the foggy dew

The Foggy Dew is a classic sing around the campfire folk song, variously seen as lover’s lament or the tale of a rake, traveling from England and Ireland to America as the tale of a weaver who does nothing wrong but keep a maid from the foggy dew, and gets a son in the bargain. Tim O’Brien has even made it into a bit of a swing tune when he performs it.

There’s another side to the story though. There’s some argument as to who exactly wrote the words, but a song about the Easter Rising in 1916 in Ireland was set to the familiar folk tune. That’s the one Frances Black has included on her latest release. This Love Will Carry. Black says, by the way, that this is one of her husband's very favorite songs that she does, and when they travel on long car trips together it's always one he asks her to sing. It is one of three new songs on This Love Will Carry, which is otherwise a two disc retrospective collection.


video of Frances Black’s version of The Foggy Dew