Wi' His Apron On

DESCRIPTION: "Come all ye young lovers, I pray give attention... I'll sing ye a sang concerning twa lovers, A bonnie mason laddie comin' fra Lochee." The girl often meets her mason "wi' his apron on." They marry and live happily.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord-BothySongsAndBallads)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage ritual clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #40, p. 2, "Wi' His Apron On" (1 text)
Greig/Duncan4 866, "The Mason Lad o' Lochee" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, p. 105, "Wi' His Apron On" (1 text)
Roud #5969
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Adam in the Garden" ("And he kissed his lass wi' his apron on") and references there
NOTES [236 words]: The pattern of ending most verses "wi' his/your/her apron on" reminds me of "Jacky Tar With His Trousers On" where every verse ends "wi' his/my trousers on" (for example, "... the sailor kissed his bride wi' his trousers on") and "The Courting Coat" where every verse ends "with my kettle smock/navvy shoes on." - BS
Both "Wi' His Apron On" and "Adam in the Garden" have the "Wi' his apron on" line, and for a time I lumped them on this basis. But Ben Schwartz pointed out the large constellation of "Adam in the Garden" type lyrics which differ substantially in plot from "Wi' His Apron On," so they are now split, although the possibility of cross-influence must be allowed.
The mention of an apron in this context is interesting. The story of the Fall of Man is in Genesis 3, and in it, after they eat of the Tree of Knowledge, they use fig leaves to sew themselves some sort of clothing. The clothing is mentioned in Genesis 3:7. "Aprons" is the rendering of the King James Bible, but elsewhere it tends to use "girdle" to translate this root (four of the five other uses; the fifth uses "armor"). The Geneva Bible rendered it "breeches," a reaching also given by Wycliff ("brechis"). The New Revised Standard and Revised English Bibles read "loincloths." Thus it seems quite likely that this is a deliberate reference to Genesis. (Not that you would likely have doubted it if I hadn't written this long note.) - RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: Ord105

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