Early One Morning

[1] A broadside ballad sheet in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, dated between 1828 and 1829 [2] has the title "The Lamenting Maid" and refers to the lover leaving to become a sailor.

I have heard Early one morning sung by servants who came from Leeds, from Hereford and from Devonshire, and by others from parts nearer to London.

Through yonder grove by the spring that is running,There you and I have so merrily played,Kissing and courting and gently sporting,Oh, my innocent heart you've betrayed.

The melody was also adapted by Sir Francis Vivian Dunn as a military slow march called "The Globe and Laurel", created for the Band of the Royal Marines in 1935.

The melody was used for many years as the opening theme music for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation children's TV series, The Friendly Giant, and was performed by star Bob Homme on recorder at the end of every episode.

[5] In Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), "Early One Morning" is played in the background as the tale of Sir Launcelot begins.

[7] "Early One Morning" is used as a plot device in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7, Episode 8, "Sleeper," where the First Evil uses the song as a trigger to turn re-ensouled Spike back into a killer.