The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #52029   Message #794819
Posted By: GUEST,Marcia Segal
01-Oct-02 - 12:03 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Yorkla Harlin
Subject: Origins: Yorkla Harlin
First time posting here, FYI. I'm processing a collection of New England folk music, collected ca. 1940s-1950s. One of the lyrics has been given a title by the collector, thus: "Yorkla Harlin." Like other titles in the collection, the collector transcribed what she heard, with the intention of making corrections later. Google and Mudcat searches for other possible variations, such as "York l'Harlene" have panned out. Here is part of the text that I've been able to decipher thus far (from the audio recording)--it's like any number of songs, except I cannot seem to confirm the title or an alternate title.

One morning in May, as I chanced for to [stray?]/just as the day was a-dawning/oh, I spied a lovely maid, and she my heart betrayed/will you marry me my little Yorkla Harlin./Oh, no, no says she, that thing could never be/for I have a [?] darling/his horses and his cows, his oxen, sheep, and sows/and a bird I call my little Yorkla Harlin.

It's a bawdy lyric, along the lines of "Foggy Dew," and probably a regional variant. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!