Loving Henry Lee /Traditional / Child Ballad 68

Loving Henry, also known as, Henry Lee as well as, Lou Bonnie, Young Hunting, Henry Lee, Loving Henry Lee. Harold & Margaret Winters perform this song so great. Nick Cave has also recorded it. It`s listed as Child Ballad number 68. *(Child Ballads are not necessarily for children, it refers to a group of ballads collected by, Francis James Child)Show more

Guitar in open D tuning: Bm A Bm / Bm A Bm / Bm A / G Csharp minor Bm
Banjo in standard D tuning: Same as guitar
Bm A Bm / Bm A Bm / Bm A / G Csharp minor Bm
3/4 time

Loving Henry - lyrics
(Harold & Margaret Winters version)

Lie down, lie down, loving Henry, she said
And spend the night with me
Your bed will be of the softest down
The best I`ll give to thee

I can`t lie down and I won`t lie down
To spend the night with thee
I have another love in archers land
I love much better than thee

As he bent down from his saddle low
To give her kisses three
She took her knife in her right hand
And stabbed his heart (bitterly? Carefully? for thee? for free?)

She took him by his golden hair
Her sister by his feet
They threw him in the old stone well
So cold, so damp and deep

Lie there, lie there loving Henry she said
Till the meat rots from your bones
Your own true love in Archers land
Will think your a long time gone

A little bird sitting up in a tree
I hear in all they did say
Said I`ll fly away to archers land
And there I`ll sit and sing

Fly down, fly down little bird she said
And sit upon my knee
Your cage will be of the purest gold
With a perch of ivory

I can`t fly down and I won`t fly down
And sit upon your knee
For if you`d murder your own true love
Then you would murder me

I wish I had an arrow
A bow and a string
I`d perce your heart little bird she said
And the more you`ll sit and sing

But you haven`t got an arrow
A bow nor a string
So I`ll fly away to archers land
and there I`ll sit and sing

Variants
1238 Lou Bonnie
1400 Loving Henry
1535 Henry Lee