Let No Man Steal Your Thyme
This is from the movie “Far From the Madding Crowd”. I thought the song beautifully sad. I love these traditional songs.
Here are two versions of the words to look over. The first version is what you hear in the clip. The second explains the song and gives what might be the original words.
When I heard this song I did not know the words and I thought thyme was time. It made sense to me to let no man “steal my time” as in not letting any man waste my time because it is too precious. Keep my time for the right man, the one who will love me.
I felt the willow tree was the sadness that came of a wrong choice, a man who took advantage.
Now I know what the song was supposed to say and it helps me to understand better the original meaning, what the song was intended to convey.
Beautifully sad, haunting, old English ballad.
Let No Man Steal Your Thyme
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.
For woman is a branchy tree,
And man’s a clinging vine,
And from your branches carelessly
He’ll take what he can find,
He’ll take what he can find.
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.
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I Was In My Prime
Trad., adapted & arranged by Robin Greenstein
Guitar, Vocal – Robin Bass – Barry Weisenfeld Harp – Lisa McDivitt
An old English ballad. According to SING OUT Magazine: “It is generally attributed to the pen of Mrs. Fleetwood Habersham, of Habergham Lance, who ‘ruined by the extravagance and disgraced by the vices of her husband….soothed her sorrows…by some stanzas yet remembered among the old people of her neighborhood.” She died in 1703. Thyme represents virginity; the willow tree regret; and the rose is true love. These symbols reappear in old English balladry. I learned this from the singing of Bonnie Dobson.
When I Was In My Prime
When I was in my prime,
I flourished like a vine
There came along a false young man
Came stole away my thyme,
Came stole away my thyme
The Gardiner standing by,
Three offers gave to me
The pink, the violet, the red, red rose
But I refused all three,
I refused all three
For the pink is not for me,
It blossoms much too soon
The violet is too deep a blue,
So I thought I’d wait til June
I thought I’d wait til June
For in June the red rose blooms,
But it’s the flower for me
Twas then I plucked the red, red rose
And gained the willow tree
And gained the willow tree
And the willow tree shall twist,
And the willow tree shall twine
How I wish I was in that young man’s arms
That once was a love of mine,
That once was a love of mine
When I was in my prime,
I flourished like a vine
There came along a false young man
Came stole away my thyme,
Came stole away my thyme
AJ ❤
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Ann’s Corner Pics
Ann's Corner 
I love this song. And, even though I don’t remember hardly a thing about it, I remember that I loved the movie years ago.
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I thought the movie was great! Had me crying by the end….
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Whoops, I wasn’t finished. The book was best by far.
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I should try to get hold of the book .
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Reblogged this on Ancien Hippie.
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Thanks! I appreciate the reblog. Love the song 🙂
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the part of The gardener’s son and when he offered her three followers:
“The pink, the blue, the violet and red rosy tree”
what are these followers referring to?
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I’m still trying to find out myself what these three flowers, or flower colors mean, or to what they refer. I do not really have an answer. All I can give is an opinion.
I did read that thyme represents virginity; the willow tree regret, and the rose is true love. These symbols reappear in old English balladry.
However, my own feeling after some thought about the meanings of these symbols in the song is as follows. You may agree or disagree. I think it is left up to our own imagination. Everyone tends to relate from their own knowledge and experience of things in life. Your relation to the song may be quite different from mine.
That said, I believe her virginity was stolen by the initial false young man. He stole her thyme, the symbol of virginity.
Then came the gardener’s son who offered different kinds of roses and roses have meaning too. Pink for affection, violet for romance. Red for true love.
It seems likely that there was a progression with the gardener’s son, maybe in a relationship, from friendship to romance to true love, but sadly her virginity was already gone. Plucked.
However, in its place was the lesson she had learned from the man who slighted her, which was strength and stability due to the regretful and deceitful experience. She “gained” the willow tree.
The second version of the song talks about the willow in more depth, how it twists and twines, how it finds a way, though it spoke, in the first version of the song, of her being slighted. This deception was a stumbling block. Still, like the willow, she found a way through the difficulty to go on and it made her a woman of more strength.
The song says she “forsook” the rose and “gained” the willow tree. I think she forsook the tempting allure of the rose and opted for the strength and security of a real solid relationship on the foundation of a real friendship.
Since a willow tree is such a symbol of strength and stability, I assume she learned from her initial experience and was strengthened and stabilized from it for her next experience, despite the adversity and pain of the previous experience.
Apparently the song is a warning to young girls about being taken in sexually by young men who are just looking to satisfy their passions and not necessarily srily a lifetime mate. The man who takes the time to know you properly is the one to wait for.
That’s my own “take” on the song and it’s meaning.
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