Get all 14 Atwater-Donnelly releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Boat You Row Atwater-Donnelly 2022, The World Is Old Tonight, Each Other's Story 2011, The Weaver's Bonny 2009, The Halfway Ground 2007, When Winter Calls 2005, The Blackest Crow 2004, And Then I'm Going Home 2001, and 6 more.
1. |
One Morning In May
03:30
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One morning, one morning, one morning in May
I spied a young couple, they were making their way
One was a maiden so bright and so fair
And the other was a soldier and a brave volunteer
"Good morning, good morning, good morning," said he
"And where are you going my pretty lady?"
"Well, I'm a-going out a-walking by the banks of the sea
Just to see the waters gliding, hear the nightingale sing."
Well they had not been standing but a minute or two
When out of his knapsack a fiddle he drew
And the tune that he played made the valleys all ring
"Oh hark!" cried the maiden, "Hear the nightingale sing."
"Oh maiden, fair maiden, 'tis time to give o'er."
"Oh no, kind soldier, please play one tune more
For I'd rather hear your fiddle at the touch of one string
Then to see the waters gliding, hear the nightingale sing."
"Oh soldier, kind soldier, will you marry me?"
"Oh no, pretty maiden, that never shall be.
"I've a wife down in London, and children twice three
Two wives and the army's too many for me."
Instrumental
"So I'll go back to London and I'll stay there for the year
It's often I'll think of you, my little dear
And if ever I return, it'll be in the Spring
Just to see the waters gliding, hear the nightingale sing
Just to see the waters gliding, hear the nightingale sing."
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2. |
Curragh Of Kildare
04:04
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The winter it has passed
And the summer's come at last
And the small birds they sing on every tree
Their little hearts are glad
But mine is very sad
Since my true love is far away from me
The rose upon the briar
By the water running clear
Gives joy to the linnet and the bee
Their little hearts are blessed
But mine is not at rest
While my true love is far away from me
A livery I'll wear
And I'll comb back my hair
And in velvet so green I will appear
And its straight I will repair
To the Curragh of Kildare
For it's there I'll find tidings of my dear
And straight I will repair
To the Curragh of Kildare
For it's there I'll find tidings of my dear
I would not think it strange
Thus the world for me to range
If I only got tidings of my dear
But here in Cupid's chain
If I'm bound to remain
I would spend my whole life in despair
All you who are in love
And cannot it remove
I pity the pains you endure
For experience let me know
That your hearts are full of woe
And a woe that no mortal can cure
And straight I will repair
To the Curragh of Kildare
For it's there I'll finds tidings of my dear
And straight I will repair
To the Curragh of Kildare
For it's there I'll finds tidings of my dear
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3. |
A Maid In Bedlam
04:20
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Abroad as I was walking
One evening in the Spring
I heard a maid in Bedlam
So sweetly for to sing
Her chain she rattled with her hands
And thus replied she
Chorus:
I love my love
Because I know
My love loves me
Oh my cruel parents
Are being too unkind
They drove and punish me
And trouble my mind
For though I'm ruined for his love
Contented will I be...Chorus
Would I become a swallow
Ascend into the air
And if I lost my lover
And could not find him there
I quickly would become a fish
And search the flowing sea...Chorus
Instrumental
With straw I'll make a garland
And dress it very fine
I'll mix the same with roses
Lily, pink and thyme
I will preserve it for my love
When he returns from sea...Chorus
Just as she was sad weeping
Her love came on the land
Hearing she was in Bedlam
He ran straight out of hand
And as he entered into the gates
He heard her sigh and say...Chorus
He stood and gazed on her
Hearing his love complain
He could not stand any longer
He bled in every vein
He flew in to her snowy white arms
And thus replied he...Chorus
Instrumental
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4. |
Early One Morning
02:02
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Early one morning,
Just as the sun was rising,
I heard a young maid sing,
In the valley below.
Chorus:
Oh, don't deceive me,
Oh, never leave me,
How could you use
A poor maiden so?
Remember the vows,
That you made to your Mary,
Remember the bower,
Where you promised to be true...Chorus
Oh, gay is the garland,
And fresh are the roses,
I've culled from the garden,
To bind on thy brow...Chorus
Thus sang the poor maiden,
Her sorrows bewailing,
Thus sang the poor maid,
In the valley below...Chorus
Early one morning,
Just as the sun was rising,
I heard a young maid sing,
In the valley below...Chorus
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5. |
I'll Tell Me Ma
03:08
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Chorus:
I'll tell me ma when I go home
The boys won't leave the girls alone
They pulled my hair and stole my comb
Well that's all right 'til I go home
She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city
She is courting one, two, three
Please won't you tell me who is she
Albert Mooney says he loves her
All the boys are fighting for her
They knock at the door, they ring at the bell
Saying, "Oh my true love, are you well?"
Out she comes as white as snow
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
Old Jenny Murray says she'll die
If she don't get the fella with
the roving eye...Chorus
Instrumental
Let the wind and the rain and the hail blow high
And the snow come tumbling from the sky
She's as nice as apple pie
She'll get her own lad by and by
When she gets a lad of her own
She won't tell her ma when she gets home
Let them all come as they will
For it's Albert Mooney she loves still...Chorus 2x
Instrumental
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6. |
Arthur McBride
05:31
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Oh, me and me cousin, one Arthur McBride
As we went a-walking down by the seaside
Mark what did follow and what did betide
For it being on Christmas morning
All for recreation, we went on a tramp
And we met Sergeant Nipper and Corporal Vamp
And a little wee drummer, who roused up the camp
With his rowdeydowdow in the morning
"Good morning, good morning" the sergeant did cry
"And the same to you gentlemen" we did reply
Intending no harm, only for to pass by
For it being on Christmas morning
But said he, "My fine fellows if you would enlist
It's ten guineas of gold I'll slip in your fist
And a crown in the bargain for to kick up the dust
And to drink the King's health in the morning"
"Well, we have no desire to take your advance
All hazards and fortune we barter on chance
Besides you've no scruples but to send us to France
Where we're sure to be shot in the morning"
"Oh no!", said the sergeant, I'll have no such chat
And neither will take it from spalpeen or brat
For if you insult me with words like that
I'll cut off your heads in the morning
Instrumental
Then Arthur and I we took on the odds
And they barely had time for to draw their own blades
When a trusty shillelagh came over their heads
And bade them take that as fair warning
And the little wee drummer we flattened his pow
And we made a football of his rowdeydowdow
Flung it into the tide for to rock and to roll
And bade it a tedious returning
And the old rusty rapiers that hung by their sides
We flung them as far as we could in the tide
"And the devil go with you", cried Arthur McBride
"For spoiling our walk in the morning"
And we had no money to put in their cracks
And we paid no respect to their two bloody backs
For we lathered them there like a pair of wet sacks
And left them for dead in the morning
And so to conclude and to finish disputes
We obligingly asked if they'd like some recruits
For we were the lads who could give them hard clout
And bade them look sharp in the morning
Oh, me and me cousin, one Arthur McBride
As we went a-walking down by the seaside
Mark what did follow and what did betide
For it being on Christmas morning
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7. |
Simple Gifts
01:21
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Tis’ a gift to be simple, Tis’ a gift to be free
Tis’ a gift to come down where we ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend, we shan't be ashamed
Turn, turn will be our delight,
‘Til by turning, tuning we come round right
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8. |
One More Day
02:23
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Oh, have you heard the news, my Johnny
One more day
We're homeward bound tomorrow
One more day
Only one more day, my Johnny
One more day
Oh, rock and roll me over
One more day
Oh, heave and sight the anchor, Johnny
One more day
Oh, heave and sight the anchor
One more day
Only one more day, my Johnny
One more day
Oh, rock and roll me over
One more day
Oh, I'm bound away to leave you, Johnny
One more day
But I will not deceive you
One more day
Only one more day, my Johnny
One more day
Oh, rock and roll me over
One more day
Oh, have you heard the news, my Johnny
One more day
We're homeward bound tomorrow
One more day
Only one more day, my Johnny
One more day
Oh, rock and roll me over
One more day
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9. |
John Barleycorn
03:39
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There were three men came out of the west
Their fortunes for to try
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn must die
They've ploughed, they've sown, they've harrowed him in
Threw clods upon his head
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn was dead
They've let him lie for a very long time
Till the rains from heaven did fall
And little Sir John sprung up his head
And so amazed them all
They've let him stand till midsummer's day
Till he looked both pale and wan
And little Sir John's grown a long, long beard
And so become a man
They hired men with the scythes so sharp
To cut him off at the knee
They rolled him and tied him by the waist
Serving him most barbarously
They hired men with the sharp pitchforks
Who pierced him to the heart
And the loader he has served him worse than that
For he's bound him to the cart
They wheeled him around and around the field
Till they came unto a barn
And there they made a solemn oath
On poor John Barleycorn
They hired men with the crab-tree sticks
To core him skin from bone
And the miller he has served him worse than that
For he's ground him between two stones
And little Sir John with his nut-brown bowl
Is brandy in the glass
And little Sir John with his nut-brown bowl
Proved the strongest man at last
The huntsman, he can't hunt the fox
Nor loudly blow his horn
And the tinker he can't mend kettle nor pot
Without a little Barleycorn
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10. |
Daughters and Sons
05:39
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They wouldn't hear your music
And they pulled your paintings down
They wouldn't read your writing
And they banned you from the town
But they couldn't stop your dreaming
And a victory you've won
For you've sown the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
You've sown the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons
Your weary smile it proudly hides
The chain marks on your hands
When you bravely strive to realize
The rights of everyone
And though your body's bent and low
A victory you've won
For you've sown the seeds of justice
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
You've sown the seeds of justice
In your daughters and your sons
Well, I don't know your religion
But one day I heard you pray
For a world where everyone can work
And children they can play
And though you never got your share
Of the fruits that you have won
You've sown the seeds of equality
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
You've sown the seeds of equality
In your daughters and your sons
Instrumental
They taunted you in Belfast
And they tortured you in Spain
And in that Warsaw ghetto
They tied you up in chains
In Vietnam and Chile
Where they came with tanks and guns
It was there you sowed the seeds of peace
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
There you sowed the seeds of peace
In your daughters and your sons
And now your music's playing
And the writing's on the wall
And all the dreams you painted
Can be seen by one and all
And now you've got them thinking
And the future's just begun
For you've sown the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
You've sown the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
You've sown the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons
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11. |
Ballydesmond Polka
01:46
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Instrumental
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12. |
Bogie's Bonnie Bell
04:24
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One Whitsun Day in Huntleigh town
Twas there I did agree
With Bogie of Kearney
A six month for to fee
To drive his two best horses
The cart and herry and plough
And the only thing about farm work
That I very well could do
Now Bogie he had a daughter,
Her name was Isabel
She was the lily of the valley
And the primrose of the dell
And went she went out walking
She chose me for her guide
Down by the burn of Kearney
To watch the small fish glide
When six long months had passed and gone
This lassie's lost her bloom
The red fell from her rosy cheeks
And her tears came tumbling down
When nine long months had passed and gone
She brought forth to me a son
And I was quickly sent for,
To see what could be done
Instrumental
I offered for to marry her,
But ah, that wouldn't do
He said, "You're not a match for my Bonnie Belle
And she's no match for you."
Then he sent me packing down the road
With not a penny of my fee
So all you lads of Huntleigh side,
A long farewell to ye
Now she's married to a tinker chap
Who comes from Huntleigh town
With pots and pans and ladles
He scours the country round
And maybe she's gotten the better match
Old Bogie cannot tell
But I was first to win the heart
Of Bogie's Bonnie Belle
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13. |
Winter Solstice
03:40
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Winter solstice, shortest day
Sun you have gone so far away
Your face you hide in clouds of gray
And weakly do you burn
On these the longest nights of year
The cold we dread, the darkness fear
Now back into our hemisphere, we wait for your return
Chorus:
Oh, winter solstice, shortest day
Attend to what we humbly pray
On this the season's longest night
Bring us back to summer's light
Winter snows may glisten white
But cannot keep us warm at night
It is for you aglow so bright
We open up our hearts
Light the candle, beat the drum
So joyous all, ecstatic some
That you've begun your journey from
Our southern counterparts...Chorus
Instrumental
From this moment on we see
Your glowing brilliant energy
Amazed at how you give so free
And not one second late
Let our daylight hours grow long
Our bodies warm, our spirits strong
Winter solstice hear our song
It's you we celebrate...Chorus 2X
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14. |
Parting Glass
03:48
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Of all the money e'er I had
I spent it in good company
And all the harm I've ever done
Alas it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all
Of all the comrades e'er I had
They're sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts e'er I had
They'd wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be with you all
If I had money enough to spend
And leisure time to sit awhile
There is a fair maid in this town
Who surely has my heart beguiled
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips
I own, she has my heart enthralled
Then fill to me the parting glass
Goodnight and joy be with you all
Instrumental
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Atwater-Donnelly Warren, Rhode Island
Aubrey Atwater and Elwood Donnelly, present delightful programs of traditional American and Celtic folk songs, a capella pieces, old-time gospel songs, dance tunes, and original works, blending gorgeous harmonies with guitar, Appalachian mountain dulcimer, mandolin, tin whistle, harmonica, banjo, bones, spoons, limberjacks, and Appalachian clog dancing and French Canadian footwork. ... more
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