Audio file: John Bolitho Singing An Rosen Wynn – The White Rose in 1991

Open downloadable pdf file:The_White_Rose-An_Rosen_Wynn

Video Link: Sung By St Ives Community Choir at Lowender Peran 2016

The White Rose enjoys considerable popularity in Cornwall, possibly because of the way it lends itself to informal, improvised harmony. It was not noted by any of the early folk song collectors in Cornwall but was certainly well known by the late 1960s when the author first heard it sung at Rowing Club singing sessions at the Sailors Arms in Newquay. At the time of writing it has not been possible to identify an origin but it is likely to have been absorbed into Cornish folk tradition from a music hall song or improvised around a piece of romantic poetry at some stage. A number of variations on the words exist and a Cornish translation by Julyan Holmes was published in Hengan in 1983. The version given here is from the singing of John Bolitho (1930-2005) recorded in Bude  20/09/1991.

See Also
Merv Davey, Hengan, Dyllansow Truran, Redruth, 1983,
Hilary Coleman & Sally Burley, Shout Kernow: Celebrating Cornwall’s Pub Songs, (London, Francis Boutle, 2015).