“Gathering Rushes in the Month of May (Underneath Her Apron)”
Description
Girl gathers rushes and bears a child, wrapping it in her apron. The baby cries; her father asks who the father was and where it was conceived, vowing to burn the place. The father was a sailor; she conceived "by yonder spring, where the small birds sing"
Notes
The Elliott version has the young man as a miner, not a sailor; it is mixed with "Never Let a Sailor Get an Inch Above Your Knee"; see "Rosemary Lane" for discussion of *that* mess. - PJS
Recordings
- Anne Briggs, "Gathering Rushes in the Month of May" (on BirdBush1, Birdbush2, Briggs3)
- Jack Elliott, "Was It In the Kitchen?" (on Elliotts01)
References
- DT, UNDRAPRN*
- Roud #899
- BI, DTundrap