Early One Morning

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"Early One Morning" (Roud 12682) is an English folk song. A well-known early version is in "Popular Music of the Olden Time" (1855-1859) printed by William Chappell. A broadside in the Bodleian Library (Bodleian) dates from about 1803. It might possibly be derived from an earlier song "The Forsaken Lover".

1 Lyrics
2 Notability
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Lyrics

Early one morning,
Just as the sun was rising,
I heard a maid sing,
In the valley below.

CHORUS: Oh, don't deceive me,
Oh, never leave me,
How could you use
A poor maiden so?

Remember the vows,
That you made to your Mary,
Remember the bow'r,
Where you vowed to be true,

Chorus

Oh Gay is the garland,
And fresh are the roses,
I've culled from the garden,
To place upon thy brow.

Chorus

Thus sang the poor maiden,
Her sorrows bewailing,
Thus sang the poor maid,
In the valley below.

Chorus

Alternate Lyrics:

Early one morning, just as the sun was rising,
I heard a maid sing in the valley below:
"Oh don't deceive me, Oh never leave me,
How could you use a poor maiden so?

"Remember the vows that you made to me truly;
Remember how tenderly you nestled close to me.
Gay is the garland, fresh are the roses
I've culled from the garden to bind over thee.

"Here I now wander alone as I wonder
Why did you leave me to sigh and complain?
I ask of the roses, why should I be forsaken?
Why must I here in sorrow remain?

"Through yonder grove, by the spring that is running,
There you and I have so merrily played,
Kissing and courting and gently sporting,
Oh, my innocent heart you've betrayed!

"How could you slight so a pretty girl who loves you,
A pretty girl who loves you so dearly and warm?
Though love's folly is surely but a fancy,
Still it should prove to me sweeter than your scorn.

"Soon you will meet with another pretty maiden,
Some pretty maiden, you'll court her for a while;
Thus ever ranging, turning and changing,
Always seeking for a girl that is new."

Thus sang the maiden, her sorrows bewailing;
Thus sang the poor maid in the valley below:
"Oh don't deceive me, Oh never leave me,
How could you use a poor maiden so?"

[edit] Notability

The folk song is particularly notable for its use in a number of well known folk-song arrangements, for example its usage in the opening bars of the " BBC Radio 4 UK Theme" by Fritz Spiegl, which until April 2006 was played every morning at 5.30 am. Another notable arrangement of the song is by the English composer Benjamin Britten.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) children's programme The Friendly Giant, which aired from 1958 to 1985 and used "Early One Morning" as its introductory theme. The music was played on recorder by Bob Homme, with harp accompaniment by John Duncan.

Sarah Brightman sings the song on her album The Trees They Grow So High.

The King's Singers sing it on their album Watching the White Wheat. An esoteric version of the song, arranged and sung by Jim Moray on his 2003 album Sweet England was nominated for the Best Traditional Song category at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2004.

The song has been used in a number of television programmes and films. It was sung by Samantha in the TV series Bewitched and by Pernell Roberts (Adam Cartwright) in the TV series Bonanza. It was used in the 1980 BBC serialized version of Pride & Prejudice as an example of how poorly Mary, the affected middle sister of the Bennett clan, sang. It also became notorious as Frank Spencer's choice of song in the BBC situation comedy Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em. "Early One Morning" was the folk song that The First Evil used as a trigger to make the vampire Spike kill humans again, despite his chip and soul, in the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "Early One Morning" is playing in the background at the beginning of the tale of Sir Launcelot just before his assistant is 'mortally wounded' with an arrow.