The Water Is Wide (song)

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"The Water Is Wide" (also called "O Waly, Waly") is thought to be an English or Scottish folk song that has been sung since the 1600s and has seen considerable popularity through to the 21st century. It is related to Child Ballad 204 (Roud number 87), Jamie Douglas, which in turn refers to the ostensibly unhappy first marriage of James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas to Lady Barbara Erskine. Cecil Sharp songcatched this folk song during his journey to America during World War I.

Contents

[edit] Themes

The inherent challenges of love are made apparent in the narrator's imagery: "Love is handsome, love is kind" during the novel honeymoon phase of any relationship. However, as time progresses, "love grows old, and waxes cold". Even true love, the narrator admits, can "fade away like morning dew"

Andrew Lang glimpsed an earlier history:

“ WALY, WALY

From Ramsay’s Tea Table Miscellany, a curiously composite gathering of verses. There is a verse, obviously a variant, in a sixteenth century song, cited by Leyden. St. Anthon’s Well is on a hill slope of Arthur’s Seat, near Holyrood. Here Jeanie Deans trysted with her sister’s seducer, in The Heart of Midlothian. The Cairn of Nichol Mushat, the wife-murderer, is not far off. The ruins of Anthony’s Chapel are still extant.[1]

 ”

It is doubtful that the ballad is English, although it is popularly considered so. The oldest lyrics which exist show the song to be of Scottish origin. The lyrics below are taken from http://bartleby.com, and are written in the Scots language. It is possible that this could have originated on the Scottish Borders and therefore be both English and Scottish. Some of the more difficult words have been translated for this webpage.

[edit] Lyrics

[edit] Waly, Waly, gin Love be bonny

O Waly, waly, (a lament - "woe is me") up the bank,
And waly, waly, doun the brae (hill),
And waly, waly, yon burn-side (riverside),
Where I and my Love wont to gae (go)!
I lean'd my back unto an aik (oak),
I thocht it was a trustie tree;
But first it bow'd and syne (soon) it brak (broke)—
Sae my true love did lichtlie (lightly) me.
O waly, waly, gin love be bonnie (beautiful),
A little time while it is new!
But when 'tis auld (old) it waxeth cauld (cold),
And fades awa' like morning dew.
O wherefore should I busk my heid (adorn my head),
Or wherefore should I kame (comb) my hair?
For my true Love has me forsook,
And says he'll never lo'e me mair (more).
Now Arthur's Seat
Sall (shall) be my bed (burial place),
The sheets sall ne'er be 'filed by me;
Saint Anton's well sall be my drink;
Since my true Love has forsaken me.
Marti'mas wind, when wilt thou blaw (blow),
And shake the green leaves aff the tree?
O gentle Death, when wilt thou come?
For of my life I am wearìe.
'Tis not the frost, that freezes fell,
Nor blawing snaw's (snow) inclemencie,
'Tis not sic cauld (such cold) that makes me cry;
But my Love's heart grown cauld to me.
When we cam in by Glasgow toun,
We were a comely sicht (sight)to see;
My Love was clad in the black velvèt,
And I mysel in cramasie (crimson).
But had I wist (known), before I kist (a coffin = died),
That love had been sae ill to win,
I had lock'd my heart in a case o' gowd (gold),
And pinn'd it wi' a siller (silver) pin.
And O! if my young babe were born,:
And set upon the nurse's knee;
And I mysel were dead and gane,
And the green grass growing over me!

[2]

[edit] The Water is Wide

Some popular lyrics for "The Water is Wide" are within the book Folk Songs For Solo Singers, though many versions have been printed and sung.

The water is wide, I cannot cross o'er
Neither have I the wings to fly.
Give me a boat, that will carry two,
And both shall row, my true love and I.
A ship there is, and she sails the sea,
I know not if I sink or swim.
She's laden deep as deep can be,
But not so deep as the love I'm in.
I leaned my back against a young oak,
Thinking it were a trusty tree.
But first it bent, and then it broke,
And so did my love prove false to me.
O love is handsome and love is fine,
Bright as a jewel, when first it's new;
But love grows old, and waxes cold
And fades away like the morning dew.

[edit] Recent Renditions

[edit] Arrangements

"O Waly, Waly" has been a popular choice for arrangements by classical composers, in particular Benjamin Britten, whose arrangement for voice and piano was published in 1948.

The tune is often used for the hymn "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" by Isaac Watts.

[edit] Recordings

Classical singers who have recorded "O Waly, Waly" include Janet Baker (English mezzo-soprano), Ian Bostridge (English tenor), Sarah Brightman (English soprano), Alfred Deller (English counter-tenor), Anthony Rolfe Johnson (English tenor), Anthony Kearns (Irish tenor), Richard Lewis (English tenor), Felicity Lott (English soprano), Benjamin Luxon (English bass-baritone), Derek Lee Ragin (American countertenor), Daniel Taylor (Canadian counter-tenor), Robert Tear (Welsh tenor), Frederica Von Stade (American mezzo-soprano), Carolyn Watkinson (English mezzo-soprano), Scott Weir (American lyric tenor), Edith Wiens (Canadian soprano) and Kathleen Ferrier (English contralto).

The Library of Congress audio archives contain a recording of the American composer Samuel Barber singing this tune and accompanying himself on piano in a recital broadcast from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 26, 1938.

"The Water is Wide" has also been recorded countless times, with popular renditions by Bob Dylan,Pete Seeger, The Seekers, Rangers, Joan Baez, Karla Bonoff, James Taylor, John Gorka, Bob McCarthy, Daniel Rodriguez and Rory Block. The lyrics vary from period to period and from singer to singer.

Neil Young wrote new, environmentally themed lyrics to the tune, and recorded it as "Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)" on his 1990 album Ragged Glory.

The song was mildly popularised in the late 1990s when Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, and the Indigo Girls collaborated and produced a version of the song in concert on the Lilith Fair tour.

The American-born Taiwanese artist Wang Lee Hom included a rendition of this song on his 1995 debut album "Love Rival Beethoven".

Hongkong singer/songwriter May Ip recorded this song in 1993 in Swansea, South Wales, backed by Lee Worden on piano and Rupert Lewis on Fiddle. The track was released in May's studio/live compilation, "My Mama's Words".

Fingerstyle guitarist Ed Gerhard recorded the song for his 1996 album "Counting the Ways" and remains a concert favorite.

Charlotte Church, the Welsh child soprano, recorded a popularized rendition of this song on her 2001 album entitled, Enchantment. Eva Cassidy's version was released posthumously in her 2003 album American Tune.

The song is on Órla Fallon's album The Water Is Wide, released in 2006, and Hayley Westenra's album Treasure, released in 2007.

Cowboy Junkies released this on 'Rarities, B-Side' 1999

Sir Cliff Richard has a version on his 1982 album, "Now you see me, now you don't"

[edit] In film

It was performed by Susanna Hoffs in the film Red Roses and Petrol directed by Tamar Simon Hoffs , as part of the soundtrack.

It was memorably used over the final scenes in Terence Davies's 1988 film Distant Voices, Still Lives as the characters disappear into the darkness.

The song was played over and over as part of the soundtrack to the film The River Wild. A version recorded by The Cowboy Junkies was used during the end credits.

The lyrics of the song are spoken, just before the assassination scene, by Jesse James' daughter in the 2007 film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

The water is wide, is one of the songs sang by the crew in the film The Bounty.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Water Is Wide (song), available at Project Gutenberg.
  2. ^ [[Allan Ramsay (poet)|Ramsay, Allan]] (1788). The Tea-table Miscellany, Or, A Collection of Choice Songs, Scots and English, Twelfth ed., Wilson, 170. 

[edit] External links