> Steeleye Span > Songs > One Misty Moisty Morning

The Wiltshire Wedding / One Misty Moisty Morning

[ Roud 13910 , 20075 ; Ballad Index OO2359 ; Mudcat 45896 ; trad.]

Steeleye Span sang One Misty Moisty Morning in 1972 on their album Parcel of Rogues and a second time in 2002 for their CD Present to accompany their December 2002 reunion tour.

A live version of this song sung in an BBC John Peel session recorded on January 16 or 12 February 1973 was included in 1987 on the BBC Radioplay anthology Through Bushes and Briar, and in 2003 on the compilation The Harvest of Gold. Another version recorded live in 1986 was released on the Progressive Records / Park Records CD reissue of the album Back in Line, on the CD Steeleye Span in Concert, and on the double CD compilation Spanning the Years. This version misses the fourth verse though, but continues into the reel The Flowers of Edinburgh. A third Steeleye Span live performance was recorded in Salisbury on 16 December 2002 and can be found on The Official Bootleg.

Sound Tradition sang One Misty, Moisty Morning in 2014 on their CD Blackbird. They noted:

Believed to be based on the initial lines of the song The Wiltshire Wedding, printed in 1680, this children’s nursery rhyme could be even older; the original tune to it is The Friar and the Nun. Our rendition is based on the Steeleye Span version.

Lyrics

Steeleye Span sing One Misty Moisty Morning

One misty moisty morning when cloudy was the weather,
I met with an old man a-clothèd all in leather,
He was clothèd all in leather with a cap beneath his chin,
Singing, “How do you do and how do you do and how do you do again.”

This rustic was a thresher as on his way he hied,
And with a leather bottle fast buckled by his side.
He wore no shirt upon his back but wool unto his skin,
Singing, “How do you do and how do you do and how do you do again.”

I went a little further and there I met a maid,
“A-going a-milking, a-milking, sir,” she said.
Then I began to compliment and she began to sing,
Saying, “How do you do and how do you do and how do you do again.”

This maid, her name was Dolly, clothed in a gown of grey,
I, being somewhat jolly, persuaded her to stay.
And straight I fell a-courting her in hopes her love to win,
Singing, “How do you do and how do you do and how do you do again.”

I having time and leisure, I spent a vacant hour,
A-telling of my treasure while sitting in the bower.
With many kind embraces I stroked her double chin,
Singing, “How do you do and how do you do and how do you do again.”

I said that I would married be and she would be my bride,
And along we should not tarry and twenty things beside.
I’ll plough and sow and reap and mow and you shall sit and spin,
Singing, “How do you do and how do you do and how do you do again.”

Her parents then consented, all parties were agreed,
Her portion thirty shillings, we married were with speed.
Then Will the Piper he did play whilst others dance and sing,
Saying, “How do you do and how do you do and how do you do again.”

Then lusty Ralph and Robin with many damsels gay
Did ride on Roan and Dobbin to celebrate the day.
And when they met together their caps they off did fling,
Singing, “How do you do and how do you do and how do you do and how do you do again.”

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Patrick Montague for correcting the lyrics and to Richard M. Page who told me the name of the reel on the 1986 live recording.