The Grenadier and the Lady

An English traditional, one of my favorites to play on the Celtic harp.
The pictures are taken during my holidays in England.

Lyrics:

THE GRENADIER AND THE LADY

As I was a walking one morning in May,
I spied a young couple a-making of hay,
O one was a pretty maid and her beauty shone clear,
And the other was a soldier, a bold grenadier.

A-walking and a-talking and a-walking together,
O a-walking so far till they couldn't tell whither,
So they sat themselves down by the clear crystal stream
For to see the flowers grow and hear the nightingale sing.

In kisses and compliments he took her round the middle,
And out of his knapsack he drew forth his fiddle,
And he play'd such a fine tune as made the groves ring:
"Hark hark" said the fair maid, "How the nightingale sings."

"O come," said the soldier, "tis time to give o'er."
"O no," said the fair maid, "we will have one tune more,
I do like your music and the tune of your string,
I do like to see the flowers grow and hear the nightingale sing."

"Then come," says the fair maid, "will you marry me?"
"O no!," says the soldier, "O that can never be,
For I've got me a wife in my own counteree,
O so fair a woman that ever you see."

"I've got me a wife there, and child-er-en three,
Two wives in the army s too many for me,
But if I should return, O! t will be in the spring,
I will show you how the flowers grow, make the nightingale sing."

Category:

Music

Tags:

• grenadier
• and
• the
• lady
• Celtic
• harp
• English
• traditional
• landscape
• music

[ExNihilMetal]

A very bittersweet song. Sums up the transcience of human experience quite well, both lyrically and melodically. Very well played, I'll have to check out your other videos :)

[maaswater15]

@ExNihilMetal

Thank you for watching and for your comment! I like this song very much:-)

[Shropshireladdie]

This may sound bigoted and idiotic(well it is) but this is English music being played on a celtic harp, can you play it on an English instrument?

[maaswater15]

@Shropshireladdie

Alas, I only play the small harp:-)

[glenzboyz]

Thanks once again Maria...Great video !!!

[maaswater15]

Thank you again! I just love Scottish, Irish, Celtic music . So I am very motivated to learn these songs:-)

[shanereel]

@Shropshireladdie I guess Celtic people didn't quite have the chance you claim to defend what was "theirs" from Britons....

[ExNihilMetal]

@agormanvideos

Haha, I'm not making a fuss about the music, just clearing up the issue of whether the modern English have Celtic blood :p there are definitely going to be links between Irish, Scottish, Welsh, English, French, German, Scandinavian, Hungarian, European, Eurasian... and Pangean music ;)

[agormanvideos]

@ExNihilMetal Heck, I even heard some Irish songs that sounded a little like chinese music! Why making so much fuss about it?

[agormanvideos]

@ExNihilMetal OK, anyway, is it necessary to be so strict? Aren't there any Celtic songs that seem to have English style as well as English songs that seem to have Celtic style? My point is people always have silly excuses to start a fight.

[ExNihilMetal]

@agormanvideos

Possibly in some cases, but not very likely for most. The Saxons pretty much removed the native populations of the lands they conquered. The "Celts" (or "Britons", as I think they're more often called) were relegated to Cornwall, Wales, and Scotland, and even then, they saw large influxes of Scandinavians, Gallic Celts, possibly even Iberians. Much of England is still quite homogenously Western Germanic, especially compared to other areas in Europe.

[Shropshireladdie]

@agormanvideos

Well the "english" do but the ethnic English dont, if you understand.

[agormanvideos]

@Shropshireladdie Well, don't you English have some celtic blood mixed in your veins too?