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The Lover's Ghost

[ Roud 179 ; Child 248 ; Ballad Index C248 ; trad.]

The Lover's Ghost is a variant of the night-visiting ballad The Grey Cock. Cecilia Costello sang it on November 30, 1951 in Birmingham in a recording made by Maria Slocombe and Patrick Shuldham-Shaw for the BBC. It was published in 1975 on her eponymous album on the Leader label, Cecilia Costello.

A.L. Lloyd sang The Lover's Ghost unaccompanied on his 1966 album First Person; it was reissued in 1994 on his compilation CD Classic A.L. Lloyd. Lloyd commented in the original album's sleeve notes:

One of the most persistent of the great ballads is the piece often called The Grey Cock, although, curiously enough Francis J. Child, in his enormous collection, never found a full set of it. Several good versions have turned up since Child's time—the best one was recorded in Birmingham in 1951 [see above]—in the old form as the tale of the ghostly lover returning to stay with his sweetheart till cock-crow, or in the modern form of a single night-visit, as in the well-known I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober. The suggestion of the bird with its golden beak and silver wings that decorates the best versions of the ballad is a borrowing (via Ireland?) of an oriental motif of the jewelled bird of Paradise who crows on the frontier of the other world. The same creature is described in some detail in Rimsky Korsakov's Chanson Hindoue. Our version, more formally lyrical than usual, and presenting the woman as the ghostly revenant, is one that the great Irish collector Patrick W. Joyce learnt as boy in the 1830's in his native village of Glenosheen, Co. Limerick.

Lloyd recorded the song a second time in the same year for his record The Best of A.L. Lloyd. This album's sleeve notes commented:

The situation in which two lovers are disturbed by the over-early crowing of the cock is one that fascinates folk singers. Many lyrical songs treat of it, and a whole group of ballads which scholars usually classify under the title of: The Grey Cock. The notion of a bird having silver wings and a golden comb recalls the jewelled birds of Oriental mythology. Indeed, the Indian tàble of Rati and Kamadiva is closely related to the ballad-narrative. Our version, which seems to be halfway between ballad and lyrical song, is one remembered from his boyhood by P.W. Joyce, and published in his Old Irish Folk Music and Songs [1909].

And Frankie Armstrong sang The Lover's Ghost in 1996 on her ballad album Till the Grass O'ergrew the Corn. The sleeve notes commented:

A glorious tune and a stately text, this song recounts the ultimate nightmare for any lover and does so with a kind of unflinching tenderness. Frankie first heard it sung many years ago by Bert Lloyd, on of her most important influences. The version is that learned by P.W. Joyce as a child in Glenosheen, County Limerick and published in his Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909). The ballad is close to many non-ghostly night visiting songs, such as Here's a Health to all True Lovers, The Light of the Moon and the admirable, but sorely mistreated I'm a Rover.

Tony Rose varies the song's theme in his The Yarmouth Tragedy on his album Poor Fellows.

Fay Hield learned The Lover's Ghost from the singing of A.L. Lloyd and sang it in 2012 on her CD with the Hurricane Party, Orfeo. Apparently of a ghoulish nature, she is “particularly attached to the lyric ‘and the worms and creeping things…’ ” This video shows the Fay Hield Trio performing The Lover's Ghost at Cecil Sharp House on June 23, 2011:

Lyrics

A.L. Lloyd sings The Lover's Ghost

“You're welcome home again,” said the young man to his love,
“I've been waiting for you many a night and day.
You're tired and you're pale,” said the young man to his dear,
“You shall never again go away.”
“I must go away,” she said, “when the little cock do crow
For here they will not let me stay.
Oh but if I had my wish, oh my dearest dear,” she said,
“This night should be never, never day.”

“Oh pretty little cock, oh you handsome little cock,
I pray you do not crow before day.
And your wings shall be made of the very beaten gold
And your beak of the silver so grey.“
But oh this little cock, this handsome little cock,
It crew out a full hour too soon.
“It's time I should depart, oh my dearest dear,“ she said,
“For it's now the going down of the moon.“

“And where is your bed, my dearest love,“ he said,
“And where are your white Holland sheets?
And where are the maids, oh my darling dear,” he said,
“That wait upon you whilst you are asleep?”
“The clay it is my bed, my dearest dear,” she said,
“The shroud is my white Holland sheet.
And the worms and creeping things are my servants, dear,” she said,
“That wait upon me whilst I am asleep.”

Fay Hield sings The Lover's Ghost

“You're welcome home, my dear,” said the young man to his love,
“I've been waiting for you many's the night and day.
You're tired and you're pale, my dearest dear,” he said,
“You shall never more be going so far away.”
“I must go away, my dear, when the little cock do crow
For here they'll not let me stay.
Oh but if I had my wish, my darling dear,” she said,
“This night should be never, never day.”

It's, “Oh my little cock, oh my handsome little cock,
I pray you do not crow before the day.
Your wings shall be made of the very beaten gold
And your comb of a silver shining grey.“
But oh this little cock, this handsome little cock,
He crew out a full hour too soon.
“It's time for me to part, oh my dearest dear,“ she said,
“For now it is the going of the moon.“

It's, “Where is your bed, my darling dear,“ he said,
“And where are your white Holland sheets?
And where are the maidens, my darling dear,” he said,
“That will wait upon you while you are asleep?”
“Oh, the clay it is my bed, my dearest dear,” she said,
“This shroud is my white Holland sheet.
And the worms and creeping things are my servants, dear,” she said,
“That will wait upon me while I am asleep.”