''An Awhesyth'', Cornish ( Kernewek) for "The Lark", is a traditional Cornish folk song. In

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, a version of this song exists called " The Lark in the Morning", and a similar song in English goes under the title "The Pretty Ploughboy" (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

151). The song was collected by Rev.

Sabine Baring-Gould Sabine Baring-Gould ( ; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,2 ...

, and appeared in his collection of '' Songs of the West''. The song was collected from an 81-year-old pub owner.''An Awhesyth''
at an-daras.com, accessed Feb. 25, 2008.Sabine Baring-Gould, ''Folk Songs and Ballads of the West'', pp. 70-72. The English versions date back to the late eighteenth century. One was collected in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Frank Wilson collected another version of the song from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. There are several different tunes associated with these lyrics.

Cornish lyrics

An Awhesyth

English lyrics

The English lyrics run for many verses; they begin: The lark in the morning she rises off her nest
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her breast
And like the jolly ploughboy she whistles and she sings
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her wings. Oh, Roger the ploughboy he is a dashing blade
He goes whistling and singing over yonder leafy shade
He met with pretty Susan, she's handsome I declare
She is far more enticing than the birds all in the air.

References

{{Reflist Cornish folk songs Cornish culture