“The Mower”
Description
Singer meets a young woman; she has a small meadow needing mowing, it has never been mowed before. He mows all afternoon, but the grass remains standing; she tells him to sharpen his scythe, for the work's not finished
Notes
Lloyd remarks that the song "often appeared on 19th century broadsides," but as he gives no further dates I've refrained from citing that as earliest date. - PJS
The more so since this image is quite a common one. - RBW
Cross references
- cf. "The Next Market Day" (plot) and references there
- cf. "One Man Shall Mow My Meadow" (imagery)
- cf. "The Wanton Seed"
- cf. "Mowing the Hay" (subject)
Recordings
- Warde Ford, "The Mowing of the Hay" (AFS 4200 B2, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
- A.L. Lloyd, "The Mower" (on Lloyd 1) (on BirdBush1, BirdBush2)
References
- DT, THEMOWER
- Roud #833
- BI, DTthemow