Well, Paperback, I've been trying to teach Gargoyle manners for over two decades, and it hasn't worked. But hey, he's still entertaining.

On the recording he linked to in the first post, Dick says he didn't know his source, that he had known it for about 30 years. It's become my favorite version on "Foggy Dew."

On Mainly Norfolk, Reinhard Zierke has transcriptions of the song. Using CTRL-F, I found that versions by Martin Carthy and Phil Hammond have "old shack" in the lyrics, and they have other ties to Dick's version. I haven't found any others who use "Ye Banks and Braes" as a melody, but I really like it.

Thread #94598   Message #4098108
Posted By: Joe Offer
17-Mar-21 - 05:28 PM
Thread Name: Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
Subject: ADD Version: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)

I really like this version sung by Dick Miles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLdYamFmM3g

I think the melody he uses is "Ye Banks and Braes of Bonny Doon"

Please let me know of any corrections I need to make. I'll incorporate them, and then delete your post.

THE FOGGY DEW

When I was a bachelor, I lived all alone
And I worked at the weaver’s trade
And the only only thing that I did wrong
Was courting a fair young maid.
I wooed her in the summertime
And also the wintertime too
And many a long night I held her in my arms
To keep her from the foggy dew

When I got so tired of living alone
I unto her did say
I’ve got a little crib in my old shack
Where you can safely lay
You’ll be all right in the summertime
And also the wintertime too
You can lay right warm, away from all harm
Away from the Foggy Dew

Well, I don’t think much of this old shack
And I should lonely be
With only my poor old Cyprus cat
To keep me company
That a cricket singing on the hearth
And what can that thing do?
If the night turns raw and the fire won’t draw
To keep me from the Foggy Dew

Well, one night she came my bedside
When I was fast asleep
She threw her arms around my neck
And bitterly she did weep
She wept, she cried, she damn near died
Poor (?) me, what could I do?
So all night long I held her in my arms
Just to keep her from the foggy dew

Now, come you here and lie by me
And wipe away those tears
And I lifted her shift up over her head
And wrapped it around her ears
She was all right in the summertime
And also the wintertime too
And many a long night I held her in my arms
Just to keep her from the Foggy Dew

Now, lie you still, you pretty young maid
And do not be afraid
For if you want to work with me
You’ll have to learn my trade
I learned her in the summertime
And also the wintertime too
And truth to tell, she learned that well
She saved us from the Foggy Dew

One night I lay there as good as gold
When she unto me did say
I’ve got a little pain that’s hurting me
Where no old (?) pain should be
I was all right in the summertime
And also the wintertime too
But I caught some ill or a kind of a chill
From laying in the Foggy Dew

One night she starts to moan and cry
Says I, What’s up with you?
I would never have been this way at all
If it hadn’t have been for you
So I gets my boots and trousers on
And I gets my neighbor up too
But do what we could, we didn’t do no good
She died in the Foggy Dew

Again I’m a bachelor, I live with my son
And we work at the weaver’s trade
And every time I look into his eyes
He reminds me of that fair young maid
He reminds me of the summertime
And also the wintertime too
And the many, many times I held her in my arms
Just to keep her from the Foggy Dew


Great song, Dick!