“The Lark in the Morning”

Description

(Singer) meets young girl who praises plowboys. The singer meets a plowboy. He takes her "to the fair." The rest of their relationship is couched in equally allegorical terms.

Notes

The narrative thread is so fragmentary that I've classed this as a lyric song, not a ballad. -PJS

There is a ballad back there, though, as Kennedy's version shows; under all the symbolism is a story of seduction. - RBW

Re Paddy Tunney's "The Lark in the Morning" (on Voice05): the first verse is a fragment of "The Lark in the Morning"; the second is a fragment of "Roger the Ploughboy." - BS

Broadsides

• Bodleian, Harding B 25(1070), "The Lark in the Morning" ("As I was a walking one morning in May"), Swindells (Manchester), 1796-1853; also Harding B 11(3684), Firth c.18(172), Firth b.34(224), Harding B 16(125c), Harding B 11(2060), "The Lark in the Morning"

Recordings

• Paddy Tunney, "The Lark in the Morning" (on Voice05) [a mixture of "The Lark in the Morning" and "Roger the Ploughboy"]

References

1. Sharp-100E 62, "The Lark in the Morn" (1 text, 1 tune)
2. Randolph 562, "Lark in the Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
3. Kennedy 140, "The Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
4. DT, LARKMORN* LARKMOR2*
5. ADDITIONAL: Maud Karpeles, _Folk Songs of Europe_, Oak, 1956, 1964, p. 46, "The Lark in the Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
6. Roud #151
7. BI, ShH62