English

The Foggy, Foggy Dew

I and no doubt many others keep getting mixed up as to which "Foggy Dew" we are talking about. There is a delightful English song about seduction and the perils of sleeping in the open in a damp English climate. The other is a sombre Irish song called The Foggy Dew dealing with the Easter Rebellion in Dublin and the perils of "... Britannia's sons with their long-range guns".
I grew up with "The Foggy, Foggy Dew" and no longer know where I first heard and learned it.
The version I sing these days (1999) can be found in Songs and Dances of England by Liz Thomson. This version is too short and too "nice" for my taste and I have a gut-feeling that there must be a lot, lot more and a little less sanitised out there somewhere. I would be delighted to learn of other verses.

Since writing the above in 1999, surfer Andrew Dalby sent me a fantastic Norfolk very human version in March, 2006, which entirely met and exceeded my expectations. Thanks a million Andrew!

"The Foggy, Foggy Dew" has been recorded by:
 Burl Ives on "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" RealAudio
 A.L. Lloyd on "English Drinking Songs" RealAudio
 Various Artists on "Hearts of Oak: Songs of the British Isles" RealAudio
 The Dubliners on "The Best Of The Dubliners: Irish Favorites" 
 Benjamin Luxon on "I love my love"