Washing Day

DESCRIPTION: "The sky with clouds was overcast, The rain began to fall, My wife she whipped the children And raised a pretty squall... Oh, the deil a bit o' comfort's here upon a washing day." The singer describes how his good wife turns evil on washing day
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1849 (Logan-APedlarsPack)
KEYWORDS: work wife husband punishment
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland) US(NE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Linscott-FolkSongsOfOldNewEngland, pp. 296-299, "Washing Day" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, p. 153, "The Washing-Day" (1 text)
Logan-APedlarsPack, pp. 381-382, "The Washing Day" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Roy Palmer, _The Folklore of Warwickshire_, Rowman and Littlefield, 1976, pp. 56-57, "(Washing Day)" (1 fragment plus a response, "Fuddling Day" or "Saint Monday")
Jon Raven, _The Urban and Industrial Songs of the Black Country and Birmingham_, Broadside, 1977, p. 236-237, "Washing Day" (1 text)
ST Lins296 (Partial)
Roud #3747
SAME TUNE:
Fuddling Day (Jon Raven, _The Urban and Industrial Songs of the Black Country and Birmingham_, Broadside, 1977, p. 238, listed as an "answer" to this.)
NOTES [132 words]: The similarities between the handful of truly-traditional texts of this song (Ord-BothySongsAndBallads and Linscott-FolkSongsOfOldNewEngland) is such that I have to suspect broadside influence -- and, indeed, most of the texts listed by Roud are broadside or songster versions. Palmer admits his version is from a broadside -- as is the "Fuddling Day" response. Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (combined fifth edition with dictionary and supplement, Macmillan, 1961) defines "fuddling" as drinking to excess or being stupefied with drink -- presumably related to being "befuddled," but with alcohol being apparently a necessary component.
Evidently, when the husband is washing (on Monday), the husband goes out and gets drunk -- so he pays either way. - RBW
Last updated in version 3.1
File: Lins296

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