I'll Never Love Thee More

DESCRIPTION: "My dear and only love, I pray, This noble world of thee, Be governed by no other sway." "I'll never love thee more." "I'll serve thee in such noble ways, Was never heard before; I'll crown and deck thee all with bays, And love thee ever more."
AUTHOR: James Graham, Marquis of Montrose (1612–1650) (source: bartleby.com)
EARLIEST DATE: 1659 (John Gamble's Commonplace Book, according to James Graham, Marquis of Montrose (1612–1650))
KEYWORDS: love soldier
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Simpson-TheBritishBroadsideBallad, pp. 355-356, "I'll Never Love Thee More" (1 tune)
Roud #8495
NOTES [109 words]: This is a conundrum of a piece: a tune and a single line, "I'll never love thee more." This seems to have given rise to many other pieces, with the same burden but the rest all different, and few if any of them traditional. I've chosen Montrose's words, rather than any of the many other choices, because they are surely the most familiar in poetry anthologies, at least. This is the poem that gave rise to the famous "Montrose's Toast":
He either fears his fate too much,
Or his deserts are small,
That puts it not unto the touch,
To win or lose it all.
(Montrose of course did put it all unto the touch for the Stuart monarchy, and was killed for it.) - RBW
Last updated in version 7.1
File: STBB355

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