The Oak and the Ash (Wytze Oostenbrug)
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- (Posted 2024-05-06) CPDL #80525:
- Editor: Wytze Oostenbrug (submitted 2024-05-06). Score information: A4, 6 pages, 380 kB Copyright: CPDL
- Edition notes: This is the 4th of 5 English folksongs.
General Information
Title: The Oak and the Ash
Composer: Wytze Oostenbrug
Lyricist: Roudcreate page
Number of voices: 4vv Voicing: SATB
Genre: Secular, Folksong
Language: English
Instruments: A cappella
First published: 2024
Description: The Oak and the Ash is an Old English ballad notated by Roud in 1367. It is based on the ballad Rosemary Lane.
External websites:
- https://mainlynorfolk.info/watersons/songs/theoakandtheash.html
- composers website: https://wytzeoostenbrugmuziek.com/folksongs/
- playing score and audio: https://youtu.be/EVmPwAbfFdA
Original text and translations
English text
4. The Oak and the Ash
English Folksong, ballad — Roud (1367)
Based on the ballad Rosemary Lane
A North Country maid up to London had strayed,
Although with her nature it did not agree.
She wept and she sighed, and so bitterly she cried,
"How I wish once again in the North I could be!
Oh the oak and the ash, and the bonny ivy tree,
They flourish at home in my own country
"While sadly I roam I regret my dear home,
Where lads and young lasses are making the hay.
The merry bells ring and the birds sweetly sing,
The meadows are pleasant and maidens are gay.
Oh the oak and the ash, and the bonny ivy tree,
They flourish at home in my own country.
"No doubt, did I please, I could marry with ease,
For where maidens are fair many lovers will come,
But the one whom I wed must be North Country bred,
And tarry with me in my North Country home.
Oh the oak and the ash, and the bonny ivy tree,
They flourish at home in my own country.”