Lowlands of Holland 4
On the night that I was married and in my marriage bed
There came a bold sea captain and he stood at my bedhead
Saying "Arise, arise young wedded man this night for to go with me
To the low lowlands of Holland to fight the enemy."
Oh, I held my love all in my arms, still hoping he might stay,
When the captain he gave another order and we had to march away,
Saying "There's many a blithe young married man this night must go with me
To the low lowlands of Holland to fight the enemy."
But Holland it is a wondrous place and in it grows much green
'Tis a wild inhabitation for my true love to be in.
Where the leaves they grow and the winds they do blow and strange fruit
grows on every tree
'Tis the wild wild lands of Holland where twined my love and me.
No shoes nor stocking I'll put on nor comb to go through my hair
And nor shall day or candlelight shine on my bower fair
Nor shall I sleep with any young man until the day I die
For the lowlands of Holland they parted my love and I.
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Child #92
Sung by Sandy Denny (unaccompanied) in 1970 on the unreleased Fotheringay
BBC radio sessions.
This song has a multitude of versions, all sung to similar
tunes. James Reeves ("The Everlasting Circle") suggests that "there may
have been an original in which a young bridegroom is pressed for service
in the Netherlands, but in some versions Holland appears to have become
New Holland, the former name for Australia, which has perhaps been confused
with the Dutch East Indies." This may explain the strange description
of Holland in the third verse or the "sugar cane" mentioned in other
versions. The version here seems to be a mixture between LOWHOLLD and
LOWHOLL2.
MJ
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!