On Garry Gillard's Watersons site (with notes): Holmfirth Anthem
Wolfgang
Holmfirth Anthem Sung by The Watersons on their 1966 LP The Watersons and re-released on their 1994 CD Early Days.
Abroad for pleasure as I was a-walking
On one summer summer's evening clear
There I beheld a most beautiful damsel
Lamenting for her shepherd swainThe fairest evening that e'er I beheld thee
Evermore with the lad I adore
Wilt thou go fight the French and the Spaniards
Wilt thou leave me thus my dear?No more to yon green banks will I take thee
With pleasure for to rest meself and view the lambs
But I will take you to yon green garden
Where the pretty pretty flowers grow
Source-note: Although the liner notes to The Watersons (1966 Topic 12T125) do not indicate the Watersons' source for this song, the following is as likely a source as any: A Fine Hunting Day: Songs of the Holme Valley Beagles (Leader LEE 4056), recorded by David Bland on March 24, 1973, released 1975. It just doesn't get more authentic than this recording: the "The Holmfirth Anthem" sung by the citizens of Holmfirth itself. This beautiful rendition is led by a local sheep farmer, Arthur Howard, at the Village Hall in Upperthong (in the Holme Valley). If one needs any confirmation that the singers are a touch lubricated (this was the last song of the evening), one need only listen for the crash of a trestle table at the end of the song. The Watersons may well have learned this song from the Holmfirth singers themselves and not from the recording, but the harmonies and phrasing of the original seem to indicate a strong link. (Note by Bob Hudson.)
New: 14 March 1998 | Now: 30 May 2001 | Transcribed by Garry Gillard, with thanks to Steve Willis for corrections, and to Bob Hudson for the note.