Believe me if all those endearing young chams
(Tune: My lodging is in the cold cold ground)
| TYPE | 3 - Complex Melody |
| TOPIC | Love |
| TUNE STRUCTURE | A8 B8 |
| VERSE STRUCTURE | 2v 8l |
| TIME SIGNATURE | 68 |
| KEY SIGNATURE | ♭ |
| TONAL CENTRE | F |
| INCIPIT | GAGGBD'C'E'G'G'F♯'E' |
| GENRE | Ballad |
| TEXT SOURCE | Thomas Moore, A Selection of Irish Melodies vol. 2 (Dublin: W. Power, c.1808), p.112 |
| TUNE SOURCE | as above p.114-115 |
| FIRST LINE | Believe me if all those endearing young charms |
| NOTATED INCIPIT | |
| The air to this song 'My Lodging is on the Cold Ground', was previously known in England where it had several sets of words attached to it throughout the eighteenth century. Some of these songs were sung in Ireland, including the set of words which gave it its title. However, this arrangement is the first time it was formally gaelicised. | |
Believe me, if all those endearing young charmsBelieve me, if all those endearing young charms,Which I gaze on so fondly to-day,Were to change by to-morrow, and fleet in my arms,Like fairy-gifts, fading away!Thou wouldst still be ador'd as this moment thou art,Let thy loveliness fade as it will;And, around the dear ruin, each wish of my heartWould entwine itself verdantly still!It is not while beauty and youth are thine own,And thy cheeks unprofan'd by a tear,That the fervour and faith of a soul can be known,To which time will but make thee more dear!Oh! the heart, that has truly lov'd, never forgets,But as truly loves on to the close;As the sun-flower turns on her god, when he sets,The same look which she turn'd when he rose!