Crafty Ploughboy (II), The

DESCRIPTION: "Three hearty young men in the country do dwell"; they go out poaching. "Sweet Lips and Reuben" go out to set up pheasant decoys to try to lure the poachers, but the poachers ignore them to take real game, leaving a few to breed more
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1981 (Cologne/Morrison-WiltshireFolkSongs), with parts dating to 1906
KEYWORDS: poaching trick escape bird
FOUND IN: Britain(England(West))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cologne/Morrison-WiltshireFolkSongs, pp. 56-57, "The Crafty Ploughboy" (1 composite text, 1 tune)
NOTES [75 words]: Roud lists this as #2637, which is "The Crafty Farmer"/"The Yorkshire Bite" type (Laws L1). This is a completely separate song, however, even taking into account the fact that it is composite; neither part belongs with #2637. The confusion is presumably based on the title "The Crafty Ploughboy," which is a standard title for Laws L1 -- but which has no connection with the song as printed. A better title would be "The Crafty Poachers" or similar. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.2
File: CoMo56

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography