Steeleye Span Album

Little Sir Hugh

Chorus:
Mother mother make my bed
Make for me a winding sheet
Wrap me up in a cloak of gold
See if I can sleep

Four and twenty bonny bonny boys playing at the hall
Along came little Sir Hugh, he played with them all
He kicked the ball very high, he kicked the ball so low,
He kicked it over a castle wall where no one dared to go

Out came a lady gay, she was dressed in green
"Come in, come in little Sir Hugh, fetch your ball again"
"I won't come in, I can't come in without my play mates all
For if I should I know you would cause my blood to fall"

Chorus

She took him by the milk white hand, led him to the hall
Till they came to a stone chamber where no one could hear him call
She sat him on a golden chair, she gave him sugar sweet
She lay him on a dressing board and stabbed him like a sheep

Out came the thick thick blood, out came the thin
Out came the bonny heart's blood till there was none within
She took him by the yellow hair and also by the feet
She threw him in the old draw well fifty fathoms deep

Traditional

(Instrumental)

Said the lord unto his lady as he rode over the moss
"Beware of Long Lankin that lives amongst the gorse;
Beware the moss, beware the moor, beware of Long Lankin
Make sure the doors are bolted well
Lest Lankin should creep in."
Said the lord unto his lady as he rode away,
"Beware of Long Lankin that lives amongst the hay;
Beware the moss, beware the moor, beware of Long Lankin
Make sure the doors are bolted well
Lest Lankin should creep in."
"Where's the master of the house?" says Long Lankin.
"He's 'way to London," says the nurse to him.
"Where's the lady of the house?" says Long Lankin.
"She's up in her chamber," says the nurse to him.
"Where's the baby of the house?" says Long Lankin.
"He's asleep in the cradle," says the nurse to him.
"We will pinch him, we will prick him,
we will stab him with a pin,
And the nurse shall hold the basin
for the blood all to run in."
So they pinched him and they pricked him,
then they stabbed him with a pin,
And the false nurse held the basin
for the blood all to run in.
"Lady, come down the stairs," says Long Lankin.
"How can I see in the dark?" she says unto him.
"You have silver mantles," says Long Lankin.
"Lady, come down the stairs by the light of them."
Down the stairs the lady came, thinking no harm
Lankin he stood ready to catch her in his arms.
There was blood all in the kitchen
There was blood all in the hall
There was blood all in the parlour
Where my lady she did fall
Now Long Lankin shall be hanged
from the gallows oh so high,
And the false nurse shall be burned
in the fire close by.
Said the lord unto his lady as he rode over the moss
"Beware of Long Lankin that lives amongst the gorse;
Beware the moss, beware the moor, beware of Long Lankin
Make sure the doors are bolted well
Lest Lankin should creep in."

Traditional

Chorus
I keep my dogs and I keep my ferrets
I have them in my keeping
To catch those hares that run by night
While the game keepers lie sleeping
My dogs and I went out on a cold night
For to view the habitation
Up jumped a hare and away she did ran
Straight into a plantation

Chorus

She had not gone a long way in
When something caught her running
So loudly then I heard her cry
For she knew the dogs were coming

Chorus

I took my knife all in my hand
So quickly for to paunch her
She was one of the female kind
How glad I was I'd caught her

Chorus

Then I'll go down to some ale house near
And I'll drink that hare quite mellow
I'll spend a crown and a merry crown too
And say "I'm a right good fellow"

Traditional

Oh there was an old Galtee farmer and he had an old Galtee mare
He brought her to Enniscorthy boys to sell her at the fair
Said the son all to the father "I'll do the best I can
The price of her is twenty guineas but look I'll take one pound"

Up comes a Dublin buyer for to bid I am inclined
The price of her is twenty guineas but look I'll give one pound
So quickly then he paid for here before time look around
And he went into a stable and he pulled her in behind
Put a saddle and a bridle and a jockey all on her back
You would swear she was a racer after coming off the track

Says the son all to the father "There's a mare for sale close by
She looks so bright and handsome and enticing to my eye"
She looks so bright and handsome and the jockey turned around
Said the price of her is fifty guineas but look I'll take five pounds

Says the son all to the father now be quick and make up your mind
The price of her is fifty guineas but look he'll take five pounds
So quickly then they paid for her and away from the fair they went
And as they jogged along the road they were both well content

When they came to the little cottage at the bottom of the lane
Who should run to meet them but the little daughter Jane
"Mamma, mamma here comes the lads, but the mare they did not sell
But they've hogged her mane and docked her tail but you'd know her old jog well"

"Oh what did you get that mare clipped for she looks so thin and old
What did you get that mare clipped for she'll surely catch a cold
I'll sit down at the table and I'll let my temper cool
I've been married to you these forty years and you're only a born fool"

Traditional

Where have you been my long lost love
This seven long years and more
Seeking gold for thee my love
And riches of great store

I might have married a king's daughter
Far far beyond the sea
But I refused the golden crown
All for the love of thee

What have you to keep me with
If I with you should go
If I forsake my husband dear
And my young son also

Chorus I'll show you where the white lilies grow
On the banks of Italy
I'll show you where the white fishes swim
At the bottom of the sea
Seven ships all on the sea
The eighth brought me to land
With four and twenty mariners
And music on every hand

She set her foot upon the ship
No mariners could behold
The sails were of the shining silk
The masts of beaten gold

Chorus

Oh what are you high hills
The sun shines sweetly in
Those are the hills of heaven my love
Where you will never win

Chorus

What is that mountain yonder there
Where evil winds do blow
Yonder's the mountain of hell he cried
Where you and I must go

He took her up to the top mast high
To see what he could see
He sunk the ship in a flash of fire
To the bottom of the sea

Traditional

I heard a bonny cow low, cow low, cow low
I heard a bonny cow low over the lea
And it was an elf-call, elf-call, elf-call
And it was an elf-call, calling unto me
And the little elf-call, elf-call, elf-call
And the little elf-call said unto me

Chorus
Come and nurse an elf child, elf child, elf child
Come and nurse an elf child down beneath the sea
Come and nurse an elf child, elf child, elf child
Come and nurse an elf child down beneath the sea
What do you moan for, moan for, moan for
What do you moan for the elf king said to me
I'm moaning for my own child, own child, own child
I'm moaning for my own child, far across the sea
Then the little elf-king, elf-king, elf-king
Then the little elf-king said unto me

Chorus

Traditional

O the weary cutters and O the weary sea
O the weary cutters have taken my laddie from me
They've pressed him far away foreign
With Nelson beyond the salt sea

O the lousy cutters and O the weary sea
O the lousy cutters have stolen my laddie from me
They always come in the night
They never come in the day
They come at night and steal the laddies away

O the weary cutters and O the weary sea
O the weary cutters have taken my laddie from me
I'll give the cutter a guinea
I'll give the cutter no more
I'll give him a guinea to steal my laddie ashore

As I walked down through Chatham Street
a fair maid I did meet,
She asked me to see her home--
she lived in Bleecker Street.
Chorus:
And away you santy, my dear honey,
O you New York girls, can't you dance the polka?
And when we got to Bleecker Street,
We stopped at forty-four,
Her mother and her sister there,
to meet her at the door.
Chorus:
And when I got inside the house,
The drinks were passed around,
The liquor was so awful strong,
My head went round and round.
Chorus:
And then we had another drink,
before we sat to eat,
The liquor was so awful strong,
I quickly fell asleep.
Chorus:
((Spoken) Henry Crun: Oh, come on, Min; play that modern banjo, Min.)
(Minnie Bannister: Ya pa pa pa pa....)
When I awoke next morning
I had an aching head,
There was I, Jack all alone,
Stark naked in me bed.
Chorus:
My gold watch and my pocketbook
And lady friend were gone;
And there was I, Jack all alone,
Stark naked in the room.
Chorus:
On looking round this little room,
There's nothing I could see,
But a woman's shift and apron
That were no use to me.
Chorus:
With a flour barrel for a suit of clothes,
Down Cherry Street forlorn,
There Martin Churchill took me in,
And sent me 'round Cape Horn.
Chorus:
Sam Waring