This song is actually called "The Dew Is on the Grass" and it was collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams from Jake Willis of Hadleigh, Suffolk, in September 1907. It is printed in Roy Palmer's book "Bushes and Briars".

THE DEW IS ON THE GRASS as sung by Jake Willis:

As I walked out one midsummer morn
All in the month of May, sir,
O there I beheld a fair pretty maid
A-making of the hay, sir.

Chorus (after each verse):
   Fol de lie de lay

I boldly stepped up to her
And asked her to lay down, sir.
The answer that she gave me:
"The dew is on the ground, sir.

"Wait till you get to my father's house
Where you may lay me down, sir;
Where you can have my maidenhead
All on a bed of down, sir.""

O when she got to her father's hall,
That was walled in all round, sir.
She stepped in and shut the door,
And shut the young man out, sir.

"When you met with me at first
You did not meet a fool, sir;
You may take your Bible under your arm
And go a little more to school, sir.

"And when you meet a pretty maid
Little below the town, sir;
You must not mind her squalling
Nor the rumpling of her gown, sir.

"There is a cock in my father's yard,
He will not tread the hen, sir;
And I do think in my very heart
That you are one of them, sir.

"There is a flower in my father's garden,
it's called a marigold, sir,
And if you will not when you may
You shall not when you will, sir."


DEW IS ON THE GRASS as sung by Lisa Knapp:

As I walked out one midsummer's morn
All in in the month of May, sir,
O there I beheld a fair pretty maid
Making of the hay, sir.

Chorus (after each verse):
    Fol de lie de lay

I boldly stepped up to her
Asked her to lay down, sir.
The answer that she gave to me
Was, "The dew is on the ground, sir.

"O but if you come to my father's house
You may lay in my bed, sir;
You can have my maidenhead
All on a bed of down, sir."

But when we got to her father's house,
It was walled in all around, sir.
And she ran in and shut the gate,
Shut the young man out, sir.

"O when you met with me at first
You did not meet a fool, sir;
Take your Bible under your arm,
Go a little more to school, sir.

"And if you meet a pretty girl
A little below the town, sir;
You must not mind her squalling
Or the rumpling of your gown, sir.

"There is a cock in my father's garden
Will not tread the hen, sir;
And I do think in my very heart
That you are one of them, sir.

"There is a flower in my father's garden
Called a marigold, sir,
And if you will not when you may
You shall not when you would, sir."