We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Let No Man Steal Your Thyme

from Book One by Mary Hampton

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £2 GBP  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

Attributed to Mrs Francis Habergham of Lancaster (late 1600s), here is an interesting old song that delivers both a warning and a coded message to women who found themselves in a tight spot. Rue, the herb of which it speaks (also known as herb-of-grace) was traditionally used as an abortifacient...a risky method of dealing with unwanted pregnancy by today's standards, but a readily available and discreet option in centuries past...

lyrics

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!

credits

from Book One, released July 22, 2023
Fiddle - Jo Burke
Double bass - Alice Eldridge
Drums - Nick Franklin
Guitar/vocals - Mary Hampton

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Mary Hampton image

Mary Hampton Rotherham, UK

contact / help

Contact Mary Hampton

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

Mary Hampton recommends:

If you like Mary Hampton, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring interviews with LA music scene pillar Kamasi Washington, and new London-based duo Mrcy.

listen now