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Clifton Grove
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THE trees in Clifton Grove were planted about 1740, and although they have suffered much during the passage of a couple of centuries the Grove still provides a beautiful sylvan walk which, although still much beloved by Nottingham people, is perhaps not so popular as it was a generation or two ago.
It has its own legend of the Fair Maid of Clifton, who was punished for her faithlessness to an absent lover, by being dragged by a demon to a watery grave in the swiftly flowing Trent beneath its overhanging branches. The story is set forth by Kirke White in a lengthy poem.
But the Grove has pleasanter memories than those of Margaret and her Bateman, for our grandfathers and grandmothers did much of their courting under its shade, and their gaiety was assisted by itinerant fiddlers and songsters, of whom Jimmy Tongue is one of the best remembered.
The late Mr. T. Hammond preserved the words and music of one of Jimmy Tongue’s most popular songs, and here it is, though how the words can be made to fit into the music is a mystery hard of solution !
CLIFTON GROVE.
By James Tongue.
| There is a place near Nottingham its three miles up the Trent, | And when I’ve got unto the top, it’s more entrancing still, |
| And when I takes any rambles not, it is my full intent | For on the left is Ruddington, likewise there’s Wilford Hill, |
| And over the Wilford Ferry to go, and up the river side, | And on the right is Wollaton All, a very lovely view, |
| Until I come to that beautiful place, the far-famed Clifton Grove. | And down below too there is the railway, likewise too there’s Beeston. |
| Refrain:– | Refrain:– |
| Clifton Grove, sweet Clifton Grove, | Clifton Grove, sweet Clifton Grove, |
| A beautiful walk is Clifton Grove. | A beautiful walk is Clifton Grove. |
| And as I’m going up the hill what beauties does untold, | And now I most bid you all adieu, likewise the walnut trees, |
| The beech nut trees, the chestnut trees, the hawthorn blossom too | And tech my journey back again, an leave you all behind, |
| Their fragrance is delightful as I gaze upon the scene, | An down the Penza’s path I’ll go, down by the silvery stream, |
| And it’s that which fills me with sweet delight, when walking in the Grove. | An down along by the stout greenwood shade, down by the Clifton Grove. |
| Refrain :— | Refrain:– |
| Clifton Grove, sweet Clifton Grove, | Clifton Grove, sweet Clifton Grove, |
| A beautiful walk is Clifton Grove. | A beautiful walk is Clifton Grove |