Let No Man Steal Your Thyme

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Come all you fair and tender maids
That flourish in your prime.
Beware, beware keep your garden fair.
Let no man steal your thyme;
Let no man steal your thyme.

For when your thyme is past and gone,
He’ll care no more for you,
And every place where your thyme was waste
Will all spread o’re with rue,
Will all spread o’re with rue.

The gardener’s son was standing by;
Three flowers he gave to me
The pink, the blue, and the violet, too,
And the red, red rosy tree,
The red, red, rosy tree.

But I forsook the red rose bush
and gained the willow tree,
So all the world might plainly see
How my love slighted me,
How my love slighted me.

This old English ballad is sung by Carey Mulligan in Far From the Madding Crowd, out now and well worth seeing!!

The song uses the 'language of flowers' - see if you can work out what each plant stands for!

Here is a link to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNP9fvStXC4