> Martin Carthy > Songs > Ball o' Yarn

Ball of Yarn

[ Roud 1404 ; Ballad Index EM089 ; trad.]

Martin Carthy sang Ball o' Yarn in 1966 on his Second Album. He commented in the album's sleeve notes:

The ball of yarn as a symbol of virginity is probably as old as spinning and weaving themselves. Though the story of Theseus and Ariadne in the labyrinth of the palace of Minos might seem to suggest a nobler ancestry than usual, this is probably pure romantic conjecture. This version was collected in Dorset by Cyril Tawney.

Cyril Tawney sang Ball of Yarn live at the Holsteins folk club in Chicago on May 31, 1981. This concert was published in 2007 on his CD Live at Holsteins.

Lyrics

In the merry month of May when the birds begin to play
I took a walk quite early in the morning.
There I met a pretty maid, she was knitting all of her trade,
And I asked her, could I wind her ball of yarn.

Oh no kind sir, she said, we are strangers, you and I,
It's [then*] ye might have any other darling.
And besides I've friends in town, they have money all bright in store
And it's there they wind me little ball of yarn.

I put me arm around her waist and I gently laid her down,
I meant to do this fair maid no harm.
In the middle of the green, where I knew I would be seen,
It was there I winded up her ball of yarn.

So come all you fair young maidens and a warning take be me
Don't take your walk so early in the morning.
Where the blackbird and the thrush they are singing all in yon bush
Keep your hand all on your little ball of yarn.

*I can't get this word. It sounds more like "nan" but this doesn't make sense. Help!

Acknowledgements

Transcribed by Garry Gillard. Thanks to Philip Stanley for help.