Green Gravel is an English singing game and folk song. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 1368.

"Green Gravel"
Song
Publishedc. 1835
GenreSinging game
Songwriter(s)Unknown

Lyrics and performance

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The version collected in Manchester in 1835:

Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green
The fairest young damsel that was ever seen
O Mary, O Mary, your true love is dead
He sent you a letter to turn around your head...[1]

The players joined hands and walk around in a ring. At the end of the text, one person is named and then stays in the ring but faces outwards; the song begins again and a different person is named at the end, then taking their place in the centre.[2] Lucy Broadwood and J. A. Fuller Maitland recorded in their 1893 book English County Songs that Green Gravel was a dramatic representation of mourning.[3]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Opie, I.; Opie, P. (1985). The Singing Game. Oxford University Press. pp. 239–242.
  2. ^ Simpson, J.; Roud, S. (2000). "Green Gravel". A Dictionary of English Folklore.
  3. ^ "Green Gravel". Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music. Retrieved 17 December 2020.