Fred Hamer was an avid morris dancer, and when he went blind in the early 1950s he turned his attention to collecting folk songs, particularly around his home in Bedfordshire and in other areas not well covered by others. He used Garners Gay as the title of his first published collection of traditional songs. It's a version of The Sprig of Thyme, closely related to The Seeds of Love, embodying notions of the symbolism of flowers and herbs common in many rural English songs. The song has been a staple of the Roberts & Barrand repertoire for many years.
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Come all you garners gay
That are just now in your prime
I wish I was in that bonny girl's arms
Where I've been many a time:
Where I've been many a time
Where I've been many a time
I wish I was in that bonny girl's arms
Where I've been many a time.
Green willows they will twist
Green willows they will twine
I wish I was in that bonny girl's arms
Where I've been many a time:
For it's once I had thyme enough
And it flourished by night and day
Until that girl, that bonny, bonny girl
Come and stole all my thyme away:
So now my whole thyme is gone
And I cannot plant any new
For the very same place where the old thyme grew
It's all over running, running rue:
Oh the rue, the running, running rue
It's not the flower for me
I will pluck up all that running, running rue
And plant down the sturdy oak tree:
Stand you fast, stand you fast, sturdy oak
Stand you fast, don't ever die
And I'll prove as true to my own true love
As the stars prove true to the sky:
For it's very nice drinking ale
And it's far better drinking wine
But I like to sleep in that bonny girl's arms
Where I've been many a time:
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