Hear the Nightingales Sing

Lyrics

1
As I was a-walking one morning in May,
I espied a young couple upon the highway,
And one was a lady most beautiful and fair,
The other was a soldier, a brave volunteer.

2
Now this lovely young couple, they walked on together,
They sat themselves down, me boys, by the side of the heather,
They sat themselves down by the side of a stream,
And that was the start of a beautiful queen.

3
They hadn’t been sat there long when he put his arm round her middle,
He took off his knapsack and drew out a fiddle,
And he played such a tune, me boys, such a lovely thing,
That it made the woods to echo and the valleys to ring.

4
Now he hadn’t been playing long when he said it’s time to give o’er,
"Oh now," said the lady, "just play one tune more,
For I like all your music and the touching of one string,
It will make the woods to echo and the valleys to ring.

5
Oh I’ll go to yonder Indies?...
.........
And if ever I return again it will be in the spring,
For to see the pretty flowers grow and hear the nightingales sing.

From the LP In Sheffield Park, Traditional Songs from South Yorkshire.

This is a traditional song

Provenance

Two seventeenth century printings of this ballad have come down to us, The Nightingale’s Song; or, The Souldier’s Rare Musick and Maid’s Recreation, c1636 (See Roxburgh Ballads, Ebsworth, Vol. 9, p170). A later copy c1689-1709 can be seen on the Bodleian Ballads website: Douce Ballads 2(166b), printed by William Onley of London. It is set to the tune No, no, no, not I; or, Peggy and the Souldier. Both of the aforementioned songs are accredited to the pen of Richard Climsall who wrote several ballads which have been found in the last century in oral tradition. In this respect he almost rivals the more prolific Martin Parker many of whose ballads are still found in oral tradition.

A five-stanza version (as opposed to the original sixteen stanzas) The Bold Grenadier was printed by Disley of London in the mid-nineteenth century, but it is difficult to believe that the ballad had quietly evolved in oral tradition for two centuries without the aid of interim printings and I wouldn’t be surprised to come across an eighteenth century chapbook/garland version once these start to become more accessible and widely available. The Disley version was also printed by Willey of Cheltenham, William Forth of Hull c1870, and one without imprint, so it’s hardly surprising that several versions turn up in Yorkshire in oral tradition.

Whilst versions based on the nineteenth century printings are widespread in England and North America a substantial number, particularly in North America, have more stanzas relating back to earlier versions.

The West Sheffield tradition has presented us with two fairly distinct versions of the ballad, but both clearly derived from the nineteenth century broadside version. Arthur Howard’s four-stanza version follows. The most noticeable difference is Frank’s ‘…made the woods to echo and the valleys to ring’ and Arthur’s ‘….to hear the watter rattle and the nightingale sing’, which is in the broadside ‘….to see the flowers grow and hear the nightingale sing’

Watter Rattle as sung by Arthur Howard,

1
As I was out walking one fine summer’s day,
I spied a young couple upon the highway,
One was a female and a beauty was she,
And the other was a soldier in the Artillery,
And the other was a soldier in the Artillery.

2
Now the soldier and the female they strolled on together,
They walked side by side by the side of the river,
Then they sat themselves down by the side of the stream,
For she loved to hear the watter rattle and the nightingale sing, x2

3
Then the soldier took the female in his arms round her middle,
He out with his string and he up with his fiddle,
Then he played her a tune to the length of his string,
For she loved to hear the watter rattle and the nightingale sing, x2

4
Says the soldier to the female, ‘It’s time to give o’er.’
Says the female to the soldier, ‘Just play me one more,
Just play one more tune to the length of your string,
For I love to hear the watter rattle and the nightingale sing,’ x2

In the original the fiddler is simply a soldier but by the nineteenth century he was more specifically a bold grenadier and by the twentieth century he had become a brave volunteer or in the Artillery. No doubt other branches of the armed forces are also well represented in other versions as often happens with songs that include military personnel.

Here follows the final stanza of the nineteenth century broadside to augment Frank's missing words.

5
‘O now,’ says the lady, ‘we part for a time,
We will drink of good ale and all sorts of wine,
And if ever we return again it shall be in the spring,
For I love to hear the flowers grow and hear the nightingale sing.’