Kissing's No Sin (I)

DESCRIPTION: "Some say kissing's a sin, but I think it's nane ava, For kissing has been in the world When there was but only twa." The singer points to all those who have engaged in kissing, noting that it must be lawful if lawyers do it, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kinloch-TheBalladBook XXIX, pp. 86-88, "The Mautman" (1 text, containing at least a fragment of this)
MacColl-PersonalChoice, p. 18, "Kissin's no sin" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #2579
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Mautman" (lyrics)
cf. "The Hog-tub" (lyrics)
cf. "The Song of Temptation" (theme of the antiquity of sexual relations)
NOTES [76 words]: This is, quite simply, a tangle. This consists of two parts: "Some say that kissing's a sin" and "If it wasna lawful...." The former is shared with "The Mautman," which adds a story about a mautman demanding his pay; the latter is shared with "The Hog-tub," which adds a Mother Goose rhyme, "Once I courted a pretty lass." How all these grafts came together I don't know; the combination found in this song seems most logical, but what does that prove? - RBW
Last updated in version 6.1
File: RcKiNoSi

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