Mossie and His Mare

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Mossie was a cunning man, A little mare did buy; For winking and for jinking There was few could come her nigh." After telling how Mossie captures her, various folks are warned against bad behavior; they will be punished "as Mossie catch'd his mare."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1813 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 22(179))
KEYWORDS: horse humorous warning Jacobites
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Ford-VagabondSongsAndBalladsOfScotland, pp. 39-42, "Mossie and His Mare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lyle/McAlpine/McLucas-SongRepertoireOfAmeliaAndJaneHarris, p. 143, "Mosey, Mare" (1 text)
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast 171, p. 1, "Mossie and His Meer" (1 fragment)
Greig/Duncan3 677, "Mossie and His Meer" (2 fragments, 3 tunes)
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #234, p. 152, "(Moss was a little man, and a little mare did buy)"
Roud #6104
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 22(179), "Moss and his Mare" ("Moss was a cunning man a little mare did buy"), J. Evans (London), 1780-1812
NOTES [87 words]: The keyword "Jacobite" may be strange for this song, but Ford's text, after warning "gilpy lasses," "crafty ale wives," "lousy tailors," and "pettyfoggers," turns its attention to "A' ye Whigs about the land, Wha deny our lawfu' King." - RBW
There is no reference to Jacobite politics in broadside Bodleian Harding B 22(179), the earliest text I have seen. Ford's second notion, "that [it] was rejuvenated in the first half of the last century," may explain "the Jacobitish dirl that occurs in the concluding stanza." - BS
Last updated in version 4.2
File: FVS39

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