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Wake me early mother dear.........

(51 Posts)
imjingl Tue 01-May-12 10:29:33

You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear;

To-morrow 'ill be the happiest time of all the glad New-year;

Of all the glad New-year, mother, the maddest merriest day;

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

There's many a black, black eye, they say, but none so bright as mine;

There's Margaret and Mary, there's Kate and Caroline:

But none so fair as little Alice in all the land they say,

So I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake,

If you do not call me loud when the day begins to break:

But I must gather knots of flowers, and buds and garlands gay,

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

As I came up the valley whom think ye should I see,

But Robin leaning on the bridge beneath the hazel-tree?

He thought of that sharp look, mother, I gave him yesterday,--

But I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

He thought I was a ghost, mother, for I was all in white,

And I ran by him without speaking, like a flash of light.

They call me cruel-hearted, but I care not what they say,

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

They say he's dying all for love, but that can never be:

They say his heart is breaking, mother--what is that to me?

There's many a bolder lad 'ill woo me any summer day,

And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

Little Effie shall go with me to-morrow to the green,

And you'll be there, too, mother, to see me made the Queen;

For the shepherd lads on every side 'ill come from far away,

And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

The honeysuckle round the porch has wov'n its wavy bowers,

And by the meadow-trenches blow the faint sweet cuckoo-flowers;

And the wild marsh-marigold shines like fire in swamps and hollows gray,

And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

The night-winds come and go, mother, upon the meadow-grass,

And the happy stars above them seem to brighten as they pass;

There will not be a drop of rain the whole of the live-long day,

And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

All the valley, mother, 'ill be fresh and green and still,

And the cowslip and the crowfoot are over all the hill,

And the rivulet in the flowery dale 'ill merrily glance and play,

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

So you must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear,

To-morrow 'ill be the happiest time of all the glad New-year:

To-morrow 'ill be of all the year the maddest merriest day,

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May

Shame it's raining. hmm

Anagram Tue 01-May-12 19:47:01

nellie! grin

nelliedeane Tue 01-May-12 19:44:02

I am a Philistine thought the thread was about a teenager needing an early call and all that entails...until I read it grin

glassortwo Tue 01-May-12 19:38:24

No I dont believe that nag grin

imjingl Tue 01-May-12 19:07:47

grin

Not you. wink

Anagram Tue 01-May-12 18:54:29

Too late....! I've been traumatised shock!

imjingl Tue 01-May-12 18:50:22

DO NOT read the comments under that video!!! shock

imjingl Tue 01-May-12 18:49:08

Now we're hetting down to it!

beegees

Butternut Tue 01-May-12 18:47:17

Greatnan - I call that the French black hole! Yet as you've discovered, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. smile

Stansgran Tue 01-May-12 18:46:13

I liked Beegees The First of May
Always thought the tennyson pome too weepy when I was little

imjingl Tue 01-May-12 18:38:53

Greatnan, see my 'Hymns' thread. smile

grrrranny Tue 01-May-12 15:57:38

My knicker elastic went on maypole dancing day. Knickers attached to dress with safety pin quite took the hippity hop out of my dancing. Had forgotten about that.blush

Annobel Tue 01-May-12 15:55:24

sook - no grass in my garden so no dew. I think my complexion is beyond redemption in any case.

Nonu Tue 01-May-12 15:44:06

sorry sook , not me , still sending up the ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"s

Greatnan Tue 01-May-12 15:29:32

Thanks, jingle, that took me back to my childhood. We used to choose a May Queen amongst the girls in the street, in Salford, dress her up in old lace curtains and make a wreath of 'Red Devils' which grew on the railway sidings. We would then knock on each door and be given pennies, which we used to buy lemonade and sweets. We had to sing too:

We come to greet you here today

And we hope you will not turn us away

As we dance and sing in a merry ring

With the queen of the May.

Of course, at our catholic school Mary was Queen of the May. We had a lovely hymn, I think it was called The Lourdes Hymn, which I still sing in the car. It begins: Our full hearts are swelling.... and has the refrain: Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria....' Is it still sung at this time of the year?

It is a public holiday here in France and yesterday I was a victim of the dreaded 'punt' - when there is a holiday on a Thursday or Tuesday, many people make it a long weekend. I left home at 7.45 a.m so I could be first in the queue at the tax office in Thonon, which is about 20 kms. away. I got there dead on 8.30, having put enough euros in the parking meter to give me a good four hours , only to find a notice on door saying just 'Ferme - Lundi'. However, it turned out well, as I passed a store that was open which I had been meaning to visit for some time, then I drove through a necklace of little villages which were new to me (I am always looking for new routes to explore). Finally, I found a wonderful mountain pass for a two hour walk, so the day was not wasted. When I got home, I found I could file my tax return on line!

Sook Tue 01-May-12 15:16:12

Hands up! How many of you got up at dawn to bathe your faces in the May dew?

Anagram Tue 01-May-12 14:57:48

But, jingl, if you hadn't said it last month something bad might have happened....

Annobel Tue 01-May-12 14:27:33

When I was a student (in St Andrews), there was a crazy tradition of going for a May morning swim in the North Sea. No, I didn't. I had more sense, but my sister (mad medic) apparently did. She survived.

imjingl Tue 01-May-12 14:12:20

No. I didn't. Mind you, I remembered it last month and I didn't notice anything fantastic happening. hmm

Nonu Tue 01-May-12 13:57:36

Did you remember to say white rabbits , I didn"t as DH started chatting to me

harrigran Tue 01-May-12 11:29:19

I was up at 5am but when I looked out it was still foggy, so climbed back under the duvet.

Anagram Tue 01-May-12 11:21:51

May rain, more like...

Ariadne Tue 01-May-12 11:21:15

And of course we were all up at dawn to wash our faces in the May Day dew? Not.

glassortwo Tue 01-May-12 11:19:00

harri dont forget your ribbon grin

Anagram Tue 01-May-12 11:16:55

glass! grin

harrigran Tue 01-May-12 11:15:57

The sun is shining tra-la, I off out to dance round the washing line post wink