Anonymous

The Sweet Salutation on Primrose Hill

Reprinted in The Roxburghe Ballads. Ed. J.W. Ebsworth. Vol. VIII-IX. Stephen Austin & Sons, 1897.

The original broadside was from the Pepys Collection, 3.53, printed for W. Thackeray, T. Passenger and W. Whitwood, before 1685.

In the pleasant month of May, a young man met a Maid
On Primrose Hill so gay, and thus to her he said:
"Fair Maid, sit down by me upon this flowerie place,
Fine pastime thou shalt see within a little space."

"Good Sir excuse me now, I cannot stay" (quoth she),
"I must go milk the Cow, my Mother will angry be,
Nor can I tell, forsooth, what may be my lot;
But this I say, in truth, Good sir, I know you not."

"Fair Maid be not so coy! A lesson to thee I'll play,
Shall fill the heart with joy, on Primrose Hill so gay."
He play'd her then a Note upon the Violin,
He had his lesson by Rote, 'twas called, "In and In."

Not difficult to guess where this is heading, and as the ballad runs to 19 verses I'll summarize. Mother discovers the maid is pregnant, goes in pursuit of the seducer, finds him on Primrose Hill and confronts him. He denies it, of course.

"Bold wh..e!" quoth he, "forbear! wilt thou mine honour blot?
I'll kick you now, I swear; begone, I know you not."
When she heard him say so, she soon did him arrest,
She bent him to her bow, a dainty Primrose jest:

And when she had told him so, she told him 'twas his lot,
To prison he must go: "Be gone! I know you not."
She made him promise then that he should keep the Child,
Before sufficient men, since that he had her [girl] beguil'd.

Yet she did not forget the sport at Primrose-Hill;
He plai'd her such a Fit, makes her to love him still.
"If I might have my will, if that it proves a Boy,
His name is Primrose-Hill, his Mother's only Joy."

Fair Maidens, now be wise, for fear this be your lot:
If men do you intice, say this - "I know you not!"

An Excellent new Medley to the tune of the Spanish Paulin.

Reprinted in The Roxburghe Ballads. Ed. Charles Hindley. Vol.1. Reeves and Turner, 1873.

When Philomel begins to sing,
the grasse grows greene and flowres spring,
Me thinks it is a pleasant thing
to walk on Primrose Hill.
Maids, have you any Connie-skins
To sell for Laces or great Pinnes?
The Pope will pardon veniall sinnes:
Saint Peter...
(p.14)

In common with other medleys of the period, the second part of the verse has no connection with the first.

The Maid of Primrose Hill from An Excellent Garland Containing Four Choice Songs. G. Swindells, Manchester, 1785?

'Twas under Primrose Hill there liv'd,
A sweet and pretty maid,
Not Venus could give more delight,
When you her charms survey'd.
For the lilies there and the roses fair,
They did combine and both entwine,
To form a beauty rare.

This fair one many suitors had,
But treated them with scorn,
Till William who could play and dance,
Came tripping o'er the lawn...

Sweet maid of Primrose Hill he cry'd,
I come a whooing here,
Then do not thou my love reject,
Nor treat me too severe...

The maid tells him he's got a cheek, she has plenty of rich suitors who...

Have offered me their bride to be,
So you do come too late.
Then William hung his head with grief,
And said proud girl adieu,
I'll quit your charms for war's alarms,
And glory I'll pursue...

But she was only teasing.

Then with a smile she called him back,
And said dear William stay,
I did but jest to see your love,
So go not now away.

Primrose Hill, a tidied up version of this song with additional verses at the end - they get married and live happily ever after - appears in Primrose Hill, and St. Patrick was a Gentleman, L. Deming, Boston and Middlebury, 1835.

The British Library attributes it to Henry Bennett and W. Toleken, although their names do not appear in this volume. An almost identical tidied up version, also called Primrose Hill, appears in an American songbook, The Jovial Songster, 1806, ed. Stephen Jenks. Words and tune are described as English, 18c.

The Lass Near Primrose Hill. J. Williams, Printer, 47 Queen Street, Portsea. From Sir Frederick Madden's Collection of Broadside Ballads, University of Cambridge Library.

The morning smiled serenely gay,
All nature beamed delight,
The songster hailed the birth of May,
Each prospect charmed the sight.
'Twas there I saw the lovely maid,
And think I see her still,
In all the pride of youth displayed,
The lass of Primrose Hill...

Sweet sung the linnet and the thrush,
Upon the bending spray,
And vocal was each vernal blush,
In rapture with the May.
Enraptured then I viewed the maid,
And think I see her still,
In all the pride of youth displayed,
The lass of Primrose Hill.

Terrible Accident on the Ice in Regent's Park, and Loss of 40 Lives. Henry Disley, 1867.

...The 15th of January, that Tuesday afternoon,
Some hundreds on the ice took their station,
Young men and boys, in youth and bloom,
To the park went for healthy recreation.

But soon it gave way, more than 40 lost their lives
The widows and poor orphans will distress them
God bless those gallant hearts, to save life did strive,
And those now in Heaven - God rest them.

'Twas near four o'clock, how dreadful to relate,
The ice broke up in every quarter,
Two hundred then fell in, oh what a sad fate,
All struggled for their lives in the water...

They clung to the ice, until benumbed with cold,
The ice in their grasp broke asunder,
One lady on the shore, in grief did behold,
Her husband exhausted go under...

A poor faithful dog, saw his master disappear,
And never left the park since that evening,
No food will he take, by the water stays near,
For it's master the poor dog is grieving.

Skating in the park was immensely popular and could attract as many 10,000 visitors in one day. Immersions were frequent, and people sometimes drowned, but there had been nothing on this scale. 500 were on the ice when it gave way: it had seemed firm, but 'it was ice which had not been formed in one thick coat, but by successive frosts and thaws, with here and there a light draping of snow. Its very substance was therefore deceptive.'

And there was another factor: 'The Park-keepers, paying more regard to the necessities of the waterfowl than to the security of the skating public, broke the ice for some distance along the edges, thereby destroying the connexion of the central field with the shore' (The Times, 17th January 1867). The lake was 12 feet deep in some places; it was subsequently made more shallow, and the bed concreted over.