Lyr Add: I Wish the Wars Were All Over

Subject: I wish all the wars were over
From: GUEST,heathermabel
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 01:50 PM

Can anyone help me with the lyrics to the Tim Erikson song "I wish all the wars were over"? Its a lovely ,moving song and I would like to learn it if I can just find the words.
thanks
Heathermabel

Subject: ADD: I WISH THE WARS WERE ALL OVER (Tim Eriksen)
From: bobad
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 01:55 PM

^^I WISH THE WARS WERE ALL OVER
(Tim Eriksen)

Down by deep water where sweet linden stand
I saw pretty Polly wringing her hands
The song that she sung made the whole grove to ring
My Billy has left me to fight for a king
And I wish the wars were all over

I stood in amaze to hear what she said
I'll follow my Billy whether living or dead
The notes that she sung were the nightingale's notes
How the lark and the linnet they warble their throats
And I wish the wars were all over

I said my dear Polly if you'll stay with me
I'll make you as happy as happy can be
No then she said that never can be
I'll never be happy til my Billy I see
And...

Now from my parents I'll haste and away
I'll dress myself out in a young man's array
And every company that I pass by
I'll ask for my Billy or where he does lie
And...

(from Tim Eriksen's Website, http://www.timeriksen.net)

Subject: RE: I wish all the wars were over
From: open mike
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 02:12 PM

you can see and hear Tim Eriksen sing this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9YXKdxYxPM
capo on the 7th fret...can anyone decipher
the key or the chords? the low note is open

Tim Eriksen sings an original song based on
a text from the prison notebook of American
Revolution privateer Timothy Connor- "I Wish
The Wars Were All Over"- on Mt. Pollux,
Amherst, MA. Originally appeared on Tim's
eponymous solo CD on Applessed Recordings, 2001.

see also http://www.myspace.com/timeriksenmusic

Subject: Lyr Req: I wish that the wars were all over
From: GUEST,Danielle Day
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 11:10 PM

That's it. Great version by Liza Carthy on YouTube. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I wish that the wars were all over
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 12:18 AM

Tim Eriksen assembled this song. Listen to his rendition here.

He says (in part, in the cd notes): "I made the tune, and made the words out of scraps, the biggest of which is, again, from Connor. I spent more time trying to write about it than I did recording the whole CD."

"Connor" is Timothy Connor, whom he says was an American imprisoned in Plymouth, England, during the American Revolution, who wrote down a manuscript of favorite popular songs.

He doesn't provide the text, though. You'll have to transcribe that for yourself...

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I wish that the wars were all over
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 03:06 AM

I'd expect to find lyrics for Eliza Carthy recordings here, but it's not there (yet).

I can't understand the YouTube Recording well enough to do a transcription.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I wish that the wars were all over
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 09:05 AM

Joe,

I found the lyrics online after a bit of searching, BUT thanks for the link to the great English Folk Music Index site.

DD

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I wish that the wars were all over
From: GUEST,James H
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 10:18 AM

:) oh dear I misread this as 'I wish that the warts were all over'

BG

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I wish that the wars were all over
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 10:32 AM

Danielle Day... please share your link!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I wish that the wars were all over
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 01:53 PM

Hi, DD-
Yes, please post the lyrics here, and tell us where you found them. I tried Googling every which way, and had no luck.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I wish that the wars were all over
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 02:06 PM

Strangely enough, they're on Tim Eriksen's site:

http://www.timeriksen.net/solocd.html#iwishthewars

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I wish that the wars were all over
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 02:17 PM

oops.

Subject: ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 02:27 PM

Well, with Diane's information, I was able to find the lyrics already posted here at Mudcat, so I combined threads. Thanks, Diane. I guess it was "I wish that," that threw us off.

Click here for a YouTube recording of Tim Eriksen singing this song.
The version on the Eliza Carthy recording is quite different. I don't even know if I'd say it is the Tim Eriksen song, or if it's a different song derived from the same 200-year-old text. I still can't figure out enough of it to transcribe it. Can somebody post Eliza's song?
-Joe-

Subject: Tim Eriksen
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 03:19 PM

Hey, this Tim Eriksen guy is good! You can find a number of YouTube videos of his songs here (click). There's also a generous selection of sample recordings at his website (click). Tim Eriksen's style reminds me of Ken Schatz, very intelligent interpretations of songs with a bit of a hard edge to the singing style. I wasn't familiar with Tim, but I see he was a member of Cordelia's Dad, a group I like quite a bit. I came across one comment that called Cordelia's Dad "the Steeleye Span of Appalachian music."

-Joe-

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over (Erikse
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 03:35 PM

Tin Eriksen was also part of Martyn Wyndham Read's Songlinks 2 project, a comparison of songs of the English tradition and their American variants:

http://www.fellside.com/shop/Details.asp?ProductID=549

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over (Eriksen)
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 05:52 PM

I first heard Tim Eriksen when he came to the Theatre Bar singaround during Sidmouth week, and asked if we'd mind him singing an American song. He was dressed in black leather and we were expecting something contemporary. but he blew us away completely with an Appalachian version of a big Child ballad... can't remember at the moment which one it was....

Kitty

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over (Eriksen)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 04:31 AM

Still hoping for a transcription of the Eliza Carthy version....

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over (Eriksen)
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 06:16 AM

Here's my first look at Eliza's version. There are a few bits that aren't clear; I'll try and have a better listen with technological aid later.

I've also added another version (actually a composite of a version collected by Baring-Gould, filled out with two other verses from a different source). I'll put the tune for this up later.

Mick

---

^^^
I WISH THAT THE WARS WERE ALL OVER

<Instrumental intro>

In the meadow one morning when pearly with dew
A fair pretty maiden she plucked violets blue,
And I heard a clear voice making all the woods ring -
My love he's in Flanders to fight for the king.
How I wish that the wars were all over
I wish that the wars were all done.

I'll pluck the red robin so jaunty and gay.
Well I had my robin but he flew far away.
His little jacket was red and his cheeks as the rose
How he sings of his girl as to battle he goes.
How I wish that the wars were all over
I wish that the wars were all done.

<Instrumental break>

Tender as a-milk?, bluebells may welcome the Spring
O when will the church bells o'er this fiddle? ring in
When will our soldiers return, when will we rejoice
And when will I wed to the one who I choice.
How I wish that the wars were all over
I wish that the wars were all done.


Source: Eliza Carthy - live at Buxton Opera House 2007

---

Here's the other set.


I WISH THAT THE WARS WERE ALL OVER

It was down in the meadows where violets are blue.
I saw pretty Polly a-milking her cow.
And the song that she sang made all the grove to ring.
O Billy's gone from me to serve George the king.
And I wish that the wars were all over,
Crying O that the wars were all over.

I stepped up to her and I made this reply.
I said Pretty Polly what makes you to cry?
My Billy is gone from me that I love so dear
And the 'mericans will kill him so great is my fear.
And I wish that the wars were all over,
Crying O that the wars were all over.

I said pretty Polly can you fancy me?
I'll make you as happy as happy can be.
O no pretty sir I can never love you
To my Billy alone I am constant and true.
And I wish that the wars were all over,
Crying O that the wars were all over.

I now for my parents no longer can stay.
To seek for my Billy I'll haste and away.
To see if my Billy will make me his wife
So free for his sake I will venture my life.
And I wish that the wars were all over,
Crying O that the wars were all over.

O now to some tailor I'll haste and away
To rig myself out in some young man's array.
And like a bold fellow so neat and so trim
So free for his sake I will go serve the King.
And I wish that the wars were all over,
Crying O that the wars were all over.


Source: Sam Richards and Trish Stubbs: The English Folksinger


The notes say: "Sung by Sam Fone, Mary Tavy, Devon. Collected by Sabine Baring-Gould, 1893. Last two verses from A Sailor's Songbag, Ed. George C. Carey, University of Massachusetts Press, 1976.

This song is something of a rarity. Sam Fone, a Dartmoor miner, gave our first three verses to Baring-Gould, and we have completed the text from another source. It is not untypical of a certain class of song from the time of the American Wars of Independence. Many English people had little sympathy with the wars - the Americans' ambitions were shared by the English radicals and the Americans were regarded as their own blood. Polly, therefore, sings an eloquent protest against the removal of thousands of young men to fight in wars many cared little about"

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over (Eriksen)
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 08:16 AM

Here's the tune for the Sam Fone version (at least I assume it was his tune). According to my copy of the Roud index the Carey version was collected ca 1778. Joyce Old Irish Folk Music and Songs has a version from Limerick. There are ms versions in the Madden collection and in the John Bell ms and there is a version printed in Roy Palmer's Rambling Soldier, which has the pearly bit in the 1st line and may be the source of Liza's version. (I thought I had a copy of this, but can't find it, so I may be wrong. If anyone has a copy, they could check it against my transcription above). However the Roud index gives the 1st line of Sam Fone's version from Baring-Gould as In the meadow one morning when pearly with dew, not the same as printed in Richards and Stubbs, so they may not have printed the 1st 3 verses exactly as collected!

Mick

---

X: 1
T:I Wish That The Wars Were All Over
M:3/4
L:1/4
S:Richards & Stubbs: The English Folksinger: from Sam Fone, Mary Tavy, Devon; collected Baring-Gould 1893
K:C
C/C/|C C C|c > B A|G F G| E2
w:It was down in the mea-dows where vio-lets are blue.
G|F E F|(G/E/) C c|G E D|C2
w:I saw pret-ty Pol_ly a-milk-ing her cow.
G/G/|A A A|E2 G|A3/4A/4 A A|E2
w:And the song that she sang made all the grove to ring.
(E/G/)|G E G|F E D|C C (C/E/)|Hc2
w:O_ Bil-ly's gone from me to serve George the_ king.
B/A/|G (E/G/) (G/E/)|C E G|F E
w:And I wish that_ the_ wars were all o-ver,
G/F/|E2 (3(C/E/)G/|A2 F/D/|B, C||
w:Cry-ing O that_ the wars were all o-ver.

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over (Eriksen)
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 08:33 AM

I've just had another listen to Liza's version and I think the 2nd line of the last verse may be:

  O when will the church bells of his fate'll ring in


Perhaps when Eliza's not so busy with other things as she is now, she'll pop in and correct it.


On the subject of Tim Erikson, I've seen him here in the UK a few times when he's been over, both with Cordelia's Dad and alone, and he's a formidable singer. I prefer the acoustic stuff to the electrified Cordelia's Dad, but that's just me.

Mick

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over (Eriksen)
From: BB
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 09:27 AM

The version that Mick has put up as the one the Eliza sings is, I believe, the one that Helen Hockenhull (then Watson) sang, I think with Muckram Wakes. We haven't copied that particular LP onto CD yet, and can't get at it at the moment, so can't be sure about which one - but in my head I can certainly hear Helen singing it.

Barbara

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over (Eriksen)
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 10:46 AM

Here's the set from Joyce "Old Irish Fok Music & Songs". I'll put up the tune and his notes later (time for dog walking!).

Mick

---

'TWAS DOWN BY THE MEADOWS

'Twas down by the meadows where the violets are blue,
I saw my pretty Polly and she milking her cow:
And the song that she sung made the valleys to ring,
Saying, "My Jemmy's gone from me to serve George our king"
  And she sung that the wars were all o'er
  Crying , "Oh, that the wars were all o'er!"

I said, "My pretty Polly, if you'll fancy me,
I'll make you as happy, as happy can be."
"Oh no, no, sir" she said, "That never can be.
For I ne'er will be happy till my Jemmy I see."
  And she sung that the wars were all o'er
  Crying , "Oh, that the wars were all o'er!"

"'Tis straight to some dealer I'll quickly away,
And I'll dress myself out in a young man's array:
And like a bold sailor so neat and so trim,
I'll venture my life for George our great king."
  And she sung that the wars were all o'er
  Crying , "Oh, that the wars were all o'er!"


Source: P.W.Joyce - Old Irish Folk Music & Songs

Subject: Minor correction to previous + extra
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 12:07 PM

Here's the set from Joyce "Old Irish Fok Music & Songs".

His notes say: "This is a song on the old and well-worn theme of a young man returning disguised to his lover, and after an interview in which he proves her faithfulness, reveals himself and all is happy. I know nothing about the song farther than this - that I learned it in my childhood from hearing it sung by members of my family. There were, of course, more verses; but those I give here are all that I can remember.
As to the air:- the first part is a version of the first part of "Limerick's Lamentation" to which Moore has written his song "When cold in the earth"; but the second part strays so widely from the corresponding part of Moore's air as to form, in fact, a different melody."

Mick

---

'TWAS DOWN BY THE MEADOWS

'Twas down in yon meadows where the violets are blue,
I saw my pretty Polly and she milking her cow:
And the song that she sung made the valleys to ring,
Saying, "My Jemmy's gone from me to serve George our king"
  And she sung that the wars were all o'er
  Crying , "Oh, that the wars were all o'er!"

I said, "My pretty Polly, if you'll fancy me,
I'll make you as happy, as happy can be."
"Oh no, no, sir" she said, "That never can be.
For I ne'er will be happy till my Jemmy I see."
  And she sung that the wars were all o'er
  Crying , "Oh, that the wars were all o'er!"

"'Tis straight to some dealer I'll quickly away,
And I'll dress myself out in a young man's array:
And like a bold sailor so neat and so trim,
I'll venture my life for George our great king."
  And she sung that the wars were all o'er
  Crying , "Oh, that the wars were all o'er!"


Source: P.W.Joyce - Old Irish Folk Music & Songs, 1909

---

and the melody:

X: 2
T:'Twas Down By The Meadows
M:3/4
L:1/4
S: PW Joyce: Old Irish Folk Music And Songs, 1909
K:D
(D/E/)|F F (F/G/)|F E F/A/|B E E/F/|E2
w:'Twas_ down in yon_ mead-ows where the vio-lets are_ blue,
(D/E/)|F (G/F/) E/D/|B, A, D/F/|E D D|D2
w:I_ saw my_ pret-ty Pol-ly and she milk-ing her cow:
F/A/|B B/A/ d/B/|A2 D/E/|F (F/E/) (D/F/)|E2
w:And the song that_ she_ sung made the val-leys_ to_ ring,
A/G/|F D G|(F/E/) F (3A/B/c/|d d e|d2
w:Saying, "My Jem-my's gone from_ me to__ serve George our king"
d/B/|A2 F/E/|D> E (F/D/)|E2
w:And she sung that the wars were all_ o'er
F/G/|A2 F/D/|B> E (3E/D/C/|D2||
w:Cry-ing, "Oh, that the wars were all__ o'er!"

Subject: RE: ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over(Eriksen, et al)
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 01:09 PM

Good stuff here! I was guilty of only giving Eliza a quick listen and thus assuming she was doing Tim's song in a strange way... if only Malcolm Douglas were here, he would have straightened me out right away... :-(

Meanwhile, I see that Joe has done some clever thread combining, for that and the rest of y'all's research... thanks!!

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over(Eriksen, et
From: GUEST,eliza c
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 08:14 PM

hiya
it's mostly from the Rambling Soldier (Palmer), and the last verse goes

Ten thousand of bluebells now welcome the spring
Oh when will the church bells of this victory ring
When do our soldiers return, when do we rejoice
And when do I wed to the love of my choice

it'll be on the next Waterson:Carthy album
Tim's version is gorgeous, one of the best,eh...
xe

Subject: RE: ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over(Eriksen, et al)
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 05:28 AM

Liza - thanks for that. Hope things are going well for you.

Mick

Subject: RE: ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over(Eriksen, et
From: GUEST,eliza c
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 10:35 AM

hiya Mick, no probs. I'm alright thanks, and you.
x e

Subject: RE: ADD: I Wish the Wars Were All Over(Eriksen, et al)
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 10:46 AM

I'm fine thanks. I hope you're taking full advantage of your rest, enforced as it may be! Best wishes.

Mick

Subject: Lyr Add: I WOULD THE WARS WERE OVER
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 06:46 AM

From Wedlock; or, Yesterday and To-Day, by the author of 'The maid's husband' [Henrietta Camilla Jenkin? or Cecilia Gidoin Jenkins nee Knowles?] (London: Richard Bentley, 1841)—which appears to be a memoir, or perhaps fiction.

The burden of the English girl's song, at this time, was—

"I wish that the wars were all over;"

for notwithstanding the coast was trimmed well with the military, and every town had its regiment, yet they were constantly pouring out of the country to fill up the spaces left them....


From The Land of Lost Content: Folksongs and settings of poems, edited by Michael Raven (Market Drayton: Michael Raven, 1999)

I WOULD THE WARS WERE OVER
Words: traditional; music: Michael Raven, incorporating a traditional fragment

In the meadow one morning when pearly with dew
A fair pretty maiden plucked violets blue.
I heard her clear voice making all the woods ring:
"Oh, my love is in Flanders to fight for the king,
And I would that the wars were all over,
Oh, I would that the wars were all done.

"I'll pluck the red robin so jaunty and gay;
Yet I have my Robin, but he's far away.
His jacket is red and cheeks as the rose;
He sings of his Nell as to battle he goes,
And I would that the wars were all over,
Oh, I would that the wars were all done.

"Ten thousand of bluebells now welcome the spring;
Oh, when will the church bells for victory ring?
And the soldiers return and all England rejoice?
Oh, then I'll be wed to the lad of my choice.
And I would that the wars were all over,
Oh, I would that the wars were all done."

Subject: Lyr Add: OH, THAT THE WARS WERE ALL OVER (McCall)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 01:10 PM

From Songs of Erinn by Patrick Joseph McCall (London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., Ltd. 1899):


OH, THAT THE WARS WERE ALL OVER.
A BALLAD OF 'NINETY-EIGHT.
P. J. McCall

LIKE a wraith by the river below the bleach green
Sat the saddest of women that ever was seen,
With a heart song as sore as the skylark's despair
When over the nest hangs a hawk in the air!
    As she wished—"That the wars were all over!"
    Wishing—"Oh, that the wars were all over!"

"'Tis seven lone Sundays," she said, "since he came
O'er the stones of the river—oh, was I to blame,
When he said to me, 'Nan, I'll go and fight with the boys!'
That I kissed him and blessed him, tho' mute was my voice?"
    Then she prayed—"That the wars were all over!"
    Praying—"Oh, that the wars were all over!"

"Last week, the Yeos called to the smith by the piers,
And they kindled the thatch 'round his family's ears;
And Larry, poor gorsoon!—not fifteen years old
They whipped thro' the street—but no secrets he told."
    And she sighed—"That the wars were all over!"
    Sighing—"Oh, that the wars were all over!"

"God cross them, the ruffians!—we hid in the wheat,
And their bullets flew after the tracks of our feet:
Till they shot little Julia wrapped up in my shawl!—
O Shemus! O Shemus! where are you at all?"
    Then she sobbed—"That the wars were all over!"
    Sobbing—"Oh, that the wars were all over!"

"Sure you can't half believe them!—they say we are beat:
That our poor lads are making a bloody retreat!
Oh, it can't be—it can't be! if, Shemus, like you,
The neighbouring boys were a quarter as true!"
    Still she cried—"That the wars were all over!"
    Crying—"Oh, that the wars were all over!"

"I'll put on my beaver and black corded gown;
And I'll start off to Tullow and ransack the town—
'Twill be hard if I don't find the truth o' their tale.
Sure the bell-man will tell me at once, I'll go bail!"
    Then she wished—"That the wars were all over!"
    Wishing—"Oh, that the wars were all over!"

She passed in the night by the Bridge of Knocklo;
And there in the ledge nook stood smoking, a Yeo:
He primed his horse-pistol and fired at the mark,
And shot the poor wife thro' the heart, in the dark!
    And she sighed—"That the wars were all over!"
    But she died ere the wars were all over.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Wish the Wars Were All Over
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Mar 17 - 11:29 AM

Thank you! Does anyone have the chords? I'm a beginner guitarist and can't follow Tim's fingerings! I think it starts Em capo 2... ideas? Any help?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Wish the Wars Were All Over
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Mar 17 - 11:48 AM

Anyone else think, The wars ARE all over, all over the world, and I wish they weren't? (Sorry.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Wish the Wars Were All Over
From: JHW
Date: 21 Mar 17 - 07:09 AM

A regular annual at bluebell time. I've always sung 'I would that the wars were all done' exactly as Jim Dixon's post above, ie rather than 'wish' but can't remember where I got it from.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Wish the Wars Were All Over
From: Cattia
Date: 25 Sep 20 - 06:34 PM

I Wish That the Wars Were All Over / I Would That the Wars Were All Done is a traditional ballad of at least eighteenth-century origin. There are basically two versions of the ballad, one presumably dating back to the American War of Independence (1775-1783) and the second probably dating back to the Flanders Campaign (1793-1795).
Both versions were collected by the Rev Sabine Baring-Gould at the end of the 19th century.

I Wish That the Wars Were All Over: It was down in the meadows where violets are blue
two sources
Timothy Connor in “A Sailor’s Songbag: An American Rebel in an English Prison, 1777-79”
Samuel Fone of Dartmoor, Devon
FOLK REVIVAL: Sam Richards ( Invitation to North America 1977-Trish Stubbs voice)
Tim Eriksen reworks (new text and new melody) the eighteenth-century version
covered by Joan Baez in "Whistle Down The Wind" 2018 and Appalachian Road Show in Tribulation 2020

I Wish That the Wars Were All Over: In the meadow one morning when pearly with dew

Text and score are printed in the Garland of Country Song (1895 pgg 18-19) (cf) by Rev Sabine Baring-Gould for which no oral source is provided.
FOLK REVIVAL: Roy Harris in The Rambling Soldier 1995
Eliza Carthy first with "The Ratcatchers" and with The Wayward Band 2017
see my post in Terre Celtiche Blog https://terreceltiche.altervista.org/i-wish-that-the-wars-were-all-over-i-would-that-the-wars-were-all-done/

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Wish the Wars Were All Over
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 28 Sep 20 - 10:35 AM

If I remember correctly the 'A Sailor's Songbag' text is an answer to the main song under discussion. The song is before 1765 and can be found in several songsters of the late 18th century if you have access to ECCO (Eighteenth Century Collection Online). Robertson of Glasgow printed a version in 1783 and on ECCO it is in The New Festino Songbook vol 2. There are lots of early 19thc printings in the Madden Collection but online there is a fairly early version printed by Butler of Worcester at the Bodleian site Harding B25 (397). First lines are pretty consistent 'Down in the meadows where...violets do grow, violets so blue, sweet violets grow.

There is another similar broadside ballad called 'The Maiden's Moan for the Loss of Her Jemmy' (not 'Jemmy Slain in the Wars') which uses the same refrain but is probably later.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Wish the Wars Were All Over
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 28 Sep 20 - 11:55 AM

Here's the version from A Sailor's Songbag.

Mick

---

A NEW SEA SONG, I WISH THE WARS WERE ALL OVER No 25

Down in the meadows the violets so blue,
There I saw pretty Polly milking her cow,
The Song that she sung made all the grove to ring,
My Billy is gone and left me to serve the king,
  And I wish the wars were all over.

I step't up to her and made her this reply,
And said my dear Polly what makes you to cry.
My Billy is gone from me whom I love so dear,
The Americans will kill him so great is my fear.
  And I wish, etc.

I said my dear Polly can you fancy me,
I'll make you as happy as happy can be,
No, no, sir said she that never can be
I ne'er shall be happy till my Billy I see.
  And I wish, etc.

I still amazed to hear what she said,
The small bird a singing on every tree,
The notes that she sung where nightingales notes
How the lark and the Linnets warble their throats
  And I wish, etc.

I now for my parent no longer can stay,
To seek for my Billy I'll hast away,
To see if my Billy will make me his wife,
Free for his sake I'll venture my life.
  And I wish, etc.

I now to some Tailor I'll hast and away,
To rig myself out in some young man's array,
Like a bold fellow so neat and so trim,
So free for his sake I'll go serve the King,
  And I wish the wars were all over.
Finis


Source: A Sailor's Songbag - An American Rebel in an English Prison, 1777-1779, edited with an introduction by George G. Carey


Carey's notes to the song say: This song is probably taken from a broadside slip. In the Madden Collection (5: 215) there is a version which includes only verses one, three and six in truncated form. However, elsewhere in the same collection (7:418; 8: 364, 368) there are three versions practically identical to Connor's manuscript piece. For further listings from oral tradition see Dean-Smith (p. 77). For a variant see Baring-Gould, A Garland of Country Song (pp. 18-19).

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Wish the Wars Were All Over
From: Cattia
Date: 28 Sep 20 - 02:45 PM

https://archive.org/details/sailorssongbaga00care

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Wish the Wars Were All Over
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 28 Sep 20 - 02:52 PM

If a broadside song became popular and sold well it very quickly encouraged imitations and answers, sometimes even by the same writer.