OLD DORSET SONGS. 31 



V. GENERAL FOLK-SONGS. Here are ten Dorset specimens, 

 mostly " love-songs " : 



THE PRICKLY BUSH. 



" Just bret still and tarry for awhile, 



Methinks I see my father dear coming over yonder stile. 

 Oh, father dear, have you silver or gold to set my body free, 

 For to keep my body from the cafe cold ground, and my neck 



from the gallows' tree ? " 



" Oh, no, I have no silver or gold to set thy body free ; 

 But I am come for to see you hung, and your neck to the 

 gallows' tree." 



Chorus. 



" Oh, the prickly bush : it pricks my heart full sore. 



If ever I get out of the prickly bush, I'll never get in any 



more, 



The above verse is repeated four times more with the succes- 

 sive substitutions of " mother," " sister," " brother," and 

 "true love" for "father" ; but in the case of the "true love" 

 she replies : 



" Oh, yes, I have both silver and gold to set thy body free ; 

 I am not come for to see you hung, nor your neck to the 

 gallows' tree." 



Chorus. 



" Oh, the prickly bush : it pricked my heart full sore. 



But, now I'm out of the prickly bush, I'll never get in any 

 more." 



This is a Dorset version of this well-known song. Somerset 

 and Buckinghamshire and other counties have their own 

 versions. " Bret" and " cafe " are two curious words. 



