Origins: Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose (Traditional)

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose (Traditional)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Apr 13 - 11:43 AM

"The truth is no one has found this rhyme in print pre-dating the 20th century."
This was posted in another ("Origins") of the (too many) threads on this round, aand no one has found evidence to dispute that statement.


I still like the one I posted in the "origins" thread:

Rose, rose, rose, rose,
Don't never say dese and dose.

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose (Traditional)
From: GUEST,Jordan
Date: 27 May 15 - 12:48 PM

I have loved this song ever since I can remember. I've compiled all the verses that I know, and added some of the ones I've read in the past threads. It tells a story, a very sad story, and I had to write my own verse to fill a hole I had. Hope you enjoy.

Rose, A Compilation by Jordan Callahan (2015)

Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose
Shall I ever see thee wed?
I shall marry at thy will, sire,
At thy will…

Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose
Will I ever see thee wed?
I marry that you may,
If thou wilt stay…

Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose
Wilt thou never marry me?
Ah, marry that I will,
If thou but stay…

Ding dong, ding dong
Wedding bells on an April morn
Carve your name on a moss-covered stone,
On a moss-covered stone…

Come, come, come everyone
Join us in our happy home
Come celebrate the birth of our son,
Our first-born son…

Drums, horns, and rifle shots
Our son joins the hard-fought war
Thy brave deeds has led to the grave,
Has led to the grave…

Peace, peace, peace peace
Was will end and wars will begin
I will never fight again,
Never again…

Ah poor bird
Why are thou
Singing in the shadows
At this late hour?

Gloom, gloom, sadness and doom
My Rose fell ill at the Harvest Moon
Chills and fever tortured her so,
Lord, why my Rose?

Ding dong, ding dong
Funeral bells on a September morn
Rose, oh Rose, is dead and gone, sire,
Dead and gone…

Ah poor bird
Take thy flight
High above the sorrows
Of this sad night…

Hey, ho, nobody's home
Meat nor drink nor money have I none
Still I will be very, very merry,
Hey, ho, nobody's home…

Mother, Father, dig my grave
Dig it with a golden spade
Bring some friends and a mourning dove
To show I died for love…

The wind in the willows
Sighing like a solitary soul alone
The wind in the willows
Sighing like a solitary soul alone…

Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose
Shall I ever see thee wed?
I shall marry at thy will, sire
At thy will…

All rights reserved.

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose (Traditional)
From: GUEST,Person
Date: 11 Jul 15 - 09:14 PM

This is how I learned it at girl scouts...

Rose rose rose rose
will I ever see thee red?
I shall marry at thy will sire
At thy will

Ding Dong Ding Dong
Wedding bells on a September morn
Carve your name on a moss covered stone
on a moss covered stone...

(It sounds beautiful when you sing it in rounds) ;)

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose (Traditional)
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Oct 15 - 07:12 AM

There is a 14th century version from Bodley MS Rawlinson D. 913, fol. 1v, item 10, Index 194, as included in "English Lyrics Before 1500," ed. Theodore Silverstein (which you may find on google books, lyric 61). Although there is no tune indicated in this book, I learned it by the Rose Round melody, and it tracks perfectly. The lyrical similarity is obvious, although it has your classic medieval double entendre. The lyrics are:

Al nist by the rose, rose
Al nist by the rose I lay,
Darf ich noust the rose stele
Yet ich bar the flour away.

Pronounced:
All nisht by the rose-e, rose-e,
All nisht by the rose ee lay,
Darf icgh (back of the throat sound) noosht the rose-e shtell-e,
Yet icgh barr the flooer away.

Meaning:
All night by the rose, rose
All night by the rose I lay,
I dared not to steal the rose,
Yet I bore the flower away.

That is; the (male) singer lay all night by the rose (pretty young lady) and dared not to steal her (marry her) but bore off her flower (deflowered her/took her virginity).

So, an interesting beginning for our rose round. =)

Subject: RE: Origins: Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose (Traditional)
From: GUEST,Emily
Date: 23 May 19 - 10:22 PM

The way we sang it at my old summer camp on the lake in Vermont was:


Rose, rose, rose, rose
Will I ever see the wed?
I will marry at thy will, sire,
At thy will.

Ding dong ding dong
Wedding bells in the month of May.
Carve your name on a moss covered stone,
On a moss covered stone.

Hey, ho, nobody’s home.
Meat, not drink nor money have I none.
Still I will be merry.
Hey, ho, nobody’s home.
Nobody’s home.

I noticed that nobody sang it like “wedding bells in the month of May” so I wonder how that evolved?

Subject: RE: Origins: Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose (Traditional)
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 12:32 AM

I just composed this of what I had heard at scout camp as well as some posts listed above and some verses written by me to make it more cohesive:

Red, Rose, Rose, red,
When will I ever see thee wed?
I will marry at thy will sir,
At thy will

Hey Ho, nobody’s home,
Meat, nor drink, nor money have I none,
Still I will be married to thee
With you happily I shall be

Ding dong, ding dong,
Wedding bells on an April morn,
Carve their names in a piece of wood
To mark when times on earth were good

Come, come, come everyone,
Join us in our happy home.
Come celebrate the birth of our son,
Our first-born son.

One joyous summer spent with you,
Feelings of a life anew
Yet those eight short months have long since past
And shriveled flowers are all that last

Gloom, gloom, sadness and doom,
My Rose fell ill at the harvest moon,
Chills and fever tortured her so,
Rose my love you died too soon

Mother, Father, dig her grave,
Dig it with a golden spade,
Bring some friends and a mourning dove,
To show them that she died for love,

Dig her grave both wide and deep,
Put a marble stone at her head and feet,
In the middle put a turtledove,
To show the world that she died for love,

Ding Dong, ding dong
Funeral bells on a cold December morn,
Rose my love is dead and gone
dead and gone

Rose, Rose, Rose, Red,
When will we ever meet again?
When the nights are cold and lonely,
We shall meet again

One lone bird
Why art thou
Singing in the meadow at this dark hour


Lone black bird
Take thy flight
Fly above the sorrows of this sad night

Subject: RE: Origins: Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose (Traditional)
From: GUEST,Matthew Cullen
Date: 06 Jan 24 - 05:02 AM

I’m on the other side of the Atlantic from most people who answered.

My grandfather, who I lived with as a child for some time,
who was born at the end of the 19th C and whose
Interest was mediaeval English and German music and poetry,
Always sang it like this:

Rose, rose, rose, rose
Shall I ever see thee red
Aye, marry, that thou wilt,
An thou but stay.

An means if.
Marry does not mean marry as in wed

It’s absolutely fascinating reading how this song
Has evolved over time in the US.
And mostly based on homonyms and rhymes

Subject: RE: Origins: Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose (Traditional)
From: GUEST,Visitor Candle
Date: 18 Feb 24 - 02:52 AM

Im a girl scout, and while we never really sang this song as part of scouts activities, I read it in our troop's song book, and practiced it with some friends, and I've been obsessed with it ever since. Initially I learned it as:

Rose, Rose, Rose red
Will I ever see thee wed?
I will marry at thy will, sire
At thy will
-
Hey Ho, nobody home
Meat nor drink nor money have I none
Still I will be merry
Hey Ho-o, nobody home
-
Ah, poor bird
Why art tho
Flying in the shadows at this dark hour?

And then later I learned:

I wont be my father's Jack and I wont be my mother's Jill
I will be a fiddler's wife
And fiddle when I will
-
Ding dong, ding dong
wedding bells on an April's morn
Carve my name on a moss covered stone
a moss covered stone
-
Mister Moon
Why are you out so soon?
Cover your head and go back to bed
Mister Moon

Which I kinda fit into the above verses to form a story. There were a few more verses on the page, one of them a variation of the "Love" verses I've seen a few of y'all post. Another was about selling old chairs? to the tune of Hey Ho, another verse about poverty, I think. The last that I remember began with

The wind in the willows
crying like a wee bab all the time

and then ended with "The wind, the wi-ind," but searching for the middle bit is actually what led me to this page.
I think the endless variations on this song are FASCINATING and I found a lot of verses on here that I really liked and will add to my collection to fit in whenever I sing, and to teach to my friends :)