Apple Songs
Many of you, of a certain vintage, will know the Andrews Sisters’ ‘Don’t sit under the apple tree’, and the traditional ‘The sweetest girl I ever saw sat sucking cider through a straw’ – see text below.
Perhaps you have heard the carol ‘Adam lay ybounden’. The poem has been set to music by a number of composers. The manuscript on which the poem is found (Sloane 2593, ff.10v-11) is held by the British Library, who date the work to c.1400. The lyrics may have belonged to a wandering minstrel. The text was originally meant to be a song but no music survives.
Middle English Original Spelling
And al was for an appil,
an appil that he tok.
As clerkes fyndyn wretyn
in here book.
Ne hadde the appil take ben,
the appil taken ben,
Ne hadde never our lady
a ben hevene quen.
Blyssid be the tyme
that appil take was!
Therefore we mown syngyn
Deo gratias!
Middle English Corrected
And all was for an apple,
An apple that he took.
As clerkës finden written
In their book.
Ne had the apple taken been,
The apple taken been,
Ne had never Our Lady,
A-been heaven’s queen.
Blessed be the time
That apple taken was!
Therefore we may singen
Deo gratias!
Adam lay i-bowndyn,
bowndyn in a bond,
Fowre thowsand wynter
thowt he not to long
And al was for an appil,
an appil that he tok.
As clerkes fyndyn wretyn
in here book.
Ne hadde the appil take ben,
the appil taken ben,
Ne hadde never our lady
a ben hevene quen.
Blyssid be the tyme
that appil take was!
Therefore we mown syngyn
Deo gratias!
Adam lay ybounden,
Bounden in a bond;
Four thousand winter
Thought he not too long.
And all was for an apple,
An apple that he took.
As clerkës finden written
In their book.
Ne had the apple taken been,
The apple taken been,
Ne had never Our Lady,
A-been heaven’s queen.
Blessed be the time
That apple taken was!
Therefore we may singen
Deo gratias!
“I Will Give my Love an Apple” is a traditional English folk song. It was arranged by Benjamin Britten and by Herbert Howells and has been by many since. A version of the song was collected at Sherborne, Dorset, by H. E. D. Hammond in 1906; another version was printed in Folk Song Journal, vol. 11, 1907.
I will give my love an apple without any core
I will give my love a house without any door
I will give my love a palace wherein he may be
And he may unlock it without any key
My head is the apple without any core
My mind is the house without any door
My heart is the palace wherein he may be
And he may unlock it without any key
I will give my love an apple without any core
I will give my love a house without any door
I will give my love a palace wherein he may be
And he may unlock it without any key
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree: This popular Christmas carol, set by several composers, is based on an anonymous 18th century text. The text may be an allusion to both the apple tree in Song of Solomon 2:3 which has been interpreted as a metaphor representing Jesus, and to his description of his life as a tree of life in Luke 13:18–19 (see also Revelation 22:1–2). Another motivation of the song may have been to Christianise old English wassailing songs.
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green;
The trees of nature fruitless be,
Compared with Christ the Apple Tree.
His beauty doth all things excel,
By faith I know but ne’er can tell
The glory which I now can see,
In Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.
For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought;
I missed of all but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the Apple Tree.
I’m weary with my former toil –
Here I will sit and rest awhile,
Under the shadow I will be,
Of Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.
With great delight I’ll make my stay,
There’s none shall fright my soul away;
Among the sons of men I see
There’s none like Christ the Apple Tree.
I’ll sit and eat this fruit divine,
It cheers my heart like spirit’al wine;
And now this fruit is sweet to me,
That grows on Christ the Apple Tree.
This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.
Wassailing Songs are among the most popular our great festive season. Many of us are familiar with the song that begins:
Here we come a wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a wandering
So fair to be seen.
For more information on this rich and ancient tradition click here.
Every year a ‘Wassail’ takes place in the Millenium Orchard in Leominster, and in many of the surrounding villages, generally led by the Leominster Morris, click here for more info.
The Sweetest Girl I ever Saw
Sat sucking cider through a straw
‘Fair maid,’ said I, ‘I you implore,
Why suck you cider through a straw?
She said to me, ‘There is no law
Gainst sucking cider through a straw’
So cheek by cheek, and jaw by jaw,
We both sucked cider through a straw.
And now I’ve got a Ma-in-law
Through sucking cider through a straw.
Traditional
