Constant Lovers
Now as I was a-walking down by the sea shore
Where the wind it did whistle and the waves they did roar
There I heard a fair maid make a terrible sound
Like the wind and the waves that did echo around
Ch: Crying "Ohh.. my love is gone
He's the youth I adore
He's gone and I never shall see him no more"
She'd a voice like a nightingale, skin like a dove
And the song that she sang it was all about love
When I asked her to marry me, marry me please
But the answer she gave: "My love's drowned in the seas"
I said I had gold and I'd silver beside
On a coach and six horses with me she could ride
She said: "I'll not marry nor yet prove a wife
I'll be constant a true all the days I'll have life"
The she flung her arms wide and she took a great leap
From the cliffs that were high to the billows so deep
Saying: "The rocks of the ocean shall be my death bed
And the shrimps of the sea shall swim over my head"
And now every night at six bells they appear
When the moon is shining and the stars they are clear
These two constant lovers with each other's charms
Rolling over and over in each other's arms
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recorded by Martyn Wyndham Read on "Voices. English
Traditional Songs" (1992)
"A favourite with Broadside printers in England, Ireland and
Scotland. Frank Purslow maintains that it is probably Irish in
origin. Despite being often collected in England and North
America it is rarely to be found in the repertoire of
revival singers. The tune is a little intricate" - Paul Adams
DT #405
Laws K17
MJ
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!