The end-rhyme structure is an absolutely regularĪnd the song is sung over a slightly unusual 8/8 time signature split 3+3+2 which gives it a continuous rolling feel However, the number of stresses remains the same, and they take up the same time as in the other verses. “He takes all | that he | can fi- |-ind find

“Be- ware | be- ware | keep your gar- |den fair “Īnd V3 Ll4&5 which start with an anapest (dah-dah- DUM) instead of a iamb.

2 x iamb, 1 x dactyl ( DUM-dah-dah), 1 x iamb.

“Let no | man steal | your thy- |-yme, thymeĮxceptions to this are V1 元 which is structured thus:.The metre of the verses is, essentially, iambic (dah- DUM) with 4 iambs on each line except L5 which has three, e.g In this version, the pattern of Ll 1- 4 having 4 stresses, and L5 having 3 is maintained by stretching the final word to two syllables, and then repeating it as one in Ll 2 & 4, e.g. Lend an ear and an eye … Let No Man Steal Your Thyme Trad. In recent years, she’s made a bit of a comeback, and a new recording has been promised. Her voice has been called a cross between Sandy Denny and Joan Baez, and there is no doubt that she would have been a major and long lasting star on the folk circuit if all had gone well. The first release was simply entitled The Shelagh McDonald Album, and that’s where this recording comes from. The version we’re going to look at is by Shelagh McDonald a Scottish folk singer and songwriter who released two acclaimed albums before effectively disappearing in 1971, not to resurface in public until 2005. V3 – Women are compared to a flourishing tree, and men to parasitic vines that cling to them. V2 – More warnings! Men are not to be depended on, and young girls are likely to “rue” letting them have their wicked way. Sometimes, since the verse contains the title, it is used as a chorus or final refrain. The song title is here introduced as an admonition to keep their virginity, and is sung twice at the end of the verse. V1 – The singer warns “fair and tender” – ie young & unmarried – girls to “keep their garden fair”, ie not to let themselves be seduced. Let No Man Steal Your Thyme has 3 verses: Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go/Wild Mountain Thyme! This ties in nicely with the symbolism, as when thyme blooms are dying off, rue flowers start to appear.Īstute readers will be starting by now to wonder about the real meaning behind the popular folk song In the UK, thyme flowers in June – July, and rue in late July – September. The first thing one has to know about Let No Man Steal Your Thyme is that the herbs mentioned in it are symbolic: thyme, in this context, stands for virginity, and rue means regret (it was also historically used to remove an unwanted pregnancy).

However, all those descendants now sung in folk gatherings are noted no earlier than the start of the 20th century. They are all believed to descend from an old Scottish ballad called The Gardener, whose earliest surviving appearance in print was in Ancient Scottish Ballads : r ecovered from tradition and never before published by George Ritchie Kinloch in 1827. This is one of a family of songs, with closely related lyrical themes, but different tunes, called variously Sprig o’ Thyme / The Bunch of Thyme / Let No Man Steal Your Thyme / Come All You Garners Gay / (I Sowed) The Seeds of Love. Follow Bob Leslie is an Independent Scottish Songwriter, Singer, and Recording Artist

Bunch of thyme meaning