I will go with my father a-ploughing 
To the green field by the sea,
And the rooks and the crows and the seagulls
Will come flocking after me.
I will sing to the patient horses
With the lark in the [white]1 of the air,
And my father will sing the plough-song
That blesses the cleaving share.

I will go with my father a-sowing
To the red field by the sea,
And the rooks and the gulls and the starlings
Will come flocking after me.
I will sing to the striding sowers
With the finch on the [greening]2 sloe,
And my father will sing the seed-song
That only the wise men know.

I will go with my father a-reaping
To the brown field by the sea,
And the geese and the crows and the children
Will come flocking after me.
I will sing to the [tan-faced]3 reapers
With the wren in the heat of the sun,
And my father will sing the scythe song
That joys for the harvest done.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Quilter: "shine"
² Quilter: "flow'ring" (or "flowing", as sung by Lisa Milne)
³ Quilter: "weary"

Text Authorship:

• by Joseph Campbell (1881 - 1944), as Seosamh MacCathmhaoil, "I will go with my father a-ploughing", appears in The Mountainy Singer, first published 1909 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "I will go with my father a-ploughing", 1921, published 1921 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "I will go with my father a-ploughing" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Michael Mulliner (1896? - 1973), "I will go with my father a-ploughing", published 1951 [ tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "I will go with my father a-ploughing", op. 22 no. 1 (1920), published 1921 [ low voice, optional violin and violoncello, and piano ], from Three pastoral songs, no. 1, London, Elkin [sung text checked 2 times]

Researcher for this page: Ross Klatte

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 172