1. The Wildest Rose
© 2019 Words & Music by Odette Michell

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On the first day that I saw my love, I picked her the wildest rose

On the second day I saw my love I said to keep it wherever she goes

On the third day that I saw my love I showed her where the lily grows

And on the fourth day that I saw my love, I asked to be the lad she chose

She said “on Sunday well I met a young lad, and he picked me the wildest rose

Then on Monday well this same young lad, he said to keep it wherever I go

And on Tuesday ah we tarried long to where the sweetest lily grows

And on Wednesday as the sun did set, I said he’d be the lad I chose”

Over yonder green through the purest stream to the valleys we did go

There I asked the maid, beside the glade - where go thee the Wildest Rose?

The next day when I came to see where the sweetest lily grows

I saw my pretty fair young lass, and with a worried frown she arose

She said “Oh I can’t find the flower you gave, for to keep wherever I go

“And how long I’ve tarried through these woods, in search of the wildest rose”

I said oh have you walked the meadows high or searched in the valleys low

And have you trailed the wild wood path where the bonnie deer she goes

Oh have you looked upon the brook where the purest water flows

But sure I’ll take your hand and go with you, in search of the wildest rose

Over yonder green through the purest stream to the valleys we did go

There I asked the maid, beside the glade - where go thee the Wildest Rose?

We sat down upon a hill so high with a view to the Eastward coves

But a peace we found together there as the morning sun arose

Then I said my lady worry not, for the flower I picked still grows

And on forever it will bloom - for you are the Wildest Rose

Over yonder green through the purest stream to the valleys we did go

There I asked the maid, beside the glade - where go thee the Wildest Rose?

Over yonder green through the purest stream to the valleys we did go

There I asked the maid, beside the glade - where go thee the Wildest Rose?

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2. The Banks Of Annalee
© 2019 Words & Music by Odette Michell

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Well it was early on a Sunday, the North County I did rove

For to amble on the river’s edge, and watch the course it flowed

But I chanced upon a young lad, so I asked the way to go

And now I’m stood beside the river banks, and I’m lost from head to toe

I said now might we walk together, for I know not where to be

For where I thought one river ran, there’s four or more I see

But he smiled a minute fondly, then he set me on the kind

He said we’ve many in this county run to confuse the travellers mind

But he said oh we can walk together now, for I know the way to go

And deep inside the valley oh, I watch the rivers flow

And we could walk a mile or more to where the river meets the sea

Then he said put your hand in mine, we’ll walk the Banks of Annalee

So we walked a while together and as we looked toward the West

He said of all the sights that we could see, this one he loved the best

Oh there were bream beneath the water, kingfishers in their nests

And then it seemed to me this lad could be more than a helper on my quest

But he said oh we can walk together now, for I know the way to go

And deep inside the valley oh, I watch the rivers flow

And we could walk a mile or more to where the river meets the sea

Then he said put your hand in mine, we’ll walk the Banks of Annalee

And so we walk quite happily on the river banks below, although now it seems so very long ago

For now we have a family, of our very own, and each and every river I do know

So we walk together now, for we know the way to go

And deep inside this valley oh, how we watch the rivers flow

Ah but fondly we remember our first amble to the sea

When he said put your hand in mine, here on the Banks of Annalee

So he put his hand in mine, here on the Banks of Annalee

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3. The Rolling Shores Of England
© 2019 Words & Music by Odette Michell

 

 

For all those sad and weary, for those who’ve lost their way
Come walk with me to where the sea, greets every passing day

For on the rolling shores of England, no fierce storm could shake
The tall white cliffs at Langdon Bay, where morning light will break

From East to West, our island blessed

From the Meadows to the Irish Sea

It's on the rolling shores of England

No stranger I will be

So pick up your feet and wander, as far as you can bear

Then climb the steps which bend to meet, each passing stranger there

 

From East to West, our island blessed

From the Meadows to the Irish Sea

It's on the rolling shores of England

No stranger I will be

 

So walk with me to wander, this crooked grassy ledge
And be thankful for each passing step, on our great heritage

From East to West, our Island blessed

From the Meadows to the Irish Sea

It's on the rolling shores of England

No stranger I will be

 

On these rolling shores of England

No stranger I will be

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4. Bless The Ground You Grow On
© 2019 Words & Music by Odette Michell

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Take your winter coat and walk, through this open land

Let the cold wind chill your face, and winter take your hand

Climb the wild mountainside, where green paths are growin’

For they hold secrets to our past, that we’ve no way of knowing

Be kind to natures rise and fall, for land and sky will meet

Where grass and bone and moss have grown, beneath our weary feet

For here we stand, upon this land, on ground changed only by name

And while time may line my youthful brow, the ground remains the same

For the time will come, when this day is done – to plough the land we sow on

So fill your glass and drink to the last – ah but bless the ground you grow on

 

So I let the cold wind chill my face, and winter take my hand

For I may walk these hills so wide, where chalk runs into sand

Where no-one sees your nooks and trees, save for the ways of the swallow

But you have proudly left your mark, while I have merely followed

 

For the time will come, when this day is done – to plough the land we sow on

So fill your glass and drink to the last – ah but bless the ground you grow on

 

So take your winter coat and walk, and to my message heed

For you and I beneath this sky, have everything we need

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For the time will come, when this day is done – to plough the land we sow on

So fill your glass and drink to the last – ah but bless the ground you grow on

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5. Great Old Northern Line
© 2019 Words & Music by Odette Michell

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Ruby takes the paper and is counting up the pennies in her hand

She left a little later, so she’s found a quiet place where she can stand

And underneath her hat there is a nest of yellow hair

Like her hidden store of golden contraband

And somewhere on the tracks between the Angel and the Bridge

I am holding Ruby’s paper in my hand

But in time, we’ll all come to understand –

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Why we all mark time, by golden orange signs, behind the yellow lines

It’s an uphill climb, it happens all the time

On the Great Old Northern Line

Stevie takes his ticket and announces to his friends he’s going home

He says a girl is waiting, but he walks back from the platform on his own

And when he thinks he’s far enough, he’ll sing himself a tune

And he’ll watch the moving pictures on his ‘phone

But once those neon city lights give way into the gloom

He’ll be wondering why he still feels alone
But in this town, we all feel alone -

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So we all mark time, by golden orange signs, behind the yellow lines

It’s an uphill climb, it happens all the time

On the Great Old Northern Line

And as the evening sun sets down on the steel beams and the rails

The working day it never seems to end

And at midnight when the crowds are gone, the whistle blows again

And another one comes rolling round the bend
But night and day, together they will blend –

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So we’ll all mark time, by golden orange signs, behind the yellow lines

It’s an uphill climb, it happens all the time

On the Great Old Northern Line

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Oh we all mark time, by golden orange signs, behind the yellow lines

It’s an uphill climb, it happens all the time

On the Great Old Northern Line

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6. True Lover’s Farewell
Trad. © 2019 Arranged by Odette Michell

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Fare you well my own true love

Oh fare you well for a while

I’m going away but I’ll come again

If I go ten thousand miles

 

The crow that is so black my love
Will surely turn to white
And if I ever prove false to the one I love
Bright day shall turn to night

 

Bright day shall turn to night my love
And the rocks shall melt with the sun
And the fire will freeze and will be no more
And the raging sea will burn

 

Oh don’t you see yon white turtle dove
A skipping from vine to vine
A mourning the loss of its own true love
Just as I do mourn for mine

So fare you well my own true love

Oh fare you well for a while

I’m going away but I’m coming again

If I go ten thousand miles

 

I’m going away but I’ll come back again

If I go ten thousand miles

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7. I Once Loved A Shepherd
© 2019 Words & Music by Odette Michell

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Well I work with wool and cotton, and I’ve a family of renown
But a letter from the foreman oh, sent me far away from town

So I travelled to the island, beneath a bleak and foreign cloud
To where the rain just like a blanket lay, on the barren rocky ground

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But I fell for a shepherd, he was working on the farm
For it made me feel a lady oh, with a young lad on my arm

But come the early morning, I would leave what I had found
But I swore that I’d return again, when the season came around

For I once loved a shepherd, his common feet on common ground
To the island he’ll be tethered oh, to the mainland I’ll be bound

For I've family in waiting, and I've work back in the town
So I'll leave you in the morning my bonny lad that I have found

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The next morning I awoke and did I hear the raven say
“Now that you’ve strayed, you’ll always stay, on this island where you lay

And if you should be returning, to your mainland shores again
A tragedy oh you will see, on this island, in the rain”

For I once loved a shepherd, his common feet on common ground
To the island he’ll be tethered oh, to the mainland I’ll be bound

For I've family in waiting, and I've work back in the town
So I'll leave you in the morning my bonny lad that I have found

So I returned again in autumn, but all the flowers they had browned
And I was greeted by the raven perched, high above the rocky ground

Oh he told me of my bonny lad, of how he sleeps without a sound
Then he showed me where the boy was laid, far beneath a mossy mound

For I once loved a shepherd, his common feet on common ground
To the island he’ll be tethered oh, to the mainland I’ll be bound

For I've family in waiting, and I've work back in the town
So I'll leave you in the morning my bonny lad that I have found

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8. Light Up London Town
© 2019 Words & Music by Odette Michell

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Down old London way, after All Hallows Day, in the union of the autumn and the winter

A ruling was passed just like the last, to separate the seed from the linter

But a difference of minds through the passing of the time, and a story old as yore

Led a gathering of men, who would all stand against the King and all that he stood for

With their flags of injustice flying, their feet would make no sound

Oh but there in the dark they would set off the spark, that would light up London Town

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They plotted and planned, to reclaim their land, and put an end to the persecution

And throughout the night, as their candles burned bright they would challenge the institution

But then one cautious man had a different plan, for he feared for the lives of his brothers

And so a letter was sent to the crown parliament, that aroused all the fears of the others

 

With their flags of injustice flying, their feet would make no sound

But there in the dark they would set off the spark, that would light up London Town

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Not long after ten oh there came the Kings men, to behold their criminal reasons

And on that winters day they would haul the lads away, and would punish them all for treason

Now on the same day each year we all gather in cheer, as we light each fire in town

And we’re told to remember that day in November – and of the men who challenged the crown

 

With their flags of injustice flying, oh their feet would make no sound

Oh but there in the dark they would set off the spark, and they’d light up London Town

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With our flags of injustice flying, oh we’ll burn each fire down

For here in the dark we will set off the spark, and we’ll light up London Town

For they left their mark on our histories charts, so they’ll light up London Town

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9. Dance Me Through The Night
© 2019 Words & Music by Odette Michell

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The night is here, the sky is clear, it’s only you and me

The birds are nesting in the woods, so high in the trees

A spark of light from embers bright, is the only flame we’ll see

So bring back the warmth of fire my love, to where we used to be

Dance, dance, through the night – oh dance me through the night

And let the sun of morning come, and startle at the sight

The stars and moon may laugh and swoon, at the lovers in delight

But the time is right, the fire burns bright, so dance me through the night

The day adjourns, the candle burns, the evenings at our door

Let’s not be weary of the night or all that lies in store

Just take my hand and understand, I’m the same girl as before

And of all of the steps we’ve taken in love, we’ll dance ten thousand more

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So dance, dance, through the night – oh dance me through the night

Then let the sun of morning come, and startle at the sight

The stars and moon may laugh and swoon, at the lovers in delight

For the time is right, the fire burns bright, so dance me through the night

And when the sun of morning comes – and mother earth’s awoken

Don’t say a word for I have heard – all those words unspoken

So dance, dance, through the night – oh dance me through the night

Then let the sun of morning come, and startle at the sight

The stars and moon may laugh and swoon, at the lovers in delight

But the time is right, the fire burns bright, so dance me through the night

The time is right, the fire burns bright, so dance me through the night

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10. The Eastern Seas
© 2019 Words & Music by Odette Michell

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In a cold North town, to settle down, you have to work the land

Ah but a blizzard cold will take your kin, should you chance to harm the hands

And all for less than four and one, and a dusty room to share

For in this old town, we’ll work the ground, all through the long, long year

 

So when he heard of the chance, to sail upon the seas

A mighty strength would fill his lungs, with dreams of liberty

And all for fourty one and ten, and a dream to join the free

So he’ll sail along, among the throngs, to the shores of the Eastern Seas

 

Oh the Eastern Seas, the Eastern Seas, to the shores of the Eastern Seas

He will travel on, four whole weeks long, to the shores of the Eastern Seas

 

Now when he returns would the summer burn the skin of a pale mans hands

Ah for the days belong to the scorching sun, on the tracks of a foreign land

And all for less than four and one, and a cabin room to share

But how he thinks upon his lass so young with the hands and the face so fair

 

But the Eastern Seas, the Eastern Seas, he’s on the shores of the Eastern Seas

He will travel on, four whole weeks long, to the shores of the Eastern Seas

 

Oh the Eastern Seas, the Eastern Seas, on the shores of the Eastern Seas

But he’ll tarry on, his whole life long, on the shores of the Eastern Seas

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