Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)

Subject: RE: origins:the foggy (foggy) dew [bachelor]
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 12:58 AM

I looked through a number of threads and crosslinked all the "foggy" threads to this one. I think I found three basic songs - this "When I Was a Bachelor" one, an Irish rebel one from 1916, and an Irish love song that was sung by John McCormack in 1913. I added to most of the thread names so people could tell which thread discusses which song - but I may be mistaken in some of the renaming. I didn't find any one thread that gives comprehensive information on the "bachelor" song, so maybe this thread would be a good place for it.
-Joe Offer-

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Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry for this particular "Foggy Foggy Dew":

Foggy Dew (I), The (The Bugaboo) [Laws O3]

DESCRIPTION: The singer courts the girl and takes her to bed "to keep her from the foggy dew." In the morning they go their separate ways. In due time the girl bears a son. The further course of the song varies; in some texts he marries her, in some she dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1689 (broadside, EngBdsdBA Pepys 5.250)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction weaving pregnancy bastard
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,Ro,SE,So,SW) Britain(England(Lond),Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Newf,Ont) Australia
REFERENCES (30 citations):
Laws O3, "The Foggy Dew (The Bugaboo)"
GreigDuncan7 1495, "The Foggy Dew" (7 texts, 7 tunes; excludes 1495d)
Reeves-Sharp 33, "The Foggy Dew" (8 texts)
Kidson-Tunes, p. 167, "The Foggy Dew" (1 fragment)
Palmer-ECS, #93, "The Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
RoudBishop #44, "The Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 105, "The Foggy Dew" (4 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 99-101, "The Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 105A)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 257-263, "The Foggy Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cray, pp. 61-64, "The Foggy Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 38, pp. 203-206, "The Boogaboo" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 137, "The Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morris, #84, "The Bugaboo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cambiaire, pp. 57-58, "A Gentleman's Meeting (Down by Yon Riverside" (1 text, which starts out as "Pretty Little Miss" [Laws P18] but ends with 'The Foggy Dew (The Bugaboo)" [Laws O3]; Roud lists it as a version of Laws P18, but it appears that the larger part of the text is O3 -- though the material in the middle could be from either)
Sandburg, pp. 14-15, "Foggy, Foggy Dew"; 460-461, "The Weaver" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Combs/Wilgus 107, pp. 183-184, "The Bugaboo" (1 text)
Hubbard, #53, "Fear of the Buggerboo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 174, "The Foggy Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 43, "The Foggy Dew-I"; 44, "The Foggy Dew-II" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
ThompsonNewYork, pp. 421-422, "The Buggery Boo" (1 text)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 123-125, "The Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 518-519, "Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Ontario 43, "The Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 37-38, "Foggy, Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 83, "The Foggy Dew" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 126-137, "The Foggy Dew" (1 text)
Fireside, p. 32, "The Foggy, Foggy Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 159, "The Foggy, Foggy Dew" (1 text)
BBI, ZN2840, "When first I began to court" (?)
DT 333, FOGGYDEW* FOGGDEW2 FOGGDEW5 BOGLEBO*
Roud #558
RECORDINGS:
Bob Atcher, "Foggy, Foggy Dew" (Columbia 20538, 1949)
Mrs Freeman Bennett and Mr Everett Bennett, "Foggy Dew" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
Phil Hammond, "The Foggy Dew" (on FSB2, FSB2CD)
Bradley Kincaid, "The Foggy Dew" (Decca 12024, n.d.)
A. L. Lloyd, "The Foggy Dew" (on Lloyd3, Lloyd5, Lloyd12)
Pete Seeger, "Foggy Dew" (on PeteSeeger32)
Doug Wallin, "The Foggy Dew" (on Wallins1)
BROADSIDES:
EngBdsdBA 22085, Pepys 5.250, "The Fright'ned York-shire Damosel" or "Fears Dispers'd by Pleasure" ("When first I began to court"), I. Millet (Little-Brittain), 1689, accessed 08 Dec 2013.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sligo Town" (theme, floating lyrics)
cf. "Boodie Bo" (theme and many lines)
NOTES: This ballad should be [called] "The Foggy, Foggy Dew" to distinguish it from the Irish lyric love song "The Foggy Dew."
The original of this ballad is traced to a broadside ballad dating to 1815 in the collection of the antiquarian bookseller John Bell of Newcastle now in the King's College Library. See A.L. Lloyd, Folk Song in England (London, 1967). - EC
It will be observed, however, that the item ZN2840 in the Broadside Index dates to 1689. I have not been able to verify whether this is actually "The Foggy, Foggy Dew" itself or something similar. - RBW
In the very closely related "Boodie Bo" the singer has Boodie Bo dress in white (like a ghost) to frighten the girl he had courted unsuccessfully. When they go to bed and she starts to leave Boodie Bo returns and frightens the girl again. The story continues from there.
Reeves-Sharp #33 is a composite of four texts; the remaining six texts are in the discussion of the ballad on pp. 45-57. Page 45 has a text from Folk Songs from Somerset for which Sharp and Marson note, "Mr Marson has re-written the words, retaining as many lines of Mrs Hooper's song as were desirable." Reeves-Sharp: "In fact no more than six of the twenty-seven lines are more or less as dictated by the two sisters ...." and prints the original.
The Pepys [broadside] entry resolves item ZN2840 in the Broadside Index. This is "The Foggy Dew." The girl is afraid because "on the stairs she saw a spright it was the Bogulmaroo." The usual sexual encounter follows -- "we lay abed next day till ten" -- but they marry the next day "and did her pleasures renew ... ev'ry time she smiles on me I think of Bogulmaroo." The "Boodie Boo" is closer to Pepys than is Laws O3. One feature that both Pepys and "Boodoe Bo" lack is the common "Foggy Dew" verse "All through the first part of the night We did sport and play And through the latter part of that night She in my arms did lay." - BS
Ruth Binney, Nature's Way: lore, legend, fact and fiction, David and Charles, 2006, pp. 244-245, briefly sums up the legends about boggarts and bugaboos: "The bug-a-boo, also called the bodach or bugbear, will, it's said, kidnap naughty children. It comes down the chimney with no warning. Like the boggart, it probably gets its name from the Middle English word bogge, meaning 'terror.'" Yet boggarts are also reported at times to be helpful. That perhaps applies here: The bugaboo got the girl in trouble but the ending is happy. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.1
File: LO03

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2016 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

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We have so many songs named "Foggy Dew" in the Digital Tradition. I particularly like this one and its unusual tune. Wish I knew where it came from. I think it's Carthy - is it?

THE FOGGY DEW

When I was a bachelor, I lived all alone
I followed the roving trade
And the only thing that I ever did wrong
Was I courted a fair young maid.

I courted her for a summer season
And part of the winter too
And many's the night she rolled in my arms
All over the foggy dew

One night as I lay on my bed
As I lay fast asleep
She came to me at my bedside
And bitterly she did weep

She wept, she moaned, she tore her hair
She cried what shall I do
For tonight I'm determined to sleep with you
For fear of the foggy dew

All through the first part of that night
How we did sport and play
And through the second part of that night
She in my arms did lay

And when the daylight did appear
She cried I am undone
Oh hold your tongue you silly young thing
For the foggy dew is gone

Supposing you should have a child
Would make you laugh and smile
And supposing you should have another
Would make you think a while

And supposing you should have another
And another one or two
T'would make you leave off those foolish young tricks
That you played in the foggy dew

I loved that girl with all my heart
I loved her like my life
But in the second part of that year
She became another man's wife

I never told him of her faults
And I never intend to do
Nor of the times she rolled in my arms
All over the foggy dew

recorded by John and Tony on Dark Ships
and Sandy and Caroline Paton
DT #333
Laws O3
@love @courtship
filename[ FOGGYDEW
TUNE FILE: FOGGYDEW
CLICK TO PLAY
DC

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Don't miss the thread on the East Anglian version (click) of this song.

Subject: Lyr Add: I need the lyrics to this song
From: GUEST,Ron Edwards
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 06:24 PM

"When I was a young
man I lived all alone, I worked at the weavers trade. .................
woo a fair young maid. I wooed her in the Summer-time part of the
Winter too, and the only, only thing I did that was wrong, was to shield
her from the foggy. foggy dew." That's it! I will try to research

thanking you all

ron

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FOGGY FOGGY DEW
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 06:27 PM

It is likely in the DT, but I have had trouble finding stuff there of late, so here is one from the www:

THE FOGGY, FOGGY DEW

Now I am a bachelor I live all alone,
I work at the weaver's trade,
And the only, only thing that I ever did wrong,
Was to woo a fair young maid,
I wooed her in the summer time and in the winter too,
And the only thing that I ever did wrong,
Was to shield her from the foggy, foggy dew.

One night as I lay fast asleep,
She came to my bedside,
She laid her head upon my breast and she began to cry,
She sobbed, she sighed, she damn near died,
Oh lord what could I do,
So I took her into bed and I covered up her head,
Just to shield her from the foggy, foggy dew.

Now I am a bachelor, I live with my son,
We work at the weaver's trade,
And every, every time that I look into his eyes,
He reminds me of that fair young maid,
He reminds of the summertime and of the winter too,
And the only, only time that I held her in my arms,
Just to shield her from the foggy, foggy dew.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I need the lyrics to this song
From: Big Mick
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 06:28 PM

Ron, the song you want is HERE.

Welcome to the Mudcat. There is a search engine on the Forum homepage. Consider being a member. We would love to have you.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I need the lyrics to this song
From: Big Mick
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 06:41 PM

Ron, to further illustrate, if you scroll up to the top of this page, you will find a Lyrics and Knowledge search box. You will find lyrics or discussions of songs (as well as many other things) by typing some keywords and searching. In your case I just typed "foggy, foggy dew". I also unchecked the Forum box, as I knew it would be in the DT, which stands for Digital Tradition. This is an online database which contains the lyrics to thousands of songs. If you left the Forum box checked, you would also get references to any discussions we have had.

Membership is easy, and allows you to receive Personal Messages, referred to as PM's.

If you were to go to the Forum Home page, you will note there are two sections. The top half is strictly music discussion. The bottom section is for any discussion you would like, from current events to religion vs science to William Shatner.

Come on board. We would love to have you.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I need the lyrics to this song
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 06:44 PM

Try not to believe Mick about Shatner. Shatner had a well-attended funeral here a few months ago. But welcome to Mudcat. Hope you join. BTW, if you do, I may have a few suggestions for you regarding ways to use Google to find songs. Take care and welcome.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I need the lyrics to this song
From: GUEST,ron edwards
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 06:55 PM

thank you all again from the bottom of my heart

how can I become a member

'Lean ar aghaidh'

ron

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I need the lyrics to this song
From: Big Mick
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 06:59 PM

Ron, scroll to the top of the page. Just below the words Mudcat Cafe, you will see a row which begins with "Lyrics & Knowledge". Go straight to the right and you will see the word "Membership". Click the link, fill in the blanks, and there you go.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I need the lyrics to this song
From: kendall
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 07:16 PM

I read somewhere that the "Foggy Dew" was actually a gang of highway men.

Subject: RE: I need the lyrics to this song-Foggy Dew
From: Lighter
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 01:11 PM

Famous Poet Robert Graves claimed it was "really" about the Black Death.

It's a shame how people had to sing in code back then....

Subject: RE: I need the lyrics to this song-Foggy Dew
From: Kaleea
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 01:18 PM

Guest, Ron--
Mudcatters have helped me find info numerous times. Come on back & visit us again!

Subject: RE: I need the lyrics to this song-Foggy Dew
From:
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 11:25 PM

Also, when the title of the song is known, you can also browse the songs which started with F.

Subject: RE: I need the lyrics to this song-Foggy Dew
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 14 Sep 06 - 08:24 PM

I'll bite--Ron, now you got 'em, whatcha gonna do wid 'em? (Welcome aboard)         Tw

Subject: RE: I need the lyrics to this song-Foggy Dew
From: Gypsy
Date: 14 Sep 06 - 10:10 PM

I love this song........was one me darling mither would sing. Glad to see it refreshed, good memories.......

Subject: Lyr Add: FOGGY DEW (from Bodleian)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Mar 09 - 11:10 PM

I had a tough time deciding which thread to add this to!

From the Bodleian Library allegro Catalogue of Ballads, Harding B 11(394) "between 1819 and 1844":


FOGGY DEW.

Printed and sold by J, Pitts, Wholesale Toy and Marble Warehouse, 6, Great St. Andrew Street, Seven Dials; Sold also by T. Goodwin, 204, White Chapel Road, near the London Hospital.

[1] When I was a batchelor, early and young,
I followed the weaving trade,
And all the harm ever I had done,
Was courting a servant maid;
I courted her the summer season,
And part of the winter too,
And many a night I rolled her in my arms
All over the foggy dew.

[2] One night as I lay on my bed,
As I laid fast asleep,
There came a pretty fair maid,
And most bitterly she did weep,
She wept, she mourned, she tore her hair—
Crying, alas what shall I do,
This night I'm resolved to come to bed with you,
For fear of the Foggy dew.

[3] It was in the first part of the night
We both did sport and play,
And in the latter part of the night,
She slept in my arms till day.
When broad day-light did appear,
She cried I am undone.
Hold your tongue you foolish girl
The foggy dew is done.

[4] Suppose that we should have a child,
It would cause us to smile;
Suppose that we should have another,
It would make us laugh awhile;
Suppose that we should have another,
And another one too;
It would make you leave off your foolish trick,
And think no more of the foggy dew.

[5] I love this young girl dearly,
I loved her as my life;
I took this girl and married her,
And made her my lawful wife;
I never told her of her faults,
Nor never intend to do,
But every time she winks or smiles
I think of the foggy dew.


[Another version, Harding B 11(2691), seems to have been cleaned up a bit.]

Subject: ADD Version: The Foggy Foggy Dew (Sandburg)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Jun 10 - 01:05 AM

FOGGY, FOGGY DEW

When I was a bach'lor, I lived by myself,
I worked at the Weaver's trade;
The only, only thing I did that was wrong
Was to woo a fair young maid.
I wooed her in the winter-time,
And in the summer, too;
And the only, only thing I did that was wrong,
Was to keep her from the foggy, foggy dew.

Oh, I am a bach'lor, I live with my son;
We work at the weaver's trade;
And ev'ry single time I look into his eyes,
He reminds me of the fair young maid.
He reminds me of the winter-time
And of the summer too;
And the many, many times that I held her in my arms,
Just to keep her from the foggy, foggy dew.

Source: Carl Sandburg, American Songbag (1927), page 14-15

Sandburg's notes: This arrangement is from a song rather widely known, which I heard first from Arthur Sutherland and his bold buccaneers at the Eclectic Club of Wesleyan University. A middle verse is censored from this version as being out of key and probably an interpolation. At least, it is what they call apocryphal and of the twilight zone. Observers as diverse as Sinclair Lewis, Sherwood Anderson, Arthur T. Vance, and D.W. Griffith say this song is a great condensed novel of real life. After hearing it sung with a guitar at Schlogl's one evening in Chicago, D.W. Griffith telegraphed two days later from New York to Lloyd Lewis in Chicago, "Send verses Foggy Dew stop tune haunts me but am not sure of words stop plead do this as I am haunted by the song."

Interesting notes.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew [bachelor]
From: Deckman
Date: 26 Jun 10 - 02:34 AM

YES Joe ... quite interesting notes! bob(deckman)nelson

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Nov 15 - 07:17 PM

My father used to sing a much shorter version of this, in which it was much clearer that it was an extramarital relationship, and which included the line "She wept, she cried, she damn near died, she said, "Oh, what can I do?"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 09 Nov 15 - 05:13 AM

A version caught on, in 1940s-50s iirc, of one of Benjamin Britten's imo much over-arranged concert-style folk adaptations, operatically rendered by Peter Pears, with tune possibly by Britten himself: probably the one mentioned in OP & following post. Harry Cox's more earthy version, with the "damn near died" bit, sung to a tune v similar to Ye Banks & Braes of Bonny Doone, was generally preferred in folk circles in UK.

≈M≈

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew
From: Lighter
Date: 09 Nov 15 - 08:32 AM

As I recall, Pears's tune was the same as the usual American tune, given by Carl Sandburg in 1927.

Sandburg actually has two tunes and texts, both bowdlerized.

Hard to believe "The Foggy, Foggy Dew" was once thought to be a partially unprintable song, but it was showing up - with "the damn near died" line - in _sub rosa_ drinking song collections into the 1960s.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew
From: Amos
Date: 09 Nov 15 - 05:19 PM

Burl Ives recounts being harassed by sheriffs about it, being a "dirty" song. How times have changed!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew
From: Dave Sutherland
Date: 09 Nov 15 - 05:45 PM

While I agree with Mike's description of the Britten/Pears version I have to say that back in the day, too young to get into folk clubs and nothing like the amount of recorded British folk music available, it was my introduction to Traditional British folksong.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew
From: GUEST,Malcolm Storey
Date: 09 Nov 15 - 09:04 PM

Just my twopennorth.

Both Damien Barber and Graham Moore have IMO recorded superb versions of this.

That said there are probably hundreds of variations either more or less risque out there.

Just hunt around.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 04:06 AM

Re the "Doggy Doggy Few" spoonerism: I seem to remember a sketch item with that title & theme in one of the popular early-50s revues, with Joan Heal, Dora Bryan, Graham Payn et al, at the Lyric Hammersmith that went into the West End: The Lyric Revue, followed by The Globe Revue [The Globe being the Aldwych theatre to which the first version transferred]. The Britten/Pears version was at height of popularity at the time. Can't remember much about the sketch, which struck me as somewhat facile; but just record it on this thread for phenomenological interest.

Of further folk interest, BTW, is that Sydney Carter's superb 'The Youth Of The Heart' had its première in the first, and was affectionately sent up (presumably, one hopes, with his blessing -- or at least consent!) in the second.

≈M≈

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 05:49 AM

Youth Of The Heart, mentioned above, written in collaboration with Donald Swann, I believe; and included by him & Michael Flanders as part of their "Drop of a Hat" series of entertainments.

≈M≈

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: GUEST,Christopher Thomas
Date: 05 Sep 17 - 10:43 AM

Mudcatters might enjoy a short story inspired by this song on my website: Broadsidestories.net/The Foggy Foggy Dew

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 05 Sep 17 - 01:01 PM

short story, clicky http://www.broadsidestories.net/the-foggy-foggy-dew.html


~~~~
btw Christopher, I don't know if weebly gives you a choice of font size or page layout but I'm afraid I found the line length on your story page too long for my old eyes.
https://pearsonified.com/2011/12/golden-ratio-typography.php

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 05 Sep 17 - 02:00 PM

["~~~~
btw Christopher, I don't know if weebly gives you a choice of font size ..."
I meant to link to
http://practicaltypography.com/line-length.html

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: The Sandman
Date: 05 Sep 17 - 05:54 PM

how i miss, mgm lion

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FOGGY DEW
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 06 Sep 17 - 03:01 AM

I must say I find the 'popular' version of this song a bit ham-fisted
The one I still sing is the one from the Hammond collection which, while still maintaining its erotic nature, handles the sly sensitivity perfectly, humourous without being ribald

THE FOGGY DEW

When I was a bachelor, airy and young
I followed the rovin' trade
And the only harm I ever done wrong
Was to court a servant maid
I courted her in the summer season
And part of the winter too
And the only harm that I ever done wrong
Was to keep her from the foggy dew, dew, dew,
Was to keep her from the foggy dew.

One night as I lay in my bed
A-taking of my sleep
She came and stood by my bedside
And most bitterly she did weep
She sobbed and sighed and tore her hair
And cried, What shall I do
For this night I've resolved to sleep with you
For fear of the foggy dew, dew, dew
For fear of the foggy dew

'Twas in the first part of the night
We did sport and play
And in the second part of the night
She in my arms did lie
And when we woke on the next day's morning
She cried, I am undone
Ah hold your tongue, you silly young wench
For the foggy dew has gone, gone, gone
For the foggy dew has gone

Now supposing you should have a child
'Twould make you laugh and smile
Supposing you should have another
'Twould make you think awhile
Supposing you should have another
And another and another one too
'Twould make you leave off your foolish young pranks
And think of the foggy dew

Now I loved this girl with all my heart
I loved her right through my life
And in the second part of the year
I took her for my wife
I never told her of all my faults
Yet never intend to do
But every time she winks and smiles
We think of the foggy dew, dew, dew, dew

I always enjoy the reaction of audiences when you introduce it as 'The Foggy Dew' and they expect the "Easter Morn" one - worked a charm several times last year during the Easter Week commemorations
We recorded another song under the same title from veteran Clare fiddle player, Junior Crehan, back in the nineties

THE FOGGY DEW
Martin Junior Crehan Bonavilla, Mullagh
Recorded in the singer's home, September 1992
Carroll Mackenzie Collection

Oh, the sun shone on high, when l bade my love good bye.
As she went forth in exile to a far-off land.
And l smiled for her sake, though my heart fit to break
Sank in dark, doom despair as l clasped her hand.
Then l sighed for the rain, against the window pane.
And the cold dark blast of the wintry wind.
Through the long silent years of my hopes and my fears.
For the blue sky would bring my sad grief to mind.

But when twilight falls, oft' I'd dream that she calls.
And the rich, soft music of the voice I love
Makes the dusk grow bright, and the dark haze night
Glow with heavenly light like the stars above.
And when I wandered through, the dimmed foggy dew
That falls o'er the hills when the sunbeams wane.
Sure I know that at last, when the mists are all past.
That we'll meet to be parted ne'er again.

But when twilight falls, oft' I'd dream that she calls.
And the rich, soft music of the voice l love
Makes the dusk grow bright, and the dark haze night
Glow with heavenly light like the stars above.
And when I wandered through, the dimmed foggy dew
That falls o'er the hills when the sunbeams wane.
Sure l know that at last, when the mists are all past.
That we'll meet to be parted ne'er again.

Conversation between Junior Crehan, Pat Mackenzie and Jim Carroll: Before the song:
Pat: You mentioned The Foggy Dew' the other night. Do you have it all? Junior: l haven't the one about Dublin, but I have a small, shorter 'Foggy Dew'.

After the song:
Jim: Lovely. Where did you have that from?
Junior: Oh, l heard that and I going to school.
Jim: I never heard that.
Junior: Didn't you? It's called 'The Foggy Dew' but there's another one:

High over Dublin Town, they hung out the flag of war.
Better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sud-El-Bar.

"This song was written by Alfred Percival Graves and published in his 'Irish Songs and Ballads' in 1880.
Junior says he learned it when he was at school. It has nothing whatever to do with the erotic English song of the same name, nor the Irish song celebrating Easter Week 1916.
It is highly likely that the attributed author of the Easter Week 'Foggy Dew', Canon Charles O'Neill (1887-1963), borrowed 'Graves' evocative title as a 'calm before the storm' scene-setter.
The English title is said to be a corruption of 'bugaboo*, the old term for the ghost that the gullible young woman is invited to hide from, under the young man's blankets."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: GUEST,Ch
Date: 18 Sep 17 - 10:41 AM

Thanks for the tip, Freddy Headey. I'll look at it!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: The Sandman
Date: 18 Sep 17 - 03:47 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLdYamFmM3g
a different version yet again

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: GUEST,Some bloke slightly Musketish
Date: 20 Sep 17 - 01:20 PM

Somewhat disturbed and at the same time delighted that I sing the same version as Jim Carroll.

I'll be wearing my trousers up to my tits next....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: Lighter
Date: 26 Jun 20 - 09:24 PM

The Torchlight (Oxford, N.C.) (July 22, 1878) :

“Covering to protect his nominating friends from the foggy, foggy dew.”

Marion County [Kans.] Independent (Sept. 27, 1883) : “Or did they get lost in the foggy, foggy dew?”

Times-Picayune (N.O.) (Nov. 13, 1886) : “He was on this occasion left out in the foggy, foggy dew.”

Duluth Daily News (Oct. 4, 1887) [ref. to ca1875]: “Noyes…had a habit of singing and dancing (he weighed over 225 pounds) …’She never said a word when I took her in my arms, just to kape her from the foggy, foggy dew.’”

J. Wallace Hoff, Two Hundred Miles on the Delaware River (Trenton, N.J.: Brandt Press, 1893) : “Outside, the ‘foggy foggy dew’ was slowly drifting up stream, blown by a faint breeze.”

The Morning News (Wilmington, Del.) (Aug. 23, 1901) : “To keep you ‘from the boggy, foggy dew.’”

Bonus:
Salina [Kans.] Semi-Weekly Journal (March 15, 1889) p.1:

        Blow the winds of Kansas,        
        Blow the winds, hi ho,
        Blow away the foggy dew,
        And blow, winds, blow.

Subject: ADD Version: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Jun 20 - 09:06 PM

Here's a version I heard sung by a guy named Mike Sands. Anybody know where it might be fropm?


FOGGY, FOGGY DEW

When I was a bachelor, I lived all alone
I worked at the weaver’s trade
And the only only thing I did that was wrong
Was to woo a fair young maid
I wooed her in the wintertime, and in the summer too
And the only only thing I did that was wrong
Was to keep her from the foggy foggy dew

One night she knelt close by my side
When I was fast asleep
She threw her arms around my neck
And then began to weep
She wept, she cried, she damn near died
Ah me what I could do
So jump into my bed my pretty girl I said
And I’ll keep you from the foggy foggy dew

In the beginning of the year
She grew paler in the face
And by the end of the year
She grew bigger in the waist
I never threw it up to her
Oh no, that I would never do
But every single time I heard that baby cry
I cursed the foggy foggy dew

Now again I’m a bachelor I live with my son
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 winter, and the summer too
And of the many times I had her in my bed
Just to keep her from the foggy foggy dew.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: Reinhard
Date: 28 Jun 20 - 07:22 AM

First and last verse are from Carl Sandburg, American Songbag (1927), page 14-15, they were posted in
Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew [bachelor] in 2010.

The other verses can be piecewise found in other versions; verse 2 is quite similar to Phil Hammond in Songs of Seduction; verse 3 is somewhat similar to Shirley Collins. But I haven't found an exact match yet.

And googling for Foggy Dew and Mike Sands yields quite another song, the 1916 Easter uprising song The Foggy Dew (Roud 973), sung by Michael Sands on the 1996 album Folk Songs - Story Songs - Part One on the KPM label.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 28 Jun 20 - 10:30 AM

Bob Roberts used to do "the Suffolk version": some differences in the words and an entirely different tune in 3/4 time.
Found it on YouTube!
Foggy Dew: Bob Roberts

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 28 Jun 20 - 11:32 AM

The song appeared in print for the first time in America in 1927.

Sandburg printed two versions with tunes, and Frank Shay's "My Pious Friends and Drunken Companions" has a text (no tune) with the "damn near died" line.

Subject: ADD Version: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Mar 21 - 05:28 PM

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!

Subject: RE: Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: GUEST,#
Date: 17 Mar 21 - 05:54 PM

Nice one, Dick.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: The Sandman
Date: 17 Mar 21 - 06:42 PM

Surplice cap.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: Lighter
Date: 17 Mar 21 - 09:08 PM

That extended version was recorded by Peter Kennedy in 1952. Of the singer, Kennedy writes in the notes to the LP "Songs of Seduction":

"Major Philip Hammond was a typical military bilingual speaker with an ability to 'talk posh' on one hand and use the King’s English on parade, but amongst his fellow countrymen in the tavern he could converse in his own native Norfolk dialect. He claimed to have learned this version from a local tree feller. Since he could not remember the woodsman’s tune, he used the one popularised by Burl Ives and Benjamin Britten."

Hammond sang "Cyprus cat," not any kind of a "cap," to keep him company.

I'm not aware of any other similar text collected from tradition.

Subject: ADD The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: GUEST,Nick Dow
Date: 18 Mar 21 - 05:52 AM

Here is the version I collected in Broadwindsor 1985. The tune is the RVW Peter Pears tune. The singer was Dick Corbett. He sang three verses in public, and gave me most of the others the day after, because he thought they were too miserable to sing in the pub!

FOGGY DEW

Now I am a bachelor I lives by my self,
And I work and the weavers trade,
The only thing I ever done wrong
was to woo me a fair young maid.
I wooed her in the summertime, part of the winter too,
And the only thing I ever done wrong,
Was to save her from the Foggy Dew.


One night as I lay on my bed
As I was fast asleep,
She came that night to my bedside
    and bitter she did weep.
She wept, she cried, she damn near died,
Says I what can I do?
So I took her into bed and I covered up her head,
To save her from the Foggy Dew.

In the first part of that night,
    how we did sport and play,
and in the second part of that night
She in me arms did lay.
When broad daylight did appear,
She cried "I am undone!"
"Oh hold your tongue, you silly young fool,
the old Foggy dew is gone!"

"Now when will you come on me love,
when will the child come on?"
"When the winter leaves turn to green
    the summer ones come on."
When nine long months were gone and past,
I cried "What can I do?"
For as she begun to bear my son,
She died from that Foggy Dew.

Well I'm still a bachelor, and I lives with me son,
And I work at the Weavers trade.
Every time I look into his eyes,
He reminds me of that fair young maid.
He reminds me in the summertime,
And part of the winter to.
Of the many many times I held her in my arms,
To save her from the Foggy Foggy Dew.


Dick said the Foggy Dew was some sort of Ghost.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: The Sandman
Date: 19 Mar 21 - 04:13 AM

well i suppose surplice cap and cypreus cat both make sense, perhaps i misheard all those years ago, but what would a cyprus cat be doing in norfolk in those days

Subject: RE: Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Mar 21 - 05:49 AM

I have a version of this on vinyl, sung by Robert Tear with Philip Ledger on piano, the Britten arrangement.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: Lighter
Date: 19 Mar 21 - 10:34 AM

From Harrison William Weir's "Our Cats and All About Them" (1889):

"I was rather unprepared to learn that in Norfolk and Suffolk [a tabby] is called a Cyprus cat. 'Why Cyprus cat?' quoth I. 'I do not know,' said my informant."

Weir soon discovered that "Cyprus" was the a kind of cloth "made of silk and hair, showing wavy lines in it, and coming from Cyprus."

Subject: RE: Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: The Sandman
Date: 19 Mar 21 - 10:59 AM

okay so i must have misheard,cyprus cat it is then, thanks

Subject: RE: Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: The Sandman
Date: 19 Mar 21 - 01:50 PM

i was talking to someone born and bred in norfolk and they confirmed cyprus cat was a term used for a tabby cat round about the early1950s and would have been used by earlier generations,but is a dialect term not used much these days, thanks for putting me right lighter, a fairly good mondegreen that one

Subject: RE: Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: Lighter
Date: 19 Mar 21 - 02:49 PM

Don't mention it!

"Cyprus cat" was in print so early as 1806, when it was defined as a Russian blue, "much cultivated in Siberia."

So there was some difference of opinion - except about the "cat" part.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Foggy Foggy Dew (bachelor)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Mar 21 - 08:09 PM

As usual, Reinhard's page on "Foggy Dew" is terrific:

https://mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/songs/thefoggydew.html