One Misty, Moisty Morning

DESCRIPTION: Daniel courts Dolly, a milk maid. Before she will marry he must have her father and mother's consent. "Her parents being willing, all Parties was agreed, Her Portion thirtie shilling, they marry'd were with Speed" and have a public celebration.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1700 (Pills to Purge Melancholy, according to Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes); tune from 1650 (Playford's The Dancing Master, according to Chappell); the Opies say that a broadside, "The Wiltshire Wedding" was printed c. 1680
KEYWORDS: courting dowry wedding father mother
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes 359, "One misty, moisty, morning" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #140, p. 114, "(One Misty, Moisty Morning)"
Delamar-ChildrensCountingOutRhymes, p. 107, "One Misty, Moisty Morning" (1 text, but of the first verse only and with echoed lines)
Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, pp. 145-147, "The Friar and the Nun" (1 text, 1 tune, the text being this despite the title)
Chappell/Wooldridge-OldEnglishPopularMusic I, p. 286, "The Friar and the Nun" (1 tune, which is clearly this although no lyrics are printed)
Cologne/Morrison-WiltshireFolkSongs, pp. 26-27, "The Wiltshire Wedding" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HOWDYEDO*
Roud #20075
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 2(256b), "The Wiltshire Wedding Between Daniel Do-well and Doll the Dairy-maid" ("All in a misty morning"), unknown, n.d.
NOTES [120 words]: The description is from broadside Bodleian Douce Ballads 2(256b).
See "One Misty Moisty Morning" by Steeleye Span on "Parcel of Rogues." Chrysalis CHR 1046 (1973). - BS
Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime (followed by the Digital Tradition and others) notes that this tune is used in the Beggar's Opera. This appears to be a reference to Act II, Air 5, "Before the Barn Door Crowing," which has the tune "All in a misty morning" and ends with the lines
WIth how do you do, and how do you do,
And how do you do again.
Although I know of no certain collections from tradition, there is significant variation in the texts quoted. It might just be people rewriting the text, but it might be the result of oral transmission. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: OO2359

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography