Sung by Pete Seeger (an old Scottish song "Waly Waly") apparently in 1958
Sung in 1964 by The Seekers and released
on their third album "Hide & Seekers". No month shown, they were little known outside Australia. Recorded shortly after their arrival in the UK in May 1964 and released before November's "I'll never find another you" huge hit single
The water is wide, I can't cross o'er
Nor do I have light wings to fly
Build me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
A ship there is, and sails the sea
She's loaded deep as deep can be
But not so deep as the love I'm in
And I know not how, I sink or swim
When love is young, and love is fine
Its like a gem, when first it's new
But love grows old, and waxes cold
And fades away, like the morning dew
The water is wide, I can't cross o'er
Nor do I have light wings to fly
Build me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
Sung in 1964 by Peter Paul and Mary (Live concerts in the first half of 1964) and released later that year
There is a ship and she sails the sea
She's loaded deep, as deep can be
But not as deep as the love I'm in
I know not if I sink or swim
I leaned my back against an oak
Thinking it was a trusty tree
But first it bent and then it broke
Just as my love proved false to me
Oh, love is gentle and love is kind
The sweetest flower when first it's new
But love grows old and waxes cold
And fades away like the mornin' dew
The water is wide, I cannot get o'er
Neither have I, the wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
Pete Seeger's much longer lyrics in 1958
The water is wide, I cannot cross over
And neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
A ship there was, and she sails the sea
She's loaded deep as deep can be
But not so deep as the love I'm in
And I know not how, I sink or swim
I leaned my back up against some young oak
Thinking he was a trusty tree
But first he bended and then he broke
And thus did my false love to me
I put my hand into some soft bush
Thinking the sweetest flower to find
I pricked my finger to the bone
And left the sweetest flower alone
Oh, love is handsome, love is fine
Gay as a jewel, when first it is new
But love grows old, and waxes cold
And fades away, like summer dew
The seagulls wheel, they turn and dive
The mountain stands beside the sea
This world we know turns round and round
And all for them - and you and me
Lyrics in 1906 / 1916
O Waly Waly in One Hundred English Folksongs
The water is wide, I cannot get o’er
And neither have I wings to fly.
O go and get me some little boat
To carry o’er my true love and I.
A-down in the meadows the other day,
A-gath’ring flow’rs, both fine and gay,
A-gath’ring flowers, both red and blue,
I little thought what love could do.
I put my hand into one soft bush
Thinking the sweetest flow’r to find,
I prick’d my finger to the bone,
And left the sweetest flow’r alone.
I leaned my back up against some oak,
Thinking it was a trusty tree.
But first he bended and then he broke,
So did my love prove false to me.
Where love is planted, O there it grows,
It buds and blossoms like some rose;
It has a sweet and a pleasant smell,
No flow’r on earth can it excel.
Must I be bound, O and she go free!
Must I love one that does not love me!
Why should I act such a childish part,
And love a girl that will break my heart.
There is a ship sailing on the sea,
She’s loaded deep as deep can be,
But not so deep as in love I am;
I care not if I sink or swim.
O love is handsome and love is fine,
And love is charming when it is true;
As it grows older it groweth colder
And fades away like the morning dew.
1724: First Printed Mention
Scottish poet and anthologist Allan Ramsay included the poem in his collection, The Tea-Table Miscellany. He titled it "Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bonny".
1725: First Published Tune
The melody was first printed a year later by William Thomson in Orpheus Caledonius. This version established the tune commonly associated with the song today.
17th Century: Origins
While first printed in the 1720s, the lyrics are rooted in 17th-century Scottish folk tradition. Some stanzas are linked to the narrative ballad "Jamie Douglas", which refers to historical events from 1681 involving the unhappy marriage of the Marquis of Douglas and Lady Barbara Erskine
O Waly Waly (wally - wail - woe) in 1724 in English (apparently from Scotland - see Glasgow line)
Original Text
Tea-table Miscellany, ed. Allan Ramsay (Edinburgh: T. Ruddiman for A. Ramsay, 1724). micf. no. 278 MICR
O Waly, waly, up the bank,
O wary, waly, doun the brae,
And waly, waly, yon burn-side,
Where I and my love wer wont to gae!
I lean'd my back unto an aik,
I thocht it was a trustie tree,
But first it bow'd and syne it brak',--
Sae my true love did lichtlie me.
O waly, waly, but love be bonnie
A little time while it is new!
But when its auld it waxeth cauld,
And fadeth awa' like the morning dew.
O wherefore should I busk my heid,
Or wherefore should I kame my hair?
For my true love has me forsook,
And says he'll never lo'e me mair.
Noo Arthur's seat sall be my bed.
The sheets sall neir be press'd by me;
Saint Anton's well sall be my drink;
Since my true love's forsaken me.
Martinmas wind, when wilt thou blaw,
And shake the green leaves off the tree?
O gentle death, when wilt thou come?
For of my life I am wearie.
'Tis not the frost that freezes fell,
Nor blawing-snaw's inclemencie,
'Tis not sic cauld that makes me cry;
But my love's heart grown cauld to me.
Whan we cam' in by Glasgow toun,
We were a comely sicht to see;
My love was clad in the black velvet,
An' I mysel' in cramasie.
But had I wist before I kiss'd
That love had been so ill to win,
I'd lock'd my heart in a case o' goud,
And pinn'd it wi' a siller pin.
Oh, oh! if my young babe were born,
And set upon the nurse's knee;
And I mysel' were dead and gane,
And the green grass growing over me!
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