1
How pleasant and delightful on a bright summer’s morn,
When the hills and the valleys are covered in corn;
There’s a blackbird and a throstle sings on every green tree,
And the larks sang so melodious, and the larks sang so melodious,
And the larks sang melodious, at the break of the day.
2
Said the sailor to his true love, ‘I’ll ’ave thee beware,
Our topsails are hoisted and we must away;
We are bound for the Indies where the loud cannons roar,
For to see my dear Nancy, for to see my dear Nancy,
For to see my dear Nancy, she’s the girl I adore.’
3
‘And when I return, my love, and when I return, my love,
And when I return, my love, I’ll make thee my bride.’
And the larks sang so melodious, and the larks sang so melodious,
And the larks sang melodious, at the break of the day.
4
A ring from her finger she instantly drew,
Saying, ‘Take this, my darling, and I will be true.’
Ten-’thousand sweet kisses from her lips then she blew,
‘May the heavens protect thee, may the heavens protect thee,
May the heavens protect thee, where’er thou may be.’
And the larks, etc.
This is a traditional song
The earliest surviving broadside printing appears to be the four stanza version The Sailor and his Truelove printed by Pitts at his 14, Great St Andrews Street address before 1819. Curiously a later five stanza printing Jemmy’s Farewell at Pitts’ 6, Great St Andrews Street address appears to be a prior version as the first stanza of the earlier version is a garbled contraction of the first two stanzas printed at number 6.
Other London printers repeated the four stanza version and in the mid-century another five stanza version The Blackbird and the Thrush was printed by Such of London, and by some of the northern printers. This has a reworked first stanza which introduces the Pleasant and Delightful first line common to many oral versions, and the sailor has become a soldier (See below). By this time the song must have been common in oral tradition as oral verses contain bits and pieces from all three broadsides. Some printings were rather careless: Jennings’ London version of The Sailor and his Truelove named the sailor as the usual ‘Jemmy’ in the first two stanzas but by the last stanza he had changed his name to ‘William’: Plant of Nottingham has for his title The Blackbird and Thursh.
A Scottish seven stanza version can be seen in The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection, Aberdeen University Press, 1981, Vol. 1, pp143-9, in 15 variants. This appears to be an extension of the Pitts five stanza version. It is easily distinguishable from English versions in that Nancy has become Mary Ann and it has been localized to Montrose. Also it has none of the repeats so typical of English versions.
Brian Thorp’s version from the singing of his wife’s great uncle, Arthur Howard, as one would expect derives from the northern printed versions of The Blackbird and the Thrush as are most English oral versions. Castle Hill is an area of Huddersfield. Naming songs after a place where they are commonly sung is a strong Yorkshire tradition, hence Holmfirth, Noahdale, Staithes, Barnsley all have their own anthems.
We give here a broadside version for comparison and to fill in the missing lines.
1
How pleasant and delightful is the bright summer’s morn,
When the hills and the valleys are covered with corn,
The blackbird and thrush sing on every green tree,
And the lark sings melodious by the dawning of the day.
2
As a soldier and his true love their pleasure did take,
Said the soldier to his true love I must you forsake,
I am going to cross the ocean where the loud cannons roar,
I must go and leave my Nancy the girl I adore.
3
Three heavy sighs she gave him, saying Jemmy my dear,
Are you going to leave me in sorrow and despair,
Are you going to leave me in sorrow to complain,
While you from the Indies do return back again.
4
Fare thee well my dear charmer, I can no longer stay,
Our ship sails are hoisted and I must away,
I’m going to the ocean with a sweet pleasant tide,
And when I return love, I will make you my bride.
5
Then the ring from her finger she instantly drew,
Take this dearest Jemmy, and more you shall have,
And while they were embracing tears down her eyes did flow,
May heaven go with you wherever you go.
Like other similar songs of parting and sailors the second halves of stanzas can, and have been, swapped about endlessly from one stanza to another.