Bredon Hill

In summertime on Bredon
The bells they sound so clear;
Round both the shires they ring them
In steeples far and near,
A happy noise to hear.

Here of a Sunday morning
My love and I would lie,
And see the coloured counties,
And hear the larks so high
About us in the sky.

The bells would ring to call her 
In valleys miles away;
"Come all to church, good people;
Good people come and pray."
But here my love would stay.

And I would turn and answer
Among the springing thyme,
"Oh, peal upon our wedding,
And we will hear the chime,
And come to church in time."

But when the snows at Christmas
On Bredon top were strown,
My love rose up so early
And stole out unbeknown
And went to church alone.

They tolled the one bell only,
Groom there was none to see,
The mourners followed after,
And so to church went she,
And would not wait for me.

The bells they sound on Bredon,
And still the steeples hum,
"Come all to church, good people." -
O noisy bells, be dumb;
I hear you, I will come.

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) , "Bredon Hill", from A Shropshire Lad, no. 21, published 1896

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

by George Sainton Kaye Butterworth (1885-1916) , "Bredon Hill", published 1912 [voice and piano], from Bredon Hill and other songs, no. 1.
by John Woods Duke (1899-1984) , "Bredon Hill", published 1934. [voice and piano]
by Alan Gray (1855-1935) , "Bredon Hill", published 1936. [baritone and piano]
by Janet Hamilton , "In summertime on Bredon", published 1919. [high voice and piano]
by Julius Allan Greenway Harrison (1885-1963) , "Bredon Hill", published 1942. [rhapsody: violin and orchestra or piano]
by Reginald T. Johnson (1941-) , "In summertime on Bredon", published 1939. [SATB a cappella]
by (Gerald) Graham Peel (1878-1937) , "In summertime on Bredon", alternate title: "Bredon Hill", published 1911. [voice and piano]
by John Raynor (1909-1970) , "Bredon Hill", published 1971 [voice and piano], from Eleven Songs, no. 11.
by Sir Hugh Stevenson Roberton (1874-1952) , "In summertime on Bredon", published 1931. [men's chorus a cappella]
by Sir Arthur Somervell (1863-1937) , "In summertime on Bredon", published 1904 [voice and piano], from A Shropshire Lad, no. 4.
by Freda Swain (1902-) , "Bredon Hill"
by Douglas J. Twigg , "Bredon Hill", published 1936. [SATB and piano]
by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) , "Bredon Hill", 1908-9, published 1911, rev. 1946 [tenor, piano, and string quartet ad lib], from On Wenlock Edge, no. 5.
by S. (Samuel?) Ward-Casey , "Bredon Hill", published 1936. [voice and piano]
by Dalhousie James Young (1866-1921) , "Bredon Hill", published 1905. [voice and piano]

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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