I just saw Archie a few weeks ago at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and I don't recall him singing that song there. I couldn't find the lyrics, but here's some stuff I did find....

- Al

Here's a link to an article in The Daily Barnacle, a small newspaper in British Columbia.

Fisher found inspiration in Annie Proulx's The Shipping News. In the book, Proulx wrote, "There are four women in every man's heart." When Fisher wrote and asked if the statement was a true proverb, Proulx replied, "It is now because I wrote it." Fisher sang about the maid in the meadow, the demon lover, the stout-hearted woman, and the tall quiet woman. Fisher noted that in English love songs, there are happy endings, but in Scottish love songs, love is unrequited.

The actual quote from "Shipping News":

"Used to say there was four women in every man's heart. The Maid in the Meadow, the Demon Lover, The Stouthearted Woman, the Tall and Quiet Woman. It was just a thing he said. I don't know what it means. I don't know where he got it."

- Billy Pretty to Quoyle, quoting his father William Ankle , from E. Annie Proulx, Shipping News

This Pulitzer Prize winning book follows a third-rate American newspaperman's redemption and rebirth in Newfoundland.