''The Ash Grove'' () is a traditional Welsh

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

whose melody has been set to numerous sets of lyrics. The best-known English lyrics were written by Thomas Oliphant in the 19th century.

History

The first published version of the tune was in 1802 in ''The Bardic Museum'', a book written by the harpist Edward Jones. About four years later a version with words appeared, under the name ''Llwyn Onn''. It tells of a sailor's love for "Gwen of Llwyn". At the end of the song, Gwen dies, and in one version of the piece, the writer talks about him mourning and that she is lying neath the shades of the lonely ash grove". The tune might be much older, as a similar air appears in ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sati ...

'' by John Gay (1728), in the song "Cease Your Funning". This was arranged by

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

in his ''Twelve Scottish Songs'', WoO 156 No. 5. In 1922, the English folksong collector Frank Kidson claimed that Gay's air derives from the

morris dance Morris dancing is a form of English folklore, English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers in costume, usually wearing bell pads on their shins, their shoes or both. A ban ...

tune "Constant Billy", which is first known in Playford's ''Dancing Master'' (1665). An English-language version of "The Ash Grove" was published in 1862, in Volume I of ''Welsh Melodies, with Welsh and English Poetry'', compiled by the harpist John Thomas, with Welsh words by John Jones (Talhaiarn) and English words by Thomas Oliphant. The first verse of this version is incorporated into a different interpretation by the English dramatist and translator

John Oxenford John Oxenford (12 August 1812 – 21 February 1877) was an English dramatist, critic and translator. Life Oxenford was born in Camberwell, London, his father a prosperous merchant. While he was privately educated, it is reported that he was mos ...

. John Jones (Talhaiarn) also wrote English lyrics for "The Ash Grove", 'All hail to thee, Cambria', which appeared with his Welsh lyrics in Owain Alaw's ''Gems of Welsh Melody'' in 1860: http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4796728 The tune of "The Ash Grove" was used for the

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

hymn "Let All Things Now Living", composed in 1939 by Katherine K. Davis. The popularity of this hymnal version led to the tune's being included on a number of Christmas albums up through the 1950s, such as Jan August's 1955 album ''Christmas Favorites'' (Mercury Records #MG 20160). It had, however, been in use as a hymn tune long before the 20th century under the title "The Master Hath Come" by Sarah Doudney (1871), updated since in a retelling of the nativity story by Robert Cullinan entitled "On This Night Most Holy" (1996). Another hymn set to the tune of "The Ash Grove" is "Sent Forth by God's Blessing." "The Ash Grove" was also used by Michael Forster in his setting of the Gloria for use in the Roman Catholic mass. It was published as "Sing glory to God" in ''Liturgical Hymns Old and New'' 1999 by Kevin Mayhew Ltd.

Roger Quilter Roger Cuthbert Quilter (1 November 1877 – 21 September 1953) was a British composer, known particularly for his art songs. His songs, which number over a hundred, often set music to text by William Shakespeare and are a mainstay of the English ...

's setting of the song was included in the ''

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'', published in 1950, with new lyrics by Rodney Bennett.

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's arrangement for voice and piano was published in his ''Folk Song Arrangements'', Vol 1: The British Isles (1943) Around 1962 a song called "The Irish Free State" was written to this tune. Early in

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's film ''

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'', adapted from Richard Llewellyn's 1939 novel of the same name, "The Ash Grove" is sung in Welsh by a group of miners. "The Ash Grove" featured in the 1980

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mini-series ''

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''. The tune is also featured in ''Black & White'', a 2001 video game by

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; the lyrics are altered to accord with the game's plot. Ed Pearl's Ash Grove

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club at 8162 Melrose Avenue in

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was named after the song. The club opened in 1958 and closed in 1973.

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Ry Cooder Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...

, and many others performed there. The traditional bawdy song "The Mayor of Bayswater", also known as "The Hairs of her Dickey-dido", is also sung to the tune of "The Ash Grove".Tom Dalzell, Terry Victor (ed.).
The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
', Routledge, 2015

Oliphant lyrics

Oxenford lyrics

Sheet music gallery

Llwyn onn (The Ash Grove) page 1.jpg, Page 1 of the musical composition ''Llwyn Onn'' (The Ash Grove) by John Thomas Llwyn onn (The Ash Grove) page 2-3.jpg, Pages 2–3 of the musical composition ''Llwyn Onn'' (The Ash Grove) by John Thomas Llwyn onn (The Ash Grove) page 4-5.jpg, Pages 4–5 of the musical composition ''Llwyn Onn'' (The Ash Grove) by John Thomas

References

External links

* Free typese
sheet music
from ''Cantorion.org''

(http://www.ceolas.org/cgi-bin/ht2/ht2-fc/case=yes; and input "Cease Your Funning")

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ash Grove 1802 songs Welsh folk songs