Love is Teasing

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, love is teasing and love is pleasing, And love is a pleasure when first it's new, But as it grows older, it grows the colder...." Lyric piece about the dangers of love: The singer gave up family and home, (and now has a baby without a father)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Reeves-TheEverlastingCircle
KEYWORDS: love abandonment baby nonballad home floatingverses
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "LOVE IS PLEASING"
Greig/Duncan6 1166, "Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bonny," Greig/Duncan8 Addenda, "Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bonny" (1 fragment, 2 tunes)
Reeves-TheEverlastingCircle 84, "Love It Is Pleasing" (1 text)
Ritchie-FolkSongsOfTheSouthernAppalachians, p. 24, "Oh, Love Is Teasin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol1, pp. 70-71, "Love Is Pleasin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 70, "Love is Pleasin'" (1 text, 1 tune, of four verses, two of which might go here, one belongs with "Fair and Tender Ladies," and the fourth could be from several sources; it could be a "Waly Waly" variant)
Behan-IrelandSings. #45, "Love Is Teasing" (1 text, 1 tune, modified)
SongsOfAllTime, p. 21, "O Love Is Teasin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1049
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Waly Waly (The Water is Wide)" and references there
NOTES [122 words]: This probably originated as a "Waly Waly" variant, and it can be very hard to tell whether a fragment belongs with one or the other (note the Lomax "Love is Pleasin'" text, which suffers from the additional handicap of being in a Lomax publication; I gave up and listed it both places). I finally decided that there are enough songs which don't say "Waly waly" or "The water is wide" to split then.
It does leave an interesting genealogical question, though: You could produce "Waly Waly" by combining this with "Jamie Douglas," or you could start with "Waly Waly" and have this split off while a few verses floated into the longer ballad. Or it could just all float.
Moral of the story: Be sure to check entries under both songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: Rits024

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