Unquiet Grave, The

X:18028
T:Unquiet Grave, The
S:Digital Tradition, unquigrv
N:Aside from its exquisite poetry and music, this ballad is notable for its exhibition
N:of the universal popular belief that excessive grief on the part of mourners
N:disturbs the peace of the dead.  Most of the verses of "The Unquiet Grave"
N:can be found in other ballads and folk lyrics, suggesting the possibility that 
N:what we have here is only a fragment of a longer ballad still undiscovered.
N:But in its few short verses, it presents a compelling and highly dramatic vignette
N:of love, death, and grief.
B:From "British Ballads and Folk Songs from the Joan Baez Songbook"
D:sung by Joan Baez (5), Frankie Armstrong (Lovely on Water) Ian Campbell, and Patons
Z:dt:unquigrv
M:6/8
L:1/8
Q:3/8=100
W:Cold blows the wind to my true love,
W:And gently drops the rain.
W:I've never had but one true love,
W:And in green-wood he lies slain.
W:
W:I'll do as much for my true love,
W:As any young girl may,
W:I'll sit and mourn all on his grave,
W:For twelve months and a day.
W:
W:And when twelve months and a day was passed,
W:The ghost did rise and speak,
W:"Why sittest thou all on my grave
W:And will no let me sleep?"
W:
W:"Go fetch me water from the desert,
W:And blood from out the stone,
W:Go fetch me milk from a fair maid's breast
W:That young man never has known."
W:
W:"My breast is cold as clay,
W:My breath is earthly strong,
W:And if you kiss my cold clay lips,
W:You days they won't be long."
W:
W:"How oft on yonder grave, sweetheart,
W:Where we were want to walk,
W:The fairest flower that e'er I saw
W:Has withered to a stalk."
W:
W:"When will we meet again, sweetheart,
W:When will we meet again?"
W:"When the autumn leaves that fall from the trees
W:Are green and spring up again."
K:Bb
D|\
E2D G2F|DCD B,3|B3 A2C|C-DE F2F|
B2F G-AB|F-DB, C3|B,2B, E-FG|F-EC B,3|\
B,2B,E-FG| F-EC B,2z||

Alternative sources for this tune:

• trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/mirror/OTIS_Irish_Session/melnets_big_abc_file/14987
• trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/mirror/atrilcoral.com/u-v/0078
• trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/mirror/melnets_big_abc_file/14987
• trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/mirror/melodeon.net/melnets_big_abc_file/14987
• trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/mirror/terra.es/personal8/niltoni/u-v/0078

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