> Joseph Taylor > Songs > Sprig o' Thyme
> Anne Briggs > Songs > Let No Man Steal Your Thyme
> Sandy Denny > Songs > Let No Man Steal Your Thyme
> Trevor Lucas > Songs > I Sowed the Seeds of Love
> Dave Swarbrick > Songs > Whippersnapper: The Seeds of Love
> June Tabor > Songs > Let No Man Steal Your Thyme / The Seeds of Love

Sprig o' Thyme / The Bunch of Thyme / Let No Man Steal Your Thyme / Come All You Garners Gay / (I Sowed) The Seeds of Love

[ Roud 3 ; Ballad Index K167 ; trad.]

Karl Dallas wrote in the booklet of the Electric Muse anthology:

The first song Cecil Sharp ever collected, from a gardener called John England (!), was a variant of this song, in which flower symbolism is used in a manner reminiscent of Ophelia's mad speeches in Hamlet. (Shakespeare probably knew the song, since it is a good deal older than Sharp; it was first noted in 1689).

Joseph Taylor sang Sprig o' Thyme twice in 1908 on a wax cylinder recording for Percy Grainger; this was published in 1972 on the Leader album Unto Brigg Fair. The sleeve notes commented:

Popularly felt to be (with its closely related analogue, The Seeds of Love) a distant relative of The Gardener—Child No. 219. The song has frequently been collected but was not it seems, a song that appeared saleable as far as the broadside printer was concerned. For other variants see BGSW, BCS, KTT, KG, HFD (FSJ. 11), SFS, HBL, SSL, PM and S. Sound recording: BBC 21151; EKLP 2; FSA 33; 12T140.

Billy Bartle of Wrestlingforth, Bedfordshire sang this song as Come All You Garners Gay on August 19; 1960; he was recorded by Fred Hamer. This track was included in 1989 on the EDFSS cassette The Leaves of Life and in 1998 on the EFDSS CD A Century of Song.

Isla Cameron sang Let No Man Steal Your Thyme in 1960 on her and Ewan MacColl's Topic album Still I Love Him. This recording was included in 1964 on the Topic sampler Folk Songs: Topic Sampler No 1. A second recording on the 1962 Transatlantic album Songs of Love, Lust and Loose Living was reissued in 2006 on Anthems in Eden: An Anthology of British & Irish Folk 1955-1978.

A 19 years young Anne Briggs sang Let No Man Steal Your Thyme at the Edinburgh Festival in 1963 where it was recorded by Bill Leader for the album Edinburgh Folk Festival Vol. 2. This track was later included on her compilation CD A Collection.

A home demo of 1966 by Sandy Denny—where she just sang the first verse of Let No Man Steal Your Thyme—was included on the cassette Together Again - The Attic Tracks Vol. 4.

Trevor Lucas sang I Sowed the Seeds of Love in 1967 on the soundtrack of Richard Rodney-Bennett's movie Far From the Madding Crowd (after the novel by Thomas Hardy) and on the BBC Radio LP Through Bushes and Briar.

Jacqui McShee sang Let No Man Steal Your Thyme in 1968 as the opening track of Pentangle's first album, Pentangle. This track was included on a lot of anthologies, e.g. Electric Muse: The Story of Folk into Rock, Troubadours of British Folk Vol. 1, and The Acoustic Folk Box.

Shelagh McDonald recorded Let No Man Steal Your Thyme in March 1970 for her Album.

Oak sang the The Bunch of Thyme live at The Down River Folk Club, King William IV, Walthamstow on December 19, 1972, Oak's final gig. A recording of it was in included in 2003 on their Musical Traditions CD Country Songs and Music.

Barry Dransfield sang Seeds of Love in 1977 on his and his brother Robin's Free Reed album Popular to Contrary Belief and on their Free Reed anthology Up to Now.

Whippersnapper recorded The Seeds of Love in 1989 for their album Fortune. Incidentally, Whippersnapper's Dave Swarbrick played the fiddler at Barn Dance in the movie Far From the Madding Crowd.

June Tabor recorded Let No Man Steal Your Thyme in 1992 for her album Angel Tiger, and she sang The Seeds of Love live at the Electric Theatre, Guildford, on March 13, 2004. This recording was included in her 4 CD anthology Always.

Maggie Boyle sang Sprig of Thyme in 1992 on Steve Tilston's and her album Of Moor and Mesa. Their liner notes commented:

A deceptively pretty sexual parable, different versions of which are still widely sung in England and Ireland.

Coope Boyes & Simpson sang The Sprig of Thyme in 1998 on their No Masters CD Hindsight with almost identical words as Joseph Taylor sang, acknowledging him in their sleeve notes. Sprig of Thyme is also on John Roberts & Tony Barrand's 1998 album Heartoutbursts: English Folksongs collected by Percy Grainger.

Lauren McCormick and Emily Portman sang Seeds of Love in 2007 on their privately issued EP Lauren McCormick & Emily Portman.

Eliza Carthy and Norma Waterson sang Bunch of Thyme in 2010 on their Topic CD Gift. They commented in the liner notes:

This is one of those things that most traditional singers have a version of, and the verses are floating and shared by many different songs. A song like this sifts in through the top of your head over the years. We have no idea where we learned it.

This video shows Norma Waterson singing Bunch of Thyme, accompanied by Martin Carthy and Chris Parkinson, at the Royal Oak, Lewes on March 18, 2010:

Jon Boden sang I Sowed The Seeds Of Love as the February 17, 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Lyrics

Joseph Taylor sings Sprig o' Thyme Coope Boyes & Simpson sing Sprig o' Thyme

Once I had a sprig of thyme.
It prospered by night and by day;
Till a false young man came a-courting to me,
And he stole all me thyme away.

Once I had a sprig of thyme.
It prospered be night and be day;
Till a false young man came a-courting to me,
And he stole all me thyme away.

Thyme it is a precious thing,
And thyme it-e-will grow on,
And thyme it'll bring all things to an end,
And so does my thyme grow on.*

Oh, thyme it is a precious thing,
And thyme it will grow on,
And thyme it'll bring all things to an end,
And so does me thyme grow on.

The gardener was standing by.
I bid him choose for me.
He chose me the lily, aye, the violet and the pink,
But I really did refuse them all three.

The gardener was standing by.
And I asked him choose for me.
And he chose me the lily, aye, the violet and the pink,
Ah, but surely I refused them all three.

Oh, thyme it is a precious thing,
And thyme it will grow on,
And thyme it'll bring all things to an end,
And so does me thyme grow on.

It's very well drinking ale,
And it's nice to have a drop of wine,
But it's far better sitting by the young man's side**
That gain-ed this heart of mine.

And it's very well a-drinking ale,
And it's nice to have a drop of wine,
Ah, but I like sitting by the young man's side
That's gain-ed this heart of mine.

Oh, thyme it is a precious thing,
And thyme it will grow on,
And thyme it'll bring all things to an end,
And so does me thyme grow on.

* second recording 'our thyme ...'
** second recording 'But I like sitting by the young man's side ...'

Anne Briggs sings Let No Man Steal Your Thyme June Tabor sings Let No Man Steal Your Thyme

Come all you fair and tender girls
That flourish in your prime, prime,
Beware, beware, if you're good and fair
Let no man steal your thyme, thyme,
Let no man steal your thyme.

Come all you fair and tender girls
That flourish in your prime, prime,
Beware, beware, keep your garden fair
And let no man steal your thyme, thyme,
Let no man steal your thyme.

For when your thyme it is past and gone
He'll care no more for you, you.
And every place where your thyme was waste
Shall spread all o'er with rue, rue,
Shall spread all o'er with rue.

For when your thyme is past and gone
He'll care no more for you, you.
For every place that your thyme was waste
Will all spread o'er with rue, rue,
Will all spread o'er with rue.

The gardener's son, he was standing by,
Three flowers he gave to me, me.
The pink, the blue and the violet too
And the red, red rosy tree, tree,
And the red, red rosy tree.

But I forsook the red rose bush
And gained the willow tree, tree,
That all the world may plainly see
How my love slighted me, me
How my love slighted me.

For woman is a branchy tree
And man a clinging vine, vine.
And from her branches carelessly
He takes what he can find, find,
He takes what he can find.

For woman is a lofty tree
And man's a clinging vine, vine,
And from her branches carelessly
He'll take what he can find, find,
He'll take what he can find.

(repeat first verse)

Trevor Lucas sings I sowed the Seeds of LoveJune Tabor sings The Seeds of Love

I sowed the seeds of love
And I sowed them in the springtime,
In April, May and sunny June
𝄆 When small birds sweetly sing. 𝄇

I sowed the seeds of love,
I sowed them in the spring,
In April, May and in June likewise
𝄆 When the small birds sweetly sing. 𝄇

My garden was planted well
My flowers ev'rywhere;
Bot I had not the liberty to choose for myself
𝄆 Of the flowers growing there. 𝄇

My gardener he stood by,
I asked him to choose for me.
He chose me the violet, the lily and the pink
𝄆 But these I refused all three. 𝄇

My gard'ner was standing by;
And I asked him to choose for me.
He chose me the violet, the lily and the pink,
𝄆 But these I refused all three. 𝄇

The violet I forsook
Because it fades too soon.
The lily and the pink, I do really overthink,
And 𝄆 I vowed I'd wait till June. 𝄇

The violet I do not like,
Because it fades too soon.
The lily and the pink, oh, I really overthink,
𝄆 And so I will wait till June. 𝄇

In June there's the red rosebud,
And that's the flower for me,
I pulled and I plucked at the red rosy bush,
𝄆 Till I gained the willow tree. 𝄇

In June comes the red rosebud,
And that's the flower for me.
Oft times I have pulled at that red rosy bush
𝄆 Till I gained the willow tree. 𝄇

The willow, it will twist,
And the willow, it will twine,
I wish I was back in that young girl's arms,
𝄆 That once held this heart of mine. 𝄇

For the willow tree will twist
And the willow tree will twine.
Oft times I have wished meself back in that young man's arms
𝄆 Who once had this heart of mine. 𝄇

So come all you fine young men,
And don't leave me here to complain;
For the grass that has often been trampled under foot,
𝄆 Given time, it will rise again. 𝄇

(Repeat first verse)

Acknowledgements and Links

Garry Gillard transcribed Joseph Taylor's version.

See also the Mudcat Café thread Lyr Req: I sowed the seeds of love.