The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #18026   Message #177282
Posted By: Malcolm Douglas
12-Feb-00 - 05:36 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Solvay, Solvay / Sovay
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Solvay, Solvay
Roberto:

That's a good piece of transcription, though I'd go for "clothes" and "dear" instead of "cloak" and "gear" in the Carthy version.  Both alternatives turn up in other versions of the song, so it's not terribly important.  The line in A.L. Lloyd's version that you couldn't make out is

If'n you do not
If'n you do not, I'll shoot you dead.


That's a dialectal form; you may safely ignore the "'n"! The final two lines should be:

I'd have pulled the trigger,
I'd have pulled the trigger and shot you dead!


Incidentally, Martin Carthy has recorded the song three times, latterly with this final verse:

"I did intend and it was to know
If that you were my truelove or no;
But if you'd given me that ring," she said
"I'd have pulled the trigger:
I'd have pulled the trigger and shot you dead."

Malcolm