Dawning of the Day (I), The [Laws P16]
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a milk-maid at the dawn of day, seduces her despite her reluctance, and leaves her. Months later they meet again; she asks him to marry her, but he answers that he has married a rich girl. She warns against such rovers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.11(56))
KEYWORDS: seduction warning poverty betrayal
FOUND IN: US(MA) Canada(Mar,Ont) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Laws P16, "The Dawning of the Day"
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "DAWNING OF THE DAY, THE"
ThomsonNewYork, pp. 384-386, "The Dawning of the Day" (1 text)
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, p. 163, "The Dawning of the Day" (1 text)
Greig/Duncan7 1312, "The Dawning of the Day" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Mackenzie-BalladsAndSeaSongsFromNovaScotia 56, "The Dawning of the Day" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-TraditionalSingersAndSongsFromOntario 28, "The Dawning of the Day" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thompson-APioneerSongster 21, "The Dawning of the Day" (1 text)
Forget-Me-Not-Songster, pp. 178-180, "The Dawning of the Day" (1 text)
DT 498, DAWNDAY
Roud #370
RECORDINGS:
Cathie Stewart, "The Dawning of the Day" (on SCStewartsBlair01) (a fragmentary version, ending with the girl's reluctance)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.11(56), "Dawning of the Day," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Harding B 11(2026), Harding B 6(4), Harding B 25(480), Johnson Ballads fol. 412 View 1 of 2, Harding B 11(806), 2806 c.8(283), 2806 c.16(25), 2806 b.11(197), Harding B 26(119) [badly faded], Harding B 11(804), Harding B 11(803), Harding B 16(69a), Harding B 17(73a), Firth c.13(301), Harding B 11(805), Harding B 20(23), Harding B 17(72b), Harding B 16(69b), "[The] Dawning of the Day"
LOCSinging, as102690, "Dawning of the Day," L. Deming (Boston), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(148), "The Dawning of the Day," James Lindsay (Glasgow), c.1853
NOTES [118 words]: "The Dawning of the Day (I)" [Laws P16] and "The Dawning of the Day (II)" have the same general plot but are given separate Roud numbers, presumably because the latter at least is a translation of the Irish ""Fáinne Geal an Lae." I would probably have considered them the same song, but I follow Roud in splitting them. However, it's likely that a few versions, particularly fragments, are mis-filed. The key to identifying a song as "The Dawning of the Day (II)" is the first few line of the Edward Walsh translation: "At early dawn I once had been Where Lene's blue waters flow." Also, it seems to be a pretty well expurgated version, in which the woman rejects the man before he gets very far with her. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.0
File: LP16
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