> Peter Bellamy > Songs > When Spring Comes On

When Spring Comes In / When Spring Comes On

[ Roud 439 ; Ballad Index WT222 ; trad.]

When Spring Comes In is a song from the Copper Family's repertoire. Peter Kennedy recorded Bob and Ron Copper singing it in 1963. This recording was published that year on the EFDSS LP Traditional Songs from Rottingdean and in 2001 on the Topic CD Come Write Me Down: Early Recordings of the Copper Family of Rottingdean. The Copper Family also sang it in May 1995 on their CD Coppersongs 2: The Living Tradition of the Copper Family.

Peter Bellamy sang this song with the slightly changed title When Spring Comes On on June 22, 1971 live at the Folk Studio, Norwich. He accompanyied himself on concertina, the audience cheerfully joined in on the chorus. This concert was issued on his LP with Louis Killen, Won't You Go My Way?.

Lyrics

Peter Bellamy sings When Spring Comes On

When Spring comes on then the birds do sing,
The lambs do skip and the bells do ring
While we enjoy their glorious charm so noble and so gay.

Chorus:

The primrose blooms, the cowslips too,
The violets in their sweet retire, the roses shining through the briar,
And the daffodown-dillies which we admire will die and fade away.

Young men and maidens they will be seen
On mountains high and meadows green,
They will talk of love and sport and play
While them young lambs do skip away,
At night they homeward wend their way
When evening stars appear.

(Chorus)

The dairymaid to milking goes, her blooming cheeks as red as a rose,
And she carries her pail all on her arm so cheerful and so gay,
She milks, she sings, and the valleys ring.
The small birds on the branches there sit listening to this lovely fair
For she is her master's trust and care,
She is the ploughman's joy.

(Chorus)