Mother Goose in love
Part 3: From Mexican love to Scottish love
Perhaps one of the most popular songs in Latino culture is one that compares love to a beautiful Heaven. “Sneaking fast toward his sweetheart, Cielito Lindo, his love extending. Ay, ay, ay, ay, sing, do not sorrow, because while singing you’ll ward off, Cielito Lindo, your grief tomorrow. And if your mother tells you, Cielito Lindo, to lock up the door, move the key in the keyhole, Cielito Lindo and open it more. Ay, ay, ay, ay, sing, do not sorrow, because while singing you’ll ward off, Cielito Lindo, your grief tomorrow. That beauty mark which you have, Cielito Lindo, ‘tis plain to see, belongs to no one other, Cielito Lindo, give it to me. For if a bird abandons, Cielito Lindo, his nest to wander, coming home finds it taken, Cielito Lindo, his heart torn asunder.”
Two other popular love songs include: “Down in the valley, the valley so low, hang your head over, hear the wind blow. Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow. Hang your head over, hear the wind blow. Roses love sunshine, violets love dew. Angels in Heaven know I love you. Know I love you dear, know I love you, angels in Heaven know I love you.”
And also: “In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine, dwelt a miner, fortyniner and his daughter Clementine. Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine, you are lost and gone forever, dreadful sorry, Clementine. Light she was and like a fairy and her shoes were number nine. Herring boxes, without topses, sandals were for Clementine. Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine, you are lost and gone forever, dreadful sorry, Clementine.”
Let us also consider love out on the prairie: “On a prairie that lies behi-datai, datai, data, data, daind us, lived a singer on the plain, singing the sweet songs of mo, mo, moto, mo, mo, mo, moto, mo, -morning, to his darling girl Lenore, Lenore, Lenore, Lenore. On that mountain that is abada, bada, ba, bada, bad, -above us, lived a hunter on the hill, tracking down the little, di, tiddle, diddle, di, tiddle, diddle, dearies, of his darling girl Lenore, Lenore, Lenore, Lenore. Near a river with so much wata, wata, wa, wata, wata, -water, sat a fisher with a hook, catching all a little fish, itty bitty, fish, for his darling girl, Lenore, Lenore, Lenore, Lenore.”
As well as: “Lou, Lou, skip to my Lou. Lou, Lou, skip to my Lou. Lou, Lou, skip to my Lou. Skip to my Lou, my darling. Fly’s in the buttermilk, shoo fly, shoo; Fly’s in the
buttermilk, shoo fly, shoo. Fly’s in the buttermilk, shoo fly, shoo. Skip to my Lou, my darling. Lost my partner, what’ll I do? Lost my partner, what’ll I do? Lost my partner, what’ll I do? Skip to my Lou, my darling. I’ll find another one, a pretty one too. I’ll find another one, a pretty one too. I’ll find another one, a pretty one too. Skip to my Lou, my darling. Lou,”
Love spans the gamut from Christopher Marlowe to Shakespeare to Robert Buns. It spans Mexican English all the way to Scottish English; “Come live with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove, that valleys, groves, hills, and fields, woods, or steepy mountain yields. And we will sit upon the rocks, seeing the shepherds feed their flocks, by shallow rivers to whose falls melodious birds sing madrigals. And I will make thee beds of roses and a thousand fragrant posies, a cap of flowers, and a kirtle embroidered all with leaves of myrtle.”
“If music be the food of love, play on.” Also add: “O my luve’s like a red, red rose, that’s newly sprung in June; O my luve’s like the melodie that’s sweetly played in tune. As fair are thou, my bonnie lass, so deep in luve am I; and I will luve thee still, my dear, ‘til a’ the seas gang dry. ‘til a’ the seas gang dry, my dear, and the rocks melt with the sun: I will luve thee still, my dear, while the sands o’ life shall run. And fare thee well, my only luve! and fare thee well, a while! And I will come again, my luve, though it were ten thousand mile.”