Tapping at the Garden Gate

DESCRIPTION: The singer asks a girl in the room: "Who's that tapping at the garden gate" every night? She blushes and looks under the table. The singer says it's not there, and it's not a cat. "Cats don't know when it's half-past eight"
AUTHOR: Words: J. Loker; Music: S. W. New
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(1375))
KEYWORDS: courting humorous nonballad animal
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Greig/Duncan4 807, "Tap, Tap, Tapping" (1 fragment)
Heart-Songs, pp. 264-265, "Tapping at the Garden Gate" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dime-Song-Book #22, p. 63, "Tapping at the Garden Gate" (1 text)
Wallace-Vocal-Gems-Songster, p. 6, "Tapping at the Garden Gate" (1 text)
Cohans-Dublin-Jarvey-Songster, p. 33, "Tapping at the Garden-Gate" (1 text)
Kelly-Leon-Ching-Chow-Hi-Songster, p. 60, "Tapping at the Garden-Gate" (1 text)
Roud #15147 and 6208
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1375), "Tapping at the Garden Gate" ("Who's that tapping at the garden gate?"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Firth b.27(173), "Tapping at the Garden Gate"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Who's That Tapping at the Garden Gate?
NOTES [77 words]: Greig/Duncan4 is a fragment; broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(1375) is the basis for the description.
The authorship attribution is from sheet music at California Sheet Project site. - BS
Heart-Songs also attributes the song to Loker and New. Steve Roud splits the Greig/Duncan4 fragment off, giving it the number 6208, but given that it's just six lines, and that it mentions both tapping at the garden gate and cats, I think Ben is right to lump the songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.1
File: GrD4807

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