The Banks of Sweet Primroses
"The Banks of Sweet Primroses", "The Banks of the Sweet Primroses", "Sweet Primroses", "As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning", "As I Rode Out" or "Stand off, Stand Off" is an English folk song. It was very popular with traditional singers in the south of England, and has been recorded by many singers and groups influenced by the folk revival that began in the 1950s.
Synopsis
The narrator goes out into the countryside on a midsummer morning. He sees an attractive young woman "down by the banks of the sweet primroses". He asks her where she is going and why she is distressed. He tells her he will make her "as happy as any lady" if she will grant him "one small relief". She tells him to go further away and says he is false and deceitful. She says he is responsible for making her "poor heart to wander" and that it is pointless to comfort her. She says she will go to a desolate valley where no one will be able to find her. The narrator then offers this advice to romantically-inclined young men : "There's many a dark and dusky morning, turns out to be a most sunshiney day".Versions
Versions collected from traditional singers
The Roud Folk Song Index contains 329 examples. 92 examples were collected in England, largely in Southern England. 2 were collected from singers in Wales, 2 from Scotland, and the only examples from outside Britain were from 2 singers in the same part of Nova Scotia. The earliest recorded version was by the Welsh singer Phil Tanner, recorded in 1937.Broadsides
In the nineteenth century many publishers of Broadside ballads printed versions of "The Banks of Sweet Primroses".Recordings
Peter Kennedy's recording of Gloucestershire singer Emily Bishop, made in 1952, is on the GlosTrad website.Two versions by Phil Tanner are available on the CD "The Gower Nightingale". Several versions by traditional singers have been published by Topic Records in the Voice of the People series. Seamus Ennis recorded Bob, John, Jim and Ron Copper of the Copper Family of Rottingdean, Sussex singing their family version in April 1952. The song has also been recorded by Shropshire singer Fred Jordan,
and the Suffolk singer Bob Hart. A rendition by Bob Hart recorded by Reg Hall is available online at the British Library Sound Archive.
Many singers involved in or inspired by the second have performed and recorded versions of "The Banks of Sweet Primroses", including Shirley Collins on her LP Sweet Primeroses, The Dubliners Fairport Convention, Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, June Tabor, Martin Simpson, and Eliza Carthy.