Gentle Robin
1.
Here comes gentle Robin, with sugar cakes and wine,
O ladies will ye taste it, taste it, taste it?
O ladies will ye taste it, before ye go away?
We'll first go round the kitchen the kitchen the kitchen,
We'll first go round the kitchen, and then go round the hall.
Come choose ye out the fairest, the fairest, the fairest,
Come choose ye out the fairest, the fairest of them all.
The fairest one that I can see is pretty Mary, come with me.
And now we've got a beautiful maid
To join us in our dancing,
Come ransome dansum jolly me jump,
Come ransum dansum day.
2.
Here comes gentle Rover, Rover, Rover;
Here comes gentle Rover --Sugar, cake, and wine.
Ladies will you taste them, Taste them, taste them,
Ladies will you taste them Before you go away?
We'll first go round the kitchen, Kitchen, kitchen;
We'll first go round the kitchen, And then go round the hall.
We'll take away the fairest, Fairest, fairest;
We'll take away the fairest, The fairest of them all.
Pretty girls you must come in, Must come in, must come in;
Pretty girls you must come in, And help us with our dancing.
3. Here comes gentle Robin, Roo-oo-obin,
Here come gentle Robin with sugar-cake and wine.
Ladies, will you taste it, t-a-aste it,
Ladies, will you taste it before you go away?
First go round the parlour, the p-a-arlour,
First go round the parlour and then go round the room.
When you're going round the room, the roo-oo-oom, the
roo-oo-oom,
When you're going round the room pick out the fairest one.
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(1) Maclagan GDA (1901), 60, with music. A row game:
Robin stands in front and the row sings the first lines,
answered by Robin in the next couplet. He walks round
the row singing the next couplet; then those in the row
invite him to choose a girl. He takes the hand of his
choice (the name will vary), singing the next lines; and
leading her out, they whirl round while the rest sing
the concluding stanza. The usual change-over is made,
and the game begins anew.
With the incipit, cf. "The Wren She Lies in Care's Bed".
(2) Nicholson, Golspie (1897), 150, and music, 203. N.
compares with "A dis a dis"; cf. also "Three Dukes" and
"We are three brethren". [Performed as (1) above.] The
variations in stanza 1, from another informant, are: 1 &
3 roving; 2 ro-ro-roving [for the whole line]; 4 With
sugar-cake and wine. N. also corrects gentle to gentles,
i.e. "gentlemen".
(3) Rodger Lang Strang (1948), 33. "Circle; one in
centre. She changes places with the one she picks in
the last line."
Filename[ GENTROBN
MS
OCT98
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!