Broken Token (2) As I walked out one bright May moning A fair young lady I chanced to see I asked her if she had a sweetheart And this reply she gave to me "It's seven long years since I had a sweetheart It's seven long years since I did him see And seven more I will wiat upon him Till he returns for to marry me" "I don't know how you can love a sailor I don't know how you can love a slave Perhaps he's married or else he's buried Or lying in his cold watery grave" "Well, if he's married, I wish him happy And if he's buried I wish him rest But for his sake I will never marry For he's the young man that I love best" He put his hand into his pocket His fingers being so long and thin Pulled out a ring that was bent and broken And when she's seen it then she fell He lifted her into his arms He gave her kisses three by three Sayin' "Who am I but your only sailor boy Just returned for to marry you" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- recorded by Cyril Tawney on "Voices. Traditional English Songs" (1991) "Broken Token Ballads abound in the English tradition. The general idea is that the lovers divide a 'token' (usually a ring) when they part (he usually goes off to foreign parts as a soldier or sailor) and agree to be faithful. He later returns, but she does not recognise him at first, etc. etc. Cyril learnt this version in his native West Country from his mother and this goes to show how difficult it is to regionalise folk songs because she learnt it from her Grandmother, Mary Sharkey, in Northern Ireland!" - Paul Adams MJ
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!