Virgin's Wreath, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer, "a maiden sad and lonely" is courted by "a nice young man" Now she is "abroken down." Cocks are crowing....
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Reeves-TheEverlastingCircle)
KEYWORDS: courting chickens
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Reeves-TheEverlastingCircle, p. 287, "The Virgin's Wreath" (1 fragment)
ADDITIONAL: _Littell's Living Age_ (Boston, 1895 ("Digitized by Google")), Sixth Series Vol. VII, No. 2661, July 6, 1895, p. 2, "The Virgin's Wreath" (1 text)
S. Baring-Gould, "Among the Western Song-Men" in _The English Illustrated Magazine_ (London, 1892 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 476, ("I am a maiden sad and lonely") (1 text)
Roud #1070
NOTES [213 words]: Reeves-TheEverlastingCircle cites an undated Baring-Gould manuscript from Penrose with two verses and the first line of the third verse with "three lines of dots after the last line." In "Among the Western Song-Men," Baring-Gould quotes, without title, what appears to be a complete song "that has a reference in a long-forgotten custom of hanging the wreathes borne before virgins to their graves in the church as memorials." Where Reeves-TheEverlastingCircle has the couter "a nice young man," "Among Western Song-Men" has "a squire's son"; where Reeves-TheEverlastingCircle refers to "lilies tall in gardens growing And all abroken down like me," "Among Western Song-Men" has "The lily, rose, and e'en the thistle Are bruised and bent and broke like me." The wreath is in one of verses in "Among Western Song-Men" but not in Reeves-TheEverlastingCircle. Where does the title for the Reeves-TheEverlastingCircle manuscript come from?
The Littell's Living Age text is printed with the title but without attribution. It is almost the same as the "Among Western Song-Men" text. Where the latter has, in the last verse (not in Reeves-TheEverlastingCircle), "He'll think of me with thoughts of mourning," Littell's Living Age has, "He'll think of me with thoughts unscorning." - BS
Last updated in version 2.7
File: ReCip287

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