trad
Nancy Kerr assembled this version from "less well-known versions of this archetypal gardener-as-lover song, based around a melody collected by Ella Mary Leather in Weobley, Herefordshire."
The Melrose Quartet: https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/the-seeds-of-love
I sowed the seeds of love It was all in the spring
In April May and in June likewise
While small birds they do sing (x2)
My garden was planted well With flowers everywhere
But I hadn’t the liberty to choose for myself
The flowers that I loved dear
My gardener he stood by And I asked him to choose for me
He chose me the violet the lily and the pink
But those I refused all three
In June there’s a red rose bud And that’s the flower for me
For often have I plucked at the red rose bud
Til I gained the willow tree
Come all you false young men Don’t leave me to complain
For grass that has often been trampled underfoot
Given time it will rise again