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What is the meaning of foggy foggy dew?

Sent to General Experts March 5 2004 at 10:06 AM
   

What is the meaning of the phrase, "foggy foggy dew", from the folk song of the same name?

Customer (name blocked for privacy)
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Answer
March 5 2004 at 12:11 PM (2 hours and 5 minutes and 20 seconds later)
         
REPLIEDCheck Mark
You mean as in
"One night she came to my bed side
when I lay fast asleep:
She laid her head upon my bed
and she began to weep.

She sighed, she cried, she damn’ near died,
she said: What shall I do?
So I hauled her into bed and I covered up her head,
just to keep her from the foggy, foggy dew." - ?

Partly it's pleasant-sounding nonsense, partly it's about the dangers to health of a damp climate, with fog and dew falling at night.

The "I" in the song is fudging the issue - of course he didn't just haul her into bed to save her from the night damps. That's why it sounds a bit weird and mysterious. But there is no secret meaning of "foggy, foggy dew".



Regards,

Sue.

Answer
March 5 2004 at 12:15 PM (4 minutes and 8 seconds later)
         
REPLIEDCheck Mark
If you're looking for a simple answer, then it referrs to
the foggy dew of the Irish evening. The implecation
is that while keeping this maid from the foggy foggy
dew the balladeer...ehm...took certain liberties with
her. The only way to know this however is to be
familiar with previous versions of the song. When
Burl Ives recorded it he "sanitized" the lyrics. It is a
very old Irish song that exists in many versions. To
learn more about it check out this website:

http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=6
306

This particular link takes you to a page with a version
of the song that should clear up the question of why
it could be bad to keep her from the foggy foggy dew.

The links labeled "Digitrad:" take you to different
pages that display different versions of the song at
the bottom.

The links labeled "Related Threads:" take you to
pages containing online discussions of the song
and its history.

Hope this helps you out,

Der Bescheidene
Reply
March 5 2004 at 7:13 PM (6 hours and 57 minutes and 41 seconds later)
         
The charge was two dollars, but the amount you want from my PayPal account is five dollars. Give me an address and I'll mail the respondant a check for two dollars.
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Reply
March 5 2004 at 7:26 PM (13 minutes later)
         
Completely erroneous answer to my query. "Foggy foggy dew" has nothing to do with either fog or dew. It means:
"...in 'The Idiom of the People, 1958, pp. 45-57...He concludes that 'foggy dew' signifies virginity or chastity, and that...the girl's sudden agitation was caused by an overwhelming desire for the young man."
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Answer
March 6 2004 at 12:08 AM (4 hours and 41 minutes and 46 seconds later)
         
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March 6 2004 at 10:17 AM (10 hours and 9 minutes and 12 seconds later)
         

Hi all,

FYI. I just PM'd Customer (name blocked for privacy) and am making an exception to the $5 minimum.

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