Peter Kennedy, who collected several traditional English versions, has suggested that "Foggy Dew" is "an Englishman's attempt to pronounce the Irish orocedhu, which means "dark", or "black night"...", but also points to James Reeves' observation that "foggy" in Middle English refers to "coarse, rank marsh grass" whilst "dew" represents virginity or chastity.
Some say the foggy dew is a virginity symbol; others say the words are there by accident or corruption, and all the girl was pretending to be frightened of was ghosts.
The Irish have it as a sentimental piece of blarney, the Scots as a brief bawdy guffaw; students have coarsened the song, and Benjamin Britten has refined it.
[5]The following lyrics are the first two verses as sung by Norfolk farmworker and traditional singer Harry Cox in 1953: As I was an old bachelor I followed a roving trade And all the harm that ever I done I courted a servant maid.
Peter Kennedy suggests that Burns may have heard the tune used in a "Border version", despite the fact that it seems particular to the East Anglian region.
[5] The tune has also been used for other traditional songs in Scotland, such as a recording of Maggie Stewart (Aunt of Jeannie Robertson) singing her version of Sir Hugh.
[12] Other tunes have been recorded across England, particularly in the South,[13] including two versions which can be heard via the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library from Sussex and Surrey.
[23] Britten's arrangement was a Suffolk variant, extremely similar to a traditional version sung by a Mrs. Saunders of Lingfield, Surrey in 1960 (audio available via Vaughan Williams Memorial Library).
[15] BBC Radio restricted broadcast of the song to programmes covering folk tunes or the works of Britten because of its suggestive nature.
Lloyd's recording inspired a popular 2019 version by Ye Vagabonds, who released it as the second track on their album The Hare's Lament.