Maskin' Rung, The

DESCRIPTION: A maid puts off a young man by saying she'll meet him that night in the woods. She makes a "maid" from a masking rung, branches, and an old widow's clothes. This "maid" smiles but does not speak. When he lifts her skirt he sees he has been fooled.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1828 (Lyle-Andrew-CrawfurdsCollectionVolume2)
KEYWORDS: courting clothes trick
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #173, p. 2, "The Maskin Rung"; #177, p. 2, "The Maskin Rung"; #153, p. 3, ("I wonder what does ail my love") (2 texts plus 1 fragment)
Greig/Duncan2 323, "The Maskin' Rung" (8 texts, 6 tunes)
Lyle-Andrew-CrawfurdsCollectionVolume2 124, "Hir Hands War Made o' Willan Wands"; Lyle-Andrew-CrawfurdsCollectionVolume2, pp. 190-194, "The Masking Rung" (2 texts)
DT, MASKNRNG*
Roud #5868
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of Harlaw" (tune of the chorus,according to Greig/Duncan2)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Masculine Rung
The Holland Green
The Hollin It Grows Green
NOTES [50 words]: Greig: "'masking rung' is defined as a rod for stirring malt in the mash-tub."
A number of the Greig/Duncan2 texts have a title taken from the chorus: "For the holland grows, the holland grows, And the holland it grows green. There's nae a tree in a' the wood Like the birk and the holland green." - BS
Last updated in version 2.6
File: GrD2323

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