> Folk Music > Songs > Sumer Is I-cumen In

Sumer Is I-cumen In

[ RoudBS B258230 ; Ballad Index FSWB260B ; DT ICUMSUM ; Mudcat 13004 ; trad.]

Sumer Is I-cumen In is a round celebrating the beginning of summer and the appearance of various symbols of fertility. It is printed in the British Museum manuscript Harley 978, generally dated c.1225-1250.

Steeleye Span sang Summer Is A-Comin’ In in a concert at The Bottom Line, New York on 4%nbsp;July 1974. A recording of rather mediocre sound quality was released in 2024 on the Omnivore album Live at the Bottom Line, 1974.

Richard Thompson sang Sumer Is Icumen In in 2003 and 2006 on his Beeswing studio and live albums 1000 Years of Popular Music. The studio track was also included in 2006 on the charity compilation Live in Hope: The Wildlife Album 2.

David Gibb and Elly Lucas sang Summer Is A-Cumen In in 2011 on Gibb’s Hairpin album There Are Birds in My Garden. He noted:

A very old English round. I think it completely captures that summery feeling you get when for the first time you can go outside and lie down on the grass without getting a wet bottom.

GreenMatthews sang Sumer Is Icumen In (Cuccu) on their 2016 album A Brief History of Music 1260-1915. They noted:

As well as being a delightful song about the joys of summer, this 13^th century melody is also the first example in English of a secular song which is also a round. It’s followed by a salterello from around 1390—a lively Italian dance tune. The dance steps are not recorded, but given that the French word ‘sauterelle’ means ‘grasshopper’ we can deduce that it probably entailed a lot of skipping and jumping.

Sharron Kraus sang Sing Cuckoo (Summer Is A-Coming In) on the 2023 reimagination of the Wicker Man soundtrack, Ballads of Seduction, Fertility and Ritual Slaughter.

Other songs with the same title

Bill Caddick’s Urban Legend’s sang Summer Is A-Comin’ In in 1991 on the Hokey Pokey charity compilation All Through the Year— Calendar in Music & Song and Bill Caddick sang it in 1995 on The Home Service’s Fledg’ling album Wild Life. This is, however, a song written by Caddick and not the traditional round.

Similarly, Summer Is A-Coming In on Mick Ryan and Paul Downes’ 2010 WildGosse album Away in the West is a song written by Mick Ryan. He noted:

This is from my 1995 show A Day’s Work. A group of farm workers sing this as part of the mummers’ play of death and resurrection which is later tragically replayed on the western front in 1916.

Lyrics

Sumer Is I-cumen In

Sumer is i-cumen in, lhude sing cuccu!
Groweþ sed [grows seed] and bloweþ [blooms] meed
And springþ [springs] wde [wood] nu [now].
Sing cuccu!
Awe [ewe] bleteþ after lomb [lamb],
Lhouþ [lows] after calve cu [cow]
Bulluc stereþ [stirs], bukke [buck] verteþ [passes gas, or perhaps frequents the fields]
Murie [merry] sing cuccu
Cuccu, cuccu,
Wel singes þu cuccu,
Ne swik þu nauer nu! [Now nature never ceases].