Lavender's blue dilly dilly; lavender's green; When I am king dilly dilly; you shall be queen

This was a favourite nursery rhyme of mine - I could never remember any more words than the above. It gave me a safe, cosy feeling - and perhaps contributed to lavender being one of my favourite flowers and smells.

But, as so often with nursery rhmes, there is an interesting history; and the childrens' version is  worn-down from something longer, more complex, and more 'adult'.

Here is the 17th century version - done by one of my favourite 1970s bands: The City Waites. This is superbly arranged, sung and played - and somehow manages to combine the 'bawdy' quality of the original with the sweet innocence of the children's song.