Alas my love you do me wrong

Does anyone out there remember the Let’s Sing! primary school songbooks of the 70s? I have fond memories of the gems contained within their pages: Six Ribbons, Scarborough Fair, Whistling Gypsy, Purple People Eater … and of course Greensleeves. Everyone pretended it was so uncool to be singing these ballads and folk tunes, but secretly we all loved music class. Greensleeves was one of my favourite ballads. I even learned to sing it properly many years later when I was taking singing lessons.

Whilst researching the song’s history I discovered – to my shock! – that one interpretation of its lyrics (according to Wikipedia), is that ‘Lady Green Sleeves was a promiscuous young woman and perhaps a prostitute’.

Apparently, once upon a time, the colour green had sexual connotations, particularly in the phrase ‘a green gown’. A proper young lady had better take a rug with her, because if she innocently sat on the grass to take a breather, she risked a blemish on her reputation as well as her gown. People were likely to assume she’d been making love al fresco!

I wonder if the creator of these frivolous armwarmers properly considered all the ramifications of knitting green sleeves?

~

Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
To cast me off discourteously.
For I have loved you well and long,
Delighting in your company.

Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady greensleeves.