wish I was a little sparrow And one of those that flies so high, I'd fly away to my false true lover And when he spoke I should deny. Go court some other tender lady I hope that she will be your wife, For I've been warned and I've decided To sleep alone all of my life.
2.
Love me little, love me long Is the burden of my song The love that burneth too fierce and strong Burneth soon to waste oh Burneth soon to waste oh. Still, I would not have thee cold Nor too bashful, nor too bold But love that lasteth 'til it's old And fadeth not in haste oh And fadeth not in haste oh. Come Winter's cold, come Summer's heat, This love advanceth with quiet feet And it will never accept defeat 'Til I cannot rebel oh 'Til I cannot rebel oh. And such the love that I would gain, Such a love, love, I tell thee plain Thou must give or woo in vain, So to thee farewell oh So to thee farewell oh So to thee farewell oh!
3.
The Gardener 07:26
Proud Maisie stands at her father's door As straight's a willow wand And soon there came a gardener child With a red rose in his hand. Oh you shall have my rose fair maid If you'll give your flower to me And among the flowers in your father's garden I'll make a gown for thee. And the Lilly white shall be your smock Becomes your body next And the marigolds shall be your stays With my red rose at your breast. Your gown shall be the smelling thyme And your apron of the camowine And I'll sew them each with the blue, blue blevets Come kiss sweetheart and join. --------------- Since you have made a gown for me Among the Summer flowers Well it's I shall make a suit for thee Among the winter showers. And the milk white snow shall be your shirt And lie your body next And the mirk black rain shall be your suit With a wind gale at your breast. And the bonnet that's be upon your head Shall be the southern grey And every time that you pass by I'll wish you were away.
4.
Beware, young maids, beware! Beware and read my rhyme And see that you keep your garden well Let no man steal your thyme. Oh when my thyme was new It flourished night and day 'Til by there came a false young man And he stole my thyme away. And now my thyme's all gone And I can plant no new And the very place where my thyme was set Well it's all overrun with rue. And rue runs over all And nothing can it stop But there grows a flower in my father's garden They call it the fair maid's hope. Now spring up hope, say I And be not afraid of rue, And if ever that young man Should come this way again Well he'll surely find me true! Well he'll surely find me true!
5.
Eros 07:08
Last night I dreamed a man came in He looked as my first lover had He sat himself beside the bed And his face was so sad. His hair was thick and full of dust And for a while he made no sound But stared with splendid, fiery eyes As strange moths flew round. He looked at me, he spoke to me, And little shocks made my fingers sting, The room was filled with the smell of cloves And each word did ring And each word did ring. "Remember me, when love first came? I took a bottle from the shelf. You drank a draft and how you laughed! You forgot yourself." He poured a glass up to the brim, He held it out against the moon. "Do you not long to lose yourself Here in this room? Here's to the drink that leaves you thirsty And here's to the thirst that finds the well And here's to the bliss of falling down it Which no tongue can tell Which no tongue can tell Which no tongue can tell." -------------- And when I woke in the light of day I recalled the line of my lover's back; I would not drink and he took his leave But come back, come back. Come back, love, come back! Come back, love, Come back.
6.
If I had wings like Noah's dove, I'd fly across the river to the one I love! Fare thee well, oh honey, Fare thee well. If I had listened to what my mamma said I'd still be sleeping in my mother's bed. Fare thee well, oh honey, Fare thee well. But I've got a man, he's long and tall; He moves his body like a cannonball. Fare thee well, oh honey, Fare thee well. One of these mornings and it won't be long, You're going to hear my name but I'll be gone. Fare thee well, oh honey, Fare thee well. Fare thee well, oh honey, Fare thee well.

about

I put these songs together in Brighton back in 2005. Some are traditional, some original. Their performance is a bit raw and rattly, which I hope you'll forgive, but that is mostly how I like music to be. On some of them, I also had the privilege of playing with a few musician friends of great talent and perception, as you will hear... Each of the six songs examines a different aspect of the central theme of 'refusal'.

credits

released July 22, 2023

Fiddle - Jo Burke
Cello/electric bass - Alice Eldridge
Drums - Nick Franklin
Viola - Kath Mann
Harmonium - Joe Watson
Guitars/piano/vocals/sound effects - Mary Hampton
Engineered by Joe Watson at Timepass.

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Mary Hampton Rotherham, UK

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