The following is taken from the entry for I'll Never Love Thee more in Claude M. Simpson's The British Broadside Ballad And it's Music (I've omitted some text, added my own paragraph breaks and inserted a few comments on mine in <...>:
The tune derives it's name from the refrain of a song beginning "My dear and only love, take heed". Five stanzas of the text are found in Wit and Drollery, 1656, closely resembling the version in BM MS Harl. 2127 fols 8, 5v (late 17th c). John Gamble's MS Commonplace Book, 1659 No.274 contains a five-stanza text and the air with bass. <See below - MCP>. The tune, called "Never love thee more" is in The Dancing Master, beginning with the 7th ed, 1686 <Footnote says it was in the 6th ed 1679, Supplement , pp 22-23, but page 22 with the tune is missing in the only known MS copy (BM). The dance directions on p23 agree with those in the 7th ed - MCP>
The words appear in Pills, 1719-1720, VI, 122 with a tune which appears to be a tenor part rather than a melodic line. <See below - MCP> The music printed for "William and Margaret. An old Scotch Ballad with the original Scotch tune" in Thompson's Orpheus Caledonicus, 1725, No.49, is actually a version of "I'll never love thee more".
...<Omitted many references to songs printed with the tune or directing it to be used>...
About 1643 James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, wrote a five-stanza poem to his mistress<See Stokoe's notes below where he thinks the poem is political - MCP>, beginning "My dear and only love, I pray", and incorporating the familiar refrain "I'll never love thee more". As we have already seen, the original ballad was well known some years before Montrose penned his lines. The poem is found in Watson's Choice Collection of ... Scots Poems, Part III, 1711 (1869) p107, in Herd's Scottish Songs, 1776, I, 236, in Poems of James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, ed J.L.Weir, 1938, p19 and on 18th C. broadsides; in every case Montrose's poem is followed by a second part in 13 stanzas, beginning "My dear and only love, take heed", which is in reality the original broadside. ... The popularity of the song in Scotland is further suggested by the presence of the original tune, called "Montroses Lynes", in Dr. John Leyden's MS Lyra Viol Book, No. 59 (after 1690), and in the Blaikie Lyra Viol MS, No 52, about 1745.
Derwentwater's Farewell appears in Bruce & Stokoe's Northumbrian Minstrelsy, 1882 and in Stokoe's Songs of Northern England, ^^^ 1893 with the same tune (one minor difference: the dotted quaver/semiquaver over fa-ther's in the Minstrelsy is replaced by two quavers in Songs) but the text (6 stanzas each) are arranged differently (with some slight change of material). The DT text is the version from the Minstrelsy and is correct (one minor punctuation difference and counsell'dst with one l not 2 as in my copy) but I give both texts here to make comparison easier.
Northumbrian Minstrelsy DERWENTWATER'S FAREWELL
Farewell to pleasant Dilston Hall, My father's ancient seat, A stranger now must call thee his, Which gars my heart to greet. Farewell each friendly, well-known face, My heart has held so dear, My tenants now must leave their lands Or hold their lives in fear.
No more along the banks of Tyne I'll rove in autumn gray, No more I'll hear at early dawn The lav'rocks wake the day, Then fare thee well, brave Witherington, And Forster, ever true, Dear Shaftesbury and Errington Receive my last adieu.
And fare thee well, George Collingwood, Since fate has put us down, If thou and I have lost our lives Our King has lost his crown. Farewell, farewell, my lady dear, Ill, ill, thou counsell'dst me; I never more may see the babe That smiles upon thy knee.
And fare thee well, my bonny gray steed, That carried me aye so free; I wish I had been asleep in my bed Last time I mounted thee. The warning bell now bids me cease, My trouble's nearly o'er, Yon sun that rises from the sea Shall rise on me no more.
Albeit that, here in London town It is my fate to die, Oh! carry me to Northumberland, In my father's grave to lie. There chant my solemn requiem In Hexham's holy towers; And let six maids from fair Tynedale Scatter my grave with flowers.
And when the head that wears the crown Shall be laid low like mine, Some honest hearts may then lament For Radcliffe's fallen line. Farewell to pleasant Dilston Hall, My father's ancient seat, A stranger now must call thee his, Which gars my heart to greet.
Notes James, Earl of Derwentwater, having unhappily engaged in the rebellion of 1715, was beheaded on Tower Hill on the 24th February, 1716. His youth, his amiability, his rank, his bravery, drew forth the sympathy of the whole nation, but especially of the inhabitants of Northumberland.
The song first appeared in Hogg's "Jacobite Relics of Scotland", having been communicated to the editor by Mr.Surtees, of Mainsforth. Mr.Surtees, in writing to the Ettrick Shepherd says: "I send you all I can recover of it, just as I had it". The elegance of the composition, and it's resemblance to some of his other poems, renders it more than probable that Mr.Surtees was himself the author.
The tune to which this ballad is set is of considerable antiquity. It originally appears in the "Commonplace Book" of John Gamble (a musical composer), dated 1659, under the title of "My dear and only love take heed". Numerous songs more less popular have been written to it from that date to later times; amongst others being the song written by the celebrated James Graham, Marquess of Montrose, commencing -
"My dear and only love I pray This noble world of thee"
the burden of each verse being -
"I'll never love thee more"
This song made the tune very popular in Scotland, where it often appears in collections under the title of "Montrose Lynes".
Oswald, in his "Collection of Scottish Airs", 1781, inserts this melody, but gives it as the tune to which the ballad of "Chevy Chase" is sung; and in Sir Walter Scott's "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border", a mutilated fragment of the tune is given as the melody of the ballads "Jock o' the Syde", "Dick o' the Cow" &c. These adaptations are both erroneous, as the ballads named have each their own particular melodies, which are given in this volume.
Songs Of Northern England:
DERWENTWATER'S FAREWELL
Farewell to pleasant Dilston Hall, My father's ancient seat; A stranger now must call thee his, Which gars my heart to greet. Farewell each friendly, well-known face, My heart has held so dear; My tenants now must leave their lands, Or hold their lives in fear.
No more along the banks of Tyne I'll rove in autumn gray, No more I'll hear at early dawn The lav'rocks wake the day. And who shall deck the hawthorn bower, Where my fond childhood strayed? And who, when Spring shall bid it flower, Shall sit beneath the shade.
And fare thee well, George Collingwood, Since fate has put us down, If thou and I have lost our lives, Our King has lost his crown. But when the head that wears the crown Shall be laid low like mine, Some honest hearts may then lament For Radcliffe's fallen line.
Farewell, farewell, my lady dear, Ill, ill, thou counsell'dst me; I never more may see the babe That smiles upon thy knee. Then fare thee well, brave Widdrington, And Forster ever true; Dear Shaftesbury and Errington Receive my last adieu.
And fare thee well, my bonny gray steed That carried me aye so free, I wish I had been asleep in my bed Last time I mounted thee. The warning bell now bids me cease, My trouble's nearly o'er; Yon sun that rises from the sea Shall rise on me no more.
Albeit that, here in London town It is my fate to die; Oh! carry me to Northumberland, In my father's grave to lie. There chant my solemn requiem, In Hexham's holy towers; And let six maids from fair Tynedale Scatter my grave with flowers.
Notes: In the dearth of Northumberland Jacobite songs the ballad of "Derwentwater's Farewell" is usually accepted as an interesting reminiscence of the Jacobite rising of 1715. There is more than a suspicion that it was the offspring of the facile pen of the late Robert Surtees of Mainsforth, although he represented it to his friend and correspondent, Sir Walter Scott, as a poem of the period to which it refers; and it was inserted, on Scott's recommendation, in James Hogg's Jacobite Relics of Scotland in 1819.
The tune is much older than the ballad, or even the historical event it celebrates, as it was popular in England in the early part of the seventeenth century, under the name of "I'll never love thee more", from the refrain or recurring final line of the stanzas of the song to which it was sung.
The celebrated James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, wrote a paraphrase of the English song, addressed to the State (for which he had made such great exertions and sacrifices) instead of a flesh and blood mistress, which often appeared in old Scottish collections under the title of Montrose's Lynes, melody as well as words being claimed for that nationality. <plus ca change - MCP>
It would be interesting to know how the changes came about between the two versions - is the 2nd an alternative or did Stokoe tidy it up for Songs (and write the few extra lines in the second stanza). I prefer the order from songs and the version I sing is derived from that (with a few changes of my own!).
Since EmmaB has mentioned Louis Killen's version, and since that was the first version I learned, I'll give his 3 verse distillation of the song here too:
DERWENTWATER'S FAREWELL
Fareweel to pleasant Dilston Hall, My father's ancient seat, A stranger now must call thee his, Which gars my heart to greet. Fareweel each friendly, well-known face, My heart has held so dear, My tenants now must leave their lands Or hold their lives in fear.
And fare thee weel, my bonny gray steed, That carried me aye so free; I wisht I'd been sleeping in my bed Last time I mounted thee. Fareweel, fareweel, my lady dear, Ill, ill, thou counselled me; I never more may see the babe That smiles upon your knee.
The warning bell now bids me cease, My trouble's nearly o'er, Yon sun that rises from the sea Shall rise on me no more. Albeit that, here in London town, It is my fate to die, Oh! carry me to Northumberland, In my father's grave to lie.
Source: Louis Killen, LP Along The Coaly Tyne
Here are the tunes:
X:1 T:I'll Never Love Thee More B:Claude M. Simpson: The British Broadside Ballad And Its Music S:John Gamble's Commonplace Book, 1659, No. 274 M:6/4 L:1/4 K:G D|D2 D G2 A|B2 B D2 D|B2 B A2 G|E3-E2 D| D2 D G2 A|B2 B D2 D|B2 B A2 G|d3-d2 d| B2 B A2 G|c2 d He2 d|d2 B A2 G|E3-E2 D| D2 D G2 A|Bcd e2 d|d B2 A2 G|G3-G2|]
X:2 T:A Song ("My Dear and only Love take heed") B:T.D'Urfey: Wit And Mirth or Pills To Purge Melancholy, Vol VI, p122 M:6/4 L:1/4 K:G % transposed from Bb N: Word assignment to the tune is mine - they are separate in the book - N: and I've adjusted the line-breaks in thc tune to match N: The original was in Bb and I've transposed down to G for comparison with others B|B2 B B A2|G D2 A2 A|D2 B c2 B|G2 w:My Dear and on-ly love take heed How thou thy-self ex-pose; B B2 B|B A2 D2 E|F2 d d2 d|d2 G A2 w:And let not long-ing Love-rs feed, Up-on such looks as those. I'll Mar-ble Wall thee A|B2 E F2 G|A2 G G2 (G/A/)|B2 D D2 B|G2 w:I'll Mar-ble Wall thee round a-bout, And_ Build with-out a Door; N:lfst gfr is fs eivcn in thc gook flthoueh Burftion is inAorrcAt G G2 G|B A2 (d c) (B/A/)|G2 G F2 E|F2 c B3-B2|| w:But if my Love doth once_ break_ out, I'll nev-er Love thee more._
X:3 T:Derwentwater's Farewell B:Bruce & Stokoe: Northumbrian Minstrelsy, 1882 M:3/4 L:1/4 K:G D|D3/4E/4 G G|A3/4B/4 D> w:Fare-ell to pleas-nt Dil-ton Hall, B|c3/4B/4 A> G|E2 w:My fa-her's an-cient seat, G|D3/4E/4 G G|A3/4B/4 D> w:A stran-ger now must call thee his, B|c3/4B/4 c d|e2 w:Which gars my heart to greet. e|d3/4B/4 A G|c3/4d/4 e> w:Fare-well each friend-ly, well-known face, e|d3/4B/4 A> G|E2 w:My heart has held so dear, G|D3/4E/4 G G|A3/4B/4 Hc> w:My ten-ants now must leave their lands e|d/B/ A> G|G2|| w:Or hold their lives in fear.
I've only got an early version of The Dancing Master without I'll Never Love Thee More. Perhaps mudcatter matkeen who recently bought the Jeremy Barlow edition of Playford could tell us if the version there differs from the version above and maybe post the tune.
I noticed, by the way, that in the DT that three tunes are given with Derwentwater's Farewell, but the second and third don't belong with it. They are for the song that appears in the Minstrelsy as Derwentwater and variously as Lord Derwentwater/Lord Dunwaters, starting "Oh Derwentwater's a bonny Lord", or similar.