> Folk Music > Songs > Still I Love Him

Still I Love Him / The Black Shawl /
Do You Love an Apple? / I’ll Go With Him Wherever He Goes

[ Roud 654 ; Master title: Still I Love Him ; TYG 33 ; Ballad Index K203 ; DT LOVAPPLE , STILILOV ; Mudcat 5623 ; trad.]

Steve Gardham: A Yorkshire Songster Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger: Travellers’ Songs From England and Scotland Stephen Sedley: The Seeds of Love Elizabeth Stewart, Alison McMorland: Up Yon Wide and Lonely Glen

Bob Roberts sang Still I Love Him in a 1950s recording made by Peter Kennedy at The Butt and Oyster, Pin Mill, near Ipswich, Suffolk on the 1960 HMV EP The Barley Mow. He also sang it with the title The Black Shawl on his 1978 Topic LP Songs From the Sailing Barges.

Isla Cameron sang Still I Love Him on her and Ewan MacColl’s 1958 Riverside album English and Scottish Love Songs and as the title track of their 1960 Topic album Still I Love Him, A.L. Lloyd noted:

This song comes from the repertory of Bob Roberts, a spritsail-barge skipper plying along the east coast of England. Mr. Roberts has a handful of social songs of this kind, chorus songs well-suited for ladies and gentlemen to sing with a mug in their hand. The tune is a relative of the familiar Villikins and His Dinah.

Isla Cameron also sang Still I Love Him in 1962 on her Prestige album The Best of Isla Cameron on which Ewan MacColl noted:

Most of the songs of the ‘single girls’ family appear to derive from music hall pieces and a great many of them can be traced directly from the one in Sam Cowell’s Hundred and Twenty Comic Songs (1850). The song given here is popular throughout the whole of East Anglia and the tune to which it is sung is a variant of the ubiquitous Villikins.

Sam Larner sang one verse of When I Was Single to Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker in between 1958 and 1960. This recording was included in 2014 on his Musical Traditions anthology Cruising Round Yarmouth. Rod Stradling’s notes are shortened from what he said on Caroline Hughes’ recording.

Jill Freedman and Shirley Bland sang When I Was Single on the 1963 Hullabaloo ABC Television programme broadcast on 2 November 1963.

Eleanor Leith sang Still I Love Him in a concert at Leith Town Hall in November 1963. The concert recording was released in the following year on the Waverley album The Hoot’nanny Show Vol. 1.

Caroline Hughes sang Still I Love Him to Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker in 1963 and 1966. This recording was included in 2014 on her Musical Traditions anthology Sheep-Crook and Black Dog. Rod Stradling noted:

This song is not as well-know as I would have imagined, but Roud’s 27 entries come from all over England. This may be because it’s a fairly recent song (the earliest collection was in the 1950s), and because of this there are 20 sound recordings and no broadsides. Other singers include Margaret Barry, Bob Roberts, Mabs Hall, Charlotte Higgins and Phil Hamond.

Other versions available on CD: Johnny Doughty (VTC6CD); Stanley Robertson (Elphinstone Institute EICD 003)

Margaret Barry sang Still I Love Him in a recording from October 1965 in New York that was included in 1975 on the Folkways album Margaret Barry and Michael Gorman.

The Bothy Band called this song Do You Love an Apple? after the first words of their version. Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill sang it in 1975 on their eponymous debut album on Mulligan, The Bothy Band.

Johnny Doughty sang Still I Love Him in a recording made by Mike Yates in Brighton, Sussex in 1977. In was included in 1987 on the Veteran Tape cassette Ripest Apples and in 2005 on the Veteran CD It Was on a Market Day. Mike Yates noted:

Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger published a version of this in their book Travellers’ Songs From England and Scotland (London, 1977. pp. 137-38) along with the following comment: “This is probably one of the most frequently reported songs in the British Isles and, undoubtedly, one of the least printed. Texts show considerable regional variation, though the refrains remain consistent and most versions retain the stanza which begins, ‘When I was single I wore a black shawl’. This would seem to indicate a relationship with The Joyful Maid and Sorrowful Wife, a song in which a wife’s loss of youth and freedom are symbolically represented through juxtaposed items from her premarital and post marital wardrobe.” For a text of The Joyful Maid and the Sorrowful Wife, see Sam Cowell’s 120 Comic Songs (London, 1850) or Dave Harker’s Songs From the Manuscript Collection of John Bell (Durham, 1985, p.342).

Mabs Hall sang Still I Love Him in the 1980s to Mike Yates and John Howson. This recording was included in 2008 on her and her son Gordon’s posthumous Veteran CD Still I Love Him As I Went Down to Horsham. Mike Yates’ notes to this song are very similar to his on Johnny Doughty’s recording. Gordon Hall sang When I Was Single on his privately produced cassette set from the 1990s, Warts & Hall.

Poachers Pocket sang Do You Love an Apple in 1994 on their WildGoose album Fair Game. They noted:

We would like to dedicate this one to Pat and Trudi and all the regulars at The Bull at Stanford Dingley. Fine ales and good food, telephone: XXXX

Jim Eldon sang Still I Love Him in 1997 on his and his wife’s eponymous Stick album Jim & Lynette Eldon.

Elle Osborne sang Still I Love Him on her 1999 CD Testimony.

Stanley Robertson sang Before I Was Married on his 2006 Elphinstone Institute double CD of “songs and stories of an Aberdeen childhood”, Rum Scum Scoosh!. Julia C. Bishop noted:

Before I Was Married (Roud 654), “a looking back with joy song” (Stanley Robertson) is well known in Britain and Ireland. Stanley sings a triple-time melody commonly associated with the song (cf. Still I Love Him, sung by Charlotte Higgins; MacColl and Seeger, p. 138).

Ruth Notman sang Still I Love Him in 2007 on her debut CD Threads.

Janet Russell and Christine Kydd learned Do You Love an Apple? from the Bothy Band and recorded it in 1987 for their eponymous album Janet Russell & Christine Kydd. They noted;

A recent but traditional sounding song telling of a young woman lamenting what has happened to her since she married. Why, despite all the bad treatment she gets, does the woman in the song say “Still I love him, can’t deny him, I’ll go with him wherever he goes”?

Jon Boden learned this song from the Bothy Band too and sang it with the title I’ll Go With Him Wherever He Goes as the 14 November 2010 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Megson sang Still I Love Him in 2014 in their EDJ album In a Box. They released a live recording of this song in the following year on their digital EP Live in the Lounge.

The Outside Track sang Do You Love an Apple? in 2015 on their CD Light Up the Dark. They commented in their liner notes:

Teresa [Horgan] and Cilian [Ó’Dálaigh] have been singing this song for many years, and it has transformed into a fresh take on the original. It has grown to what it is today from sharing it with good friends, particularly Neil Fitzgibbon.

Lyrics

Bob Roberts sings The Black Shawl

When I was single I had a black shawl,
Now I’m married, I’ve nothing at all.
Still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

He took me to the alehouse and bought me some stout
Before I could drink it he’d ordered me out.
Still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

He came up the row and he whispered me out,
Then he went off with young Kitty MacLeod.
Still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

He bought me a handkerchief, red, white and blue,
Then to clean windows he tore it in two.
Still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

My back is a-breaking, my fingers are sore,
Gutting the herrin’ he brings to the shore.
Still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

The storm is a-raging, his boat isn’t in,
Doesn’t one tell me what’s happened to him.
Still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

If he’s gone to heaven, he’ll come to no harm.
If he’s gone to hell, then he’ll keep himself warm.
Still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

Isla Cameron sings Still I Love Him

O when I was single I wore a black shawl,
Now that I’m married I’ve nothing at all.
Still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

O I like an apple and I like a pear,
And I’m fond of a fellow with nice curly hair.
Still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

He comes down our alley and whistles me out,
And when I get out there, he knocks me about.
But still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

He took me to an alehouse and ordered some stout
But before I could drink it he’d ordered me out.
Still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

O my eyes they’re right tired, my fingers are sore,
Guttin’ the herrin’ he brings to the shore.
Still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

Sam Larner sings When I Was Single

O when I was single, I wore a black shawl,
Now I am married, I get bugger all.
Still I love her, can’t deny her,
I’ll go with her wherever she go.
Spoken: That’s all I know of that, like.

Caroline Hughes sings Still I Love Him

With his bell bottom trousers, with the seams up the legs
His hair cut in the fashion and curl to one side
Didn’t I love him? Couldn’t deny him,
I’ll be with him wherever he goes.

Well, I promised to meet him at Barnebow Fair
He’d to buy me a neckercher red white and blue
I don’t want it, dever denied it,
I’ll be with you wherever I goes.

Spoken: But here’s another one:
When I was single I weared a plaid shawl,
but now I am married I got none at all.
That it?

Margaret Barry sings Still I Love Him

A promoter named Raymond, he did sign us on
To go over to London to sing an Irish song.
Still, I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

We then went to Dublin to see the Lord Mayor,
Who gave us a letter to take over there.
Still, I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

We then went to London, that city of renown,
And when I got there they put on my crown.
Still, I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

I went into the Mayfair, the Duke I declare,
The way he did look when he did see us there!
Still, I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

Now the great royal show band were with us one night,
In the Royal Albert Hall I sang with delight.
Still, I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

I went to the window to whistle him out;
The music was going and I was left out!
Still, I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

Out of me bounty he bought me a shawl,
And the first day I wore it I tattered it all.
Still, I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

I went into the Bedford, he bought me a stout.
Before I could drink it, he ordered me out!
Still, I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

I come to the end now, my verses are out.
If you want any more, I’ll have Guinness’s Stout.
Still, I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

The Bothy Band sing Do You Love an Apple?

Do you love an apple? Do you love a pear?
Do you love a laddie with bonnie brown hair?
But still I love him, I can’t deny him,
I’ll be with him wherever he goes.

Before I got married I wore a black shawl
But since I got married I wear bugger all.
But still I love him, I can’t deny him,
I’ll be with him wherever he goes.

He stood at the corner, a fag in his mouth,
Two hands in his pockets, he whistled me out.
But still I love him, I can’t deny him,
I’ll be with him wherеver he goes.

Hе works at the pier for nine bob a week,
Come Saturday night, he comes rolling home drunk.
But still I love him, I can’t deny him,
I’ll be with him wherever he goes.

Before I got married I’d sport and I’d play
But now the cradle, it gets in me way.
But still I love him, I can’t deny him,
I’ll be with him wherever he goes.

(repeat first verse)

Johnny Doughty sings Still I Love Him

Now when I was single, I had a black shawl
And now that I’m married, I’ve got none at all.

Chorus (after each verse):
Still I love him and can’t deny him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

He stood at the corner and whistles me out,
With his hands in his pockets, his shirt hanging out.

I had a blue handkerchief, red, white and blue
And outside the pawn shop I tore it in two.

He hits me and kicks me and gives me black eyes,
He says I goes drinking with men on the sly.

Mabs Hall sings Still I Love Him

O when I was single I wore a plaid shawl.
But after I married I had none at all.

Chorus (after each verse):
But still I love him, I can’t deny him,
I’ll go/bide with him wherever he goes.

He’s got lots of money, he has a free heart.
Wherever he goes he can get a sweetheart.

He stands on the corner, for me looking out.
With his hands in his pocket, his shirt hanging out.

He hits me and kicks me and gives me black eyes.
He swears I go boozing with blokes on the sly.

Stanley Robertson sings Before I Was Married

Before I was married I had a wool shawl,
Now that I’ue married I’ve got bugger all,
Still I love him, I can’t deny it,
I’ll go with him where ever he goes.

He went in tae a pie shop tae buy me a pie,
When he came oot he gave me a black eye,
Still I loue him, I can’t deny it,
I’ll go with him where ever he goes.

He walks doon the Gallagate, wi tackety boots,
His hands in his pockets, his shirts hingin oot,
Still I loue him, I can’t deny it,
I’ll go with him where ever he goes.

Ruth Notman sings Still I Love Him

When I was single I wore a plaid shawl,
Now that I’m married I’ve nothing at all.
Ah but still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

He came to our alley and whistled me out,
A tail of the shirt from his trousers hung out.
Ah but still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

He bought me a handkerchief, red, white and blue
But before I could wear it he tore it in two.
Ah but still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

He borrowed some money to buy me a ring,
Then he and the jeweller went off on a fling.
Ah but still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

There’s bread in the oven and cheese on the shelf,
So if you want anymore you can sing it yourself.
Ah but still I love him, I’ll forgive him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

Jon Boden sings I’ll Go With Him Wherever He Goes

Do you love an apple, do you love a pear?
Do you love a laddie with curly long hair?
And it’s still I love him, I can’t deny him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

Before I got married I’d sport and I’d play,
But now how the cradle it gets in the way.
And it’s still I love him, I can’t deny him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

Before I got married I wore a black shawl,
But since I got married I wore bugger-all.
And it’s still I love him, I can’t deny him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

He stood at the corner, a fag in his mouth,
Two hands in his pockets, he whistled me out.
And it’s still I love him, I can’t deny him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

He works at the market for nine bob a week,
Come Saturday night he comes rolling home drunk.
But it’s still I love him, I can’t deny him,
I’ll go with him wherever he goes.

(repeat first verse)