Popular Music Of The Olden Time Vol 2

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THE COMMONWEALTH.			453

which, I am sure, no one of my informants had seen. The versions from different parts of the country differ in some points, especially in the terminations of the phrases, but that might be expected, as it was gathered from untutored singers. The following West Country version has a thoroughly Somersetshire ending. It was given to me by Mr. Edward Loder, and the words written by the late George Macfarren.



	Graceful are the verdant bowers Where the elm and linden grow, And its bloom the chesnut showers On the mossy bank below. Yet give me that valley dreary Where the mist-clad mountains rise, And the eagle builds her eyrie, Monarch bird of stormy skies.	Here the vine its clusters wreatheth, There the pine its dark form shews ; Here the zephyr mildly breatheth, There the north wind keenly blows. Dearest still, my boyhood's places ; Oh ! for wings of woodland dove, To greet the old familiar faces ; For I live not where 'I love.