Jon Boden's latest addition to his 'A Folk Song A Day' blog is the Copper family song Shepherd of the Downs.

There doesn't seem to be a Mudcat thread devoted to the song so this is to start things off.

It seems such a classic folk song that its origins as a rather artificial pastoral eclogue have almost completely disappeared. However it was once known as 'The shepherd Adonis', and its transformation into the song 'Shepherd of the Downs' must rank as one of the best folk puns ever, as well as a brilliant example of the "folk process" at work.

Matthew