A common theme in Folklore is that of Country Folk and Towns Folk, pitting their wits against one another. It crops up in songs like The Hayseed and The Zebra Dun, and stories such as The Cloud Puncher. Over sixty years ago, one such story was told by an entertainer in Hampshire named Tiny. He told of a Squire who's chickens were getting stolen. He didn't mind too much at first but it eventually got out of hand, and try as he might, he couldn't catch the culprit. Eventually he hired a private detective, who came down from London to investigate. Well this investigator decides to start at the local pub. So he goes in and talks to a couple of guys at the bar. He buys them drinks and eventually brings the conversation around to the chickens. They deny any knowledge of the missing birds, but one of them says "You should ask Old George over there, he knows pretty much all that goes on around here." and points out a grizzled old fellow sitting over in the corner. So, he goes over and talks with George. Of course he starts out by buying him a pint. Just as he manages to turn the conversation around to the missing fowl, George pointedly puts down his empty glass and says "Aaar, I know who 'ad 'em". So our gallant detective does the right thing and gets him a refill, and carries on the conversation. But every time he manages to work in the subject of the chickens, George's empty glass, gets plonked down heavily on the table with the remark ."Aaar, I know who 'ad 'em". Well soon our detective gets annoyed and says "Come on now, WHO HAD THEM". George replies "Aaar, The Squire, 'ee 'ad 'em, but 'ee ain't got 'em now 'as 'ee". Well I got to thinking that as similar stories are not rare; just how many times did folk song collectors run into this problem. You know, a well spoken gentleman goes into a pub and starts asking about folk songs. Soon word gets around and the locals decide on a monumental leg pull. They get together and contrive a ridiculous song, which they pass off to the unsuspecting Townee, as a genuine folk song. It had to have happened, so which song was it?
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