"Foggy Dew" or "Foggy, Foggy Dew" is an English

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

with a strong presence in the South of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the Southern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the nineteenth century. The song describes the outcome of an affair between a weaver and a girl he courted. It is cataloged as

Laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

No. O03 and

Roud Folk Song Index 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 ...

No. 558. It has been recorded by many traditional singers including

Harry Cox Harry Fred Cox (27 March 1885 – 6 May 1971), was a Norfolk farmworker and one of the most important singers of traditional English music of the twentieth century, on account of his large repertoire and fine singing style. His music inspired ...

, and a diverse range of musicians including

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

A.L. Lloyd Albert Lancaster Lloyd (29 February 1908 – 29 September 1982),Eder, Bruce. (29 September 1982A. L. Lloyd - Music Biography, Credits and Discography AllMusic. Retrieved on 2013-02-24. usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English fo ...

and

Ye Vagabonds Ye Vagabonds is an Irish folk music duo consisting of Dublin-based brothers Diarmuid and Brían Mac Gloinn. Having been described as "being at the fore of a new wave of Irish folk", they won three awards at the 2019 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards: Best ...

have arranged and recorded popular versions of the song.

History and lyrics

The song is a ballad, first published on a

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

in the early nineteenth century.

Cecil Sharp Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English-born collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was the pre-eminent activist in the development of t ...

collected eight versions of the song,The Foggy Dew
/ref> particularly in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, but also in the

. Early versions of the song refer to her fear of the " bugaboo" rather than the foggy dew, as do many recent traditional American versions. In these older versions, an apprentice seduces his master's daughter with the help of a friend disguised as a ghost ("bugaboo"). "Bugaboo" changed to "the foggy dew", which seems to have sent the song in different directions. Peter Kennedy, who collected several traditional English versions, has suggested that "Foggy Dew" is "an Englishman's attempt to pronounce the Irish ''orocedhu'', which means “dark”, or “black night”...", but also points to James Reeves' observation that "foggy" in Middle English refers to "coarse, rank marsh grass" whilst “dew” represents virginity or chastity.

wrote the following about the nature of the song and its regional variants:

"''This true-life story is known in many forms. Sometimes the girl is frightened by a ghost: the “bugaboo”. Sometimes she seems disturbed by the weather: the “foggy dew”. Some say the foggy dew is a virginity symbol; others say the words are there by accident or corruption, and all the girl was pretending to be frightened of was ghosts. Whatever the case, she creeps to the roving bachelor for comfort, and gets what she came for. The Irish have it as a sentimental piece of blarney, the Scots as a brief bawdy guffaw; students have coarsened the song, and
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
has refined it. The
East Anglian East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom of the Kingdom of East Anglia, East Angles, ...
country-folk have it straightest, and sing it without a laugh or a tear or a nudge in the ribs, just as it happened. The Foggy Dew is known all over Britain, yet rarely seen in its full form in print, which is odd, for the song is eminently decent in its best traditional forms. It's not a drinking song, but it's often sung in drinking places.''"

The following lyrics are the first two verses as sung by

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

farmworker and traditional singer

in 1953:

''As I was an old bachelor I followed a roving trade'' ''And all the harm that ever I done I courted a servant maid.'' ''I courted her one summer season and part of the winter, too,'' ''And many a time I rolled my love all over the foggy dew.'' ''One night as I laid in my bed, a-taking my balm of sleep,'' ''This pretty fair maid came to me, and how bitterly she did weep.'' ''She wept, she mourned, she tore her hair, crying, “Alas, what shall I do?'' ''This night I resolved to sleep with you, for fear of the foggy dew.”''

East Anglian version

The

East Anglian East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom of the Kingdom of East Anglia, East Angles, ...

version of the song (which inspired

and

) appears to have been particularly popular.

recorded Douglas Morling of

Eastbridge Eastbridge is a village in the English county of Suffolk. It is located approximately north of Leiston, from the North Sea in the parish of Theberton, immediately south of the Minsmere RSPB reserve. It borders the Minsmere River which cuts thro ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

singing this variant in 1938 or 1939.

was recorded singing this version of the song on different occasions in 1953 by

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...

(available online via the Alan Lomax archive) and Peter Kennedy. Alec Bloomfield of Benhall,

was also recorded by Kennedy in 1952, and the recording can be heard on the

British Library Sound Archive The British Library Sound Archive, formerly the British Institute of Recorded Sound; also known as the National Sound Archive (NSA), in London, England is among the largest collections of recorded sound in the world, including music, spoken word a ...

website. The tune used in these East Anglian versions was also used by

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

from '' Ye Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon.'' Peter Kennedy suggests that Burns may have heard the tune used in a "

Border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

version", despite the fact that it seems particular to the East Anglian region. The tune has also been used for other traditional songs in Scotland, such as a recording of Maggie Stewart (Aunt of

Jeannie Robertson Jeannie Robertson (1908 – 13 March 1975) was a Scottish folk singer. Her most celebrated song is "I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day", otherwise known as "Jock Stewart", which was covered by Archie Fisher, The Dubliners, The McCalmans, T ...

) singing her version of

Sir Hugh "Sir Hugh", also known as "The Jew's Daughter" or "The Jew's Garden", is a traditional British folk song, Child ballad No. 155, Roud No. 73, a folkloric example of a blood libel. The original texts are not preserved, but the versions written down ...

Other traditional recordings

Other tunes have been recorded across England, particularly in the South, including two versions which can be heard via the

Vaughan Williams Memorial Library The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (VWML) is the library and archive of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS), located in the society's London headquarters, Cecil Sharp House. It is a multi-media library comprising books, periodical ...

from Sussex and Surrey. The song was less frequently found in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Willie Mathieson of

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

, Scotland was recorded by

Hamish Henderson Hamish Scott Henderson (11 November 1919 – 9 March 2002) was a Scottish poet, songwriter, communist, intellectual and soldier. He was a catalyst for the folk revival in Scotland. He was also an accomplished folk song collector and disc ...

singing a traditional version in 1952, with lyrics very similar to many English versions, which can be heard on Tobar an Dualchais. A few traditional recordings have been made in the United States under the title of "The Bugaboo" and "The Foggy Dew", including those of Georgia Ann Griffin (1937), Dan Tate (1960) and

Doug Wallin Martin Douglas Wallin (July 30, 1919 – March 15, 2000) was a ballad singer and fiddler born in Madison County, North Carolina, and a recipient of a 1989 North Carolina Heritage Award. Biography A member of the Wallin Family, Wallin's parents, ...

(1992-1993) in the Appalachian region, two recordings made by

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

which can be heard on the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

website, and a version recorded in 1940 by

Helen Hartness Flanders Helen Hartness Flanders (May 19, 1890 – May 23, 1972), a native of the U.S. state of Vermont, was an internationally recognized ballad collector and an authority on the folk music found in New England and the British Isles. At the initiati ...

of Lena Bourne Fish of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Popular adaptations

arranged a version of the song for voice and piano in 1942. Britten's arrangement was a

variant, extremely similar to a traditional version sung by a Mrs. Saunders of

Lingfield Lingfield can refer to: * Lingfield, County Durham, England, a village * Lingfield, Surrey, England, a village ** Lingfield Park Racecourse ** Lingfield Cricket Club, prominent in the 18th century ** Lingfield railway station, serving the villag ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

in 1960 (audio available via Vaughan Williams Memorial Library).

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

restricted broadcast of the song to programmes covering folk tunes or the works of Britten because of its suggestive nature. The tune is a late 18th- or early 19th-century revision of "When I First Came to Court", licensed in 1689.

popularized a version of the song called "The Foggy, Foggy Dew" in the United States in the 1940s, and was once jailed in

Mona, Utah Mona is a city in Juab County, Utah, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,547. It is part of the Provo–Orem metropolitan area. The city is about halfway between Santaquin and Nephi along Interstate 15. The populatio ...

, for singing it in public, when authorities deemed it a bawdy song. He claimed that a version dated to

colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

.Burl Ives (1948). ''The Wayfaring Stranger''. New York: Whittlesey House, pp. 129-131.

recorded a cover version of the song in 1956 after learning it from Douglas Morling of

, a typical East Anglian version similar to those of

and Alex Bloomfield listed above. A.L. Lloyd's recording inspired a popular 2019 version by

, who released it as the second track on their album ''The Hare's Lament''. Other prominent artists including

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

(1958) and

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

(1958) recorded versions of the song.

References

{{authority control 1815 songs Burl Ives songs English folk songs Glen Campbell songs Textiles in folklore