I was reminded of this last weekend at Bedworth Festival.

Most of the problems with interpretation of the song stem from not understanding it's function in the novel.

Arabella Stuart was a real person, 4th in line to the throne when Elizabeth died. She secretly married William Seymour, who was 6th in line. The King thought this might be the star of a power play for the throne (though apparently Arabella had no desire for the throne) and he imprisoned them, William in the Tower of London, Arabella at a house in Lambeth.

In the novel a friend of William's sails by Arabella's house in Lambeth and throws a letter from William onto the terrace, remarking loudly to his boatman that he'll probably be back that way in an hour. On returning Arabella's companion throws Arabella's reply onto the boat. Thus William and Arabella correspond.

When the song appears in the novel, there are visitors at the house and it is not safe. Arabella's companion sing's the song as a warning to William's friend that it is not safe to throw his letter there. The song is in fact a 'Go From My Window' for political prisoners!

All the verses make sense once this context is known. For example, the last posts above. "Bear where..." = Carry my words of love to William, showing the strengh of her unchanging affection for him.

The "barque verse" = If she had the chance ("where my heart could be") she would fly to her lover as fast as a ship that could outrun the tide.

The last line "Thou must not come tonight" in the original is the essence of the song. The change to "There's dawn beyond the night" makes the song seem like a generic song for parted lovers, but obscures the meaning of a lot of it,

When Gale Huntington first published the words in '64 you would have had to know the novel to give any information on the song; sources outside the canon of "folk songs" or "popular song" would be unlikely to be known. Only thanks to the digitization efforts of google and archive.org is it possible to locate some of these other sources.


Mick