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– From The Cuckowes Comendation: / Or, the Cuckolds Credit: Being a merry Maying Song in Praise of the Cuckow., c.1625 History Early printed versions While another in his forge at home may steale a private heat. In poynting of plow harnesse, he labours till he sweat, He cannot heare the cuckoo though he loud doth sing The smith that on his anvill the iron hard doth ding: An old name for the cuckoo was "cuckold's chorister", and old broadsides played on the idea that the cuckoo's call was a reproach to husbands whose wives were unfaithful: The cuckoo has traditionally been associated with sexual incontinence and infidelity. It is a nest parasite, and the female really does eat an egg of the host species when she lays her own egg in the nest. The cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) was until recent times a common visitor to the English countryside in spring and early summer, and its distinctive call was considered the first sign of spring. There is a fine recording of this song from Luke Kelly of The Dubliners. The song ends in a sad verse about emigration. The third verse is the standard "Cuckoo is a pretty bird" and after an adapted floating verse: Bunclody Īn Irish song, this uses a similar tune and starts with verses extolling the beauty of Bunclody, a town in Co. Or a more symbolic warning, here in a Mississippi version:Ĭome all you fair maidens take warning of me,ĭon't place your affections on a sycamore tree,įor the top it will wither, and the roots they will die,Īnd if I'm forsaken, I know not for why. There's not one in twenty poor girls can believe. They will kiss you and court you, poor girls to deceive, ĭon't trust in young soldiers to any degree, O, meeting is a pleasure and parting is a grief,Īn unconstant lover is worse than a thief,Ī thief can but rob you and take all you have,Īn unconstant lover will bring you to the grave. To meet him in the meadows is all my delight,Ī-walking and talking from morning till night. To meet my true lover, he'll come by and by, The song often consists mainly of "floating" verses (verses found in more than one song expressing common experiences and emotions), and apart from the constant cuckoo verse, usually sung at the beginning, there is no fixed order, though sometimes a verse sounds as if it is going to be the start of a story: In some ornithologically observant English versions "she sucks little birds' eggs to make her voice clear.") Ī young woman (usually - sometimes a young man) complains of the inconstancy of young men (or women) and the pain of losing in love. (In many American versions, the cuckoo patriotically "never sings 'cuckoo' till the fourth of July". He sucks the sweet flowers to make his voice clear,Īnd the more he cries cuckoo, the summer is nigh. He brings us good tidings and tells us no lies. The cuckoo is a fine bird he sings as he flies, Usually, but not always, the song begins with a verse about the cuckoo, for example: