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Lenady
Sweet Lemeney / Lemony / Lemady / Arise and Pick a Posy
[
Roud 193
, 2445
; Ballad Index ReSh236A
; Bodleian
Roud 193
; trad.]
Sweet Lemeney is a song from the repertoire of the Copper Family. It is printed in The Copper Family Song Book. Jim Copper sang Lemany (recorded by Peter Kennedy at Rottingdean, Sussex, on 1 August 1951) on the Topic anthology You Never Heard So Sweet (The Voice of the People Series Volume 21; 2012). Jill Copper sang Sweet Lemeney on the Copper Family's 1971 Leader Records anthology A Song for Every Season, and Jill and Lucy Copper sang it on the 1998 CD Coppersongs 3.
Peter Bellamy recorded Sweet Lemeney for his 1975 album Peter Bellamy. He noted:
This strange, plaintive song comes from the singing of the famous Copper family of Sussex. Its origins are obscure, particularly the reference to the white robe. Was he a monk? A leper? The vicar? All intelligent guesses gratefully accepted.
Martyn Wyndham-Read sang Lemony in 1979 on his album Andy's Gone, on which he was accompanied by Dave and Tony Arthur and Nic Jones. Dave Arthur noted:
Lemany, Lemody, Limady, Lemonday. Another folk mystery! What does the title mean? Is it a lovers-day carol from ‘leman’, the old word for ‘lover’? However, as the song has every appearance of being an 18th century stage production, it seems likely the archaic ‘leman’ would have intruded into such a comparatively recent piece. Most singers appear to assume that ‘Lemony’ is simply a picturesque name for a girl.
The song appeared in many 19th century broadsides and has been widely collected in the south of England (though Frank Purslow suspects it may be Irish in origin), particularly in Sussex where Martin learnt it from the Sussex singer Bob Lewis.
Martin Carthy sang this song as Lemady on Keith Dewhurst and The Albion Band's 1980 album Lark Rise to Candleford that accompanied their National Theatre play. Doug Morter played the guitar solo. This track was included in 2001 on the anthology The Carthy Chronicles. Another version from the Albion Band's 1988 show The Wild Side of Town was included on their album Songs from the Shows.
This video shows Arise and Pick a Posy from the last performance of Lark Rise by The Pranksters Theatre Company in the Castle Grounds, Guildford, on 18 July 2009:
Tony Rose recorded this song in 1999 as Lenady for his CD Bare Bones.
Eliza Carthy sang Lemady on her and Martin Green's album Dinner. She commented in the record's sleeve notes:
Lemady was suggested to me by Saul Rose, who remembered it from his misspent folk-rock youth and helped me and Martin [Green] to change the timing. Honourable P's Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson provided words.
Jim Moray sang Lemady in 2001 on his first EP I Am Jim Moray. This track was also included in 2010 on his compilation CD A Beginner's Guide.
Barry Lister sang Limadie in 2006 on his WildGoose CD Ghosts & Greasepaint.
The Askew Sisters sang Sweet Lemaney in 2010 on their WildGoose CD Through Lonesome Woods. They noted:
Our version of this beautiful song was first heard on a recording by Peter Bellamy, but we’ve also taken some words from broadside ballad versions. It originates from the south west and is also known as Lemonay, Lemady, Limmony, Limadee amongst others, and is thought to come from ‘Leman’, the archaic word for lover. The significance of the white robes in the last line is unclear, but sometimes appears as coloured robes in other versions. Emily has also let Hazel pluck a few notes on the fiddle for this arrangement!
Jon Boden sang Lemady as the 31 March 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. He noted in his blog:
A beautiful aubade sung quite widely in a variety of versions. This is from Martin Carthy who sung it on Lark Rise to Candleford. I'm not sure where he got it from—sounds a bit more broadside-ish than the Copper family's version so perhaps he compiled it from written sources? That's a guess though.
Andy Turner learned Sweet Lemeney from Bob Copper's book A Song for Every Season. He sang it as the 23 June 2013 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week.
Ollie King sang Sweet Lemeney in 2017 on his CD Diffractions. He noted:
As with many people, I first heard a version of this song on The Albion Band's Lark Rise to Candleford, and I have wanted to record a version for a while. I came across the words in Bob Copper's A Song for Every Season, and the tune is one of my own that's loosely based on a number of traditional variations.
Tim Jones and the Dark Lanterns sang Sweet Lemeny on their 2017 CD Blossom & Fruit.
Burd Ellen sang Sweet Lemany on their 2019 CD Silver Came. Debbie Armour noted:
I learned this one from the peerless singing of Peter Bellamy. It's a strange and very sad wee song… I imagine it peering in throufh the window of the Maid in Bedlam family, too sad to be allowed inside.
A similar version called One Midsummer's Morn found at the Mudcat is listed below.
Lyrics
The Copper Family sing Sweet Lemeney | Peter Bellamy sings Sweet Lemeney |
---|---|
As I was a-walking one fine summer's morning, |
As I was a-walking one fine summer's morning, |
Oh hark, oh hark, how the nightingale is singing, |
Hark, oh hark, how the nightingale is singing, |
Arise, oh, arise and get your humble posies, |
Arise, oh, arise and get your charming posies, |
Oh, Lemeney, oh, Lemeney, you are the fairest creature, |
Oh, Lemeney, oh, Lemeney, you are the fairest creature, |
Oh, how could my true-love, how could she vanish from me, |
How could my true love, how could she vanish from me |
(repeat first verse) | |
The Albion Band sing Lemady | Tony Rose sings Lenady |
Hark, says the fair maid, the nightingale is singing, |
Hark, said the fair maid, the nightingales are singing, |
Rise up, my fair one, and pick your love a posy, |
Rise up, my fair one, and pick your love a posy, |
Lemady, Lemady, you are a lovely creature, |
Lenady, Lenady, you are a lovely creature, |
Arise and pick a posy, sweet lily-pink and rosy |
So arise and pick a posy, sweet lily-pink and rosy |
Eliza Carthy sings Lemady | One Midsummer's Morn's lyrics from the Mudcat |
As I was a-walking one midsummer's morning, |
One midsummer's morn, as I was a-walking, |
Hark, says the fair maid, the nightingales are singing, |
Oh hark, hark, the nightingales are singing, |
Rise up, my fair one, and pick your love a posy, |
Arise, arise! Go pluck your love a posy, |
Lemady, Lemady, you are a lovely creature, |
Oh Lemady, oh Lemady, what lovely lass art thou, |
Why should my true love go banished from me? |
They why should my true love be banished from me? |
Lemady, Lemady, you are a lovely creature, | |
Lemady, Lemady | |
Cornish version of Limadie, passed on by Malcolm Douglas | |
Oh early one morning as I was walking | |
Oh hark, oh hark how the nightingale is singing | |
Arise, love, arise, I have plucked you a nosegay | |
O Limadie, O Limadie, thou art the fairest flower | |
Oh why should my true love be banished from me? |
Notes on the Cornish version
Malcolm Douglas commented in the Mudcat Café thread Help: Lemady - Confusion in 1999 (I added the name of Gundry's book which Douglas omitted):
As promised, a version from Mawgan in Cornwall, kindly sent to me by Jeremy Main. This is from Canow Kernow: Songs and Dances from Cornwall by Inglis Gundry (ed.), The Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1966. From the accompanying notes:
…found… in the papers of the late Grand Bard, Morton Nance, at Truro Museum, together with the Cornish translation made by his predecessor, Henry Jenner… It now seems clear that originally this song was an aubade sung by a group of young men (or sometimes young women) to their “lemans” or sweethearts early on midsummer morning, or “leman-day”, and that the imaginary person known as Lemady, or Limadie, or Lemminy (in the Catnach ballad with much the same words as ours) came into existence only after this custom of “sweethearting” fell into disuse and was no longer understood.
This version was collected by Jenner from William Gilbert of the Vale of Lanherne; Sabine Baring-Gould had a (different) version from Gilbert's father, Samuel, who kept the Falcon Inn there.
but added in 2003:
That “leman-day” business I quoted from Gundry, getting on for 5 years ago in this very thread when I was quite the newbie, seems even less likely now than it did then.
Links and Acknowledgements
See also the Mudcat Café threads Lyric Req: Lemady and Help: Lemady - Confusion.
Thanks to Malcolm Douglas for the Albion Band transcription and for the Cornish version. Eliza Carthy transcription by Reinhard Zierke.