Cherry Ripe (song)

The Graphic's chromolithograph of Cherry Ripe (1879) by John Everett Millais (1829-96)

Cherry Ripe is an English song with words by the poet Robert Herrick (1591–1674), and music by Charles Edward Horn (1786–1849) which contains the refrain,

Cherry ripe, cherry ripe,
Ripe I cry,
Full and fair ones
Come and buy.
Cherry ripe, cherry ripe,
Ripe I cry,
Full and fair ones
Come and buy.^[1]

An earlier poem^[2] by Thomas Campion (1567–1620) used the same title Cherry Ripe, and has other similarities.

The song's title has been used in other contexts on a number of occasions since. Its tune has also been appropriated for other uses. The song was popular in the 19th century and in the time of World War I.

In popular culture

• The song "Cherry Ripe" is a recurring theme in John Buchan's World War I spy novel Mr Standfast (1919). It identifies Mary Lamington, a young intelligence officer, who falls in love, mutually, with the hero of the novel, general Richard Hannay.
• Later, the song is mentioned in Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales.
• It is sung by Maud Chapman (played by Hilda Bayley) in the film, Went the Day Well? (1942).
• In the classic British horror film Night of the Demon (1957) (released as Curse of the Demon in North America) the medium uses this song to attain a trance.
• It is heard in the film, Smiley Gets a Gun (1958), sung by Ruth Cracknell's character, Mrs Gaspen.
• It was heard in the 1982 musical comedy film Victor Victoria, sung by Julie Andrews at her character's unsuccessful audition at a nightclub.
• The song is sung by Alice in the opening sequence in the 1999 television movie Alice in Wonderland.

Paintings

Penelope Boothby by Joshua Reynolds

• In 1879 it was adopted by John Everett Millais as the title of his immensely popular painting depicting a young girl with cherries. It was based loosely on Joshua Reynolds's portrait of Penelope Boothby. The painting was reproduced in colour as a chromolithograph by the newspaper The Graphic as a gift with its Christmas edition. The image vastly increased the newspaper's sales.

• A painting by Walter Osborne (1859–1903) of a cherry seller in Ulster also used the title.^[3]

Notes

1. ^ Cherry ripe
2. ^ Campion's Cherry ripe
3. ^ Ulster Museum