Tossing of the Hay

DESCRIPTION: The singer goes out on a summer morning and sees a beautiful girl tossing her hay alone. She reports that her brother has left her alone. He kisses her; she screams; he promises that if she marries him, there will be time to mow the hay
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (Greig/Duncan5)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage work
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H635, pp. 455-456, "The Tossing o' the Hay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-FolkSongsFromNewfoundland 80, "The New Mown Hay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig/Duncan5 957, "The Turnin' o' the Hay" (7 texts, 4 tunes)
Roud #2940
RECORDINGS:
Eddie Butcher, "Tossing the Hay" (on Voice05, IREButcher01)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Raking of the Hay
The Shaking of the Hay
NOTES [86 words]: Why do I get the feeling that this happened somewhere along the Banks of the Bann?
According to Purslow, this occurs as a broadside called "Joy After Sorrow," but the text of that title I've seen does not appear to be the same piece. - RBW
"Joy After Sorrow" is separately indexed. In that ballad the man in the story is a sailor or soldier, and not the singer. The title follows from the reaction of the woman: cursing the hour of her seduction at the birth of her baby and blessing that hour after the wedding. - BS
Last updated in version 2.6
File: HHH635

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