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Mountain Thyme Song Lyrics

A Smile at the Door and West Virginia Chose Me

From A Smile at the Door

Bold Riley (Traditional)

The rain it rains all day long, bold Riley O, bold Riley

And the northern winds they blow so strong, bold Riley O, has gone away.

Chorus: Goodbye my sweetheart, goodbye my dear O, bold Riley O, bold Riley

Goodbye my darling, goodbye my dear O, bold Riley O has gone away.

Well come on Mary don’t look glum, bold Riley O bold Riley

Come white stocking day you’ll be drinking rum, bold Riley O, has gone away.

Chorus

We’re outward bound for the Bengal Bay, Bold Riley O, bold Riley

Get bending me lads it’s a hell of a way, bold Riley O has gone away.

Chorus

Maid in a Garret (Traditional)

I have often heard it said from my father and my mother
That going to a weddin’ is the making of another
Well, if this be true, I will go without a biddin’
O kind providence, won't you send me to a wedding?

Chorus: O dear me, how would it be,
If I die an old maid in a garret

Well, there's my sister Jean, she's not handsome or good looking
Barely sixteen and a fella she was courtin’
Now she’s twenty-four with a son and a daughter
Here am I at forty-five and I've never had an offer!

Chorus

I can cook and I can sew, I can keep the house right tidy
Rise up in the morning and get the breakfast ready
There's nothing in this wide world would make me half so cheery
As a wee fat man who would call me his own dearie.

Chorus

So come landsman or come kinsman, come tinker or come tailor
Come fiddler or come dancer, come ploughboy or come sailor
Come rich man, come poor man, come fool or come witty
Come any man at all that will marry me for pity.

Chorus

Well now I'm away home ‘cause there’s nobody heedin’
There’s nobody heedin’ to poor old Annie's pleadin’
And I’m away home to my own wee bit garret
If I can't get a man, then I'll surely get a parrot.*

Chorus

*Variation heard at a song festival in Scotland: “use a carrot”

William Taylor (Traditional)

I’ll sing you a song about two true lovers, from South Hampton Town they came

The young man’s name was William Taylor, the young lass’s name was Sara Jane

Chorus: Fa dal diddle lum, day oh, right oh, fa dal diddle lum, dum a dare I day

Going to church for to get married, Sara was dressed in rich array

William knew that he loved another, so he fled and went to sea

Chorus

Sara dressed in sailor’s clothing, sailor’s clothing she put on

She’s gone to find her own true lover, for to find him she has gone

Chorus

On the ship there was a battle, she was one among the rest

The jacket quickly fell to pieces, sailors spied that lady’s breast

Chorus

The Captain asked what brought her here and to him well she did say

I’ve come to find my own cruel lover, he left on our wedding day

Chorus

If your love is William Taylor, it happens that I know him well

He’s living with a rich young lassie, on the Isle of Man they dwell

Chorus

Rise up early in the morning and walk down by the silver strand

It’s there you’ll find your William Taylor with his bride at his right hand

Chorus

Sara rose in the morning early, a brace of pistols she did command

She fired and she shot her William Taylor with his bride at his right hand.

Chorus

Then the Captain was well pleased, he was well pleased by what she had done

Soon she became the bold commander of the captain and his men.

Chorus

My Johnny Was A Shoemaker (Traditional)

My Johnny was a shoemaker and dearly he loved me

My Johnny was a shoemaker but now he’s gone to sea,

With pitch and tar to soil his hands and to sail across the sea

Stormy sea, and sail across the stormy sea.

His jacket was a deep sky blue and curly was his hair

His jacket was a deep sky blue it was I do declare,

For the reef the topsails up against the mast and to sail across the sea

Stormy sea and sail across the stormy sea.

Some day he’ll be a captain bold with a brave and gallant crew

Some day he’ll be a captain bold with a sword and spyglass too,

And when he has a gallant captain’s sword he’ll come home and marry me, marry me

He’ll come home and marry me.

Come By the Hills (Traditional)

Come by the hills to the land where fancy is free
Stand where the peaks meet the sky and the lochs reach the sea,
Where rivers run clear and bracken is gold in the sun
Ah, the cares of tomorrow can wait 'til this day is done.

Come by the hills to the land where life is a song
Stand where the birds fill the air with their joy all day long,
Where trees sway in time, even the wind sings in tune
Ah, the cares of tomorrow can wait 'til this day is done.

Come by the hills to a land where legend remains
Stories of old fill the heart and may yet come again,
Where the past has been lost - the future is still to be won
Ah, the cares of tomorrow can wait 'til this day is done.

Repeat first verse.

The Mountain (Tracy Grammer & David Carter)

I was born in a fork-tongued story

Raised up by merchants and drug store liars,

Now I walk in the paths of glory,

One foot in ice, one in fire.

Chorus: I see the mountain, mountain come to me, I see the mountain and that is all I see

Miller take me and miller grind me,

Scatter my bones on the wild green tide,

Maybe some roving bird will find me,

Over the water we’ll ride.

Chorus: Over the mountain…

Some build temples and some fine altars

Some come in tall hats and robes spun fine,

Some in rags some in gemstone halters

Some push the pegs back in line.

Chorus: I see the mountain…

Some poor prophet comes some finds solace,

Some lay him down in a junkyard bay

Some will chase us and some will call us

Gone, gone, gone, in a day.

Chorus: Gone to the mountain…

The Bergen (Jez Lowe)

Sleep while you wake me with these dreams you bring

Dreams came to me where I lay,

And deep the melody the wild waves sing

My love is far, far away.

Chorus: Pity the heart the wild waves part

My love sails the bonny boat, the Bergen

They heap their nets upon the decks by night

Dreams came to me where I lay,

And creep out softly ‘til the dead of night

My love is far, far away.

Chorus

They reap the harvest of a cold night’s sea

Dreams came to me where I lay,

It leaps with herring ‘neath its decks for me

My love is far, far away.

Chorus

Steep waves rise above his cold bare head

Dreams came to me where he lay,

And keep him safe as I lie in my bed

My love is far, far away.

Chorus

It weeps with rain tonight where my love lies

Dreams came to me where I lay,

And sweep the foreign sands from out his eyes

My love is far, far away.

Chorus

Green Grow The Rushes, O (Robert Burns)

Chorus: Green grow the rushes, O;
Green grow the rushes, O;

The sweetest hours that ever I spend,
Are spent among the lasses, O.

There is not but care on every hand,
In every hour that passes, O,
What signifies the life of man,
And it were not for the lasses, O.

Chorus

The worldly race may riches chase,
And riches still may fly them, O,
Until at last they catch them fast,
Their hearts can never enjoy them, O.

Chorus

But give me a quiet hour at ten,
My arms around my dearie, O,
Worldly cares and worldly men
May all go topsy-turvy, O!

Chorus

Old Nature swears, the lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes, O,
Her apprentice hand she tried on man,
And then she made the lasses, O.

Chorus

Broom of the Cowdenknowes (Traditional)

How blithe each morn was I to see, my lass came o'er the hill,
She skipped the burn and ran to me, I met her with good will.

Chorus: O the broom, the bonnie, bonnie broom, broom of the cowdenknowes,

Fain would I be in the North Country herding her father's ewes.

We neither herded ewes nor lamb, while the flock near us lay,
She gathered in the sheep at night and cheered me all the day.

Chorus

Hard fate that I should banished be gone way o'er hill and moor,
Because I loved the fairest lass that ever yet was born.

Chorus