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The Turtle Dove / Ten Thousand Miles

[ Roud 422 ; Ballad Index Wa097 / R793 ; trad.]

This parting song is known as The Turtle Dove, Ten Thousand Miles, and with a lot of other names. It is not easy separating the versions because they share many floating verses.

Peter Bellamy sang the parting song The Turtle Dove unaccompanied on his first solo LP, Mainly Norfolk (1968). He commented in the album's liner notes:

The songs which complete each side of the record are both “foreign” [i.e. not collected in Norfolk] — the reason for including them being that I like them too much not to. Both were collected by Cecil Sharp and published in his Folksongs from Somerset: The Turtle Dove from Mrs Glover of Huish Episcopi and The Saucy Sailor from Mr Thomas Hendy of Ilminster.

Three versions of Turtle Dove are also on the LP An Hour with Cecil Sharp and Ashley Hutchings, a cylinder recording of Mr Pendfold, landlord of the “Plough Inn”, Rusper, Sussex, by Ralph Vaughan Williams; a version sung by Martin Carthy; and a guitar-only version played by Martin Carthy, Richard Thompson and Dave Whetstone.

Nic Jones learned Ten Thousand Miles from A.L. Lloyd and sang it in 1977 on his third album, The Noah's Ark Trap, which sadly is unavailable now.

This is Nic Jones singing Ten Thousand Miles on May 28, 2011 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall:

Eliza Carthy took Ten Thousand Miles from Nic Jones and recorded it in 1996 for her CD Heat Light & Sound, together with the Morris jig Bacca Pipes. This track was also included in the Mrs Casey Records anthology Evolving Tradition 2. Eliza commented in her original album's sleeve notes:

A.L. Lloyd sent a version of this to Nic Jones and he recorded it, and since then not many people have done it. So here it is, with Bacca Pipes which is a Morris jig (thanks Bampton). There are lots of versions of 10.000 Miles in the Journal of the Folk Song Society.

Eliza Carthy recorded this song for a second time with six additional verses for her album Red. On this recording she was accompanied by Sam Thomas, drums, percussion; Barnaby Stradling, electric bass; Martin Green, piano accordion; Oliver Knight, electric guitar; Ed Boyd, acoustic guitar; and Lucy Adams, vocals. It was later included in the Topic Records anthology The Acoustic Folk Box. Finally, Eliza recorded this song for a third time in 2004 with the Oysterband at The Big Session Vol. 1, where it is followed by the Hungarian March.

June Tabor sang Ten Thousand Miles on her 1992 album Angel Tiger. This recording was also included in her 4CD anthology Always.

James Fagan and Nancy Kerr sang Turtle Dove in 1997 on their Fellside CD Starry Gazy Pie. They commented in their liner notes:

A song made up of tags from other ballads, collected in Kentucky from “Singing Willie” Nolan. The words are more or less as E.K. Wells printed in The Ballad Tree, but Nancy altered the melody and time signature, and added a final verse.

In 1998, Martin Carthy recorded Turtle Dove again for the trio CD Wood—Wilson—Carthy. It was also recorded by Coope Boyes & Simpson in 2005 for their album Triple Echo: Songs collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Butterworth and Percy Grainger.

Brian Peters sang Ten Thousand Miles in 2010 on his CD Gritstone Serenade. He commented in his liner notes:

Also known as The Turtle Dove, this song seems to have originated as as 17^th-century broadside, but thereafter its history becomes very tangled, involving traditional North American love songs like The Blackest Crow and A-Roving on a Winter's Night as well as Robert Burns' My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose, all of which borrow verses from the original. The tune I use was notated by George Gardiner from George Blake in Sd. Denis, Southampton, in 1906 but, since Mr Blake remembered only one verse, I cherry-picked from several other sources to put together this version.

Jon Boden sang Turtle Dove as the March 25, 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. He noted in his blog:

This is one of my favourite songs from James Fagan and Nancy Kerr's repertoire. James and Nancy were the first professional musicians I ever met and I was somewhat in awe of them. I still am, truth be told.

Compare to this song the related A-Roving on a Winter's Night and their Canadian cousin, Mary Ann.

Lyrics

Peter Bellamy sings The Turtle Dove	Martin Carthy sings Turtle Dove
Oh don't you see yon little turtle dove Sitting under the mulberry tree And a-making mourn for his own true love As I shall mourn for thee, my dear, As I shall mourn for thee.
So you must suffer grief and pain, 'Tis but for a little while. And wherever I will go I will return, Though I go ten thousand mile, my dear, Though I go ten thousand mile.	Fare thee well, my dear, I must be gone And leave you for a while. If I go away, I'll come back again Though I go ten thousand mile, my dear, Though I go ten thousand mile.
Ten thousand mile it is too far To leave me all alone, While I must lie, lament and cry, And you'll not hear my moan, my dear, And you'll not hear my moan	Ten thousand mile it is a long way To leave me here alone, To leave me here to sigh and complain Where you never will hear my moans, my dear, Where you never will hear my moans.
	Your moans, my dear, I shall never hear, No likewise none of your crying. If I go away, I'll come back again When from your friends you're free, my dear, When from your friends you're free.
Well the tide it shall seize to beat the shore And stars shall fall from the sky, Yet I will love thee more and more, Until the day i die, my dear, Until the day i die	Oh, these of my friends, they never should have been They were growing so lofty and high And I never will prove false to the one that I love Till the stars fall from the sky, my dear, Till the stars fall from the sky.
Then let the seas run dry, my dear, And rocks all melt in the sun, Yet here I'll stay and never from thee part, Till all these things be done, my dear, Till all these things be done	Oh, the stars will never fall down from the sky Nor the rocks never melt with the sun And I never will prove false to the one that I love Till all these things be done, my love, Till all these things be done.
Oh don't you see yon little turtle dove Sitting under the mulberry tree A-making mourn for his own true love As I shall mourn for thee, my dear, As I shall mourn for thee.	Oh, yonder do sit, yon little turtle dove, He do sit on yonder high tree. He's a making a moan for the loss of his love As I will do for thee, my dear, As I will do for thee.

Nic Jones sings Ten Thousand Miles	Eliza Carthy sings Ten Thousand Miles on Heat Light & Sound
Fare you well, my own true love, Farewell for a while; I'm going away, but I'll be back If I go ten thousand miles.	Fare you well, my own true love, Farewell for a while; I'm going away, but I'll be back If I go ten thousand miles.
Ten thousand miles, my own true love, Ten thousand miles or more. And the rocks may melt and the seas may burn If I no more return.	Ten thousand miles, it is a long way, Ten thousand miles or more. And the rocks may melt and the seas may burn If I no more return.
Oh don't you see yon lonesome dove Sitting on yon ivy tree: She's weeping for her own true love As I shall weep for mine.	Oh don't you see yon lonesome dove Sitting on yon ivy tree: She's making her moan for the loss of her own As I shall do for mine.
Oh come back, my own true love, And stay a while with me; For if I had a friend all on this earth You've been a friend to me.	Oh come back, my own true love, And stay a while with me; For if I knew a friend all on this earth You've been a friend to me. (repeat first verse)
James Fagan & Nancy Kerr sing Turtle Dove	Eliza Carthy's additional verses on Red (continued from above)
As I walked out one winter's night A-drinking of sweet wine, Conversing with a fair young maid Who stole this heart of mine.	If I prove false to you, my love, The earth may melt and burn; The sea may freeze and the earth may burn If I no more return.
Oh fare you well my own true love And fare well for a while, For I must go but I’ll be back If I go ten thousand miles.	Ten thousand miles, my own true love, Ten thousand miles or more; The rocks may melt and the seas may burn If I no more return.
But who will shoe my feet, my love? And who will glove my hands? And who will kiss my rosy cheeks While you’re in foreign lands?	And who will shoe your pretty feet Or who will glove your hand? Or who will kiss your red rosy cheek When I'm in the foreign land?
Oh your father will shoe your feet, my love, And your mother will glove your hands. Your sister will kiss your rosy cheeks While I’m in foreign lands.	My father will shoe my pretty little feet, My mother will glove my hand. And you can kiss my red, rosy cheek When you return again.
But don’t you see yon turtle dove In yonder willow tree? She’s weeping for her own true love As I shall weep for thee.	O don't you see yon little turtle dove A-skipping from vine to vine, A-mourning the loss of her own true love Just as I mourn for mine.
Oh hush, my love, don’t break my heart, Don’t make me for to cry. For the best of friends do have to part I’m sure that’s you and I.	Don't you see yon pretty little girl A-spinning on yonder wheel? Ten thousand gay gold guineas would I give To feel just like she feels.
Yes the best of friends do have to part And sure that’s you and me. But the sun shall rise up in the west If I never return to thee. (repeat first verse)

Acknowledgements

Transcribed by Wolfgang Hell from the singing of Martin Carthy.