The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #61804 Message #995368
Posted By: Malcolm Douglas
01-Aug-03 - 08:05 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: mistress and a whore
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: mistress and a whore
There are quite a few possibilities. For a start, have a look at The Bedmaking. Although the DT file doesn't name any traditional source, the version given there is basically the one that the Hammond brothers got from Mrs Marina Russell of Upwey, Dorset, in 1907 (tune) and George Udall (Halstock, Dorset) and Benjamin Arnold (Easton, Hampshire) (text) in 1906. The collation was published in Frank Purslow, The Wanton Seed, EFDS London, 1968. The DT transcription is pretty accurate, though it exhibits the odd tendency, common among people who transcribe lyrics from records made by professional "revival" performers (as opposed to traditional singers) of mistaking accent for dialect, and insisting on rendering words like "myself" as "meself", under the impression that it's somehow more authentic.
Of course, you may be looking for a completely different song, and my comments may be completely irrelevant. Do let us know.