“Forglen (Forglen You Know, Strichen's Plantins)”
Description
The singer comes across young lovers who are preparing to part. The man wishes he did not have to go, but he has no choice. He praises her in many lyric ways, some not obviously complimentary: "Your love is like the moon That wanders up and down."
Notes
Versions of this take whole stanzas from the "Curragh of Kildare/Winter It Is Past" family; whether there is dependence I don't know.
The reference to David and his family being banished probably refers to 1 Samuel 22:3-4; although David himself had fled Saul three chapters earlier, this is the first reference to his family going into exile (in Moab).
The reference to Lazarus appears to be the Lazarus of Luke (16:19-31), not the Lazarus of John, even though Luke's Lazarus is simply the subject of a parable, not a real person; this is not the only instance in traditional song of this Lazarus being treated as real. - RBW
Cross references
- cf. "The Curragh of Kildare" (lyrics, form)
References
- Ord, pp. 79-80, "Forglen You Know" (1 text)
- Roud #6286
- BI, Ord079