Welcome to the secret song-hord! 💪🧙‍♂️ Here you’ll find songs that aren’t available anywhere else. They’re unlisted online and never to be publicly shared. Email inboxes are pretty full these days, so I’m touched by your willingness to hear from me and want to show my gratitude by sharing a few songs that are for friends’ eyes only!

This secret song tells the touching story of a young woman reunited with her lost lover after waiting (chaste) for seven years.

Ralph Vaughan Williams collected it in 1908, from Mr Burridge of Capel. My granny and aunt were lucky enough to sing in kids’ choirs with Vaughan Williams, before he died in 1958. He was committed to getting working-class people singing classical music, as there just weren’t opportunities in those days, so it’s probably because of him that a love of singing was ignited in my family. 

The song is known as a ‘broken token’ ballad, because the man proves his identity by showing his half of a ring that the two young lovers exchanged before he left. It’s rather adorable!  … or is it?

…You have to wonder, though: is this young man truly her long-lost love? It could be that he’s a random chancer, trying to have his wicked way by showing her a token nicked from a (drowned?) fellow sailor! There’s always more to a song than meets the eye!

Feel free to share your thoughts using the comments form below, or drop me a line. I always respond, even if it sometimes takes me a little while.