The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #99080 Message #1969995
Posted By: Malcolm Douglas
16-Feb-07 - 02:16 PM
Thread Name: info on song: The Flower of Benbrada
Subject: RE: Looking for the title of this song?
As Noreen says, Sandy Denny's arrangement of 'Blackwaterside' isn't relevant.
The lines quoted are very close indeed to 'The Flower of Benbrada' (Sam Henry's Songs of the People, 1990, 239-240), but I don't find any reference to a recording of the song; perhaps it appeared under a different name, or the song is another one altogether. The opening line is found in many songs, of course. Here is the first verse from The Sam Henry collection:
One evening fair to take the air
By Curraghlane I chanced to stray
I spied a maid, her beauty swayed
The fairest gem that blooms in May.
Her lovely form did nature charm
As o'er the lawn she roamed at will.
Perception smiled, she looked so mild
That matchless flower of Benbrada Hill.