L for Lavender
HERE is a pretty site to find out about all the wonderful pleasures Lavender can bring you, - its fragrance, its use in cooking, in aromatherapy, in cosmetics, and just making you feel you're pampered and in heaven.
And while you're there listen to this lovely song, sung by Burl Ives. It will stir your imagination and send you to wander in days gone by amid the romance of your grandparent's era.
And here are some lyrics from days gone by that are slightly more risque than the modern version of 'Lavender's blue, dilly dilly"
Lavender's blue, diddle diddle
Lavender's green,
When I am king, diddle diddle
You shall be queen.
Lavender's green, diddle diddle
Lavender's blue,
You must love me, diddle diddle
'Cause I love you.
Down in the vale, diddle diddle
Where flowers grow,
And the birds sing, diddle diddle
All in a row.
A brisk young man, diddle diddle
Met with a maid,
And laid her down, diddle diddle
Under the shade.
There they did play, diddle diddle
And kiss and court.
All the fine day, diddle diddle
Making good sport.
I've heard them say, diddle diddle
Since I came hither
That you and I, diddle diddle
Might lie together.
Therefore be kind, diddle diddle
While here we lie,
And you will love, diddle diddle
My dog and I.
For you and I, diddle diddle
Now all are one,
And we will lie, diddle diddle
No more alone.
Lavender's blue, diddle diddle
Lavender's green,
Let me be king, diddle diddle
You be the queen.
Lavender's green, diddle diddle
Lavender's blue,
You must love me, diddle diddle
'Cause I love you.
Edward Rutherford, author of London, linked the song to the environs of London where in the 17th-century London lavender was cultivated for perfume.**
An enchanting fragrance.....
3 comments:
Lavender is so wonderful. They grow it quite a bit up in the Pacific Northwest. I invite you to come see my 10,000 year old lake water. - Margy
I went to Provence to see the lavender fields and was too early to see them in bloom.
I know the poem you quote although here in UK we say "dilly, dilly" rather than Diddle. It is also set to music as a children's Nursery Rhyme.
Oh my head knows this song by heart but I don't know why, it must be deep in my childhood. We sang it dilly dilly too. Mr. Ives lived just up state from us and I always pictured myself sitting on his porch listening to him sing and play. Sad when he left us!
Now take a deep breath and see if you can smell purple!
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