Garland of Love, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer says she'll weave her love a garland of lilies and roses, though they're not as sweet as he. She recalls his charms and easing his sighs. She hopes to marry him but "if he proves false ... For me to seek pleasure it would be in vain"
AUTHOR: Theodore Edward Hook (source: notes to Bodleian Harding B 17(107a))
EARLIEST DATE: before 1813 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 17(107a))
KEYWORDS: love sex flowers nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames, p. 72, "I'll Weave Him a Garland" (1 text) (also Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Ox 306)
ADDITIONAL: The Pocket Encyclopedia of Scottish, English, and Irish Songs (Glasgow, 1816 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol. II, p. 88, "The Lad That I Love" (1 text)

Roud #1247
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(107a), "The Garland of Love" ("How sweet are the flow'rs that grow by yon mountain") , J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also Harding B 25(710), Johnson Ballads 619[almost entirely illegible], Harding B 11(783), "The Garland of Love"; Harding B 25(712), "The Gay Garland"; Johnson Ballads fol. 11, Johnson Ballads fol. 18 View 2 of 2, "The Lad that I Love"
NOTES [80 words]: Be careful trying to establish a locale for this song. The Pocket Encyclopedia has, "It was down in the vale, where the sweet Torza gliding"; Broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(783) has, "It was down in yon vale where the Tecsa is gliding"; Harding B 25(710) has, "It was down in a vale, where the sweet stars a gilding'; Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames has, "It was down in the vale where my sweetheart was walking." I can find no Torza or Tecsa river in the United Kingdom. - BS
Last updated in version 2.6
File: WT072

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