Play recording: Mary on the Banks of the Lee
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- Teideal (Title): Mary on the Banks of the Lee.
- Uimhir Chatalóige Ollscoil Washington (University of Washington Catalogue Number): 850111.
- Uimhir Chnuasach Bhéaloideas Éireann (National Folklore of Ireland Number): none.
- Uimhir Roud (Roud Number): 6857.
- Uimhir Laws (Laws Number): none.
- Uimhir Child (Child Number): none.
- Cnuasach (Collection): Joe Heaney Collection, University of Washington, Seattle.
- Teanga na Croímhíre (Core-Item Language): English.
- Catagóir (Category): song.
- Ainm an té a thug (Name of Informant): Joe Heaney.
- Ainm an té a thóg (Name of Collector): James Cowdery.
- Dáta an taifeadta (Recording Date): between 1979 and 1981.
- Suíomh an taifeadta (Recording Location): Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, United States of America.
- Ocáid an taifeadta (Recording Occasion): private.
- Daoine eile a bhí i láthair (Others present): unavailable.
- Stádas chóipcheart an taifeadta (Recording copyright status): unavailable.
When true lovers meet down beneath the green bower
When true lovers meet down beneath the green tree
Then Mary, fond Mary, declared to her lover,
‘You have stolen my poor heart on the banks of the Lee.’
I loved her dearly, true and sincerely
There is no girl in this wide world I loved more than she
Every bush, every bower, every blooming Irish flower
Reminds me of my Mary on the banks of the Lee.
‘Don’t stay out late tonight on the moorlands, my Mary
Don’t stay out late tonight on the moorlands from me.’
O little was my notion while parting by the ocean
That we’d be forever parted on the banks of the Lee.
Chorus
Go pluck me some roses, some blooming Irish roses
Go pluck me some roses, the finest ever grew
I’ll put them all down on the grave of my Mary
In a cold and silent churchyard where she sleeps beneath the dew.
Chorus