Lincolnshire Poacher, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer served as apprentice for seven years, then took to poaching, "For tis my delight of a shining night in a season of the year." The poachers go out hunting, but are spotted by a gamekeeper; they subdue him and continue to make merry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1813 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(1508))
KEYWORDS: poaching work apprentice fight
FOUND IN: Britain(England(All))
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland 258, "The Northamptonshire Poacher" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logan-APedlarsPack, pp. 290-291, "The Poacher" (1 text)
Bell-Combined-EarlyBallads-CustomsBalladsSongsPeasantryEngland, pp. 436-437, "The Lincolnshire Poacher" (1 text)
Reeves/Sharp-TheIdiomOfThePeople 74, "Poaching Song" (1 text)
Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames, pp. 175-176, "It's My Delight of a Shiny Night" (1 text) (also Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Gl 56)
Palmer-EnglishCountrySongbook, #49, "The Lincolnshire Poacher" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud/Bishop-NewPenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs #138, "The Lincolnshire Poacher" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, pp. 732-733, "The Lincolnshire Poacher" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 203, "Lincolnshire Poacher" (1 text)
DT, LINCPOCH*
ADDITIONAL: The United States Songster (Cincinnati, 1836 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 158, "The Poachers" ("When I was bound apprentice in fair Lincolnshire") (1 text)
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #216, "The Lincolnshire Poacher" (1 text)

ST K259 (Full)
Roud #299
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1508), "The Poacher" ("When I was bound apprentice, In fair Lincolnshire"), J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also Harding B 28(9), Firth b.34(212) View 2 of 2, "The Poacher"; Firth b.34(228), Harding B 11(1439), Firth b.34(10), Harding B 11(4109), Harding B 11(3039), Firth b.34(229), Harding B 11(3038), Firth c.19(45), "The Poachers"; Firth c.19(41)[left margin clipped one position], "The Poachers" or "It's My Delight &c"
VonWalthour, CDDrive>b>b(3),"The Poachers" ("When I was bound apprentice in famed Northamptonshire"), T. Taylor (London), no date

CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Chandler's Wife" (tune)
cf. "The Vermont Farmer's Song" (tune)
cf. "The Nottinghamshire Poacher" (theme)
SAME TUNE:
The New York Volunteer (File: SCWF187)
Philadelphia Fireman's Song (Forget-Me-Not-Songster, p. 209; Roud #V9600)
The Billygoat Overlander
NOTES [69 words]: Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland remarks, "Although Lincolnshire, Somerset and Leicestershire occur as the location for this most 'fam-e-rous' of poaching songs, more than half the versions from genuine sources favour Northamptonshire." This appears, from Kennedy's bibliography, to be true, but the oldest versions, and those usually sung, are associated with Lincolnshire, so that is the title I adopted. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.2
File: K259

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