The Rue and The Thyme

Ellen Mitchell: On Autumn Harvest ah007: Old Songs & Bothy Ballads: Grand to Be a Working Man. Recorded at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival May 2008.

There are several versions of this song in the Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection (6:1139) with quite varied texts and tunes.

1: There's a rose in yon garden is now in full bloom,
Has been spreading and growing, it will soon be a tree;
I reached right in tae it the red rose tae find,
But a thorn pricked my finger and I left it behind.

Oh rue, oh rue, oh rue is in prime,
Oh ye'll pull the red rose, I will pull the rue in time.

2: Oh I loved him oh sae dearly but noo him disdain,
For the mair that I loved him, the prouder he became;
Aye, the mair that I loved him, the saucier he grew,
Ah, but now I must tell him it is time for tae rue.

Oh rue, oh rue, oh rue is in prime,
Oh ye'll pull the red rose, and I'll pull the thyme.

3: Oh ye'll pull the red rose, I will pull the rue in time,
Since ye've been unfaithful, then I'll be unkind;
And drink ye tae your new love and I'll drink tae mine,
And here's a health tae the laddie that is maist on my mind.

Oh rue, oh rue, oh rue is in prime,
Oh ye'll pull the red rose, and I'll pull the thyme.

4: For I can love a little or I can love long,
I can love a new love when my love is gone;
I only said I loved him his mind for tae ease,
Ah, but noo his back is tae me, I will love whom I please.

Oh rue, oh rue, oh rue is in prime,
Oh ye'll pull the red rose, and I'll pull the thyme.