The Lark in the Morning
The Robber Bird track 1
We learned The Lark in the Morning from Roy Palmer’s excellent book Folk Songs collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams (now republished as Bushes and Briars). RVW noted down the tune and first verse from Mrs Verrall, of Horsham in Sussex; Roy added further verses from a printed broadside. The song itself is a celebration of ploughboys’ sexual prowess – it is taken as read that they worked hard, but this makes it clear that they also knew how to have a good time, and were fecund to boot.
Our arrangement is topped and tailed by The Muffin Man