X:1
T:The Famous Flower of Serving Men
B:Martin Carthy: A Guitar in Folk Music
S:Martin Carthy
F:http://www.folkinfo.org/songs
Q:1/4=85
M:9/8
L:1/8
K:Gmix
G|G3/2G/2 GG (A/2G/2F) G2F|DE FG/2G/2 FE/2E/2 E3/2D/2C|
w:My mo-ther did me dea--dly spite, for she sent thieves in the dark of the night; put my
D2G2A3/2G/2 B2d|dd dG (A/2G/2)F G2|]
w:ser-vants all to flight, they robbed my bower they slew_ my knight
W:My mother did me deadly spite, for she sent thieves in the dark of night
W:Put my servants all to flight, they robbed my bower, they slew my knight
W:
W:They couldn't do to me no harm, so they slew my baby in my arm
W:Left me nought to wrap him in but the bloody sheet that he lay in
W:
W:They left me nought to dig his grave but the bloody sword that slew my babe
W:All alone the grave I made, and all alone the tear I shed
W:
W:And all alone the bell I rang, and all alone the psalm I sang
W:I leaned my head all against a block, and there I cut my lovely locks
W:
W:I cut my locks and I changed my name from Fair Eleanor to Sweet William
W:Went to court to serve my king as the famous flower of serving men
W:
W:So well I served my lord the king that he made me his chamberlain;
W:He loved me as his son, the famous flower of serving men
W:
W:And oft time he'd look at me and smile, so swift his heart I did beguile
W:And he blessed the day that I became the famous flower of serving men
W:
W:But all alone in my bed at e'en, there I dreamed a dreadful dream
W:I saw my bed swim with blood, I saw the thieves all around my head
W:
W:Our king has to the hunting gone, he's ta'en no lords nor gentlemen
W:He's left me there to guard his home, the famous flower of serving men
W:
W:Our king he rode the wood all around, he stayed all day but nothing found
W:And as he rode himself alone, it's there he spied the milk-white hind
W:
W:The hind she broke, the hind she flew, the hind she trampled the brambles through
W:First she'd mount, then she'd sound, sometimes before, sometimes behind
W:
W:Oh what is this, how can it be, such a hind as this I ne'er did see
W:Such a hind as this was never born; I fear she'll do me deadly harm
W:
W:And long, long did the great horse turn, for to save his lord from branch and thorn
W:And but long e'er the day was o'er, they tangled all in his yellow hair
W:
W:All in a glade the king drew nigh and the hind shone bright all in his eye
W:He sprang down, sword drew, she vanished there all from his view
W:
W:And all around the grass was green, and all around where a grave was seen
W:And he sat himself all on the stone, great weariness it seized him on
W:
W:Great silence hung from tree to sky, the woods grew still, the sun hung fire
W:As through the wood, the dove he came, as through the wood he made his moan
W:
W:Oh, the dove, he sat down on a stone, so sweet he looked, so soft he sang
W:Alas the day my love became the famous flower of serving men
W:
W:The bloody tears they fell as rain;  still he sat, and still he sang
W:Alas the day my love became the famous flower of serving men
W:
W:Our king cried out, and he wept full sore, so loud unto the dove he did call
W:"Come pretty bird, come sing it plain!"
W:
W:"Oh it was her mother's deadly spite for she sent thieves in the dark of the night
W:They come to rob, they come to slay, they made their sport, they went their way"
W:
W:"And don't you think that her heart was sore, as she laid the mould on his yellow hair
W:And don't you think her heart was woe, as she turned about all away to go"
W:
W:And how she wept as she changed her name from Fair Eleanor to Sweet William
W:Went to court to serve her king, the famous flower of serving men
W:
W:The bloody tears they lay all around, he's mounted up and away he's gone
W:One thought filled his mind, the thought of her that was a man
W:
W:And as he's rode himself alone, a dreadful oath he there has sworn
W:That he would hunt her mother down like he would hunt the wildwood swine
W:
W:For there's four and twenty ladies all, And they're all playing at the ball
W:But fairer than all of them, is the famous flower of serving men
W:
W:Our king rode in, into his hall, and he's rode in among them all
W:He's lifted her to his saddle brim, and there he's kissed her cheek and chin
W:
W:The lords all stood and they stretched their eyes, the ladies took to their fans and smiled
W:For such a strange homecoming, no gentleman had ever seen
W:
W:And he has sent his nobles all, and to her mother they have gone
W:Ta'en her that's did such wrong, they've laid her down in a prison strong
W:
W:And he's brought men up from the corn, and he's sent men down to the thorn
W:All for to build a bonfire high, all for to set her mother by
W:
W:Ah, bonny sang the morning thrush, all where he sat in yonder bush
W:Louder did her mother cry in the bonfire where she burned close by
W:
W:For there she stood all among the thorn, and there she sang her deadly song
W:Alas the day that she became the famous flower of serving men
W:
W:For the fire took first upon her cheek and there it took upon her chin
W:It spat and it sang in her yellow hair, as there she burnt like hokey green