Early One Morning: A Song History

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"Early One Morning" is the complaint of a young woman abandoned by her lover, and by William Chappell's own account its melody first reached print in one of his collections[1][2]. In his Collection of National English Airs, published in London in 1840, he printed it as No. 83 and noted that he knew of no earlier printed copy of this familiar, much-sung song[1][3]. He added that only the first verse of the words then in use was old, the remaining verses having been supplied by a Mr. Paul, and he reprinted a rougher text, "The Maid's Lamentation," from penny songbooks collected by Ritson as the likely original words[1].

Samuel Palmer etching of a shepherd opening a sheepfold at dawn beneath tall trees

Samuel Palmer, Opening the Fold, or Early Morning, etching, 1880. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain (CC0). Shown for its English dawn; it has no connection to the song.

Chappell came back to the song in the second volume of Popular Music of the Olden Time, placing it in a section of traditional material of uncertain date[2]. There he named it as one of the three songs he found most popular among the servant girls of his day, and said he had heard it sung by servants from Leeds, Hereford and Devonshire and from places closer to London[2]. He restated his belief that his earlier collection was the first to print the tune, noted that the words appeared in old song-books such as Sleepy Davy's Garland and The Songster's Magazine, and observed that "scarcely any two copies agree beyond the second line"[2]. As for the melody's ancestry, the only link he offered was a kinship with a hornpipe once heard in the theatres[2]. The Roud Folk Song Index number for the song is 12682[4][5].

Fritz Spiegl's Radio 4 UK Theme, a medley of folk tunes from the four home nations commissioned in 1978 to open BBC Radio 4's broadcasting day, began and ended with "Early One Morning," and it was played for the last time on St George's Day 2006[6]. In Canada, Robert Homme, the recorder-playing host of the children's programme The Friendly Giant (1958-1985), chose it as the show's opening and closing theme[7]. Folk revival recordings listed by Mainly Norfolk include Foggy Dew-O (1968), Martin Carthy and Maggie Goodall on The Old Songs (1984) and Jim Moray on Sweet England (2003)[5].

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Sources

  1. Internet Archive: William Chappell (ed.), "A Collection of National English Airs" (London: Chappell, 1840), No. 83 and p. 77.
  2. Internet Archive: William Chappell, "Popular Music of the Olden Time," vol. 2, pp. 735-736 (National Library of Scotland copy).
  3. IMSLP: "A Collection of National English Airs (Chappell, William)".
  4. The Traditional Ballad Index: "Early One Morning".
  5. Mainly Norfolk: "Early One Morning / The Lamenting Maid".
  6. Gresham College: "BBC Radio in the Digital Era (1982 - )" (Jeremy Summerly, lecture transcript, 2021).
  7. The Canadian Encyclopedia: "Robert Homme, 'The Friendly Giant' (Obituary)".